The talking dog is blasphemous.

December 23, 2004 11:54 PM

Davey and Goliath are back! After a successful pro-tolerance Christmas special, new episodes of the Lutheran stop-motion sensation Davey and Goliath are thundering back into production. Revisit some old times (Quicktime; also, slow) and look to the familiar future of Christian programming for kids!
posted by Sticherbeast (30 comments total)

OK!!!!
posted by jimmy at 12:31 AM on December 24, 2004

I don't think this is a good idea, Da-vey.
posted by orange swan at 2:49 AM on December 24, 2004

"What just happened here?"
We got hosed, Tommy. We got hosed."
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:51 AM on December 24, 2004

I loved that show!

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they sometimes aired it during the Commander Tom show (now that was the most AWESOME weekly kids TV hour ever -- thanks Commander Tom!) I hope the new ones are just as free -- someone needs to bittorrent them double-quick!
posted by shepd at 4:56 AM on December 24, 2004

Here's the D&G Mountain Dew ads for anyone who missed 'em!
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:59 AM on December 24, 2004

I used to dread this show but watch it anyway since there were no other children's shows on at the same time. That dog used to really irritate me.
posted by Guy Innagorillasuit at 5:57 AM on December 24, 2004

I loved this show as a kid! I liked it for it's pro-tolerance and conflict resolution. I didn't realize the show was "christian" until after it went off the air. Even though I don't associate myself with that label, I still might watch it again.
posted by dbh at 7:22 AM on December 24, 2004

what dbh said.

it's definitely needed, nowadays, and i only hope it doesn't get too hip or modern--it had a Mr. Rogers quality to it that was perfect.
posted by amberglow at 7:31 AM on December 24, 2004

ah commander tom. my saturday mornings were not complete without that astral weatherman. we used to get it from Buffalo up in Toronto. Him and the Carvel ads left an indelible mark on my childhood. and yes, shepd, it was on during his show.
posted by grimley at 8:30 AM on December 24, 2004

Shepd & grimley: Commander Tom, at least when I was a kid (the 60's & 70's), was on every afternoon on Channel 7 in Buffalo. Maybe it was on Saturdays, too. They also had Rocketship 7 every morning. Both shows, I think, showed Davey and Goliath, the old Looney Tunes crowd, as well as Gumby, which I always found to be strangely creepy when I was a kid.
posted by Doohickie at 8:51 AM on December 24, 2004

"Yasmeen - Davey’s new Muslim friend"

Holy frijoles.
posted by crunchland at 8:52 AM on December 24, 2004

I'm kind of glad to hear this. Square as it was, I found it strangely comforting as a kid. It was the only kid-related thing on the teevee after we got home from church, so I used to watch it, er, religiously (and, it was on right before the Bowery Boys, of which I was also a devotee).
posted by Flem Snopes at 8:58 AM on December 24, 2004

yup--Bowery Boys and Abbott and Costello were always on afterwards. : >
posted by amberglow at 9:00 AM on December 24, 2004

I never looked forward to watching Davey and Goliath but finding it on Sunday mornings between all the grownup stuff was comforting. Bowery Boys and Abbott & Costello... now that was good TV.
posted by hojoki at 9:33 AM on December 24, 2004

Don't forget The Magic Door for the Jewish kids! (This may have been on only in Chicago)
posted by SisterHavana at 10:14 AM on December 24, 2004

i remember Magic Garden, but Magic Door?

link us! was it claymationy like davey and goliath? : >
posted by amberglow at 10:51 AM on December 24, 2004

Snowboarding?!

Feckin' Christ on a crutch.
posted by sourwookie at 11:23 AM on December 24, 2004

(18 comments into a thread that has the word "Christian" in the initial post, and no snarks yet? It really is a Christmas miracle! Somebody fetch Lileks.)
posted by ChrisTN at 11:34 AM on December 24, 2004

yeah, but it's claymation! how can you go wrong with claymation! it's not really real!
posted by grimley at 11:44 AM on December 24, 2004

I think all the snarkmeisters are taking the holiday off. In the Christmas Tree thread, an awkward attempt to post some links was made, and neither the attempt nor my response (telling the new poster how to properly post links) has been snarked. Yet.
posted by Doohickie at 12:21 PM on December 24, 2004

I thought Davey was a brat but I liked his dog!

All the references to god and what he would do, etc were just normal back then, but do you think it would go over as well today? I think we're a bit more cynical now and our children have followed suit. I imagine many would roll their eyes at what went almost unnoticed then.

Or maybe it's just me?!
posted by LouReedsSon at 1:12 PM on December 24, 2004

It's just you.
Here in Texas, I think there will be a pretty good reception for ol' Davey. He was Christian before being Christian was cool.
posted by Doohickie at 2:04 PM on December 24, 2004

Uh-oh... Not a red-state/blue-state thang? ;)
posted by LouReedsSon at 3:05 PM on December 24, 2004

"I grew up on Davey ... and I believe in the importance and power of Davey and Goliath as a symbol of the gospel," Shafer said. "I would never do anything to besmirch the Davey reputation."

From Smart Dalek's second link. But he did besmirch the reputation and yet he's still in his job. How sad for the church which employs him.
posted by billsaysthis at 4:28 PM on December 24, 2004

I'm a blue-stater stuck in a red state, and I kinda like Davey & Goliath. The Mr. Rogers aura & all that. Harkens back to a time of innocence.
posted by Doohickie at 9:21 PM on December 24, 2004

Whatcha makin' there, Gravey?
posted by secret about box at 9:32 PM on December 24, 2004

I can't get Mikey-San's link so here's the transcript of what I assume it was:

% Ned Flanders, surprisingly, has found a cartoon that he can permit
% his children to watch. After all, "Gravey and Jobriath" is approved
% by the Council of Presbylutheran Ministers.
%
% As we watch the cartoon, the animation style shifts to a dead ringer
% for the original "Davey and Goliath" Claymation. Jobriath walks up
% to Gravey, who's busy making something in the garage workshop.

Jobriath: Whatcha making there, Gravey?
Gravey: It's a pipe bomb, Jobriath. For to blow up Planned
Parenthood.
Jobriath: I don't know, Gravey.
Gravey: I'm sick of your lack of faith. [lights the bomb
and jams it into Jobriath's mouth]
Jobriath: [muffled] But Gravey!
[cut back to the "Simpsons" animation style, and to
the Flanders flock. An explosion is heard]
Rod + Todd: Yay!
-- "HOMR"

But to be fair, Lutherans are actually pretty progressive aren't they? Was this cartoon/claymation preachy at all or just trying to vaguely teach healthy morals?
posted by RemusLupin at 8:44 AM on December 25, 2004

amberglow, this page has a little more info about The Magic Door. Most of the characters were hand puppets, kind of like Mr. Rogers' Land of Make Believe. (There really is not a ton of info about it to be found. : ( )
posted by SisterHavana at 9:38 AM on December 25, 2004

But to be fair, Lutherans are actually pretty progressive aren't they?

Depends. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is more progressive than the stoic Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. And since the word cited was "Presbylutheran", it is worth noting that the Presbyterian Church USA is more progressive than the Presbyterian Church in America.
posted by Doohickie at 10:34 AM on December 25, 2004

thanks Sister--i wonder why it never aired here? (NYC)
posted by amberglow at 10:41 AM on December 25, 2004