Hooray For Hollywood

Fred "Curly" Neal, Hubert "Geese" Ausbie, George "Meadowlark" Lemon, Bobby Joe Mason, Pablo Robertson, J.C. "Gip" Gipson, Granny

In the 1970's the Harlem Globetrotters defined professional basketball for much of the globe. The NBA was not quite yet flourishing, but these barnstorming hoop geniuses were selling out arenas all over the world. Millionaire Abe Saperstein formed the team in Chicago in 1927, and the Globetrotters brought a special brand of shenanigans and showmanship everywhere they performed. Their exposure was increased by many appearances on shows like ABC's Wide World of Sports and The CBS Sports Spectacular, so it only seemed logical that they would branch out beyond the basketball arena.

The team recorded an album for Don Kirschner in 1970, which in hoop terms, was a brick. Switching media, the Globetrotters decided to tackle the world of Saturday morning, with this self titled show. The plot was pretty straightforward; The Globies would travel the world in their cool Stars and Stripes bus, accompanied by their dog/mascot Dribbles. Driving the bus was Granny, an aging matron with a lot of pep left. The team took on all comers on the basketball court, and never lost.

The show lasted almost three seasons, ending its run in May of 1973. The Globetrotters then appeared in The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, a live-action variety show which aired on CBS from 1974-76.

Then, in February of 1978, NBC came calling, and packaged reruns of The Harlem Globetrotters with repeats of The Herculoids, Space Ghost and C.B. Bears under the title Go Go Globetrotters, which ran for less than a season. 1979 saw the debut of The Super Globetrotters on NBC, a show that only lasted three months in its original run before joining up with Godzilla and Godzooky for The Godzilla/Globetrotters Adventure Hour.