Sadly I remember this cartoon. My father was a big Chuck Norris fan while I was growing up and he would take me to see a bunch of his movies during Chuck Norris’s run with Cannon film. I think my dad was more excited to watch Chuck Norris Karate Commandos than I was. He couldn’t understand why I didn’t like the cartoon. Your RUclips video brought back some funny memories. You are definitely right with thinking that this cartoon started the base line for Chuck Norris becoming an urban legend and that the man can do no wrong because he is Chuck Norris.
They where born out of a great running gag from Late Night with Conan O'Brien involving Walker Texas Ranger clips. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris_facts
This series is literally all the revenge that G.I. Joe's writing staff (the majority of which previously worked at Ruby-Spears) ever needed. As Flint Dille and Buzz Dixon have told the story, someone high up at Ruby-Spears snidely commented the writers were unimportant and interchangeable. Beginning with Steve Gerber, they all left, and were enthusiastically hired by Joe Bacal at Sunbow. The result is obvious: G.I. Joe is a stone cold classic, and Ruby-Spears' shows only got worse and worse, even after luring back Ted Pederson to story edit Centurions.
How does someone who *runs a TV studio* not understand the difference between good writing and bad writing? I mean, gimmicks and fads and popular actors can have their benefits to a show, but surely the writers have *some* impact...surely...? Well, I guess that guy learned his lesson.
Script writers tend to be looked down upon by people in the animation industry because the traditional way of "writing" stories was by storyboards and story meetings where the animators all added their input to the story. Script writers for years couldn't even join the animation union, and the WGA couldn't cover them for years (now cartoons can fall under the WGA's jurisdiction, but rarely do). The guy at Ruby-Spears might have gotten away with his comments had Steve Gerber not been working there around the same time as his lawsuit against Marvel Comics over Howard the Duck and brought along guys like Roy Thomas and Jack Kirby to work there with him.
I love how absolutely no creativity whatsoever went into this cartoon. "We need another villain." "Um...a ninja?" "That's it? Just a ninja?" "N-no. A super one. Super Ninja." "BRILLIANT!"
In my circle, This toyline definitely didn't fail to light fires. Everybody I knew had these figures! We all couldn't get enough martial arts in the 80's! One of the coolest things about the cartoon was that unlike many shows from the time (He-Man/She-Ra, Thundercats, G.I. Joe, etc.) the toys and the TV characters look the same. So similar in fact that the animation looks like the toys came to life. As a kid, I really appreciated stuff like that.
Always delivers a well placed chuckle outta me...kudos! Now for the action figures...and you know..I remember off the wall, barely know toy lines...but I never remember seeing Chuck's...😝
Here in England I don't remember seeing this show growing up. I think if you looked up the word male in the dictionary it would just say see Chuck Norris. I'm sure it was shown here but with only 5 episodes it must have slipped me by. Great video Michael and all the best to you all.
koshar44 Only one thing came to my mind: If you can see Chuck Norris, Chuck Norris can see you. If you can’t see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds from death.
Oh I remember this one. I actually caught this show on Cartoon Network in the 90's. There used to be a segment called "Look What We Found!", where Cartoon Network would showcase an obscure cartoon show like "Mr.T" and "Roman Holidays". And this show was one of those shows. Yeah this show was pretty stupid, there was one clip I've seen of this show where Chuck was fighting some ninjas, and there was a moment where two ninjas jumped in the air and were closing in on him, but then Chuck ducks and the ninjas collide into each other, but then they fly like they were in space. Only Chuck Norris can defy the laws of physics. Also got to dig those titles like "Deadly Dolphins" and "Menace from Space", they sound more like titles to Z-Grade monster or action/suspense movies. Had this show lasted more episodes (and thankfully it didn't), I can only imagine the titles getting more cheesy, like episode 6 would've been called "Attack of the Killer Toy Soldiers" and episode 7 would be "Electric Boogaloo". Great video, can't wait to see what you thought of the figures. I kinda wonder how Chuck Norris himself feels about this show.
I liked this show and toys when I was a kid. But the strange thing, never noticed it was only 5 episodes back then. In my child mind, it was far longer.
Every time you said "Chuck Norris" I flinched. Please don't laugh, it's Chuck fucking Norris. I don't want you to be telapathically struck by............ OUCH!!
