Obit: Lou Scheimer R.I.P.

Sad news - Lou Scheimer, the man who (with his partners Norm Prescott and Hal Sutherland) brought 70s Star Kids such Saturday morning favorites as the Emmy Award-winning Star Trek - The Animated Series, Ark II, Space Academy, Jason Of Star Command, Shazam!, Isis, Blackstar, and the best screen adaptation of Flash Gordon ever, has passed away at age 84.

I can't begin to express how much those Filmation shows impacted me as a kid and influenced the person I've become. It was clear that Scheimer personally loved science fiction and fantasy, and his studio seemed to always have a genre show on the air on one network or another throughout the 70s.

Not only did he produce the shows, but he provided narration and character voices to almost every show he made. Sure, it was partly a cost-saving measure (Filmation was notorious for their low budgets), but there was clearly a lot of enthusiasm in his voice work. You can't listen to his vocal performance as Ark II's chimpanzee Adam, for instance, without hearing the fun he's having in his voice.

One of these days, I'm going to have to write up a Hall Of Fame post for the guy - he was that influential. 

Rest in peace, Lou.