Space Stars (1981)

 

I remember when this cartoon debuted.  I was excited to see some old friends and hopeful for at least one other team.  The comedy dogs segment I did not care about in the least. I had lowered expectations since by then I knew about parents ruining action cartoons in the 60s, but I had hoped it might be a bit better than the 70s cartoons were.  It was, but the animation wasn't as good, and it sounded different.  Some of the original  voice actors were there, but they talked more like 1980s Earthlings would, rather than people of the future from other planets.  In the original Herculoids series Dorno would call his parents by their names, and now he is calling them mother and father.  Some of the sounds were changed as well, including all the power beams and rays that our heroes used.  They now sounded like they might sting a bit, rather than hurt.

It didn't help that the Phantom Cruiser was completely redesigned to look like a Star Wars ship.  It isn't surprising, but bleah.  I got the 3 disc DVD set and have watched two of the episodes.  They are not bad, but they are typical of the time period.  The show is better than I remember, but not as good as it could have been.  The over reliance on the Teen Force's enemy Uglor as the big bad gets old in a hurry, but they are a nifty group.