If but for a twist of fate, Bill Cosby could have stayed at NBC with Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. However, the network wasn't interested at the time in a show that had the goal of educating its audience at its core. Originally produced in 1971, but aired in May 4, 1973 at 7:30 PM, 8 months after Fat Albert launched on CBS, the gang moved over to NBC for 1 night, as NBC had the rights to The Weird Harold Special, or, as it was known on the screen Bill Cosby vs. Fat Albert: The Great Go-Cart Race!. As it was, it was not shown again on network television, due to the simple fact that with the show itself airing on CBS, it was bad form for the gang to suddenly appear on a rival network, even it was for 1 night, coming as it did 4 years after the Ken Mundie-produced Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert had aired on NBC. NBC continued to hold the rights to this episode after CBS began airing the regular series in September 1972. For all intents and purposes, it was simply an episode of the already popular Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids animated series, which premiered in September of 1972. It thus featured the regular animation and voices of those characters. It's said this episode ultimately surfaced when the series moved to syndication to 1984. Today, however, is the first I've seen it.
The Weird Harold Special and the Fat Albert Holiday Specials for Christmas, Halloween, and Easter made by Filmation Studios were not a part in the 1984 syndication rerun package (50 new episodes plus the 60 CBS Saturday AM rerun episodes for weekday broadcast) nor were they included in the complete series DVD set. The Holiday Specials were released as separate DVDs
Apparently, this was a Fat Albert pilot of some sorts that didn't air until a bit after the show had already started airing, which is why it seems different from the normal episodes.
It’s amazing that Fat Albert hardly had lines in this special. And there was no preachy lesson to learn at the end, in fact the boys went back and did the same thing that got them in trouble 😂😂😂
They left out the part (of his stand-up bit) where they stole all the baby buggy wheels in the neighborhood & they had an odd number of wheels because Weird Harold had to have a Continental (and if you notice, his go-kart DOES have the extra wheel. They just don't address it, but it's there). The next day, I woke up to all three of my younger sisters going around imitating Mushmouth from this - "A-bwoodin-budden!"
This could’ve easily fooled me into thinking this was an actual episode of the series, a massive improvement over the original special. They even made a reference to the original pilot by designing Fat Albert’s dad in Fat Albert’s original design.
Dumb donald, bucky, and russell's voices are a bit different here Edit: except for weird Harold, fat Albert, bill, mushmouth, and Rudy, the other characters were voiced by different actors and did not reprise the roles onto the main series. For instance, bucky and Russell were voiced by actual children rather than Jan Crawford (despite being on this episode tho)
In my head cannon they are hunger here. In the series the older guys like Albert bill harold, Rudy etc are 14 heads old. In this episode they are in the 6th or 7grade and Russel is 8 or9 years
I can't believe that the police are arresting fat albert and his friends for go cart racing in the jack yard their favorite hangout even though they didn't do anything wrong or illegal but just having fun. That's totally unfair and not cool.
i have the complete fat albert series release by shout factory and i also have the 3 holiday specials and the live movie but i have herd rumors of some lost material that for some reason were not part of the complete series dvd set and this special is one of them and the 1969 hey hey hey its fat albert special is also one of the lost materials that are not on the dvd set i wonder why they were not release on dvd for the fat albert collection ?🤔🤨
The original 1969 special, "Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert", has never been re-released because nobody knows who has the rights to it, as well as Cosby himself being unhappy with it. I am trying to locate a copy to preserve but it has become more difficult with the recent passing of Ken Mundie and Leo Sullivan. I had reached out to Leo in 2022 but unfortunately he never got back to me. We can only hope there is another copy somewhere out there, I will post any updates I can gather.
@@thefatalbertarchive5281 so that's why this 1969 special was never released on dvd for the complete series collection i hope one day it will be release for my fat albert dvd collection and i wish you good luck my friend on locating a complete copy i truly like see it and what of this 1971 bill cosby vs. fat albert the great go-cart race! special its not on official dvd released for the collection ?
