The Best Saturday Morning TV Shows From the 1970s

13. H.R. Pufnstuf

H.R. Pufnstuf is another contribution from Sid and Marty Krofft, Saturday morning cartoon icons and huge fans of acid, apparently. It followed the adventures of a young kid, his talking flute and a giant silly-voiced dragon. There was also some stuff about a witch and parodying famous movie stars. Oh, and everything on the show (houses, books, trees, all of it) was alive. It was a weird, trippy mess that somehow tapped directly into the psyche of cheering children the world over.

14. Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan

Okay, so the crime-solving hijinks of Charlie Chan and his music-playing teen charges only lasted for a single year in 1972, but it still bears mentioning because of how awesomely racist it was. Those who aren’t familiar with Charlie Chan can just get an idea of how incredibly bigoted his presentation was by this fact. The cartoon show based on his exploits was the first and only time someone of Chinese ancestry played the character. Typically, he was portrayed with buck teeth, slant-eye makeup and a terrible accent. The show was cancelled after 16 episodes. Fun fact: Jodie Foster was actually a member of the original voice cast.

15. Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

Bill Cosby’s reputation may be going down in flames like a slow-motion Hindenburg, but his contribution to pop culture history is still undeniable. In 1972, Cosby dreamed up Fat Albert and the gang, a group of kids who hang around a junkyard, play instruments of questionable quality, and learn a really valuable lesson each week. Cosby’s custom brand of light-hearted humor was etched into the show’s bones; it remained a crowd favorite until the show ended more than a decade later in 1985.