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10. The Marvel Super Heroes

Syndicated,1966

Five days a week, five different Marvel heroes rocketed into your living room: Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, The Invincible Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, and Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner. The animation was so stilted that it was barely animated at all, the plots were pale shadows of the stories that appeared in the original comics, but there was still something really great about these. With all of the recent successful films based on Marvel characters, it's very surprising that there isn't a DVD collection of these shows.

9. The Thing / Fred and Barney Meet The Thing

NBC, 1979

"Thing ring, do your thing!" This was one of the lesser animated series based on Marvel characters. Fred and Barney didn't really have much to do with the strongest and most orange member of the Fantastic Four, and the idea that a kid named Benjy Grimm had a ring that turned him into The Thing was pushing it, even for comic book fans. But in 1979, there were three channels, and we weren't that picky.

8. Captain Kangaroo

CBS, 1955-1984

When Bob Keeshan died in 2004, I didn't cry, but I was definitely sad. Keeshan's kiddie TV cred runs deep; he played Clarabell on the old Howdy Doody show. As the Captain, he was like your Grandpa, but without the cigars and whisky. (Wait, that was my grandpa. Moving on…) Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose, and Bunny Rabbit were his co-stars. Simple, sweet and fun.

7. The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

NBC, 1968-1970

If you don't know the theme song to The Banana Splits ("One banana, two banana, three banana, four…"), you're either too young or too old to have enjoyed the show when it was on the air. The Splits were a motley crew of misfits, who, like seemingly every other collection of weirdoes on children's TV in those days, were also a rock band. The Banana Splits consisted of four animals, but they were animals that looked not so much like animals, probably because they were designed by the prolific and brilliant Sid and Marty Krofft. They shared the show with short segments like "Danger Island," which starred Jan Michael Vincent (who knew?). There was a lot going on and it was a lot of fun to watch. Fun fact: Richard Donner, who went on to direct big-screen Superman movies, directed this show's first season.

6. Hot Fudge / The Hot Fudge Show

PBS, 1974-1980

Although all shows had music back then, this one really had music, and pretty funky music at that. Reading about it now, it apparently had a whole hippy-dippy educational agenda, but it must have been a well-disguised one, because all I recall are the tunes. A reunion of the original cast aired on Detroit TV in 2007, and the official website vaguely implies that a DVD will be for sale at some point.

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