Uncle Croc's Block

Infobox Television
show_name = Uncle Croc's Block


caption = Intertitle from "Uncle Croc's Block".
format = live-action series/animated cartoon
runtime = approx. 1:00 (per episode; later 0:30)
starring = Charles Nelson Reilly
as Uncle Curt Croc
Alfie Wise
as Mr. Rabbit Ears

Jonathan Harris
as Basil Bitterbottom
and the voices of
Alan Oppenheimer

Lennie Weinrib

Robert Ridgely

Kenneth Mars

Allan Melvin

country = USA
network = ABC
first_aired = September 6, 1975
last_aired = February 14, 1976
num_episodes =

"Uncle Croc's Block" was a short-lived, hour-long live-action/animated series on ABC, produced by Filmation Associates. The series parodied other children's series, and was meant to capitalize on NBC's "Saturday Night Live", with Charles Nelson Reilly playing the disgruntled titular part, Curt Croc, who hated his job as a children's show host. Also featured were Alfie Wise as his sidekick Mr. Rabbit Ears and Jonathan Harris as the show's director Basil Bitterbottom. Centered around skits were Uncle Croc and a wide variety of parodied characters such as Captain Klangeroo, Bogey Bear, and Steve Exhaustion, The $6.95 Man.

Between these live-action segments were three cartoon shorts: "M-U-S-H" ("M"angy "U"nwanted "S"habby "H"eroes), an obvious tongue-in-cheek canine lampoon of "M*A*S*H"; "Fraidy Cat" a cat down to his last (of 9, of course!) life; and "Wacky and Packy", a prehistoric man and his pet pachyderm trapped in modern times.

Broadcast History

The series premiered @ 10:30 (Eastern), Saturday Morning, September 6, 1975. Unfortunately, "Uncle Croc's Block" was plastered in network competition with the second half of "The Shazam!/Isis Hour" (ironically another Filmation property) and "Far Out Space Nuts" on CBS. The series was cut in half for a 30-minute format, then scrapped on St. Valentine's Day, 1976 after half a season on the air; as a consequence, The ABC Television Network had all but severed ties with Filmation Associates. In an attempt to attempt to save ratings, Filmation had planned to repackage the repeated Groovie Goolies episodes as a new segment, redubbed the "Super Fiends" (capitalizing on the title of rival Hanna-Barbera's "Superfriends"), but the show was shelved before the change could be incorporated. The popularity of the Goolies and its more striking style might well have helped the sagging ratings.Fact|date=February 2008 The animated segments were featured in the Filmation syndicated package, "The Groovie Goolies and Friends", and would also resurface in the home video market in the 1980s.

External links

* [http://www.retrojunk.com/details_tvshows/2789-uncle-crocs-block/ Retrojunk: "Uncle Croc's Block"]
* [http://www.geocities.com/sshumsuper7fan78/JimsUncleCroc.htm Jim's Filmation page - "Uncle Croc's Block"]
* [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Filmation_Associates/S-Z/Uncle_Croc_s_Block/ Big Cartoon Database: "Uncle Croc's Block"]
* [http://www.skooldays.com/categories/saturday/sa1072.htm "Uncle Croc's Block": Nostalgia]