Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Sock puppets were really wild back in the day.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  I'm not sure which puppet will be giving me more nightmares tonight





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Kukla and Ollie were a popular children's show from 1947-1957. They made a resurgence in the late 1960s and early 1970s--when those kids grew up and were now on acid. So, this explains a lot.

2.)  You know it's the '70s when everything is a lovely hue of sepia.

3.)  What has Smokey so busy that he's too busy for a Public Service Announcement? Isn't that his only job? Does Smokey get vacation, sick time, holidays, and a sensible 401k plan?

4.)  Always breaking matches in two somehow magically puts the flame out. How, I don't know. Try it at home and see if your house goes up in flames.

5.)  Ollie is apparently a dragon. I had to look that up because he looks like a deformed lion in need of Invisalign.

6.)  Somkey's face is placed onto matches. Pause and let that linger for a second. Some marketing guru thought using Smokey's face to make a flame was quality branding.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Snitchin' in the suburbs!

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Grandma's lurking in the shadows.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Who knew Hartford was such a hotbed for criminal activity? Next thing you know, McGruff will say Sioux Falls is overrun by the Sicilian mob.
2.)  If McGruff sees all this crime, why doesn't HE call it in?
3.)  You're telling me that Mimi here has such keen eyesight to make out a van's license plate a couple hundred feet away?
4.)  How did the criminals not see Mimi and Albert's gigantic walkie-talkies from three blocks away? It's like a 20ft antenna strapped to a 10lb brick.
5.)  Isn't "neighborhood watch" just another way of saying "nosy neighbor"?

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: A casual prejudice chit-chat on a rowboat

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  The best life lessons occur when you're on a rowboat and bored out of your head.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Sure as hell looks like the fish aren't biting today.
2.)  Way to go, Gramps. You raised a son or daughter who then brought-up a bigot as a grandkid.
3.)  Personally, I'm prejudiced against the casual hats used in this PSA. Did Pops take a fedora and festoon it with fishing lures? And where did little Bobby get the teal hat? Were all the chartreuse-colored hats sold out?
4.)  Are we just going to sit here and ignore the copious amount of back hair crawling out of Grandpa's shirt?
5.)  Bonus points for the one-eyed stinkeye Gramps pulls off that channels his inner Popeye.
6.)  This commercial ended way too soon. Did the kid have any other offhand follow-up revelations? Like, "Sarah says I'm a homophobe. And Bobby says I belong in the KKK."

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Let's give a shout-out to whooping cough

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  May the immunizations be with you.




Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Wait--whooping cough? Whooping cough?? Whooping cough was the go-to illness R2 thought he had?
2.)  The fact R2-D2 doesn't even know droids can't get diseases immediately makes his intelligence suspect. I don't want him working on my space ship. Kill someone else, buddy.
3.)  C-3PO is the real Debbie Downer here. He just skips right ahead to inevitable horrors for children, including brain damage and death. But, hey, back to your Saturday morning cartoons!
4.)  This PSA is 40-years old. Anti-vaxxers were pulling their shenanigans early.
5.)  What, no address? You just send stuff off to Pueblo, Colorado, and the postal carrier knows where it goes? You just "write" them? What do you write? Recipes? Casual advice?

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Bill Cosby has, uhh, some very astute observations about prison.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today: Hey, hey, HEY! This didn't age well!





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Marie Kondo is going to lose it if she sees the mess on Bill's desk.
2.)  "Maybe it was shoplifting or stealing a car." Or maybe it was dabbling in roofies. Who knows what gets someone into prison, kids?!
3.)  "Whatever it was, it probably started small, became bigger. Maybe they even got away with it at first and thought they'd never get caught." Whoa-whoa-whoa--is Bill Cosby confessing 40-years ago on Saturday morning TV?
4.)  "Prison isn't fun." But prison probably has an excess supply of Jell-o pudding cups, so it has that going for it.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: The 1970s was not a hotbed of action when it came to color.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  TWO Red Cross PSAs for the price of one!






Random Thoughts and Questions (PSA #1):
1.)  Some tender flute music is the hallmark of a quality PSA.
2.)  Everything in the 1970s was just a varying shade of sepia.
3.)  Correction: Everything in the 1970s was just a varying shade of sepia with a dash of beige to jazz things up.
4.)  The two seconds of wannabe Saving Private Ryan was unexpected  random  lacking missing limbs.
5.)  So I take it that the wife/mom is bored out of her skull with her kid?
6.)  That three page brochure is probably chock-full of info. It might take all day to read.


