Photo: PR Newswire

Readers from other countries, you’ll just have to take my word for it: “The Banana Splits” was one of the strangest things ever presented to children as entertainment. It was an NBC show with costumes created by Sid and Marty Kroft, who might best be described as Walt Disney, split into two by genetic mutation, dropped into a vat of ergot, and unleashed onto the world with at least temporary carte blanche to produce television for adolescents and potheads. Since I was the former, and the grownups in my house were the latter, I have warm memories of Saturday morning gatherings to watch this program.

Four costumed creatures made up “The Banana Splits” (the name came from the rock band they formed; their jingle – also known as the ‘Tra La La’ song – was so genuinely catchy that it was appropriated as the hook for Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldiers.”) The quartet are Fleegle the Dog, Drooper the Lion, Bingo the Gorilla, and Snorky the Elephant. They live in a Banana Pad and drive in their Banana Buggy, which is more than most people in the banana world can say.

In a press release, Warner Bros. executive Jordan Sollitto, promised that the new version of the program would stay true to the original: “Everything that made The Banana Splits hugely popular in the ’60s is back,” he said. I believe this, especially since medical marijuana can be purchased by just about anybody who’s willing to say they have a hangnail in California, where the show is produced. Definitely replenish your stash prior to visiting the show’s website, whose accompanying soundtrack and multimedia you will find either completely hypnotic or very, very upsetting – just as the original show was.

Also, you can join a club and get an awesome membership card:

Read the hilariously titled press release: “Warner Bros. Serves Up Four Scoops of Hilarity With Relaunch.”

UPDATE: The BBC sort of debunks the Bob Marley/Banana Splits song similarity. Audio from both is included, so listen for yourself and decide.