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The Amazing Chan and the Chan ClanPOSTED BY JASON FETTERS, January 14, 2015 Share
With the death of Saturday morning cartoons ending last year when CW ran the last block, an era has ended. A big part of my Saturday mornings was grabbing a box of Fruity Pebbles to eat in front of the TV when the cartoon block would start at 8am. Now with various online streaming services and cable channels, such as, Cartoon Network, the needs of entertaining children has changed. However, I choose to keep the same fun spirit alive by watching cartoons on Saturday mornings in my own way via DVDs and Blu-rays.
With popular series like the Flintstones, old Looney Tunes, and the insane live action show the Banana Splits in the 70’s, there was so much to choose from. One show that I was too young to remember debuted in 1972 was the Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan that featured a famous detective called Mr. Chan from the popular and prolific Hanna-Barbera. He was voiced by Keye Luke who also played the beloved Master Po in Kung Fu and much later the voice of Zoltar in Sandy Frank’s Battle of the Planets. His full name in the series was Charlie Chan and he worked for the Honolulu police.
Mr. Chan had ten kids and as typical in 70’s family shows, the children played in a band. So just what was the show about?
Well, the whole family and their cute dog, Chu Chu, would solve mysteries in a similar way to Scooby-Doo. On a recent viewing on Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970’s on DVD, the show was very stereotypically 70’s with bell bottoms and the whole family riding in a van. At the press of a button the van could change shape into a bus, taxi, etc.
However nothing about the Amazing Chan grabbed my attention and held it for long. It was so predictable and other than the fact that Charlie Chan is a famous detective, there just isn’t a fun loving personality to drive the show like Fred Flintstone or Scooby-Doo, who are still loved today. This family would soon run out of gas.
The Amazing Chan only lasted for 16 episodes, from September to December, 1972. I wouldn’t recommend this to animation fans or retro TV watchers. It really shows its age and other Hanna-Barbera productions are a lot more fun.
"The Asian Aperture" is ©2015 by Jason Fetters. All contents of Crazed Fanboy are ©2015 by Nolan B. Canova and Terence Nuzum.
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