Even as a kid I got a chuckle out of them spelling Commandos w/a K. I get it when they're trying to make an acronym fit, like the "K" in "M.A.S.K." standing for "Kommand", but here...
You gotta be careful when putting Chuck Norris and Mr T in a video together. The Internet might explode because it can’t withstand that level of awesome. 😉
Pretty sure I saw my favorite Bond villain, Baron Samedi (Live and Let Die), when ol' Chuck was "hiding"! 💀 Hilarious stuff...watching the lag animation reminds me of playing the first Street Fighter 2 on the slowest setting (no offense to an awesome game like SF2)...in fact, I think I saw E. Honda and Vega as well! 😎🕹
My dad was a Chuck Norris fan since he saw him fought Bruce Lee, but he never really want me to watch this when we first saw it as he deemed everything about it is so ridiculous.Same thing goes when the Rambo animated series was also shown. Oh,by the way,that's a very large screen.
kirby march Barcena I will never forget that when Chuck fought Bruce Lee, Bruce ripped a huge chunk of chest hair from Chuck. That guy was so manly that he had more hair on his back than most men have on their entire bodies.
I received a Chuck Norris action figure for one of my birthdays. It was kind of fun, I guess, but I had never seen the show. Now I know why--only 5 episodes! And was that a Baron Samedi knockoff in the jungle "hiding" scene?!
Would it surprise anyone to learn that the voice of Super Ninja is Keone Young AKA the voice of Storm Shadow? So within two years he had played the best 80's ninja and arguably the worst. Oh and that's Neil Ross doing the intro. He had better things to do tonight than die........or voice this cartoon anymore
I will give Ruby-Spears some limited credit, they didn't do syndication often. When they did, they at least had the sense to do a pilot or mini-series. Yes, this show was clearly bad, but the schedule wasn't stuck with a bad show for 65 episodes come what may. Only exception would be Police Academy, but then Warner Bros was probably paying them a relative fortune to do that.
I'm surprised how my taste as a kid holds up as an adult. For example, I was drawn to Dungeons & Dragons, and I instantly hated this show. Your video about it was fantastic. As I recall, in my market, they preempted a good afternoon show to show this like a miniseries. In that way, it was off to a bad start. But I also hated it for the live-action intro and quality of the animation and writing. I didn't have any interest in Chuck Norris. And I never forgot it over the years as it was a low point in my cartoon watching. Glad to see an entertaining look back that confirms my initial thoughts on it.
I remember watching the show, and having one action figure, but I don't remember anything about the episodes. Also, I didn't actually want the Chuck Norris figure. I ask for Daniel from the Karate Kid because I only had Johnny, but my parents got me Chuck instead.
You know, whenever I Think of the Zombie Apocalypse, I am reminded how much my Parents loved me and how special I am. Its only Natural. I don't know what you had an issue with.
The cartoon never made it to Ireland, the toy line was a flop commercially too, no big retailers stocked it. My dad found the whole toy line in the local market one Christmas, 1987 or 1988, he bought me one figure, seen that I liked it, and asked did I wan't them for Christmas, I said yes, and he bought the lot, including the car. He paid 60 pounds for everything. And I didn't even like Chuck Norris, I watched Jackie Chan movies in the 80's. But the figures were cool.
This show got wrong what Mr. T did right. The story was themed around the moral lesson and integrated it well. The other characters, despite not being Mr. T, are important to the story...even the kid T wanna-be Spike. The action was interesting and so were the threats. Karate Kommandos had none of this.
The insurance companies pay him for the privilege of covering Chuck Norris. One of the best things about this show is that decades later, the rebooted Nickleodian TMNT would pay homage/parody of it as the Turtles would watch old VHS tapes of a show clearly modeled after it. turtlepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Chris_Bradford%27s_2_Ruff_Krew
Was hoping to hear your take on this....thing. Something has always made me hope that even Chuck Norris doesn't know what to think about this. Awesome video, your quality always impresses.
It's hysterical funny. Chucky is so indeed thong In cheek type of character. But even the sometimes sillyness of 80s cartoons. This one simply doesn't deliver at all.
