There are some TV shows that will only be remembered by a select group of people due to the fact that the show in question didn't last that very long in the first place and even those that remember the show won't remember that much about it. Such is the case with the show that i'm going to be talking you all about today as this is a show that only last one season and yet out of that one season the show managed to spawn two spin off shows , a comic book series and a remake as well as having it's central villain be the main villain for several Yogi Bear shows as well and so then join me as I review the episode that introduces us to the worlds wackiest racers with the episode in question being called simply just "See-Saw To Arkansas" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is the racers have to race through Arkansas and reach the finish line in order to end the race. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as this is show that really doesn't require a deep plot in order to make it work it just requires the very bare minimum and that's it and to this episodes credit that's exactly what we got in this episode as due to the lack of a plot it does allow for the shows characters to be their charming selves and not be bogged down by telling a deep and thought provoking plot and while yes granted it would have been nice if this episode did have a plot as then it could have made the episode alot more better then what it already is not all shows need to have a deep and thought provoking plot in their episodes to make them work as sometimes just being a simple plot is more then enough as is the case with this episode as this show isn't one that really requires one as we the audience see join the race when it's progress and therefor we don't need to find out why these characters are racing we just need to know there names and that's it as the fun of the episode comes not from it's plot it comes from the characters just doing whatever they can to get ahead in the race with that being something that would be lost if this episode did have a deep thought provoking plot to it with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Yogi Bear star Daws Butler as Red Max , Peter Perfect , Rufus Roughcut and Sgt. Blast and Scooby-Doo star Don Messick as Muttley , Professor Pat Pending and Ring-A-Ding. Also starring in this episode is The Flintstones star John Stephenson as Luke and Blubber Bear , Janet Waldo as Penelope Pitstop , Dave Willock as The Narrator and Paul Winchell as Dick Dastardly and Clyde.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As alot of this shows actors do put in some really decent performances in this episode something that really couldn't have been all that easy to do due to the episodic nature of the show which is something that would have made the acting in this episode all the more harder and yet because of that it's even more impressive that this shows actors pulled off these characters really well as they make the characters that your meant to be liking even more likable and the characters that your meant to hate even more hateable because of it with the true standout actor in this episode being none other then Paul Winchell as Dick Dastardly and Clyde as he has to go from being kind of in the middle of being likable and hateable with Clyde to being the full on bad guy with Dick Dastardly in the same scene and it's something that really does work in this episode as you can tell clear as day that Paul Winchell is having the best of times playing both of these characters and that is something that really does shine through in the final cut of the episode with the acting that's in this very episode no really being helped by this episodes script as this episodes script doesn't really give the actors a whole lot to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the over all quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Hanna-Barbera Productions. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about h actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good as while granted the episode does have that typical Hanna-Barbera cheapness to it with there being alot of repeating backgrounds and even the backgrounds themselves not being as highly detailed as the backgrounds in say Tom & Jerry for example that doesn't change the fact that this episodes animation was a lot better then what it really had any right to be as all of the character designs for the show look really good with the characters some truly iconic designs and even the cars that there driving looking really and fun and creative with the thing that does let the animation in this episode down is the lack of details in the backgrounds as that does mean that all of the episodes backgrounds do start to merge into one thus making it alot more harder for us the audience to work where each character is in relation to the other where as if the backgrounds were a little bit more detailed then that would go along way into fixing this issues not helping things out tho is the fact that the characters movements do feel very stilted which in fairness to this episode is something that was also a problem for alot of Hanna-Barbera shows as well and while it doesn't take away from the quality of the episode it is something that does take away from the quality of the animation and while it is understandable why this episodes animation look cheap alot of the time as this show was produced on a TV show budget the makers of this episode should have done something to make the animation in this episode well and truly standout a little bit more.
One of the highlights of not only this show but this episode is seeing what kind schemes that Dick Dastardly would come up with to win the race. With his schemes in this episode being not that bad as he hides a sign to make it impossible for the racers to tell which way to get of the freeway and other such things and while they do all rightfully end with him getting run over and in case blown up it is something that does show that being evil doesn't mean you'll win which is a good message to teach the shows target kid audience with it being a message that's backed up by the fact that when Dick Dastardly isn't pulling a scheme on the other racers he's actually a pretty good racer in his own right as here he finishes fourth in the race and yet every single time he does try to pull a trick on them he always ends up getting hurt and while his schemes in other episodes would get more and more outlandish as the series would progress here they do feel a lot more tame by comparison and heck it's even Dick Dastardly himself that gets alot of the episodes screen time which is fair enough as he's the series main villain but when you take into account the show is basically an ensemble show thus meaning that it has no main character it does feel odd that he would get treated like the main character of the show just due to the fact that he gets alot more screen time then all of the other racers and while he does pull lots of schemes on the other racers it's The Ant Hill Mob that pull one off him thus giving him a good taste of his own medicine which was a fun thing to see as you don't often get to see one set of characters who it could be argued are villains openly take out someone who is the shows main villain and yet still be treated as being one of the good guys in not only this show but also in The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop as well.
