Last week saw the rumor of a Legend of Zelda live action TV series break into our lives, and we celebrated by letting you have a look at the original Zelda cartoon show and several live-action and animated fan videos. Then we realized that with Grim Fandago getting a “sort of” remake/update, it was the perfect time to revisit a television series based on another popular adventure game: Maniac Mansion.
Yes, one of the most quintessential point-and-click titles of all time, Maniac Mansion, had a live-action TV series based on it. Created by Eugene Levy (of American Pie fame) the show was only loosely tied to the game. While it starred Dr Fred and the Edison family, and included some lite use of science fiction, it was more of a suburban lifestyle story than an outlandish one. The premise was more “how would this strange family fit within actual society” than “what are the crazy things happening in the mansion”.
Starring and centering on Joe Flaherty (of SCTV fame) as Dr Fred, the game’s sentient meteor made for the reasoning behind the scientists secret basement lab and the majority of his failed experiments, some of which included characters like a fly with a man’s head and an adult with a young toddler’s brain. The experiments often resembled science projects rather than attempts at world-domination, and almost always ways that the bumbling Fred could support his family.
It opened to some critical acclaim, lasting for three years and 66 episodes on The Family Channel (which would later become ABC Family). That right there should be enough to give a bit of a warning as to how outlandish the show would (or could) get. Because it was a dry humor sitcom on a very family-focused network, it couldn’t really get too wild. That often resulted in only one or two sci-fi gags per episode, far different from the comedy horror of the game.
Regardless, it was an attempt to bring at least some aspects of the unique game to a wider audience, and it sort of worked. It landed at the same time as the NES port of the game, and was popular enough to keep the game in mind long enough for a sequel (Day of the Tentacle) to be produced.
You can watch the first episode “Flystruck” below via Youtube, or play the game for free online via Internet Archive. Oh, and check out the rest of our Saturday Morning Cartoons. Have a suggestion for a show you’d like to see us cover? Let us know in the comments below!
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