So how does something like this work? Did they intend to do a full season, see the first five episodes and run for the hills? Or was Chuck too busy doing stuff like Walker:Texas Ranger and didn't have time for this tripe? Or would there be some reason to intentionally have just the five episodes? O
It’s possibke I did see at least 1 episode, because I do remember Chuck talking to you at his gym. I seem to have forgotten anything about the actual cartoon though, I just remember the live part.
Yeah that cartoon was horrible but I'm a big fan of Ninjas and this line did provide Super Ninja and his troopers. I did even make a Super Ninja custom back in the 90s when I was with the Evilface.com customizers. I'm looking forward to seeing the figures review.
That's not a sports bra. It's just a normal shirt that's scared of his abs.
D Gray
Co-Signed
I never thought I'd laugh at a Chuck Norris joke in the year 2020, but that one got me.
Chuck Norris doesn't hide. Chuck Norris decides whether or not you can see him.
Sadly I remember this cartoon. My father was a big Chuck Norris fan while I was growing up and he would take me to see a bunch of his movies during Chuck Norris’s run with Cannon film. I think my dad was more excited to watch Chuck Norris Karate Commandos than I was. He couldn’t understand why I didn’t like the cartoon. Your RUclips video brought back some funny memories. You are definitely right with thinking that this cartoon started the base line for Chuck Norris becoming an urban legend and that the man can do no wrong because he is Chuck Norris.
They where born out of a great running gag from Late Night with Conan O'Brien involving Walker Texas Ranger clips.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris_facts
My mom was, is and always will be one of Chuck Norris' greatest fans. Just to make her smile, I would sing the theme from Walker Texas Ranger.
-Chuck Norris, why are you eating my pizza?
-sorry man, its an emergency. I’m Chuck Norris.
Brilliant!
"That's my wife you're fondling!"
"Sorry, it's an emergency, I'm Chuck Norris!"
"Oh, I didn't recognize you at first, carry on!"
Chuck Norris was once bitten in the leg by a cobra. After five days of agonizing pain, the cobra died.
Hey that's Riker's joke... OL J R :)
This series is literally all the revenge that G.I. Joe's writing staff (the majority of which previously worked at Ruby-Spears) ever needed. As Flint Dille and Buzz Dixon have told the story, someone high up at Ruby-Spears snidely commented the writers were unimportant and interchangeable. Beginning with Steve Gerber, they all left, and were enthusiastically hired by Joe Bacal at Sunbow. The result is obvious: G.I. Joe is a stone cold classic, and Ruby-Spears' shows only got worse and worse, even after luring back Ted Pederson to story edit Centurions.
How does someone who *runs a TV studio* not understand the difference between good writing and bad writing? I mean, gimmicks and fads and popular actors can have their benefits to a show, but surely the writers have *some* impact...surely...? Well, I guess that guy learned his lesson.
Script writers tend to be looked down upon by people in the animation industry because the traditional way of "writing" stories was by storyboards and story meetings where the animators all added their input to the story. Script writers for years couldn't even join the animation union, and the WGA couldn't cover them for years (now cartoons can fall under the WGA's jurisdiction, but rarely do). The guy at Ruby-Spears might have gotten away with his comments had Steve Gerber not been working there around the same time as his lawsuit against Marvel Comics over Howard the Duck and brought along guys like Roy Thomas and Jack Kirby to work there with him.
Except for Goldie Gold and The Chipmunks, lol.
Even though I'm not a fan of the 80s Chipmunks and rather prefer The Alvin Show.
This show would be perfect fora drunk night of boredom!
Agreed!
I love how absolutely no creativity whatsoever went into this cartoon.
"We need another villain."
"Um...a ninja?"
"That's it? Just a ninja?"
"N-no. A super one. Super Ninja."
"BRILLIANT!"
Love your 80s presentation videos. I hope the 80s never run out of source materials for your researches.
Thank you for all your previous productions.
You're welcome. We've got a lot of fun stuff coming up so no shortage yet!
Yay!
I saw on Facebook these episodes are becoming increasingly difficult for you to do. So thanks it was fun one.
You're welcome, Marcus.
I’m related to Chuck Norris. So I’m semi bulletproof. It trickles down.