It's not that hard to see why this show has mostly been forgotten about by alot of people as even from this episode you can tell right away that it was never designed to last more then one series. As it would be a show that would get really repetitive pretty quickly and therefor it was kind of doomed to only last a certain amount of episodes but due to the popularity of characters like Dick Dastardly and even Penelope Pitstop both of whom not got there own respective spin off shows but also appeared in the dreadful 2017 remake as it's the characters that really do carry the show and help to make it all the memorable as for a show called Wacky Races you'd expect all of the races to have something about them that makes them wacky and crazy but rather then the races that are wacky it's the racers the actual characters of the show that have something wacky about them and that is something that does help to make this show alot more memorable then what it actually is and it's a shame that when kids today think of the name Wacky Races the first thing that comes to their minds won't be this show as they didn't grow up with it it will be the 2017 show which yes had the more actually wacky races but it lacks the charm and character that we see in this episode as for all of it's faults one of the many things that this episode and this show has going for it is it's char as it's a very charming show that you can put on and watch and be just as entertained by it today as you were when you were kid watching this same episode for the first time and that is something that alot of kids shows today are missing and makes no sense as not all shows need plots and characters as sometimes just being charming is more then enough to make for a good show.
This show and this episode is the very definition of a nothing episode as there isn't alot of plot to speak of. The characters whilst they are charming aren't given alot of personality and the races just aren't as wacky as the tile of the show would have you think which is something that does make it hard to talk about the show and judge it fairly as all of the above things that were just mentioned could be seen as being part of the point of the show as we are only seeing the race from after it's started so we don't get to see any interaction with the racers either before or after the race and so why would they stop and talk to each other when there being alot more focused on trying to win the actual race and while we do get to see alot of the racers win each race the show becomes more fun in not only trying to work out who's going to win but how there going to do it as well as even tho we all know that Dick Dastardly is never going to win any of the races it's still fun seeing him try and stop the other racers so that he himself can win and while this show and this episode might be a nothing show and and a nothing episode there's another word to describe this episode and that's fun as that's exactly what this episode is it's fun but in a child like and silly kind of way and while granted that might put people off the show and off the episode as well there's nothing wrong with being silly and childish as it reminds us of a more simpler time with that being exactly what happens when you watch this episode as it really reminds you of what you were like when you where a kid and had those care free days that we all now really long for and while yes this show will never be that well remembered it will always be a show that is alot of fun to watch with this episode being a prime of example of just how much fun can be had when your watching this episode.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twelve minuets and five seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for all of the episodes of this show as all of the segments of this show was paired with another segment to form one twenty two minuet episode which when the episodes are this repetitive can be seen as being hard to get through especially when you take into account that all of the episodes this one included really don't have alot of plot there to really cover that amount of running time with this episode not even using it's running time wisely as the main plot of the show can't be that well developed due to the sheer nature of the show with us the audience basically starting the episodes whilst the racers are already racing which does mean that the plot of any of this shows episodes can't be that well developed with this being even more evident when you take into account that this episode basically doesn't have that much of a plot to begin with with the lack of development even effecting the shows characters as well which is pretty standard stuff from when this episode was first being broadcast all the way in 1968 as alot of the animated shows back then just had very basic characters and had a clear cut good guy and a clear cut bad guy both of which are present in this episode but it is something that would have helped the characters in this episode stand out all the more if the characters were a bit more well defined since as things stand they do some across as being like one dimensional characters which again might be the point of the episode but it is something that is a knock on this episode as well but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As alot of this shows jokes whist granted they aren't laugh out loud funny there more cute funny which is something that's perfect for this show as this is a show that doesn't really rely on having the more traditional jokes but that's not to say that this episode doesn't have those kinds of jokes in it as it does with an example of this being the scheme that The Ant Hill Mob pull of Dick Dastardly by telling him that get to back to the main road he just has to take a sharp left at the next turn which results in him drowning in mud which is a simple joke but it's one that works really well however that's not that best joke in the whole episode as that honor goes to when the first four racers are near the finishing line The Narrator happens to mention that could be a photo finish which Dick Dastardly himself over hears and so just before he crosses the line he gets out of the car and posses for his picture thus letting all of the other racers past him in the process which is a good joke as it feels like something that that character would do as he does have a bit of an ego and so he would of course stop and strike a pose thinking that someone was going to take his picture with alot of this episodes jokes whilst they are some really good jokes they aren't as good as that one joke is in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall as was mentioned it's not that hard to see why this show has largely been forgotten about as this episode doesn't really have all that much going for it that does make it memorable but in saying that tho this is an episode that is really fun to watch as you never really know just what's going to be happening next which is something that does make a really fun episode to watch in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the god and as well as all of the bad things that are in this vey episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Hanna-Barbera fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Hanna-Barbera fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Hanna-Barbera fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.