Remembering Slim Goodbody

As a kid I used to watch Captain Kangaroo.  I was actually into children’s shows longer than my parents were comfortable watching me.   Felt and still feel that there’s some entertainment to be had from some of them no matter what the age.  Let’s face it: there has to be stuff in them for the adults or else the adults wouldn’t easily be able to watch them.

Anyway, my parents (I think my mom in particular) wanted me to stop watching Captain Kangaroo, but I was a diehard superhero fan and wanted to watch the Slim Goodbody sequences.  Slim Goodbody was a Body Control worker  in Nutri-City, aided by the robot B1  who when villainy threatened (usually by  Sara Bellum and Lobe, and always with an educational twist)  would transform into a hero wearing a costume that was a bodysuit showing the body’s inner organs and the like.  It wasn’t exactly Watchmen, but it was a superhero, albeit one for educational purposes But hey, at that age, it was a superhero adventure of sorts and that was enough for me. 

Eventually my mom did talk me out of watching the show but by then I didn’t mind so much; Slim had pretty much stopped fighting villains and was now just answering letters apparently  from kids that Slim good give a life lesson about. Watching a superhero standing around answering letters from kids asking questions about life was hardly compelling television at any age. But the early stuff was a hoot. 

Here’s parts of a sample episode (Think No Evil) of Slim Goodbody (while he appeared on Captain Kangaroo, the skits were used in other places as well): 

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ3HMQ_LyZY  (not in costume)

Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMPh28lm7RE&feature=relmfu (appears in costume; interestingly this section includes the only part of specific dialogue I recalled as a kid (I misremembered a bit of it but mostly had it right in my head; it’s the part where the villain sings on the phone).  If you want to jump to the catchy phone bit, which leads straight to the transformation bit, jump to 5:40.

Apparently the character is still floating around out there often played by the original actor. But I haven’t seen his more recent appearances/