Casper's Golden Chance.

Hey kids (of all ages), it's Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!

Just a little post-Hallowe'en methadone... I recently uploaded THERE'S GOOD BOOS TO-NIGHT, Casper the Friendly Ghost's second, and most horrific, animated appearance from 1948. A stark contrast to the chipper, sugar-coated, disco-era Casper featured in this show.

I'm not sure how or why Hanna-Barbera got the license on Casper, but their usual inclinations for bandwagon-jumping and thinly-veiled knock-offs were on display, as this program is a crazy quilt of lifted elements...

First, they put Casper into Outer Space, as they had previously done to JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS and the PARTRIDGE FAMILY. (GILLIGAN'S PLANET came later, and was Filmation's doing.) Then they borrowed the LAVERNE & SHIRLEY characters, and chucked-in some CHiPs and CHARLIE'S ANGELS. (Their second bite off the latter's apple, having done CAPTAIN CAVEMAN AND THE TEEN ANGELS a year or two earlier.)

They got one production season, a Hallowe'en and a Christmas Special out of it.

So here, from September 1979, is the first episode of CASPER AND THE ANGELS.

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