Saturday Mornings - 1978 was a very diverse year

In 1978, the animation studio Filmation put out some of the most diverse shows of the time period, the most notable being either part of or tied to Tarzan and the Super 7.  In Tarzan and the Super 7, Each 90 minute show featured a rerun from The New Adventures of Batman (1977) and new 11 to 17 minute episodes of Tarzan; Web Woman, The Freedom Force; Manta and Moray; Superstretch and Microwoman and the live action Jason of Star Command.

While Tarzan and Batman are not that avantgarde or diverse (although there were female villains and characters), check out the remaining lineup there and the clips/episodes of their respective shows:

 Web Woman – follows NASA scientist, Kelly Webster who saves an insect-style alien and receives superpowers through a gifted Black Widow ring.  Another cartoon with emphasis on the environment.

• Kelly Webster/Web Woman (Female)

The Freedom Force – Featuring a superhero team gathered by the heroine Isis from around the world to help fight evil.  Of note – the team is led by Isis, and Hercules was tied to the 1977 show Space Sentinels (also by Filmation) with Hercules, the Chinese character Mercury and the African American woman Astrea.

• Isis (Female Egyption)

• Super-Samurai (Oriental/Japanese)

• Sinbad (Arabic)

• Merlin (an old man)

• Hercules (Greek)

Manta and Moray - are a pair of amphibious superheroes who help humanity in “Fish out of Water” (pun intended) episodes, usually with a  heavy environmental message. 

• Manta (Male water breathing humanoid)

• Moray (Female water breathing humanoid)

  Note - the below clip is the intro for all of the Super 7. It is the only one I could find with footage of Manta and Moray.

Superstretch and Microwoman – A shape-shifting, husband and wife crime-fighting team, this duo was a new concept for superhero cartoons in that they were the first African-American man/woman duo, and that they did not change into superhero costumes when the need to use their powers came, or adopt a "secret identity", simply wearing ordinary clothes.

• Superstretch/Chris Cross – (African American Male)

• Microwoman/Christy Cross (Afrocam American Female)

 Jason of Star Command – The series revolved around the exploits Jason (Craig Littler) and his colleagues as they travel through space in their starship, Starfire. The only live action entry, we highlighted characters of a Diversity note below in parentheses.

• Jason – Craig Littler

• Dragos - Sid Haig (Armenian) who had an expansive career for which he is probably know for playing Captain Spaulding in the Devil’s Rejects

• Prof. Parsafoot – Charlie Dell

• Capt. Davidoff – Susan Pratt (Female)

• Commander Canarvin – James Doohan (Canadian Male)

• The Commander – John Russell

• Samantha – Tamara Dobson (African American Woman)

• Allegra – Rosanne Katon (African American Woman)

 Out of 5 shows, we have 18 recurring characters, that when you consider the numbers below, would be considered fairly diverse, especially by 1978 standards.

• 8 character of various ethnic origins and 2 humanoid.

• 7 female characters, of which 4 were leading roles/title characters

• 5 females in leadership roles

• 1 show had only a Female lead

• 1 show had an all African-American superhero team

• This does NOT include the show Space Sentinals, which had another African American Woman and Chinese Male.

After airing on CBS for two years, the show was rerun, minus Tarzan, on NBC under the title "Batman and the Super 7".

 In late 1978 DC comics filed a lawsuit against Filmation for infringement of copyrights. They claimed Manta, Moray and Whiskers were based upon Aquaman, Mera and Tusky, while Superstretch was based on Plastic Man. Although most of the claims were thrown out when the case came to trial, Filmation ended up paying DC for breach of contract and breach of confidential relationship as they had previously had an option on producing a Plastic Man series. They also agreed to stop making new segments featuring 'Manta and Moray' and 'Superstretch and Microwoman'.

Before we close, I wanted to highlight one particular voice actress – Kim Hamilton, who voiced Microwoman, and her pretty remarkable career.  Most actors and actresses would be proud that they had a career that included appearing on The Twilight Zone (The Big Tall Wish), General Hospital, The Jefferson’s, All in the Family, Law & Order and even Star Trek the Next Generation (Songi in the episode Final Mission) – but Ms. Hamilton was also the only African-American to have a speaking part on Leave it Beaver and was one of the first African-Americans to appear on Days of Our Lives.  I personally remember from the 1960’s horror movie The Leech Woman and always thought she was a fine actress.  I was happy to learn more about her during my research, and I know she was proud of her impact.