This Month in Children's Media: September 2019

Newspaper ad for the new "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" series that premiered Saturday, September 13, 1969 on CBS stations.

70 Years Ago - 1949
September 15, 1949 - The Lone Ranger, the "mysterious masked rider of the plains" comes to television on ABC. To date it is the only dramatic series that premiered before 1950 that is still being broadcast on American television (currently the Cowboy Channel).

50 Years Ago - 1969 

September 6, 1969 - Classic Saturday Mornings [Yes, All of these shows premiered on the same day!]
The Hardy Boys
Cattanooga Cats
Skyhawks
H. R. Pufnstuf
Hot Wheels
Here Comes The Grump
Pink Panther Show

Scooby Doo wasn't the only series to premiere September 13, 1969. "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop" was one of Saturday Morning's first sequels; to Hanna-Barbera's "Wacky Races". 

September 13, 1969
Scooby Doo, Where Are You? - A little disappointed that the gang was not on TV for their big 50th, (except for two recent movies) but streaming and Blu-Ray are where we are today.
Dastardly and Muttedly
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop - One of Saturday mornings first sequels and a homage spoof to silent serials and melodrama.

September 26, 1969
The Brady Bunch - The classic sitcom about Mike, Carol, their 3 sons, 3 daughters with "hair of gold, like their mother" and Alice. What else can be said.

Juvenile Mystery Collection - 001

Detective novels, comics, radio shows, TV programs and games geared towards young listeners and readers have existed for quite a while. Here is a look into a sub-collection of juvenile mystery materials.

Doyle, Arthur Conan, and Felix Sutton. 1957. Sherlock Holmes: a study in scarlet and the red-headed league. New York: Wonder Books.

Sobol, Donald J. 1963. Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. New York: Scholastic Book Services.

Encyclopedia was a favorite growing up. He was easily the smartest of all kid detectives.

Herz, Peggy. 1977. Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. New York. Scholastic Book Services.

Dann, David. 1977. Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Rider Without a Head. Newark, N.J.: Peter Pan Industries.

I do not have the record that came with this book, but it was digitized and put on YouTube. 

Rathbone, Basil, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Leonard Lee, Frank Gruber, and Roy William Neill. 1985. Dressed to kill. Charlotte, NC: United American Video Corp.

Not a "juvenile" version of the Holmes character, but Basil Rathbone may be the most recognizable of all Sherlock Holmes actors, and these films were very accessible to young audiences on television and home video

Dubowski, Cathy East. 1996. The case of the Sea World adventure: a novelization. New York: Scholastic.

The Olsen Twins' Sea World outing aired on TV as I recall and it was enjoyable family special on ABC TV. It doesn't seem that any of the Mary-Kate & Ashley detective films be on DVD for a new generation anytime soon.