Frankenstein Jr. & The Impossibles
Frankenstein Jr (a 30 foot crime fighting robot) was the
invention of redheaded boy scientist Buzz Conroy, son of the
eminent Professor Conroy.
A huge talking, thinking, rocket-powered
robot, Frankenstein Junior looked just like his horror movie
namesake but was used entirely for good causes, such as defeating super villains
like Dr Shock and Birdman.
Buzz controlled FJ with a special radar ring and also joined
the robot on his missions. Clambering up on his back, Buzz uttered
the magic command "Allakazoom", which blasted them off
from the professor's mountain lab.
Once in action, Buzz donned his
rocket-belt which enabled him to fly, and FJ employed an armoury
of ingenious weapons.
Any actors worried about typecasting ought to consider Ted
Cassidy's role in this series. Fresh from playing Lurch in The
Addams Family, he now found himself voicing a Frankenstein
robot.
In a separate segment, The Impossibles were a three man touring pop group whose
performances were constantly interrupted by their boss, Big D, who
spoke to them from a video screen hidden in a guitar.
With the cry
of "Rally-Ho" the trio would bound into action against
crooks like the Fiendish Fiddler and the Diabolical Daubler, making full use of their incredible abilities.
Coil Man had spring-loaded extending limbs, Fluid Man had the
power to become any kind of liquid (anyone fancy a beer, then?)
allowing him to trickle under doors for example, and Multi man
could make instant and unlimited copies of himself. The 'Impossicar'
took them from gig to gig.
Frankenstein Jr was forced off the air in 1968 due to
excessive violence. Once the outcry cooled off, the mound of metal
could be seen in reruns, in the form of Space Ghost and
Frankenstein Jr. on NBC in 1976.
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