@@mauromesa78 I'm unsure, but I believe the Great Go-Cart Race is not on the DVD collection because of copyright issues as well. The special was produced for NBC because Cosby agreed to produce two specials and still owed a second one after "Hey, Hey, Hey" in 1969 and as such it is likely that nobody knows who owns the rights to this film either. It was produced by Filmation instead of the original team because Cosby did not like the direction of the 1969 film.
@@thefatalbertarchive5281 so that's why i hate issues they makes it hard for us fans and collectors to complete our collection of classics on dvd that forces us to look for the missing episodes specials and movies case of all these rights issues alot of good old classics and episodes specials and movies are not on official dvd with the rights issues on these two fat albert specials and other lost material i'm surprise we even got this so called complete series dvd box set and the 3 fat albert holiday specials on dvd at all and that they could make a live movie and released it on dvd at all too i do super hope that one day soon there will be no more rights issues and that the two lost specials and other materials will be officially release on dvd to truly complete our fat albert collection i hope
It's hard to say for sure. In 1969, Cosby had signed a contract promising to produce two Fat Albert specials for NBC (this being the second). This special didn't air until May of 1972, so while we don't have an exact month in '71 or anything, it likely started production later in the year.
"This is the city philadelphia pennsylvania known as the city of brotherly love philadelphia is home of the eagles the flyers the 76er's & the phillies philadelphia is home of fat-albert and the cosby-kids" 🇺🇸🏙️🤓🧑💼✝️🛐🙏🕊️❤️🤝🌹.
Fat Albert and his friends didn't do anything wrong or illegal they were just having fun at a go cart race. I think that the police have made a mistake.
It's on an unofficial Fat Albert DVD set called "Fat Albert - The Lost Material". Every disc has been uploaded to the Internet Archive, so you can check out the rest of it there! Though most of the stuff is also on TH-cam now.
So let me get this straight. The kids built a kick ass race track in the middle of the junkyard, minding their own business, and they get tossed in prison without being read their miranda rights, their parents don't at any point try to stick up for them and give them any benefit of the doubt and leaves the kids unjustly traumatized because the police and judge felt like being assholes and needed to take their petty problems out on a group of innocent minors.
Poor fellas were so scared, it ain't even funny.☹ I wanted to hug Fat Albert & the boys to comfort them, because I think their parents & the cops went way too far.☹ Also, Mushmouth's dad is with the mafia!?😮 And how come neither parent has the same accent as him?
@@randomreviews4278 Here's what I would've done differently. Have it be where the kids didn't know the area they were racing in was dangerous. And have the parents stick up for them by saying they didn't have any bad intentions and maybe they try to take the blame saying they failed to warn the kids about that dangerous part of the junkyard. Fat Albert would then take the stand and speak on behalf of both the kids and parents on how nobody knew how dangerous that area was. He would then verbally go off on the cops and the judge for violating their rights, arresting them without probable cause and not reading them their miranda rights and general corruption. The parents would then band together and file a lawsuit bigger than Fat Albert himself against the police and the court. They win the case and use the money to rebuild that dangerous area into a community race track and make adjustments to it so it'd be a lot safer.
If you only hear this and don’t see it, the second cartoon is annoying AF to hear. No wonder my mom hated when this so much. I’m 50 now, and I want to just scream, hearing it. Bill Cosby’s voice now is a definite “no”, as well, for me.
I sure do miss When Me and all My Buddies used to make Racing Go-Karts.Back in the late 70's and all through the early to mid 80's.😃👍🏾
Yes, we did that and built all of our own bikes. We built EVERYTHING and never stayed in the house.
If but for a twist of fate, Bill Cosby could have stayed at NBC with Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. However, the network wasn't interested at the time in a show that had the goal of educating its audience at its core.
Originally produced in 1971, but aired in May 4, 1973 at 7:30 PM, 8 months after Fat Albert launched on CBS, the gang moved over to NBC for 1 night, as NBC had the rights to The Weird Harold Special, or, as it was known on the screen Bill Cosby vs. Fat Albert: The Great Go-Cart Race!. As it was, it was not shown again on network television, due to the simple fact that with the show itself airing on CBS, it was bad form for the gang to suddenly appear on a rival network, even it was for 1 night, coming as it did 4 years after the Ken Mundie-produced Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert had aired on NBC. NBC continued to hold the rights to this episode after CBS began airing the regular series in September 1972. For all intents and purposes, it was simply an episode of the already popular Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids animated series, which premiered in September of 1972. It thus featured the regular animation and voices of those characters. It's said this episode ultimately surfaced when the series moved to syndication to 1984. Today, however, is the first I've seen it.
