Saturday Morning Cartoon Rewatch eight – Captain Cavemen and the Teen Angels

Do you remember waaaaaay back when having a day off meant Saturday, and Saturday meant waking up at the crack of dawn to plop yourself in front of the television set with a bowl of sugar based cereal substitute to watch Saturday morning cartoons? Yeah, me neither. But that’s okay. Let’s get NOSTALGIC!
That right there? Yep, it’s a velociraptor. Yep, it’s right behind you. You thought it was all fun and games living in a world where The Flintstones set the rules, didn’t you? No one ever considers the carnivores. Let’s carry on instead to September 10, 1977 where we’ll begin the story of a superhero who survived that alternate timeline. It’s a Saturday and airing for the first time is Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.

History
“Cavey was a caveman and a superhero and traveled with his own super squad of teenage mystery-solvers called the Teen Angels. Captain Caveman wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, so he kind of relied on the Teen Angels to accomplish pretty much anything and to stop him from eating potential clues.” Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels aired from September 10, 1977 to June 21, 1980 in addition to cameos on various incarnations of The Flintstones.

What I remember
I do not remember Captain Caveman having his own show, let alone one called Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. Is it like Charlie’s Angels? Are they an elite band of badass crime solving ladies in bell bottoms and high heeled shoes? Is he their Scooby Doo? No idea. Yet, I clearly remember the main character’s characteristic battle cry of “CAP-TAN CAAAAAVE MANNNN” so I’ve obviously seen something with him in it. Has time displaced my memory of our time displaced hero? Let’s find out.

Rewatch
I was closer than I thought with making a “Scooby Doo” reference. Episode 1, “The Kooky Case of the Cryptic Keys”, checks off all the boxes for an episode of “Scooby Doo.” You’ve got meddling kids looking for clues in a spooky house. There’s obvious villains wearing masks and costumes. There’s one of those paintings where someone behind it can move a panel and see through its eyes. Even Captain Caveman himself is kind of like what would happen if you merged Scooby Doo with Shaggy and gave the resulting composite being a Swiss army club. The comparison isn’t a negative, in terms of enjoying watching the cartoon, but it might explain why I don’t recall watching it as a thing unto itself.

Final verdict
If you like watching the wacky hijinks of crime solving sleuths, you’ll like “Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.” It even has a little more racial diversity than “Scooby Doo.”

If you liked Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
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