In my circle, This toyline definitely didn't fail to light fires. Everybody I knew had these figures! We all couldn't get enough martial arts in the 80's! One of the coolest things about the cartoon was that unlike many shows from the time (He-Man/She-Ra, Thundercats, G.I. Joe, etc.) the toys and the TV characters look the same. So similar in fact that the animation looks like the toys came to life. As a kid, I really appreciated stuff like that.
The ultimate "get away with anything" excuse: Because I'm Chuck Norris
RetroBlasing=The Reason the internet exists
"OH MY GOD, HE'S RIGHT THERE!" I'm just gonna quote you because I'm dying over here!
Great video as always Mike, thanks for sharing looking forward to P 2
Always delivers a well placed chuckle outta me...kudos!
Now for the action figures...and you know..I remember off the wall, barely know toy lines...but I never remember seeing Chuck's...😝
Here in England I don't remember seeing this show growing up. I think if you looked up the word male in the dictionary it would just say see Chuck Norris. I'm sure it was shown here but with only 5 episodes it must have slipped me by. Great video Michael and all the best to you all.
Michael Palmer So you like me, are awake at a very silly time of the morning!!
Ah!!! He’s stealing my respirator!!!
It’s okay, I’m Chuck Norris!!!!
It's a sports bra....priceless. I can't wait for part 2.
But, but, he's Chuck Norris! This made me laugh out loud at least 10 times!
LOOK LEFT! LMAO! ITS MIDNIGHT & IM CRYING!
koshar44 Only one thing came to my mind: If you can see Chuck Norris, Chuck Norris can see you. If you can’t see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds from death.
I always love learning about '80s cartoons I didn't know existed!
Thank you Michael this is been a wonderful review!
Great review, Michael. Keep up the good work!
Oh I remember this one. I actually caught this show on Cartoon Network in the 90's. There used to be a segment called "Look What We Found!", where Cartoon Network would showcase an obscure cartoon show like "Mr.T" and "Roman Holidays". And this show was one of those shows. Yeah this show was pretty stupid, there was one clip I've seen of this show where Chuck was fighting some ninjas, and there was a moment where two ninjas jumped in the air and were closing in on him, but then Chuck ducks and the ninjas collide into each other, but then they fly like they were in space. Only Chuck Norris can defy the laws of physics. Also got to dig those titles like "Deadly Dolphins" and "Menace from Space", they sound more like titles to Z-Grade monster or action/suspense movies. Had this show lasted more episodes (and thankfully it didn't), I can only imagine the titles getting more cheesy, like episode 6 would've been called "Attack of the Killer Toy Soldiers" and episode 7 would be "Electric Boogaloo". Great video, can't wait to see what you thought of the figures.
I kinda wonder how Chuck Norris himself feels about this show.
I had a comic book based on this a kid. It's as campy as the show complete with a "hi-tech" RV for a HQ! Can't wait for the toy review.
Fascinating video even though I never knew this show existed.
I had a few of the action figures. I had some Rambo figures. This combo made for some bad ass play time.
I never knew this show existed! Very interesting!
Never clicked on a video faster
I liked this show and toys when I was a kid. But the strange thing, never noticed it was only 5 episodes back then. In my child mind, it was far longer.
I'm glad you weren't swayed by all the Chuck Norris hype:-)
The real reason it got cancelled is that the animators got tired of drawing a Sumo's butt cheeks every week.
7:35 "oh my God! He's right there! Look left!"
I laughed so hard I had to pause the video
Lmao @ the final episode. Fighting zombies in a sports bra.
You guys have got an encyclopaedic knowledge of 80s pop culture. You should take the scripts for these videos and edit them into a book.
Man, your guys videos are always entertaining, informative, Interesting, and the quality is brilliant. Good job
Damn...And I thought Rambo was a bad cartoon...Now my standards are all reset. Good Job RB, waiting for part 2.
When Chuck Norris goes to kick you, he'll hit you even if you dodge him.
We're always the "walker" of wanting to stay or change the channel during this weird, but full of lessons karate series. Stay safe and keep it up!
I own ths cartoon! Yes only 5 episodes but still great to watch! U have awesome videos!!!
Every time you said "Chuck Norris" I flinched. Please don't laugh, it's Chuck fucking Norris. I don't want you to be telapathically struck by............