The Weird Harold Special and the Fat Albert Holiday Specials for Christmas, Halloween, and Easter made by Filmation Studios were not a part in the 1984 syndication rerun package (50 new episodes plus the 60 CBS Saturday AM rerun episodes for weekday broadcast) nor were they included in the complete series DVD set. The Holiday Specials were released as separate DVDs
@@artytoonsI like voices of the 1971 special better
1:25: “Vroom, hey hey hey!”
23:18 Scared Fat Albert!
Apparently, this was a Fat Albert pilot of some sorts that didn't air until a bit after the show had already started airing, which is why it seems different from the normal episodes.
There was A 'Fat Albert' pilot made before this that wasn't produced by Filmation.
@@Launchpad05you got the source?
@@sirchi8731they just uploaded it to youtube - "Hey hey hey it's Fat Albert" 1969 unknown tracks
15:57 - for-some-reason this guy reminds me of the Judge from the Trial sequence at the conclusion of Pink Floyd's "Wall"... nine years later!
17:20
"Chills"
Why they kepp changing the parents design in this show
22:41
HEY HEY HEY!!! WHAT A LOT OF HAY!!!
I love how it’s called “The Weird Harold Special” but has barley has anything to do with him on his own
Fat Albert Won 🏆
Loved it...the look.. character design and music
It’s amazing that Fat Albert hardly had lines in this special. And there was no preachy lesson to learn at the end, in fact the boys went back and did the same thing that got them in trouble 😂😂😂
Jose Garcia : well then I love this show but I love Fat Albert. Hey hey hey
20:12 Back To The Race!
Saw this on NBC in 1972.
one of my favorite episodes
Nerotic kid system pls anymore of these cartoons will blow my head off good job cosby
23:22 Fat Albert Wins!
They left out the part (of his stand-up bit) where they stole all the baby buggy wheels in the neighborhood & they had an odd number of wheels because Weird Harold had to have a Continental (and if you notice, his go-kart DOES have the extra wheel. They just don't address it, but it's there).
The next day, I woke up to all three of my younger sisters going around imitating Mushmouth from this - "A-bwoodin-budden!"
I loved that album! I used to always whisper “baby coach wheels” like it was the funniest thing ever!
This could’ve easily fooled me into thinking this was an actual episode of the series, a massive improvement over the original special. They even made a reference to the original pilot by designing Fat Albert’s dad in Fat Albert’s original design.
Correct. They also made changes Weasel = Rudy Nolan = Dumb Donald
8:04 that’s one way to go Cruising 😂
5:07 - 5:12
Sling Shooter. 😏
Mushmouth's hat only came off in two Fat Albert episodes, this one and a 1984 episode when they were playing soccer!
Nice eye
You need, to get a life😏…………
Russell’s only came off when he had his tonsils out. He was a cute kid.
15:35
The Devil's Door. 😳
13:37 - 14:33
Scaredy Rudy
My favorite character and part
I feel old!!! 😳
Old is gold remember that new is crap
You're saying that, 'cause you remember these. If you can remember this first-hand, you ARE old😏…………
23:52 - 24:30
So much for promises. 😏
Dumb donald, bucky, and russell's voices are a bit different here
Edit: except for weird Harold, fat Albert, bill, mushmouth, and Rudy, the other characters were voiced by different actors and did not reprise the roles onto the main series. For instance, bucky and Russell were voiced by actual children rather than Jan Crawford (despite being on this episode tho)
Actually, Dumb Donald has the same actor, but he just voices him differently
In my head cannon they are hunger here. In the series the older guys like Albert bill harold, Rudy etc are 14 heads old. In this episode they are in the 6th or 7grade and Russel is 8 or9 years
Meant to.say they were younger
Some background music reused from Groovie Goolies btw
I loved Groovie Ghoulies!
