A Hippo To Holler About.

The theme song of "The Peter Potamus Show" was absolutely right when it sang, "Peter Potamus has a charm he could never conceal."

A hot air balloon with a built-in time machine showed true originality on Hanna-Barbera's part. By merely spinning the dial, Pete and So-So could go backward or forward in time. I liked seeing them meet historical figures. These were totally funny, especially when Pete used the Hippo Hurrican Holler against adversaries. I also liked the episodes in which Pete was mistaken for a native god, and a wanted desperado, respectively. All things considered, these shorts were among the best.

"Breezly And Sneezly." Two animals against the military. What fun I had seeing them trying to get the best of Colonel Fusby, only for him to get the best of them. Once he tried to set Breezly up with a female polar bear-a plan that worked too well. Other faves include "Nervous In The Service," when a blow to the head changed Fusby into a friendly, inviting guy, and another one changed him back to his tough guy self. I also thought the episode in which Breezly's fairy godmother made him a five-star general-the highest rank in the army- was also cute. He was able to attend the officers' ball, perfectly disguised.

And then there were the ones with trained mascots, which I consider the funniest ones of all. "Freezing Fleas" had Breezly using trained fleas against the dog Sgt. Fido, and Fusby, too. But then the fleas attacked him and Sneezly. "Goat A Go-Go" featured Socko the billygoat. Each time he sent the animals packing, Fusby rewarded him with a rutabaga. Maybe you can guess what happened when the supply of rutabagas ran out! LOL!

"Yippee, Yappee, And Yahooey." This trio of canine musketeers weren't called the Goofy Guards for nothing. When called to action, they swung in on ropes, shouting out their names, only to bungle their assignments big time, frustrating the King. Although the King was often shown as the only monarch in the palace, there were also his wife the Queen, his son Junior, a bratty little prince, and in one episode, his daughter, a teenage princess who got upset with Daddy for forgetting his promise to buy her a handsome prince! Oh boy.

Although these episodes looked like they took place in a bygone era, there were tipoffs that they were actually set in our time. Two of them featured fighting robots, one of which was able to completely dissolve a tank. But this same one, a Guard-O-Vac, went haywire when the King overloaded the circuits by ordering it to perform way too many tasks! In another, an ugly old witch drinks a potion that changes her into a raving beauty. Yes, another recycled Looney Tunes gag, but at least this one had an antidote, and wasn't pursued by a lustful mirror genie. Inevitably, her antidote stopped working, and Yahooey advised her to start a new career as a Hollywood movie star.

Another good episode was "Nautical Nitwits." In this one, thanks to Yahooey's quick thinking, the team actually succeeds in defeating a notorious pirate, only to accidentally sink their own ship when they fire the cannon. The King put it mildly when he said, "With those Goofy Guards, even when you win, you lose."

So there you have it. "Peter Potamus" and company were top-notch in my opinion.

Trivia Question 94: What classic Disney character did So-So mention when he and Pete were swallowed by a dinosaur?

Trivia answer: Pinocchio. Inside the dino, So-So said, "Now I know how Pinocchio felt."