Super Mario Bros. Super Show: Mario lands on TV in 1989

AnalysisTelevisionRetro

Sixty-five episodes, and a flesh-and-blood Mario played by a pro wrestler. Produced by DIC with Nintendo of America and aired in the United States from September 4 to December 1, 1989, the series blends animated segments with live-action sketches starring Lou Albano and Danny Wells. This analysis breaks down its daily structure and its cult songs, “Plumber Rap” and “Do the Mario”.

Long before the movies, a mustachioed plumber was already taking over television screens. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, known in France under the simple title Super Mario Bros., is the very first major series to put Nintendo's mascot on screen, starting in the fall of 1989 in the United States.

Neither quite a cartoon nor quite a studio show, this hybrid program lastingly turned Mario into a popular star far beyond the controller, and laid the groundwork for his entire screen career.

Table of contents

• A pioneering series produced by DIC
• Lou Albano and Danny Wells, Mario and Luigi in the flesh
• Monday to Thursday: adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom
• “Plumber Rap” and “Do the Mario”, two cult theme songs
• The series' surprising French run
• The foundation of televised Mario-mania
• Quick facts
• FAQ

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A pioneering series produced by DIC

The series is produced by the studio DIC in association with Nintendo of America, and distributed by Viacom. It launched in syndication in the United States from September 4 to December 1, 1989, with one episode every weekday, which made it a daily appointment for American kids.

Its big idea is a hybrid format, highly unusual at the time: every episode opens and closes on short live-action sequences that frame a cartoon. In all, the show runs to 65 episodes.

The split is clever. From Monday to Thursday, the heart of the show is a cartoon devoted to Mario (52 segments). On Fridays, the slot goes to a cartoon based on The Legend of Zelda (13 segments), making that slot a rare crossroads between two major Nintendo franchises.

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Lou Albano and Danny Wells, Mario and Luigi in the flesh

In the live-action portions, Mario and Luigi run a plumbing shop in Brooklyn, “Mario Brothers Plumbing”, which doubles as their home. The role of Mario goes to Lou Albano, a hugely popular American wrestler nicknamed “Captain” Lou Albano, while Danny Wells plays Luigi.

Each skit welcomes a guest star playing themselves or a character dropping by the shop. That brings in celebrities from the late 1980s, such as basketball player Magic Johnson, actress Nicole Eggert and singer Cyndi Lauper.

These interludes bank on slapstick humor built on gags, costumes and knowing winks. They give the series an instantly recognizable identity, far removed from the tone of the original games, and partly explain its status as a nostalgic object.

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Monday to Thursday: adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom

The animated episodes draw directly on Super Mario Bros. (1985) and Super Mario Bros. 2. They follow Mario and Luigi taking on the big villain, King Koopa (the future Bowser), who threatens the Mushroom Kingdom, backed up by Princess Toadstool (now Peach) and by faithful Toad.

The bestiary clearly betrays the influence of Super Mario Bros. 2: you spot enemies like Mouser, Tryclyde or Fryguy, all absent from the very first game. Every week, the brothers travel from kingdom to kingdom, through often parodic settings, to foil Koopa's plans.

On Fridays, the Zelda segment leaves the Mushroom Kingdom to follow Link and Princess Zelda through the land of Hyrule. It gave young viewers a brand-new animated taste of that other flagship Nintendo world, still very fresh at the time.

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“Plumber Rap” and “Do the Mario”, two cult theme songs

The show opens on a rap that has stayed famous, the “Plumber Rap” (also known as the “Mario Rap”), chanted by Lou Albano and Danny Wells in plumber's overalls. In a few seconds, it sets up the whole offbeat, good-natured mood of the show.

But it is above all the closing theme that stuck in people's memories: “Do the Mario”, in which Lou Albano invites the audience to copy a little dance. That chorus became a cult favorite among fans, still quoted, covered and remixed decades later.

These catchy songs are a full part of the cheerful image the series left with an entire generation. They helped install Mario for good in Western television pop culture , and not just in the arcades.

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The series' surprising French run

In France, the show enjoyed a surprisingly long broadcast career. It turned up as early as 1990 in the program Cabou Cadin, on Canal+, before moving to free-to-air Antenne 2 at the end of that same year, which gave it wide exposure.

The series was then rerun several times over the 1990s, notably in Télévisator 2 on France 2, then on France 3. Much later, the specialist channel Game One picked it up again in 2007-2008, proof of its staying power with nostalgic viewers.

A tasty detail for dubbing fans: the French theme song was performed by Claude Vallois, a voice well known to cartoon lovers of that era.

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The foundation of televised Mario-mania

With this show, Mario became Nintendo's first major television incarnation in the West. The success of the formula paved the way for other DIC-produced series, like The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, then Super Mario World, which would carry the adventure on the small screen.

Its humor and its special effects have aged a great deal, but the series remains a founding milestone. It was the first to pull Mario off the game screen and settle him into the daily lives of millions of children, long before cinema finally got hold of the character.

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Super Mario Bros. Super Show at a glance

Original title	The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Production studio	DIC (with Nintendo of America)
Broadcast (United States)	September 4 – December 1, 1989, in syndication
Number of episodes	65 in total (52 Mario + 13 Zelda)
Mario (live action)	Lou Albano
Luigi (live action)	Danny Wells
Cult closing theme	“Do the Mario”
French theme song	performed by Claude Vallois

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FAQ

• How many episodes does The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! have?
  The series totals 65 episodes aired in 1989: 52 devoted to Mario's animated adventures (Monday to Thursday) and 13 given over to The Legend of Zelda (on Fridays).
• Who played Mario in live action?
  American wrestler Lou Albano played Mario in the filmed skits, while Danny Wells played Luigi. Both also voiced the animated characters in the original version.
• Which games are the animated episodes based on?
  They draw on Super Mario Bros. (1985) and Super Mario Bros. 2, hence the presence of enemies specific to the second game such as Mouser, and of the big villain King Koopa.
• What is “Do the Mario”?
  It is the series' closing theme, sung by Lou Albano, inviting viewers to copy a little dance. That chorus has remained a cult favorite among fans.
• Where was the series broadcast in France?
  It showed up as early as 1990 in Cabou Cadin on Canal+, then on Antenne 2, in Télévisator 2 on France 2, on France 3, and finally on Game One in 2007-2008. The French theme song was performed by Claude Vallois.

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