Remembering the Super Mario Brothers Super Show

The Super Mario Brothers Super Show was a fever dream. That’s the only way I can describe it. It was an off-the-wall take on the Mario Brothers, featuring a former wrestler, a veteran character actor, and some of the most insane cartoons ever to grace the small screen.

In today’s video, we talk about how the show came to be, its surprisingly hands-off approach from Nintendo, the absolutely bonkers cartoons (including the origins of the “EXCUSE ME PRINCESS” meme), the connection between the cartoon and horrific 1993 movie, and how many spin-offs ultimately resulted from the program…make sure to check out the King Koopa’s Kool Kartoons show…or, if you don’t want nightmares, skip it.

UPDATE: Apologies for the awkward cut at 3:04 or so. WWF filed a removal request on Albano's wrestling. He was a wrestler. That was this just of it :)

#videogame #supermariobrotherssupershow #80stv #retrogaming #supermariobrothers
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[kasumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin]

As a kid, all you cared about was how cool it was to see Mario and Luigi outside of your cartridge.

SMBSS isn't meant to be a masterpiece, it's meant to be entertaining, and that's WHY it's a masterpiece.

[TrackZero]

"the Zelda show was bad" Well me princess~!

[Plumbers_Helper]

I'm probably the only Mario fan that became a fan through the cartoons. Most cartoons then always featured big muscled larger then life heroes, but Mario was just an average overweight guy that was always trying to do the right thing even though he had no real super powers or special abilities. As a kid I never felt like I could become Batman or Spider-Man, but I thought maybe I could one day be like Mario. My favorite episode is Brooklyn Bound, the only episode to explore how Mario and Luigi feel about being lost in the Mushroom Kingdom with no way to go home. There's a surprisingly subtle moment for this show where Mario loses his power up because the thought of never seeing the Princess again hurts him that much.

[ThunderHorsePyro]

As a lifelong wrestling fan since the mid 80's, and a kid whose parents were born in Italy, it was cool to see a paisano, also born in Italy, like Lou Albano play Mario.

[davedawg]

Watched everyday after school and especially Fridays for zelda.And Lou Albano was a great mario.

[jgabel]

When Lou Albano passed away, a reporter asked Shigeru Miyamoto “Where were you when you heard that Captain Lou Albano passed away, and what was your reaction?” Miyamoto took a minute to answer, “You’re the one who just told me, ” was the response.

[kattphud]

The Legend of Zelda cartoon was by far my favorite part of this show. Aside from Link's cringey behavior (which even as I kid I thought was atrocious), I always liked the concept of the Triforces being individual but connected artifacts, and how the cartoon actually portrayed game mechanics like the zappy sword, rupees as arrows, and respawning monsters in the context of a high-fantasy world.

[DntTaseMBr]

Thank you for making this video. I actually LIKED the human Mario and Luigi, and I knew even as a toddler of 3 or 4 years old that it wasn't them and it was just some actors due to how they didn't truly look like the characters. but I still really appreciated what they gave us, and god, my early childhood was amazing thanks to Nintendo.

[TheFulman]

Jokes are at their funniest when everyone is in on it, and everyone's the punchline.

That's precisely what this show was. A bunch of people just having fun, living in the moment, going over the top, improvising, making a kids show on virtually no budget, and we were all invited into that absurd, hilarious, warm place. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now, do the Mario.

[CelticShae]

As a kid growing up as a prime target for that show, I was so enthusiastic about it. Lou Albano was so expressive, big and fun! Danny Wells was a really great "yes, and..." improviser. I never failed to laugh and smile when I watched. The point wasn't to be great TV. It was supposed to be fun, and they were so successful at it.

The fact that Albano, Wells and their guests hit a little more adult in tone from time to time sold me on the fact that these were legit grownups inhabiting a real world. Between the goofy fun, Mario universe stuff, and the celebrity guests, it was just the best thing on TV to me. It made me so sad that they didn't bring it back. I must have rewatched the series in syndication 3 or 4 times over.

I learned a good bit about literature, history and culture because of the seeds of curiosity that show would plant in my mind. I wanted to know what they were talking about, so I took it to my library, encyclopedias and, occasionally, Hollywood Video to learn more.

Regardless how their performances came off, I have a deep appreciation and affection for Albano and Wells for their role in my formative years. I'm grateful this show came together and that I can cherish these memories from my childhood, which left me with few memories to cherish. I forever remain hooked on the Brothers.

[PixelsNcreatureS]

It drive me nuts when people say the, "Excuuuuse me, Princess" is from the CDi games

[krisfrederick]

Even as a kid only here for the cartoons I appreciated what these actors were going through and their efforts. For the greater good!

[infinidominion]

The Secret Agent episode along with Fountain of Youth, Koopenstein, and the Dracula episodes were great. We went to school with Captain Lou's neice

[NeoTechni]

Lou is why I hated Charles Martinet's Mickey Mouse Mario voice

[FazJaxton]

I absolutely loved this show as a kid, and was especially excited for Zelda on Fridays. I didn't understand any of the humor in the live part, but I didn't care. It was just great to see anything with my video game heroes on it! Thanks for sharing the history ... it brought up some great memories.

[jeffreyhalat]

I grew up loving Atari 2600 and Sega Master System. It was this show that got me into NES and gameboy… thanks for the memory again!

[Dragonrider]

The original show was hella my jam as a kid. I have a fond memory of seeing Sgt. Slaughter appearing, pointing at the screen and saying; “GI JOE!” Good times. Even as a kid though, I did NOT like Club Mario as much. I watched for the cartoon but I didn’t like it as much. I understand it was made to shoehorn in educational segments. I also remember not liking the Super Mario World cartoon because it tried to ham fist in morals. I did not need to be told to eat my vegetables by a fat guy that mostly eats pasta and pizza

[lordvlygar]

I don't care what other people may think, I consider the show to be the canon Mario. The overalls were differently colored and not the shirts, Mario has a thick New York accent, Luigi wasn't a scaredy-cat.

Charles Martinet is a great actor and voice artist, but that's when they changed the lore and they were no longer Mario and Luigi: the Brooklyn guys that worked multiple trades.

[patsgarage]

The Wizard was the greatest movie ever made according to kid me lol