That was his name and job description. They used to play the late 60s cartoons in the late 70s on channel 5, WNEW, in the afternoon. This and the Spider-Man one, with the theme song everyone knows. (Does whatever a spider can!)

While Spider-Man offered more heroic action, this was always the cooler show. It was based on a movie based on a short story,but by the time it was made a cartoon, they created a whole new team, characters and plot.

In doing this, by way of ripping off a bunch of other conventions, they unwittingly drew upon a bunch of powerful, archetypal themes and ideas. It was partly a Fantastic 4 rip off, with the lead character resembling Marvel’s Reed Richards but crossed with Marvel’s Nick Fury. Guru, the shadowy and powerful officer was part STAR TREK Spock (instead of being alien race, he was a foreigner, which in 1968 was probably just as exotic and unknown), part Captain Nemo, and filled the Ben Grimm/Thing slot. He had swami powers; hypnotism, snake charming, sometimes telekinesis, I think. You know, like all people from India do. Similarly, according to cartoons from the late 60s through to the 80s, all American Indians are deadly with bows and can communicate with eagles. The girl doctor/love interest was a direct Sue Storm rip-off, but they played with the archetype of the “little guy” of Buzby, making him the somewhat cowardly genius inventor.

It had a kind of mod, action feel to it, like you were watching something intended for a more mature audience; there was a MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. vibe thrown in as well. It was enough of a mish-mash rip-off of so many different things that it became a unique little Frankenstein all of its own. A young Don Bluth, who would later go on to do all manner of cool animation stuff in the 80s, did the layouts and breakdowns for the show, which is probably why it looked cooler than it had a right to, budget-wise.

You know who did the intro-voice over, with that super-intense baritone pronouncement style? TIME LIMIT: TWELVE HOURS! That’s none other  than Mary Tyler Moore’s and Caddyshack’s and Too Close For Comfort’s Ted Knight. How awesome is that?