Random Thoughts and Questions (PSA #2):
1.)  Ten days at this aquatic "center." Also known as the woods.
2.)  BREAKING NEWS: Every modern man today from Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia is still rocking a hairstyle popular forty years ago.
3.)  The hand gesture for diving seems redundant. Did he think the diver was going to take flight?
4.)  "...come to the aquatic skooowa..."
5.)  "Most students come [...] to learn water safety," says the teacher. And the rest show up to get a nice tan apparently.
6.)  What's with the freeloader in the middle of the canoe doing nothing? AND THEN HE FLIPS THE BOAT LIKE A TROUBLEMAKER!

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: A forest fire ad without a forest fire.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  People are still trying to figure out what was going on in 1979.







Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  The music budget was clearly slashed at some point in production. Seems like some guy whipped out the Casio keyboard and just played one note. Ta-dah! A soundtrack was born!
2.)  "Of all the planets we know..." So you're saying there's a chance?
3.)  When did this become Sci-Fi Smokey, with a 2,000ft tall version of him peering over the mountains?
4.)  Is Smokey okay? Is he having a stroke? Why is he talking so slowly?
5.)  For a PSA about forest fires, there sure is a lot of water imagery to be had.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: I just inflate until it feels right.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Wing it. But if the tire explodes, ehhh, you probably inflated it too much.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  ...annnnd the mannequins were used why exactly?
2.)  No one can deny the sex appeal of a wood paneled station wagon.
3.)  So the sticker tells the mechanic what to inflate the tires to if you're afraid, but how do you get the numbers in the first place if you don't know? Was this thought out?
4.)  Who was having trouble remembering 26/26?
5.)  That's right--I always see the pilot of a commercial airliner out there checking the tire pressure of his Boeing 747.
6.)  At the end of the second PSA the man goes to open the door...and then lingers without opening said door. The tension was palpable!

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na SAVINGS BONDS!!

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  BAM! KAPOW! TREASURY ACTION!!





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Is Batman farsighted? What's going on here? Why is he holding the card so far away at the beginning?
2.)  Don't his gloves look like something Audrey Hepburn would've worn in Breakfast at Tiffany's?
3.)  That's right kids, get cracking on those savings bonds and pull your weight. No one cares if you're in kindergarten still.
4.)  What is "practical citizenship" exactly? Isn't that, like, taking out the garbage and mowing your lawn?
5.)  Don't forget, kids, you're also helping in Vietnam! I hear that whole get-together turns out well for the U.S. in the end! Thanks, kids!

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: This is more about shady parenting than anything else

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Mom and Dad need to step up their game.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  I don't know about you, but I'd slip little Suzy $5 to do my laundry.
2.)  So the mom and dad are angry often. At what point do they actually get around to teaching their kids life lessons? The son looks like he's old enough to buy a 6-pack of Schlitz.
3.)  You always want to creep up behind your adult children like a ninja and scare the bejeezus out of them as they hold a razor blade to their face. That's quality parenting right there.
4.)  The dad and son seem to get heated fairly quickly, as if there are unresolved issues between the two. Because no one gets that irked over AM radio.
5.)  Little Suzy is the only winner here, as at least she wears a pair of knock-off Chuck Taylors. Kid's got style.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Who knew hitchhiking was safer?

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Personally, I blame the oncoming car for all these shenanigans.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  I feel the smooth brass section playing music is hugely misleading here.
2.)  What's the horsepower on this red car? 15hp? How can it not out-motor two lackadaisical bike riders?
3.)  This all turns into the worst episode of The Twilight Zone ever really quickly.
4.)  Bonus points for the acting chops on the bike riders. Not often do you get jazz hands while being flung through the air.
5.)  "...the rider is dead." And now back to Scooby-Doo, kids!

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: But do they get a juice and cookie break during all this work?

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Cheap labor never sounded so good.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  "Psst. Psst. PSST! You're on, Governor." --Said by the director of this PSA probably.
2.)  The statues on Easter Island are less rigid than this guy.
3.)  Soooo, you're just letting us know boy scouts are going to be some free child labor?
4.)  Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts were raking in the bucks by making all of us happy with their cookies. No one can deny a Thin Mint or Samoas.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Heroin never looked so boring.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Little dolls are the true drug smugglers amongst us.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Slow down there, buddy! You're oozing excitement and enthusiasm!
2.)  Now I'm going to look at every 5-year old with a doll as a potential dope smuggler.
3.)  "But this doll isn't something to play with." I think any heroin addict would beg to differ, sir.
4.)  Has this guy ever gone through customs? I'll allow a smack-peddling doll in our borders if it'll shed a few minutes off my wait.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Oh, it's groovy all right.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Either it's Japanese anime or America on LSD and jazz.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Make sure you take your seizure medication before watching this PSA.
2.)  "Kind of nice, really, what happened in this country not so long ago." Uhh, Vietnam? Korean War? World War II? World War I? The Spanish-American War? Civil War? War of 1812? Jim Crow Laws? Slavery? What nice thing popped up? Maybe the flag-sewing industry is the nice thing? I dunno.
3.)  "Washington and Lincoln, real people like you and me." If they weren't real people, then aliens have been messing with us a lot longer than we thought.
4.)  What's with the drums? Did they get Buddy Rich to do this on the cheap?
5.)  "It was a whole new groove then. And it's still a pretty groovy idea right now." I've always associated the American flag and politics with groovy ideas.
6.)  The Air Force gets a shoutout in the last seconds. Because...uhh...Lincoln and Washington were amazing fighter pilots in their day. Yeah--that's it.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Breakfast of champions!

