Totally Rad Staff
1. The California Raisins Show
Aired: 1989
Network: CBS
Number of episodes: 13
CBS ushered out its 1980s Saturday morning cartoon legacy on an odd note with The California Raisins Show, with a theme song that began with the lyric,” Baby, we’re the hippest dried fruit around.” The animated series was based on the California Raisins, four singing dried fruits created in 1986 for a commercial for the California Raisin Advisory Board. The Claymation raisins got their start singing “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” for the ads but quickly became a weird phenomenon that led to four albums on the Rap label Priority Records, two prime-time network TV specials, a Nintendo video game and an extensive line of merchandise featuring everything from lunchboxes to clothing. It also spawned this short-lived Saturday morning cartoon, which centered on the misadventures of the raisin “band” — singer A.C. (vocals), drummer Beebop (drums), bassist Stretch (bass)and guitarist/pianist Red — in a world populated by other talking fruit. A DVD featuring the series, as well as the specials and commercials, came out in 2011.
