Uncle Croc's Block (1975–1976) User Reviews (5)

You cantankerous crocodile!!

[Mister-6 · 30 January 2000]

So to quote Basil Bitterbottom (Harris), the high-strung director of one of the weirdest shows ever to be made for kids. At least by '70s standards.

"Uncle Croc's Block" featured the great Charles Nelson Reilly as the reptile of the title, with Burt Reynolds movie regular Alfie Wise as his pink furry side-kick Rabbit Ears. The set they performed on looked co-designed by Salvador Dali and the guys from "Pee-Wee's Playhouse".

Of course, like any show, they'd show cartoons. Uncle Croc, though, preferred cartoons the likes of "M*A*S*H" takeoff "M*U*S*H" ("Messy Unwanted Shabby Heroes") set in the Yukon and "Fraidy Cat" - about a cat whose eight past lives come back to haunt him as he tries to hang on to his ninth.

Then came the guests! Like the Six Dollar and Ninety-Seven Cent Man (who kept falling apart every visit), Stogie Bear (a manic-depressive version of Yogi), Billy Bratson (who just yells "Sha-Zowie"! and turns into a hero that isn't QUITE Captain Marvel) and a genie who blinked her eyes and granted wishes that weren't quite as good as expected.

Must have been too weird, because I don't remember hearing much about that show after its initial run. Oh well, for what it's worth, I thought it did fine to entertain impressionable 10 year-olds who would later grow up to write about long-forgotten kids shows on IMDB.

Nine stars for "Uncle Croc's Block".

Now why don't they show THIS on Nick at Nite's TV Land?

An Excellent Parody of Hosted Shows

[educatexan · 10/10 · 18 September 2021]

I really loved this program. It was hilarious as long as you realize it wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

The actors appeared to be having fun with their roles, and their manic energy was perfect.

The later episodes seemed to lose steam. The writing quality dropped off, and I suspect the network lost interest in the show. I think the budget may have been lowered as well.

I liked the cartoons as well, with the exception of Wacky and Packy. I found the caveman to be very annoying. Unfortunately, toward the end of the series, the other cartoons disappeared, and that was the only one in rotation.

Probably Would Have Done Better in Prime Time

[Sargebri · 25 June 2003]

This is probably one of the weirdest shows that ever came on Saturday mornings. When I think of this show, I often think that it would have done better in prime time due to the fact that many of the jokes were over the heads of its intended audience. I was nine at the time this show came on and I really couldn't get it. I actually think that it was more suited for adults who remembered the old time kiddie shows where the host would dress up as a weird character. Of course, several years after this show left the air, "Pee Wee's Playhouse" came out and did a much better job doing essentially the same thing. The only thing that I really enjoyed about this show was the fact that they played clips from one of my favorite Saturday morning shows, The Groovie Ghoulies. As for the other segments such as Wacky and Packy, M*U*S*H and Fraidy Cat, they were not very funny and I never did enjoy them.

Loved It As A Kid

[embreyo · 16 November 2003]

I loved this show when I was a kid, but what did I know? I didn't even know that Charles Nelson Reilly was gay (I probably didn't know what gay was). I think I liked the show's context - of being a parody of a kid's show. All the content of the show consisted of parodies of other TV shows. I thought it was great. I don't know how I'd feel about it if I saw it today. All I have is fond memories of this obscure show.

Jim Nabors and KooKoo Knevil

[erikhamm · 26 February 2001]

Here's more info on Uncle Croc: Jim Nabors played the $6.98 Man. His main problem was that his head kept falling off. There was also character named KooKoo Knevil who lived in a cuckoo clock and would abruptly burst out, riding a motorcycle with a little leather helmet and goggles and a lot of smoke, and he'd yell out: "Yaaahoo! It's KooKoo Knevil. And it's Krazy Time!" I forget what Krazy Time was, though. The Uncle Croc show definitely got lame as it went on. They'd have less and less live action and more and more stupid cartoons like Cap'n Caveman. It also seemed like they only filmed a handful of live segments and repeated them over and over. Hard to say, as I was young then... EH