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  Taking an edge off.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere, amiright??
2.)  Wait--there was only nine million alcoholics in America in the 1970s? Nixon, alone, was worth a solid fifteen million.
3.)  I like to think this gentleman is just trying to help the local economy.
4.)  YOU CAN'T PROVE THAT'S ANYTHING BUT WATER HE'S DRINKING!!

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Apparently thirty seconds of dialogue is too much to memorize for an actor.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  I'm not even showing off my cleavage today.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Jed Clampett cleans up pretty well.
2.)  Stop looking at my chest, Buddy! My eyes are up here!!
3.)  Were the cue cards written as beautifully as the address signage?
4.)  Office Max must've had a sale on poster board.
5.)  This PSA confirms everything in the 1970s was just one giant shade of beige.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Littering never had such a catchy jingle before!

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  You don't even want to know what Mississippi's roads look like by comparison.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Wait--did the song just start out by calling me trash??
2.)  You really have to commend the state of Tennessee for admitting a sizable portion of its population is trash. That takes some guts.
3.)  I think I'm more impressed that this convertible can hold that much garbage. That's a testament to some quality leg room right there.
4.)  Is this a PSA about littering or the lack of state police oversight on Tennessee highways?
5.)  Don't we all really want to know who cleaned up all the trash after they filmed this? Like a gusty breeze didn't come around and send thousands of pieces of "fake" litter off into becoming "real" litter.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: So much for the toy drive.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.


Today:  It's a wonder how any of us survived childhood.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Jesus, Louie--you're running a den of killer toys here!
2.)  No offense, but by the 1970s, even kids wanted nothing to do with spinning tops as a toy.
3.)  "The edges are too sharp"--says the cop as he rubs his finger along the sharp side and doesn't receive a cut. LIES!
4.)  Does a ball-balancing seal with a secret shiv count as a toy or a casual weapon?
5.)  "Next time, make sure they're all safe before you buy them," scolds the cop. Uhh, odds are Louie's grandparents bought most of these toys in the 1880s, so Louie should get a pass on this one.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: ...and the Army Reserve PSA probably has Barry Manilow singing.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.

Today:  I'm not sure if I want to nap or go to war.





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  Nothing will encourage young people to join the military like the soft, dulcet tones of Dionne Warwick.
2.)  Apparently John Denver or The Carpenters weren't available to lend a tune.
3.)  Admittedly, you can never go wrong with some smooth music from the horn section.
4.)  What's up with the little boy heaving the ball 40ft over his dad's head? Seems like a troublemaker to me.
5.)  Does it really take four people running to fly a kite ten feet off the ground?
6.)  New Jersey gets a separate 800-number to call. Because even the national Air Force Reserve wants to keep New Jersey people at bay.

Saturday Morning PSA of The Week: Background music is overrated anyway.

Today's public service announcements are all information and no imagination--but yesteryear's? Those were full of drama, plot lines, and cameos from B-grade celebrities, all wedged into one minute of absolute fantasticness.

Consider this a trip back in time to when PSAs were sometimes worth watching more than the Saturday morning cartoons.

Today:  No, seriously, what's up with those shutters?





Random Thoughts and Questions:
1.)  If you were ever wondering what a Stepford Wife looked like, here's your chance.
2.)  How many cans of Aqua Net went into that hairstyle? I'm putting the over/under at four.
3.)  What's up with the 475 closed shutters behind her? Did they film this in a Bora Bora bungalow or is Dina Merrill about to run a drug deal?
4.)  Apparently they didn't have any money in the budget for some casual background music.
5.)  It's adorable how back in the day they just threw up a simple address and told you to send money. No parameters. Just, "Here's an address. Send something." Could you send traveler's checks? Gift certificates? Rolled coin? I'll assume yes.