Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: The Bugaloos "Now You See 'Em, Now You Don't."

In ‘Now You See ‘Em, Now you Don’t,” the Bugaloos attempt to work Sparky (Billy Barty) into a new song. The result is “Gna Gna Gna Gna Gna.”

Peter Platter is so impressed with the composition that he decides to work the Bugaloos -- with Sparky --into his upcoming telethon show.

Benita Bizarre (Martha Raye) gets winds of Sparky’s new sound, and wants to steal it for herself.  To do so, she forges adoption papers, and takes Sparky as her own son. 

Sparky is moved from Tranquility Forest to the Juke Box, and then forced to sing with Benita.

The Bugaloos team up with an absent-minded professor/magician, who has developed a magic wand that can create invisibility. 

All the Bugaloos are rendered invisible, so that they can infiltrate Benita’s home, and bring Sparky home.

Last week, a beauty contest. This week, a telethon. And Benita Bizarre is once again up to no good.  

So, in other words, it’s business as usual in Tranquility Forest in this installment of The Bugaloos.

One thing to note: I’ve enjoyed most of the songs on the series, thus far.  

This week’s song, “Gna, Gna, Gna, Gna, Gna” is the ear-rattling exception.

Here it is in its entirety:

My son watched this episode with me, and he will, to torture me, break out into this song periodically.  

I love that kid. 

But not the song.

One point of interest this week is that The Bugaloos, while a fantasy, has largely adhered to its own universe and rules of Physics. This week, however, a magician can turn people invisible, which is a clear break from the standard format.

Still, the break in format sets up another instance of the format: the last minute rescue of a Bugaloo (or Sparky) from Benita Bizarre’s juke box.  That pretty much happens every week.

Next week: “Help Wanted – Firefly.”