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Show:		7.0
Picture:		5.0
Sound:		6.0
Extras:		5.0
Score:		6.0

Director(s):	Charles A. Nichols • Joseph Barbera • Rudy Larriva • William Hanna • Bill Reed
Writer(s):	Peter Dixon, Peter Germano, Fred Freiberger, Bill Danch, Marc Richards, Jim Ryan, Walter Black, Bill Lutz
Starring:	Adam West • Burt Ward • Daws Butler • Don Messick • Frank Welker • Janet Waldo • Julie Bennett • Melendy Britt • Shannon Farnon • William Callaway • Melanie Baker • Kathy Gori • Joan Gardner • Josh Albee • Tom Bosley • Pamelyn Ferdin • Ross Martin • John Stephenson • Alan Hale Jr. • Bob Denver • Jim Backus • Barney Phillips • Jerry Dexter
Genre:	Adventure • Animation • Children & Family
Release Date:	October 27, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $19.99
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Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Volume 2 is definitely a blast from my past. I grew up watching reruns of these shows when they aired on the Cartoon Network at my grandmother’s house. I remember thinking that they were so funny and such great entertainment. These thoughts must have been caused by the thrill of watching cable, which we didn’t have at home, because this time around I was not at all impressed.

Perhaps my sense of humor has gotten more complex over the years. At least, that’s what I like to tell myself. Surely there is no way that I enjoyed the hijinks and mayhem of Shazzan, with the flying camel Kaboobie and the all-powerful genie that couldn’t get Chuck and Nancy home. The over the top antics of the Hair Bear Bunch, who converted their cave to more fancy digs with a touch of the wall, upgrading from straw mats to real beds and a refrigerator, never could have made me laugh. And the repetitive humor of The New Adventures of Gilligan probably didn’t hold my interest for more than a minute or two at a time. Surely I am remembering my childhood wrong. At least let me hold on to my last shred of dignity.

Not only are these stories not that funny, they are also fairly blatant in their reproach of society. Sealab 2020 comes straight out and mentions that pollution in the 70s is a huge problem and that dumping toxic waste in the ocean will hurt future generations. Meanwhile, Yogi’s Gang is exceptionally slick and actually names a villain Mr. Bigot. This character has his minions, aptly named Haggling and Bickering, mix the ingredients “hate” and “prejudice” in his little mind bender machine and then shoots hate and prejudice filled rays at people (and bears) with it, causing them to decide that they only like people exactly like themselves. I can’t imagine what this episode is referring to at all, can you? I’ll forgive them though, since the episode includes both Huckleberry Hound and Snagglepuss, my two favorite friends of Yogi. Other beloved shows featured on this set include Valley of the Dinosaurs, Batman, and Inch-High Private Eye.

Despite all of my mocking, I actually enjoyed watching these cartoons. While they may not be as funny to me as The Simpsons or Family Guy, it was nice to recall a simpler time when children actually thought talking animals like Bugs Bunny were great entertainment, even if they didn’t have a drinking problem (yes, I’m looking at you, Brian). It would have been nice if the DVD set had been digitally remastered though, as I definitely felt like I was in a time warp for some of the episodes. That grainy look is not helping anything.

DVD Bonus Features

The only real feature is entitled "The Power of Shazzan". While short, it was a great bit of fun. It’s a documentary of the evolution of Shazzan and the issues that came along with having a genie who could do pretty much everything as a character. It’s nice to see that at least someone else couldn’t understand why Shazzan would solve one problem, go away, then another problem would pop up that Chuck and Nancy couldn’t fix without him. It makes you wonder why he would bother going away at all, or why he needed them in the first place. After all, he’s got two hands…can’t he just wear the rings himself?