@@JoyfullOne yup me too!!!
Best part aside from the race which parent goes with which kid
11:44 Knowing what we know about Bill Cosby now, that line reeks of irony.
Well, at least he's out now.
@@deionpehowdy Still unclear weither or not the allegations against him were true or not. Or maybe my memory is just rusty.
What a screwed up message, to convey to kids!!! 'It's against the law, to have fun. If you do, you'll spend the rest of your life, in jail'😔⁉️
I think you missed the message
Same damned message with christianity you feckless numpty 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I can't believe that the police are arresting fat albert and his friends for go cart racing in the jack yard their favorite hangout even though they didn't do anything wrong or illegal but just having fun. That's totally unfair and not cool.
I think the message was safety
@@appelanseeofbogalusa5235agreed
Bucky Parents Was Worry About Him
so life like of the time.
Bill Take Care His Lil Bros
i have the complete fat albert series release by shout factory and i also have the 3 holiday specials and the live movie but i have herd rumors of some lost material that for some reason were not part of the complete series dvd set and this special is one of them and the 1969 hey hey hey its fat albert special is also one of the lost materials that are not on the dvd set i wonder why they were not release on dvd for the fat albert collection ?🤔🤨
The original 1969 special, "Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert", has never been re-released because nobody knows who has the rights to it, as well as Cosby himself being unhappy with it. I am trying to locate a copy to preserve but it has become more difficult with the recent passing of Ken Mundie and Leo Sullivan. I had reached out to Leo in 2022 but unfortunately he never got back to me. We can only hope there is another copy somewhere out there, I will post any updates I can gather.
@@thefatalbertarchive5281 so that's why this 1969 special was never released on dvd for the complete series collection i hope one day it will be release for my fat albert dvd collection and i wish you good luck my friend on locating a complete copy i truly like see it and what of this 1971 bill cosby vs. fat albert the great go-cart race! special its not on official dvd released for the collection ?
@@mauromesa78 I'm unsure, but I believe the Great Go-Cart Race is not on the DVD collection because of copyright issues as well. The special was produced for NBC because Cosby agreed to produce two specials and still owed a second one after "Hey, Hey, Hey" in 1969 and as such it is likely that nobody knows who owns the rights to this film either. It was produced by Filmation instead of the original team because Cosby did not like the direction of the 1969 film.
@@thefatalbertarchive5281 so that's why i hate issues they makes it hard for us fans and collectors to complete our collection of classics on dvd that forces us to look for the missing episodes specials and movies case of all these rights issues alot of good old classics and episodes specials and movies are not on official dvd with the rights issues on these two fat albert specials and other lost material i'm surprise we even got this so called complete series dvd box set and the 3 fat albert holiday specials on dvd at all and that they could make a live movie and released it on dvd at all too i do super hope that one day soon there will be no more rights issues and that the two lost specials and other materials will be officially release on dvd to truly complete our fat albert collection i hope
@@thefatalbertarchive5281 Shout Factory released a Complete Series DVD set of this show?! When did that happen?!
Kids will be kids 😅
True that. They literally placed the finish line in front of traffic
And Racers Will Be Racers!
I can't stop smiling 😊
Neverr saw a pre 1972 version of them.
Check out "hey hey hey it's Fat Albert" 1969 unknown tracks
The finish line goes right into the freeway??
5:50 - 5:56
Dronamo!
Russell Is Sent Sky High!
I Don't Why Harold Cut His Hair?
I wonder when exactly in 1971 this was made.
It's hard to say for sure. In 1969, Cosby had signed a contract promising to produce two Fat Albert specials for NBC (this being the second). This special didn't air until May of 1972, so while we don't have an exact month in '71 or anything, it likely started production later in the year.
That's because this special finished production in 1971.
2:44 - 2:58
Mouth Got That From His Father
R.I.P. “Weird Harold” just attended his funeral today.
17:48
14:33 The Gang Are Never Going To Jail!
