Sealab 2020 is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, on Saturday mornings. The series was created by Alex Toth, who also created such other Hanna-Barbera cartoons as Space Ghost and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio.

A parody follow-up series, entitled Sealab 2021, originally aired on Cartoon Network in December 2000, then on Adult Swim from September 2, 2001 to April 24, 2005.

Plot The series took place in the year 2020 at Sealab, an underwater research base on the Challenger seamount. Commanded by Captain Michael Murphy, Sealab was home to 250 people, and was dedicated to the exploration of the seas and the protection of marine life. Dr. Paul Williams, a Chinook oceanographer, led the scientific research team.

Among other things, the crew of Sealab faced such challenges as attacks from sharks and giant squids, potential environmental disasters, and threats to Sealab and marine life from shipping.

Cast John Stephenson as Captain Michael "Mike" Murphy, Quincy Jones Ross Martin as Paul Williams Jerry Dexter as Hal Bryant Ann Jillian as Gail Adams Ron Pinkard as Ed Thomas, Mrs. Thomas's son William Callaway as Lieutenant Sparks Josh Albee as Bobby Murphy Pamelyn Ferdin as Sally Gary Shapiro as Jamie Thomas Olga James as Mrs. Thomas, Ed Thomas's mother Mike Road as Matthew Mills Casey Kasem as Craig Bracken Don Messick as Lawrence Cummings

Episodes

Production Sealab 2020 marked Hanna-Barbera's first return to the action-adventure genre since increased political and social pressures saw that by 1972, most action programming had been removed from the Saturday-morning slot, following pressure from parents' lobbying groups such as the Action for Children's Television (ACT). The series took a more somber and serious approach in comparison to its prior action focused animated series taking tonal inspiration from Star Trek and focusing less on defeating villains of the week with fisticuffs, and instead focusing on its characters responding to environmental or oceanographic crises and concerns. Alex Toth, who had provided work on prior Hanna-Barbera series such as Space Ghost, returned to the studio and designed all aspects of the series including vehicle and character designs. While Toth enjoyed the creative and artistic freedom granted to him in developing and designing the show, he felt the frugal animation Hanna-Barbera was known for hampered the ability to portray a convincing underwater environment. Pamelyn Ferdin, who voiced Sally in the series, praised the series as being ahead of its time when it came to discussing issues such as commercial fishing, oil spills, handling of radioactive waste, and other human activities which contribute to environmental degradation.

Broadcast Sealab 2020 premiered on Saturday September 9, 1972 on NBC during the 11:00-11:30AM timeslot. As NBC's orders were characterized by 13 episode batches to run 4 times over the year in order to cover the 52 week television schedule, the series ran on NBC until September 1, 1973 at which point it was dropped from the 1973–74 Saturday morning schedule.

The series was rebroadcast on Cartoon Network from December 6, 1992 to March 14, 1993 as part of Cartoon Network's Boomerang programming block dedicated to showcases of older cartoons.

Merchandise In 1973, a board game based on the show was produced by Milton Bradley.

Parody follow-up Sealab 2020 was parodied by the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim show Sealab 2021, which aired from December 21, 2000 to April 24, 2005.

Home media On May 22, 2012, Warner Archive released Sealab 2020: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.

The pilot episode "Deep Threat" is included in the Warner Bros. Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Vol. 2 DVD set.

Print media The fanzine Lancelot Link Fan World, published by Cornell Kimball, often covered Sealab 2020.

See also List of underwater science fiction works

References

External links