Saturday, June 4, 2011

Tooniversary: Lazer Tag Academy (1986)

The game Lazer Tag became very big in the mid-80's, and, so, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it would be adapted into a cartoon. Ruby-Spears, looking for something to replace Mr. T on NBC's Saturday schedule, picked up a license to develop Lazer Tag Academy, a science fiction series that doubled as a glorified informercial for the game. The plot is rather simple. In the year 2061, Lazer Tag has become a national sport, and Jamie Jarren is its biggest star. Draxon Drear, a master criminal from the 20th century kept in suspended animation, is awakened, and wants the Starlight power that Jamie wields. What results is a race through time, where Jamie meets her ancestors and recruits them as her team. Here's the open to Lazer Tag Academy:



 The downside was the series airing at 12 noon (ET), a death slot for most cartoons. By this point, the local NBC affiliate began airing the full lineup, and so I was able to sample Lazer Tag Academy. NBC didn't have a lot of faith in the show, or otherwise it might've gotten a better slot, nestled perhaps in between Smurfs & Alvin & the Chipmunks

 Rating: B.

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