"This is the city philadelphia pennsylvania known as the city of brotherly love philadelphia is home of the eagles the flyers the 76er's & the phillies philadelphia is home of fat-albert and the cosby-kids" 🇺🇸🏙️🤓🧑💼✝️🛐🙏🕊️❤️🤝🌹.
Not much to brag about, huh😆???
Who is the girl in this. Plus if I recall she was also in the 1969 episode too 🤔
Fat Albert and his friends didn't do anything wrong or illegal they were just having fun at a go cart race. I think that the police have made a mistake.
They didn't do anything wrong in 1984, either when they went to jail for riding in that stolen car with Rudy's shady friend!
I feel like that might partially be the point
Was this episode meant to be a commentary on corrupt police?
How did you find this
It's on an unofficial Fat Albert DVD set called "Fat Albert - The Lost Material". Every disc has been uploaded to the Internet Archive, so you can check out the rest of it there! Though most of the stuff is also on TH-cam now.
@@thefatalbertarchive5281Is this from VHS recording or master tape on DVD?
Is the laugh tracks are from Charley Douglass?.
DAT OPENING BEAT IS CRAZY SURPRISE NOBODY SAMPLED IT. BREAK BEAT
How is this a weird Harold special when Weird Harold isn't the main character?
2:49
So let me get this straight. The kids built a kick ass race track in the middle of the junkyard, minding their own business, and they get tossed in prison without being read their miranda rights, their parents don't at any point try to stick up for them and give them any benefit of the doubt and leaves the kids unjustly traumatized because the police and judge felt like being assholes and needed to take their petty problems out on a group of innocent minors.
Rudy was about to snitch on everyone 😂
How come Rudy, Russel and Bill are the only ones without derogatory adverbs in front of their names?
Is rapist Bill Cosby a derogatory adverb for evil Bill or more importantly the truth?
ADJECTIVE'S🙄!!!
@@rogerrendzak8055 oops, brain hiccup.
Unfortunately Bill does have an adjective in front of his name now - but it's not printable.
Well his name is 'Rude' Rudy
Bill Cosby was always great clean comedy. Great music.
I wanna see the version of this that’s actually titled “the weird Harold special” but I’m guessing that particular version is still lost…?
Ose dark garica : I love that show it’s kind of funny 😂
Bro, this was my show on Saturday
@@keithluckett3331 hey I love that funny especially this one ( 12:05 )
@@osedarkgarcia4220 I couldn’t wait for this cartoon to come on.
"the weird harold special" and he does jacks shit
Makes me wonder why they even called it that.
1971 this is the original pilot episode 0 of Fat Albert and Cosby Kids
along with 1969 version
Poor fellas were so scared, it ain't even funny.☹
I wanted to hug Fat Albert & the boys to comfort them, because I think their parents & the cops went way too far.☹
Also, Mushmouth's dad is with the mafia!?😮 And how come neither parent has the same accent as him?
Holy cow this is depressing
This special or Bill Cosby's real life downfall?
@@supermariof0521 the episode
@@randomreviews4278 Here's what I would've done differently. Have it be where the kids didn't know the area they were racing in was dangerous. And have the parents stick up for them by saying they didn't have any bad intentions and maybe they try to take the blame saying they failed to warn the kids about that dangerous part of the junkyard. Fat Albert would then take the stand and speak on behalf of both the kids and parents on how nobody knew how dangerous that area was. He would then verbally go off on the cops and the judge for violating their rights, arresting them without probable cause and not reading them their miranda rights and general corruption. The parents would then band together and file a lawsuit bigger than Fat Albert himself against the police and the court. They win the case and use the money to rebuild that dangerous area into a community race track and make adjustments to it so it'd be a lot safer.
Sup man
Hey, hey, hey!
So THIS is the prototype for filmations far Albert
I’m surprised the animation feels like Hanna Barbera
getting arrested and punishment by cops for doing dangerous unsafe actions that can hurt yourself and your life
No class
If you only hear this and don’t see it, the second cartoon is annoying AF to hear. No wonder my mom hated when this so much. I’m 50 now, and I want to just scream, hearing it. Bill Cosby’s voice now is a definite “no”, as well, for me.
3:46 - 3:53
4:21 - 4:32