Shark Bytes

This cartoon will be best noted for having filled the prime-time void between the cancellation of The Flintstones in 1966 and the premiere of The Simpsons in 1989.

I loved this show. I was 7 years old when it started in 1972, but even at that point I could see the "All In The Family" influences (I watched that show back then, too).

Interesting stories and a great cast, but wow do I hate that minimalistic HB animation! Not just crudely animated, but crudely drawn. JTS from day one, just because of that.

Got the first season DVD, and it took me back even though I was, like, ten at the time and didn't fully understand the content then: lazy hippie son, daughter who liked to spout the Cosmo pop female psychology of the time, anti-commie paranoid neighbor Ralph who, I must be the first to say this had a coincidental and not-so-passing resemblance to Tricky Dick Nixon.

I thought I was the only one who remembered this show. This really brings me back to my childhood in the early seventies. In Chicago it was on at 6:30 on Monday nights during it's first run. I still remember hurrying through dinner to watch it. I caught it in late night reruns several years ago on the Cartoon Network and I was glad to see that, even though the eearly seventies references, etc. make it pretty dated, the humor still holds up nicely. It's cool to see other people who sahre these memories.

Most of the posters seem to really love this cartoon. That's great. It finally arrived here 8 years after the fact (regional TV anyway; the bigger networks may have run it earlier) and I thought it was brilliant. I'm sure I wouldn't find it dated or cliched now, so thanks for reminding me. I don't suppose the second season was run here, so I can't wait to get the DVDs. It was that worth it!

About all that I remember of this show from childhood was the catchy theme song. I recently rented Season 1 from Netflix and loved it. My favorite line from Harry Boyle was spoken to his bum son Chet:

"Chet, do something you haven't done since the day you were born: make your father happy."

OMG I was talking to my husband about how kids are today...laying in bed on Saturday mornings, I remembered getting up at 7am to watch cartoons. All of a sudden I started singing the theme song to "Wait til your father gets home" and the memories of just that them song brought tears to my eyes! I don't think it came on Sat mornings but I do remember watching it as a child. Wow I'm 34 now It has been years and years since I have heard it. I came online to try to find a site that would play an episode or the theme song! I found where I can order the first seaon on Amazon! I'M SOOO EXCITED! I can't wait for my son to see the cartoon! Thanks for the memories! Wait til your father gets...wait til your father gets...wait til your father gets home! LOL I love that song!

I discovered this show on the Boomerang Network (which still airs it) and I love it. It's also available for free at the AOL Video website:

http://video.aol.com/video-category/wait-till-your-father-gets-home/2683

ENJOY!!!!

This show was really the first animated television series to deal with adult social issues.I remember watching this show back in the early 70's when it first aired and remember it was very good.It was similar in some ways to the All in the Family show.Unfortunately the show seems to have dropped of the face of the earth for the last 20 or so years as I havent seen it turn up in reruns or on television since the 70's.it really was a departure from the typical scooby doo crap Hanna Barberra then reveled in.and unlike todays adult animated shows which have a "nothings sacred" attitude and border at times on scraping the bottom of the barrel with low brow,often times insane topics and humor,offered a glimpse into the politics of the time when things were changing forever and the old morals were cast aside by the younger generation who thought they were going to make the world a better place. unfortunately they didnt see what really was in store for society.to me this show is a sad reminder of a transitional time in American history that forever changed the morals and social conventions of present day America.

This show seemed to have it both ways, behind it's time and ahead of it's time. Behind because as someone said, the teens Chet and Alice were part of a hippie movement that had lost it's meaning by 1972. But also ahead of it's time because it was in disconnect with the state of cartoons in the 70's, while intended for grown-ups, the show was dismissed as something for kids because all other cartoons on TV were for kids. In addition, it lacked the kiddie fare of the Flintstones and the Jetsons making it unworthy of anybody. If I were in control of the show, I would have asked for a late night time slot so that adults would know that it's for them, thus allowing more flexible content. So in a lot of ways, WTYFGH ends up being a show that looks better in reruns, but for when it was new, it might have been a waste of time. For those reasons, it jumped day one.

When The Simpsons came out, I expected at least SOME references to this show (and maybe there WERE some, that I missed), not because they were really alike, of course, but as "adult" cartoon shows. But instead, it was compared to all sorts of others. One critic even called The Simpsons something like "the first prime time cartoon show since The Flintstones." Which might have been right in a VERY technical way - since Wait Til Your Father Gets Home and a few others were shown in very early evening in my area, and maybe everywhere - but that still shows how badly it's remembered. Alice (played by Kristina Holland, who was the secretary on "Courtship of Eddie's Father") was far from a stereotyped fat girl - a lot of episodes ignored that completely, and her father seemed less worried about her meeting anyone than about her playing around TOO MUCH, which was kind of a switch. And Chet, unlike countless comical hippies (either before or since the early ' 70s), was a pretty "underplayed" character, just BARELY a "caricature", really. The last poster called this show "the King of the Hill of its time", which makes a lot of sense. Harry Boyle, like Hank Hill, was saner than most of the people around him, but also slightly priggish. Ralph, like Dale, was the conspiracy person (even though it was about subversives, not the government itself). I also agree with the last poster about Jack Burns as Ralph. I always liked him in anything (this show, Burns and Schreiber, and everything else).

This show rocked! Jack Burns, who was the crazy neighbor also was the short lived deputy replacement on The Andy Griffith Show, who I thought was excellent. You can hear his stuff even back then, "Huh, Huh, Huh..." He was great! This show was WAY ahead of its time and would be considered a classic if shown today. I LOVED this show as a kid. Tom Bosley was excellent. It was the King of the Hill of its time, only not appreciated.

I had totally forgotten about this show -haven't thought about it in 30 years. This morning, a DJ on a local radio station used the phrase "Wait Til Your Father Gets Home" - and all of a sudden, I was humming the theme and had this "recovered memory" (ha ha) - of watching this show, in the evening, with my parents. All I really remember is that theme song and I know I liked the show, but don't remember one episode.

I didn't like the second season as much, with all the guest voices (though they were comedians I like) and less social comment, but it definitely had some good ones, like the Don Adams episode. To me this show not only wasn't a copy of the Norman Lear shows (though I don't think anyone has called it that), but it even went further in some ways. But being a cartoon show that wasn't shown in prime time (at least not in my area), I think it "flew beneath the radar". For one thing, the Ralph character (played by Jack Burns, who's so good at playing comical loudmouths), wasn't just prejudiced, he was a would-be vigilante (mainly when it came to Communist plots, but also minorities). He was almost a non-violent version of "Joe" in that movie, except that he never actually harmed anyone. There's a pretty familiar joke, but Jack Burns made it sound pretty original, about someone who's very anti-pornography, who actually owns a lot of it himself, supposedly to "know the enemy". Ralph said angrily, "You wouldn't believe the kind of smut that's mailed to me every week". Harry said, "I never get that kind of mail." Ralph said, "You don't subscribe." One of the best episodes had Chet (the son) getting drafted, and deciding to leave the country. Draft dodgers were already a big subject on TV of course, but I think it was a little bold having a regular character (instead of a one-time character) become one (almost like Maude getting an abortion, compared to a character seen only once getting one). The story did have a tidy sort of ending, with Chet not having to leave or join the army, but I still think it was fairly bold, especially since it's still thought of as a touchy subject, but here was a cartoon show using it in '72.