Drawn Or Alive #6: The Addams Family VS The Addams Family VS The Addams Family VS The Addams Family

It's a monster sized edition of Drawn Or Alive as four seperate branches of The Addams Family jostle for rightful inheritance to their creator's legacy! The first live-action adaptation from 1964, and the first screen version to boot, dances a deadly tango with Hanna Barbera's 1973 effort, the dearly beloved movie from 1991 and the second go from ol' HB inspired by that same movie in 1992. It's a family feud like no other; they may all be Addams, but only one gets the seat at the head of the table!

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Drawn Or Alive #5: The Tick VS The Tick VS The Tick

 Masked avenger Brian Smith answers the clarion call of justice as the unstoppable force meets the immovable object meets the inevitable cliff edge! A Drawn Or Alive first, it's a triple header of titles all adapting comic crazy Ben Edlund's big blue maroon as he thwarts crime in animation in 1994 before becoming larger than live-action in 2001 and 2016 respectively. With Edlund himself pitching in rather than working these ideas out on the page each version could be deemed the realest deal, but what makes each Tick... tick? There's no time to waste chum, as evil is out there handcrafting mischief for the swap meet of villainy!

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Drawn Or Alive #4: A Chinese Ghost Story VS A Chinese Ghost Story - The Tsui Hark Animation

Tsui Hark, writer/producer/director plus visionary, seemed hardly content with his contribution in 1987 to the gnarly adaptation of Qing dynasty novel Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio. A decade later he saw fit to realise the true scope of the collection of fables within the supposedly boundless limits of animation. With the original already a groundbreaking hit in special effects that spurred on a nascent cult film appreciation scene in Hong Kong & China, what could its cartoon counterpart bring to the table beside being another outlet for Hark's incredible enthusiasm & self-belief? It is a strange tale indeed, filled with spirits, romance, musical numbers and explosive exorcisms, pitting two rough & ready productions against each other in an eerie encounter from which only one will emerge drawn or alive!

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Drawn Or Alive #3: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure VS Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures

Joseph Wade crams into our booth to travel to the parallel timelines of the Bill & Ted live-action film franchise and their 1990 animated TV spin-off. Featuring most of the principal cast from the movies and produced under the watchful eye of the man responsible for CatDog, will the lads pass this history test in a most triumphant manner? Or be forever remembered as a most heinous episode? And that's before we even broach the subject of the Bad Live-Action Us-es from 1992! It'll all make sense by the end of the story dudes!

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Show #193: Drawn Or Alive! - The Odd Couple VS The Oddball Couple

A format we trialed last year goes into full rotation as we get set serious about comparing cartoons to their live-action counterparts and declaring which is worthy of the highest merit! We're seeing double this time as we have four mismatched housemates quarrelling amongst themselves, whether it be Jack Klugman and Tony Randall playing the slob and the square respectively in the 1970 TV series or Frank Nelson and Paul Winchell as your classic cat and dog pairing in the 1975 animated version. So pay your rent, clean out the attic and brush up on your Password skills 'cuz only one title can stay under this roof, DRAWN OR ALIVE!

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Show #181: Drawn Or Alive! The Phil Silvers Show VS Top Cat

We've finally got the Let's Go Gang together for their most important case yet! Brian Smith joins us for another new format wherein we examine the transformative nature of live-action titles into animation or vice-versa and discover what is gained, lost or irrevocably changed in the process. To start with we look at one of the more notorious examples of a cartoon "homaging"a popular live sitcom, as Hanna Barbera was often wont to do, when Phil Silvers and his famous Sergeant Bilko persona are pitted against his hand-drawn doppleganger Top Cat. Plots, punchlines and even players are shared between the two but only one will make it out, DRAWN OR ALIVE!

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