AD #2: the latest product in a rash of Play-Doh "make stuff that looks like food" sets. They came out with a lot of these over the years; I guess kids were pretty excited about the prospect of making food from their clay. There was always a small disclaimer where a guy quickly said, "Funtoplaywithnottoeat."
"NOW YOU CAN CATCH A SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW OF STAR WARS EPISODE ONE WITH THESE STAP ATTACK BATTLE DROIDS!!!" Holy cow! If we only knew then what we know now. This is gonna have plenty of nostalgia appeal, what with the naive "Episode 1 will be good" commercials and the kid marrying his cereal and all.
And you know what this is...this is the trippy "Pringles Thru Time" ad that Pringles is still running today. I think this was one of the first appearances of it though. Beat your Pringle cans against that monolith, kids!
Before we get back to the show, a Histeria promo. You might think a mention on this incredible spot of airtime would help it, but Histeria was already cancelled--they just weren't letting us know that. The order for 65 shows was reduced to 52 when the series went well over budget, and dismal ratings for its first few weeks sealed its fate. And of course, when Pokemon showed up, that was the dagger in Miss Information's back. Unlike many of the excellent Warner Bros. 90's cartoons, Histeria hasn't been repeated on any cable channel. All you people who want to see it again, don't worry...I have a feeling it'll show up. Not because someone will listen to Histeria fans, but because the FCC requirement of 3 hours of educational programming will come around to nag Cartoon Network again when they finally decide to dump Captain Planet. And for that reason, Histeria will come back...
Oh yeah...before the episode
started, Kids WB ran a short "primer" to make sure
everyone knew what was going on. "THESE are POKEMON! They
have various powers and abilities! Ash Ketchum is out to catch
them all, along with his friends Brock and Misty, and his first
Pokemon, the electrifying Pikachu! All the while, he must avoid
evildoers, like TEAM ROCKET! Prepare for a boy on a quest!
Prepare for POKEMON!!" *cue theme song, then all the ads I
just went over*
They certainly spent a lot of time on the promotion for this. Of
course, if it HADN'T worked, they could just as easily pretend
the show never existed, and make everyone forget they ran it.
Remember "Brats of the Lost Nebula"? Didn't think so.