OUCH!!
Covid 19 tested positive for Chuck Norris,now is in quarantine for 14 days.
The intro’s of Chuck Norris looks like his commercials for the Total Gym.
Even as a kid I got a chuckle out of them spelling Commandos w/a K. I get it when they're trying to make an acronym fit, like the "K" in "M.A.S.K." standing for "Kommand", but here...
I was that one kid that had most of the action figures.
You gotta be careful when putting Chuck Norris and Mr T in a video together. The Internet might explode because it can’t withstand that level of awesome. 😉
Pretty sure I saw my favorite Bond villain, Baron Samedi (Live and Let Die), when ol' Chuck was "hiding"! 💀 Hilarious stuff...watching the lag animation reminds me of playing the first Street Fighter 2 on the slowest setting (no offense to an awesome game like SF2)...in fact, I think I saw E. Honda and Vega as well! 😎🕹
Wait. Wait. Did I see baron Samedi?
Yes. Yes you did.
Of course Chuck Norris can do whatever he wants. You know why? BECAUSE HE'S CHUCK NORRIS!
Ever get the feeling that the people who pitched this and wrote this series may have been under the influence of...certain substances?
Loy Turns they probably think they could phone it in with just having Chuck Norris involved.
It was the '80s after all...
The sports car toy worked great with ninja turtles. The foot pegs on the hood were the same size. I used to load it up with shredder's minions.
Omg this is too funny! I love your reviews. 🤣
My dad was a Chuck Norris fan since he saw him fought Bruce Lee, but he never really want me to watch this when we first saw it as he deemed everything about it is so ridiculous.Same thing goes when the Rambo animated series was also shown.
Oh,by the way,that's a very large screen.
kirby march Barcena I will never forget that when Chuck fought Bruce Lee, Bruce ripped a huge chunk of chest hair from Chuck. That guy was so manly that he had more hair on his back than most men have on their entire bodies.
Your dad saw Lee vs. Norris in Way of the Dragon? And became a *Chuck Norris* fan?
I received a Chuck Norris action figure for one of my birthdays. It was kind of fun, I guess, but I had never seen the show. Now I know why--only 5 episodes! And was that a Baron Samedi knockoff in the jungle "hiding" scene?!
14 Years Later
Jackie Chan: Hold my beer
Omar Harris atleast the Jackie Chan show was pretty good
Monsta - One more thing: that was what I was trying to get across with the joke. Man that show was awesome.
I found the car and two Norris figure st goodwill years ago for two dollars
Can’t wait for the video on Walker, Texas Ranger
Would it surprise anyone to learn that the voice of Super Ninja is Keone Young AKA the voice of Storm Shadow? So within two years he had played the best 80's ninja and arguably the worst.
Oh and that's Neil Ross doing the intro. He had better things to do tonight than die........or voice this cartoon anymore
I am ashamed to say I had a few of the toys, didn't ever watch the show. Glad I missed it!!
This video was perfect but could have used some more Tom Selleck. Sorry i mean Chuck Norris
Great vid,I bet Superman was disappointed with the cancelation of both the toyline and cartoon because Chuck Norris is Superman's hero
Russell Summerton That's OK Superman got his own excellent (not being ironic) Ruby-Spears cartoon 2 years later.
I'm glad I missed this one.
I will give Ruby-Spears some limited credit, they didn't do syndication often. When they did, they at least had the sense to do a pilot or mini-series. Yes, this show was clearly bad, but the schedule wasn't stuck with a bad show for 65 episodes come what may. Only exception would be Police Academy, but then Warner Bros was probably paying them a relative fortune to do that.
Hey Mike don't let him show up at ur place ,he might take the delorian, and u know what he's going to say , good video u made his cartoon,s watchable.
I think this is kinda funny my grandpa looks almost exactly like Chuck Norris and his name is even Chuck
I love this cartoon because it is so cheesy.Parachuting alligators,what more can you ask for?
Man almost every show Based on someone Famous never lasts that long
Cool video, jealous of your huge tv!
