Civilian Authority (for the) Protection (of) Everyone, Regardless
October 21, 2009 4:04 AM Subscribe
Remember a TV show that featured goofy crimefighting teen heartthrobs driving around in a van with a giant hotdog on top?
Operating out of Northeast South Weston's Krelvin building (the tallest building in the world without elevators), the Kids From C.A.P.E.R. solved mysteries, sang bubblegum pop songs, and tried to bring Don Kirshner's Monkees-style madness to NBC's Saturday morning lineup.
Only 13 episodes were made, and only one has surfaced on YouTube so far.
The Phantom of the Drive-Through:
Opening Theme
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Bonus Song: When It Hit Me (Hurricane)
Operating out of Northeast South Weston's Krelvin building (the tallest building in the world without elevators), the Kids From C.A.P.E.R. solved mysteries, sang bubblegum pop songs, and tried to bring Don Kirshner's Monkees-style madness to NBC's Saturday morning lineup.
Only 13 episodes were made, and only one has surfaced on YouTube so far.
The Phantom of the Drive-Through:
Opening Theme
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Bonus Song: When It Hit Me (Hurricane)
I grew up in the 70's and was ADDICTED to Saturday morning TV. So much that I would gaze at the ad previews for new seasons in comic books and try to figure out which new shows I was going to watch. I would also read the TV guide and later when they ran 30 minute preview shows for the new season, I would rabidly watch those as well. I have no recollection of this show, however but then again, I avoided most of the live action stuff like the plague because I found most of them to be quite dreadful.
posted by GavinR at 4:14 AM on October 21, 2009
posted by GavinR at 4:14 AM on October 21, 2009
So, there shouldn't be any questions about why the film 'American Psycho' was made.
posted by uraniumwilly at 4:27 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by uraniumwilly at 4:27 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
My favorite part of the credits sequence is when, in between quick shots of the members of the team doing various crime-fighting actions (climbing ladders, walkie-talkie-ing, etc.), the blonde kid is shown happily getting a snack from the vending machine. So random. So awesome.
posted by joelhunt at 4:41 AM on October 21, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by joelhunt at 4:41 AM on October 21, 2009 [3 favorites]
Remember a TV show that featured goofy crimefighting teen heartthrobs driving around in a van with a giant hotdog on top?
TV show?
posted by DU at 4:48 AM on October 21, 2009
TV show?
posted by DU at 4:48 AM on October 21, 2009
MetaFilter: When the Big Baloney Was Blue
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:56 AM on October 21, 2009
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:56 AM on October 21, 2009
I don't know anything about these hot dog people... but this is all making me jones pretty hard for the new season of Venture Bros.
posted by rokusan at 5:26 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by rokusan at 5:26 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
I don't know anything about these hot dog people... but this is all making me jones pretty hard for the new season of Venture Bros.
You know it started last Sunday, right?
posted by joelhunt at 5:54 AM on October 21, 2009
You know it started last Sunday, right?
posted by joelhunt at 5:54 AM on October 21, 2009
Yeah, Joel, but it's... so... slow... waiting... for... each... ep... i... sode....
(Okay, so I guess have been spoiled by the Internet.)
posted by rokusan at 6:10 AM on October 21, 2009
(Okay, so I guess have been spoiled by the Internet.)
posted by rokusan at 6:10 AM on October 21, 2009
Yes, I do remember. I am still waiting for online (or otherwise!) video of Wacko [askmifi], roughly same time period, also Ernie Kovacs through a post-psychedelic lens, also short-lived.
posted by eccnineten at 7:08 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by eccnineten at 7:08 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
Sigh, I was so born 7 years too late! I often think that children's TV will never be as groovy ever again.
posted by Calzephyr at 7:24 AM on October 21, 2009
posted by Calzephyr at 7:24 AM on October 21, 2009
I love how the guy who's really good at fighting has the biggest glasses of all. And the brainy one is also attractive? Impossible!
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:39 AM on October 21, 2009
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:39 AM on October 21, 2009
teen heartthrobs
Have standards of attractiveness really changed that much in 30 years? I'm having trouble picturing any of these guys on the WB even with modern haircuts.
posted by straight at 8:02 AM on October 21, 2009
Have standards of attractiveness really changed that much in 30 years? I'm having trouble picturing any of these guys on the WB even with modern haircuts.
posted by straight at 8:02 AM on October 21, 2009
You have to love Wikipedia's weird, clinical descriptions:
...a milquetoast reporter named Kurt Klintsinger who persistently pursued C.A.P.E.R. in hopes of an exclusive. Klintsinger is usually seen wearing goggles pushed up onto his forehead, despite the fact that he is otherwise dressed normally. Strangely, he was also given to brief lapses into a toddler-like persona and speech habits.
posted by Bromius at 8:56 AM on October 21, 2009
...a milquetoast reporter named Kurt Klintsinger who persistently pursued C.A.P.E.R. in hopes of an exclusive. Klintsinger is usually seen wearing goggles pushed up onto his forehead, despite the fact that he is otherwise dressed normally. Strangely, he was also given to brief lapses into a toddler-like persona and speech habits.
posted by Bromius at 8:56 AM on October 21, 2009
Jonny Quest was better, and far more realistic even if it was animated. Kind of goes for the 1960s vs the 1970s in general.
