The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show is an animated television series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions from 1979 to 1981; it was shown right after Super Friends on the ABC Network. The show featured various adventures of the DC Comics superhero Plastic Man. The anthology show included several components, including Plastic Man, Baby Plas, Plastic Family, Mighty Man and Yukk, Fangface and Fangpuss, and Rickety Rocket. By January 1980, it was cut down to 90 minutes, dropping off Rickety Rocket, amidst low ratings. By the 1980–81 season, the format was reduced to a half-hour and it was retooled into The Plasticman/Baby Plas Super Comedy alongside two other Ruby-Spears productions Thundarr the Barbarian and Heathcliff and Dingbat. The show was repackaged by Arlington Television into 130 half-hour episodes, and released into national, first-run-off-network daily syndication in 1984. The Plastic Man Comedy Show was produced and directed by Steve Whiting and featured a live-action "Plastic Man", played by Taylor Marks.

Premise

The origin of Plastic Man is never expressly stated on this series, but it is implied he was originally the small-time crook Patrick "Eel" O'Brian who reformed after he was left for dead by the mob and gained plastic stretch powers. Plastic Man, his girlfriend Penny, and his Polynesian sidekick Hula-Hula travel the world and are given their assignments from the Chief to stop any threat to the world. Plastic Man often retains his sense of humor even in dangerous situations, such as a giant octopus capturing Penny and Hula-Hula causing him to ask "What scout troop did he belong to?" Only Plastic Man villains Doctor Dome, his henchman Lynx, Doctor Honctoff, Carrot-Man, and Spider came from the comics while every other villain was created for the series. The series has a regular consumer affairs public service announcement that presents simple consumer advice for viewers, such as shopping around various retailers for the best price, or going to the public library to see if a desired book is available to borrow instead of buying it. In early episodes Penny has a crush on Plastic Man, who chooses to ignore it as he himself has a crush on the dark-haired female Chief. However, in the second season Plastic Man reciprocates Penny's crush on him and the two marry. The marriage produces a son who has the same powers as Plastic Man and spawns a lighter series of episodes featuring Baby Plas doing things such as saving his friends from neighborhood bullies.

Segments

Besides Plastic Man, Baby Plas, and the Plastic Family, the rest of the original lineup in the first season consists of: By its second season, it was cut down to 90 minutes and everything except Plastic Man and Baby Plas replaced by three new segments in the lineup:

Production

The first episode of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show to air was "Louse of Wax", which was broadcast only once, as part of ABC's Saturday morning preview special for 1979. The episode was written by Mark Evanier, who recalled that "it was one of the fastest cartoon shows ever produced for television. I think from the time I wrote the script to the time it aired was about six weeks. We had finished production on Plastic Man for the time being. I got called in and I was told, 'We need to write another episode of Plastic Man and you're the fastest writer we've got.'" The plot was taken from an unused outline Evanier had written for the series. "Louse of Wax" used a different opening sequence from the one used in the rest of the series; according to Evanier, this was because the series opening had not yet been finished, so a different one had to be created to have the preview special ready in time.

Cast

For each of the shows, the cast list is the same. Taylor Marks (a pseudonym of stand-up comedian Mark Taylor) played Plastic Man in the program's live action segments in syndication. John Stephenson is listed twice in the end credits.

Additional voices

Staff

Episodes

Plastic Man

Plastic Family

Baby Plas

Mighty Man and Yukk

Fangface and Fangpuss

Rickety Rocket

Home media

On October 20, 2009, Warner Home Video (via DC Entertainment, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) released The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show: The Complete Collection, featuring the 35 Plastic Man cartoons on DVD in Region 1. Contrary to the title, the Baby Plas, Plastic Family, Live-action intro segments, and other segments from Season 1 were not included and have yet to be officially released. The "Louse of Wax" episode was also omitted from the collection. The pitch and speed that were presented in the R1 Complete Collection DVD set were the international PAL versions, due to expensive costing issues when about to use and remaster the original NTSC film elements, with correct speed and pitch.