I'm surprised how my taste as a kid holds up as an adult. For example, I was drawn to Dungeons & Dragons, and I instantly hated this show. Your video about it was fantastic. As I recall, in my market, they preempted a good afternoon show to show this like a miniseries. In that way, it was off to a bad start. But I also hated it for the live-action intro and quality of the animation and writing. I didn't have any interest in Chuck Norris. And I never forgot it over the years as it was a low point in my cartoon watching. Glad to see an entertaining look back that confirms my initial thoughts on it.
Im more impressed that chuck norris has a cartoon XD
Reed's head always reminded me of The Head That Wouldn't Die on the figure.
I had the Karate Vette along with a version of Chuck Norris, Super Ninja and a Ninja Warrior
Amazing! Just...amazing! Great vid friends! You're educating me, one shitty cartoon and toy line at a time!
I remember watching the show, and having one action figure, but I don't remember anything about the episodes.
Also, I didn't actually want the Chuck Norris figure. I ask for Daniel from the Karate Kid because I only had Johnny, but my parents got me Chuck instead.
You know, whenever I Think of the Zombie Apocalypse, I am reminded how much my Parents loved me and how special I am. Its only Natural. I don't know what you had an issue with.
Chuck Norris knew we weren't ready for a true Chuck Norris cartoon so he forced them to make it bad to save use from dying from pure awesome
I remember this show
The cartoon never made it to Ireland, the toy line was a flop commercially too, no big retailers stocked it.
My dad found the whole toy line in the local market one Christmas, 1987 or 1988, he bought me one figure, seen that I liked it, and asked did I wan't them for Christmas, I said yes, and he bought the lot, including the car.
He paid 60 pounds for everything. And I didn't even like Chuck Norris, I watched Jackie Chan movies in the 80's. But the figures were cool.
I'll agree this show was bad, but...
I can't say the animation is bad, since it was made in the 80s. Lol. It looks pretty good during its time.
This show got wrong what Mr. T did right. The story was themed around the moral lesson and integrated it well. The other characters, despite not being Mr. T, are important to the story...even the kid T wanna-be Spike. The action was interesting and so were the threats. Karate Kommandos had none of this.
I don't think Chuck Norris himself could have done a better review.
The insurance companies pay him for the privilege of covering Chuck Norris.
One of the best things about this show is that decades later, the rebooted Nickleodian TMNT would pay homage/parody of it as the Turtles would watch old VHS tapes of a show clearly modeled after it.
turtlepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Chris_Bradford%27s_2_Ruff_Krew
So..are you going to get to Mr. T (the cartoon) at some point? Would love to hear your thoughts
Nerdist completely ripped this off. Even the dr claw reference.
I had the purple mask bad guy toy. It was really good. It had a nice kicking action. But I never watched the cartoon.
Was hoping to hear your take on this....thing. Something has always made me hope that even Chuck Norris doesn't know what to think about this. Awesome video, your quality always impresses.
Man of Action LOL! Nine times....
It's hysterical funny.
Chucky is so indeed thong In cheek type of character.
But even the sometimes sillyness of 80s cartoons.
This one simply doesn't deliver at all.
So how does something like this work? Did they intend to do a full season, see the first five episodes and run for the hills? Or was Chuck too busy doing stuff like Walker:Texas Ranger and didn't have time for this tripe? Or would there be some reason to intentionally have just the five episodes? O
Your retro Star Wars style t-shirt rocks. Where did you get it? I will try google right now. :-)
I still don't know why they aired this on adult swim at 5am
I watched the Mr. T cartoon, but I do not recall the Chuck Norris one.
It’s possibke I did see at least 1 episode, because I do remember Chuck talking to you at his gym. I seem to have forgotten anything about the actual cartoon though, I just remember the live part.
How odd is it that Chuck was almost always in various states of undress during his live action segments?
For some reason I always think the title of this show is Kickin Karate Kommandos...
Okay, I am now officially proud to have never seen one episode of that show. Whew. Great video.
Wow, and I thought Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling was a bad cartoon.
I hope you got this review approved by Chuck Norris first. If not...I will send flowers to the morgue.
👍👍 Opinions right on!
Yeah that cartoon was horrible but I'm a big fan of Ninjas and this line did provide Super Ninja and his troopers. I did even make a Super Ninja custom back in the 90s when I was with the Evilface.com customizers. I'm looking forward to seeing the figures review.