Saturday morning cartoon series featuring the adventures of popular video game characters.

Video games were exploding in popularity in the 1980s. Characters from several of the more popular games were featured in "Saturday Supercade," a weekly cartoon series perhaps most notable for being Donkey Kong's first starring appearance in a cartoon series. The famous gorilla starred in his own segment, this time as a well-meaning but slow-witted (and sometimes easily manipulated) gorilla who had escaped the circus; his trainer, Mario, and then-girlfriend Pauline (of whom Donkey Kong had a huge crush), tried to capture the large ape. Other segments included "Donkey Kong Jr.," the famous gorilla's young son who was aided in his search by his human friend, Bones; "Frogger," about an investigative amphibious reporter for the Swamp Gazette; "Pitfall," featuring the adventures of Pitfall Harry, his pet mountain lion Quickclaw and his niece Rhonda as they traveled through the forest in search of treasure; and "Q*Bert," about the misadventures of a teen-aged orange creature. The latter two segments were shown on alternate weeks during the first season. During the show's second season, only "Donkey Kong" and "Q*Bert" returned. Two new segments included "Kangaroo," about a young mother kangaroo and her son, Joey, who were constantly harassed by a quartet of mischievous monkeys; and "Space Ace," a teen-ager who fought aliens plotting to invade Earth.—Brian Rathjen <[email protected]>