I was the host, Captain Kevin, and we shot the show live from an old tugboat marooned somewhere in the San Francisco Bay. I showed old black and white public domain cartoons from the 1930s and featured many animators and people in the animation community as special guests.
I created an animated opening for the show, and that's me on guitar on the soundtrack.
You can see the opening here.
You can watch a clip featuring co-host Paul Etchevery and mascot Little Frisky here.
Two complete seasons were filmed, and my plan is, upon completing a couple of animated shorts in the works, to offer the shorts for sale on DVD with hours of bonus features- the actual shows themselves. Watch this space for more information.
Here are several reviews of the show and a number of unsolicited emails:
"Kevin Coffey's TV show CARTOONLAND PRESENTS is now on the air- it features old time cartoons and a host goofier than David Letterman! This homegrown cable channel 29 show in San Francisco could become an underground hit. Coffey is great at off - the - wall introductions to the ancient public domain cartoons that he shows. Paul Etchevery, his guest on the advanced copies of the show sent to the press, rises to the occasion and acts like a spaced - out cartoon nut. Neither Coffey or Etchevery take themselves too seriously, so it is a refreshing change from commercial TV. To add to the fun Coffey has created a great original 1 minute animated opening.For a set he has created an old tug boat on the bay. This local cartoon show for adults airs every first and third Tuesday night at 10:30 pm on cable channel 29, San Francisco."
K.C.
"Animator Kevin Coffey's new TV series CARTOONLAND PRESENTS is on the air- at least to San Francisco residents . Coffey hosts the Cartoonland Tugboat, home to a host of wonderfully obscure 1930's toons. Film historian Karl Cohen, author of "Forbidden Animation " and toon maven Paul Etcheverry are among the co-hosts. Kevin painted a very cool backdrop of the San Francisco Bay, plunked a desk in front of it, donned a yachtman's cap and dubbed the set " the Cartoonland Tugboat ". Guest hosts get to wear a sailor's hat and join Kevin on the tugboat, primarily to joke around between cartoons. A cross between LATE NIGHT BLACK AND WHITE andWAYNE'S WORLD, CARTOONLAND PRESENTS airs on San Francisco cable channel 29 on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 10:30 pm. "
P.E.
And the emails:
"A star is born " ... W.T.
"Very funny "...G.C.
"Extra specially great "...V.J.J.
"Hi, Cap'n Kevin -
My family looks forward to your show - we only wish it was on every week ! Or every night...or maybe 24 hours a day streaming from the web !
You have a great attitude, and superb taste. I love to see the Van Buren stuff...
Your presentation is terrific- sort of a punk Engineer Bill / Sheriff John / Captain Sacto / Diver Dan combination, with no tolerance for BS. It is a perfect shtick for your scholarly presentation of an important part of our history . The original animation and music are also wonderful. If you were to create a tape or DVD of some of the public domain stuff from your collection I would be interested in purchasing it.
Keep up the good work! And watch out for iceburgs, wouldn't want your tugboat to go down. "... P.G.
"Hi ; We luckily channel surfed on to Cartoonland Presents last night.
Absolutely great! I'm a life long fan of the early animators and their work ( my jaw dropped when the first thing you showed was from the old Van Buren studios ).
I wish I had known about your show sooner.
Congrats on a truly great show and many , many thanks for making your labor of love (because you sure don't get rich from public access) available to us
There are some of us out here who truly appreciate it.
I'll watch every week and hope you are able to keep up the good work for a very long time.
Many thanks "... M.B.
"Kevin: Fantastic show last night !! I loved the German cartoons---one was German, right? I also liked your format---reminded me of the old Mayor Art Show on KTVU when I was a kid. Thanks !!"...L.L.
"Just caught your show last night. Saved my friggin soul. I'm happy to just start recording off the TV, but if there's an easier way for me to start collecting this srtuff on video let me know ! Thanks"... A.N.
"Dear Captain Coffey :
I tuned into your ' tune show, man ! Like Wow ! Very funny... I will write in my calender, the two showings each month, so I won't ever miss a show." ... G.C.
