Will It Happen Six Years From Now?

Ah, Sealab. Time to take a trip back in time to talk about the show that won't happen for another 6 years. So way back when, my experience with Sealab 2020 was when it had a stint in Cartoon Networks 6-7am morning block Cartoon-a-Doodle-Doo. IIRC it shared the time with back part while something more humor based had the top half. And as a little kid seeing something funny go off into Sealab was pretty boring to me. So i had a little bit of lack of interest in Sealab back then.

Fast forward to Adult Swim days, first thought there was "wow i didn't think the original was that good, but this is just stupid". That opinion didn't change but my opinion of the original did. I had already had other shows i had put a pass on surprise me nowadays so i felt Sealab deserved the chance. And now i can say it delivered finally to me.

The underwater theme seems to work better for me now as an adult. Trips to the aquarium may have helped this as well, but even still i find myself more intrigued then i had been as a kid now by Sealab. While i'm not sure i'd call it a favorite still enjoyable. But in a way i really dig shows that can make an impact like this. I guess i like to be surprised by something i had hazy memories of. Maybe i should have given it more of a chance back then, but i was young. Now i get to enjoy Sealab for what it is.

The 1973 "Super Friends" cartoons had dealt with environmental concerns in most of the stories instead of the expected supervillian/hero clashes...I think perhaps with Aquaman's oceanic territory being an often-used setting in most episodes than Hanna-Barbera thought a series could be built around undersea life alone.

Fred Freiberger was one of the series writers. He previously worked as a producer for the 1960s "Star Trek" series in its third season and later was the producer and story editor for the syndicated "Space: 1999" series with Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. "Space: 1999" was also about colonists in a futuristic space colony.

Ross Martin (Artemis Gordon on "The Wild Wild West") played the voice of Dr. Paul Williams, the Sealab 2020 commander and Chinook Indian.

Ann Jillian played the voice of Gail the diver...she was a child actor who acted into adulthood as a platinum blonde bombshell in the 1970s comedy series "It's A Living".

Pamelyn Ferdin played the voice of Sally Murphy...she played the voice of Precocia Holiday in "The Roman Holidays", Kathy Day in "These Are The Days", and Lucy in several Charlie Brown specials. Very distinctive voice.

Filmation's "Aquaman" solo cartoons ran in the 1960s.

With non-violent story guidelines in place for tv network cartoons in the 1970s, there had to be a shift away from the usual superhero/villain battles in favor of lesson-teaching including environmental concerns. Maybe the reverse is true with the hour long "SuperFriends" show following "Sealab 2020's" lead in presenting stories on protecting the environment, in the sea and on land and in the air.

Apparently, I do remember hearing tell of an underwater building as early as 1985 - on the game show $ale of the Century, a trip to a location where people would stay in an underwater hotel was offered.

And I agree that underwater dwellings will become reality if sea levels rise - it probably won't happen in our lifetimes.