Back in the late 70s and early 80s, when Saturday morning was devoted to cartoons, every half hour or so animated PSAs (Public Service Announcements) would air interspersed among the commercials, usually promoting such positive activities as healthy eating habits and personal hygiene. Using catchy tunes and humorous animations, these PSAs are fondly remembered by those of us who watched them back in the day. Zack of All Trades, part of ABC television's "Bod Squad" collection of PSAs, concerned a hip R&B singer teaching lazy teenagers valuable lessons about getting jobs, making career choices, and benefiting society in general instead of being worthless good-for-nothing bums!
Don't pout, check it out, Zack's gonna show you what work's about!
In today's outing, entitled appropriately enough, Think of a Career, we find Jack and Jill bumming around the park being all lazy and shit, loafing around on a hill listening to tunes on the radio... So along comes Zack (Luthor Vandross!!), surfing the musical notes out of the radio, looking all cool in his sweater with a "Z" stitched on it. Seeing what is going on here, Zack begins berating the kids for their shiftless layabout ways using a catchy jazz song. "Make a choice," he tells Jack, "You can't lay on your back all day!" He also lets Jill know that she can't lay on that hill all day either! Basically, get up, get a job, and don't be a drag on society!
For the remainder of the short Zack gets the kids to begin thinking about their future careers and what choices they should make. Getting a job isn't hard he says, just believing in yourself and make the right choices in life. Once Zack realizes he has gotten through to the kids and that they are now on the right track to a career, he knows it is now time for him to go, so he fades back into the radio. You can watch the full PSA below:
Do you remember these Saturday Morning cartoon PSAs? What did you think of them? Did you have a favorite? Please leave a comment below.
Most kids of the 80’s have forgotten these PSAs. ABC had a bunch of these including one tackling the important topic of not drowning your food.
ABC also had a show called “Dear Alice and Andy” that gave advice to kids who sent penned letters. I haven’t been able to find any trace of the show. Maybe I dreamed it!
These PSAs are all over YouTube. I like the Time for Timer ones. And the one that showed you how to make a saturdae instead of a sundae.
I think you mean "Dear Alex and Annie" which was a part of a show called "Kids Are People Too" which ran from 1978 to 1982 on ABC. Google those two and you will get some hits.
I remember one with The Future Blob. It had the same song as the Zack of All Trades ad with the skating girl and the same Blob character, but at one point, he was in a TV screen or computer monitor and flailed his arms and they extended past the edges of the screen/monitor, so my sister and I would sing "I am the Blob, the Future Blob. I cam come out of the TV." Does anyone know which ad this one was?
Most kids of the 80’s have forgotten these PSAs. ABC had a bunch of these including one tackling the important topic of not drowning your food.
ReplyDeleteABC also had a show called “Dear Alice and Andy” that gave advice to kids who sent penned letters. I haven’t been able to find any trace of the show. Maybe I dreamed it!
These PSAs are all over YouTube. I like the Time for Timer ones. And the one that showed you how to make a saturdae instead of a sundae.
DeleteI think you mean "Dear Alex and Annie" which was a part of a show called "Kids Are People Too" which ran from 1978 to 1982 on ABC. Google those two and you will get some hits.
I remember one with The Future Blob. It had the same song as the Zack of All Trades ad with the skating girl and the same Blob character, but at one point, he was in a TV screen or computer monitor and flailed his arms and they extended past the edges of the screen/monitor, so my sister and I would sing "I am the Blob, the Future Blob. I cam come out of the TV." Does anyone know which ad this one was?
ReplyDeleteYou can watch the The Future Blob on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CfBgop-L8XQ
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