Hmmm?
The 1960s: better than the 1970s, and far more realistic even if they were animated.
posted by philip-random at 9:01 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
Hmmm?
The 1960s: better than the 1970s, and far more realistic even if they were animated.
posted by philip-random at 9:01 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
Have standards of attractiveness really changed that much in 30 years? I'm having trouble picturing any of these guys on the WB even with modern haircuts.
A friend of mine recently showed me a New Kids on the Block photobook she found in a rummage store. Those guys were extremely goofy looking, dated hair or no. I think it's more a matter of pre-teen girls having no taste.
posted by brundlefly at 9:44 AM on October 21, 2009
A friend of mine recently showed me a New Kids on the Block photobook she found in a rummage store. Those guys were extremely goofy looking, dated hair or no. I think it's more a matter of pre-teen girls having no taste.
posted by brundlefly at 9:44 AM on October 21, 2009
Today's heartthrobs are also goofy-looking with stupid hair. If you don't believe that, just wait 10-12 years, then check again.
posted by rokusan at 10:11 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by rokusan at 10:11 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]
Have standards of attractiveness really changed that much in 30 years? I'm having trouble picturing any of these guys on the WB even with modern haircuts.
I was still reading 16 and Tiger Beat when the Kids from C.A.P.E.R. were being pitched as heartthrobs and they never really made it past third-string teen scream status. The Bay City Rollers and Shaun Cassidy were the It boys of that era. Oddly enough, even though they all had similar hair, I never thought the CAPER guys were anything to look at, but the BCR sent my hormones all a-flutter.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:26 AM on October 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
I was still reading 16 and Tiger Beat when the Kids from C.A.P.E.R. were being pitched as heartthrobs and they never really made it past third-string teen scream status. The Bay City Rollers and Shaun Cassidy were the It boys of that era. Oddly enough, even though they all had similar hair, I never thought the CAPER guys were anything to look at, but the BCR sent my hormones all a-flutter.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:26 AM on October 21, 2009 [2 favorites]
Plate O Shrimp there, MrVisible! Why, just last week I had this in my head. Specifically, the part where they would spell out their acronym and then go "Ta daa!", "Ta daaa!", and then the third one would start scatting.
You beat me to *this* FPP, but just wait until my monumental "Football! You bet!" post.
posted by whuppy at 11:37 AM on October 21, 2009
You beat me to *this* FPP, but just wait until my monumental "Football! You bet!" post.
posted by whuppy at 11:37 AM on October 21, 2009
For three decades, I had this vague memory of a funny show I saw a few times when I was a kid. Something bizarre, that involved the Weinermobile, that I thought was hysterical way back when. Browsing the web in a fit of insomnia, I finally turned up the name of the show, and then found out that I wasn't the only one who recalled it fondly. So that's where the post came from; I found myself with a couple of dozen tabs of research on something incredibly obscure but kind of fun. So I immediately thought Metafilter.
If I've helped just one lurker figure out that their hazy memories of hot-dog-topped trucks and singing superheroes weren't hallucinations, then my job here is done.
Plus, it was good to know that my pre-teen humor isn't entirely dead. "I'm scared of water" indeed.
Oh, and philip-random... the show featured a shark hand-puppet named Mr. Featherstone who functioned as a proto-GPS for a crew of singing superheroic teenagers riding around in a van with a hotdog on top. I don't think realism was really a goal for the show.
posted by MrVisible at 11:42 AM on October 21, 2009
If I've helped just one lurker figure out that their hazy memories of hot-dog-topped trucks and singing superheroes weren't hallucinations, then my job here is done.
Plus, it was good to know that my pre-teen humor isn't entirely dead. "I'm scared of water" indeed.
Oh, and philip-random... the show featured a shark hand-puppet named Mr. Featherstone who functioned as a proto-GPS for a crew of singing superheroic teenagers riding around in a van with a hotdog on top. I don't think realism was really a goal for the show.
posted by MrVisible at 11:42 AM on October 21, 2009
If I've helped just one lurker figure out that their hazy memories of hot-dog-topped trucks and singing superheroes weren't hallucinations, then my job here is done.
You, sir, are the real superhero.
posted by rokusan at 7:56 PM on October 21, 2009
You, sir, are the real superhero.
posted by rokusan at 7:56 PM on October 21, 2009
OMG I <3>checks opening credits) ... yep!
Mr. Featherstone says "Great Post, MrVisible"!
posted by jazon at 8:17 PM on October 21, 2009
Mr. Featherstone says "Great Post, MrVisible"!
posted by jazon at 8:17 PM on October 21, 2009
Well, my post got munched. Bummer.
Anyway, I tried to say that I loved Kids from C.A.P.E.R. as a kid. So weird but so awesome. I can still sing the chorus from the opening theme.
Good times!
posted by jazon at 8:19 PM on October 21, 2009
Anyway, I tried to say that I loved Kids from C.A.P.E.R. as a kid. So weird but so awesome. I can still sing the chorus from the opening theme.
Good times!
posted by jazon at 8:19 PM on October 21, 2009
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posted by cerulgalactus at 4:08 AM on October 21, 2009