The Banana Splits
“One banana, two banana, three banana, four
Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more.”
And so began The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.
If the 1960s TV shows Laugh In and The Monkees dropped acid and had a love child it would have been The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Frankly that’s what could be said about any show that had Sid and Marty Krofft working on it. The Banana Splits was camp as Christmas and I loved it.
The show starred Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky. (A dog, a gorilla, a lion and an elephant). Fleegle, Bingo and Drooper looked relatively normal but what the hell was up with Snorky’s costume? He looked more like an oversized mop than an elephant. Well, for the first season. For the second season they cleaned him up. I prefer the odder costume from the first season.
The show had everything: Music, comedy skits, live-action segments, animated segments, and Jan Michael Vincent. (For the love of God don’t Google him. If you remember him looking like this —
— don’t search to see what he looks like now. Trust me).
And who knew that Richard Donner, of Superman and Lethal Weapon fame, directed all the live-action material filmed for the series’ first season. Go figure.
The show is so ingrained in my childhood memory that I find it shocking that it only ran for two years. NBC Saturday mornings, from September 7, 1968, to September 5, 1969. That’s 31 episodes.
Banana Splits Theme Song
And it’s hard to imagine a cartoon theme song as catchy and as memorable as the theme song to The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. The song was so catchy that Bob Marley stole the melody and wrote Buffalo Soldier. (That is a total and complete lie but the two songs sound fairly similar. See below).
One banana, two banana, three banana, four
Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more.
Over hill and highway the banana buggies go
Comin’on to bring you the Banana Splits show
(CHORUS):
Makin’ up a mess of fun,
makin’ up a mess of fun
Lots of fun for everyone
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Four banana, three banana, two banana, one
All bananas playin’ in the bright warm sun.
Flippin’ like a pancake, popping like a cork
Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper an’ Snork
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Two banana, four banana, one banana, three
Swingin’ like a bunch on monkeys, hangin’ from a tree.
Hey there, ev’rybody, won’t you come along and see
How much like Banana Splits ev’ryone can be
Makin’ up a mess of fun,
makin’ up a mess of fun
Lots of fun for everyone
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la
