Kevin Keene, a teenager from Northridge, California, gets sucked into his TV along with his dog, Duke. They find themselves in the world of Videoland where they are given the task of defeating the evil Mother Brain, as has been foretold in an Ancient Prophecy. Kevin is given the title "Captain N” and he and Duke join the N Team, which consisted of Princess Lana (the ruler of Videoland), Simon Belmont, Mega Man, Kid Icarus, and a supercomputer named Gameboy. The N Team not only goes up against Mother Brain, but must also fight her minions King Hippo, the Eggplant Wizard, and Dr. Wily. Kevin can use his magical Nintendo control pad to control the universe, such as pressing the “Start” button to pause the world.

This cartoon show premiered on September 9, 1989 on NBC. Of course it was really only an hour-long commercial for Nintendo and their products, but this was during the height of Nintendo’s domination of America’s youth, and they lapped it up. I know I did. When I was 9 years old, this was the coolest show ever, I wished I could get sucked into my TV and play Nintendo all day. I don’t remember much about the team dynamic, but I do think that Princess Lana had a thing for Kevin, much to the chagrin of comic-relief loverboy Simon Belmont.

During the second season, the show’s title was changed to Captain N and the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. Another story segment was added on where Mario and Luigi fought Bowser and his children as a tie-in with the newly released game. Captain Lou Albano again provided the voice of Mario, just like on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.

During the third season, the show’s title was again changed, but this time to Captain N and the New Super Mario World and the show was cross-merchandised with the new Super Nintendo Mario game.

The show ran on NBC for 34 episodes, until July 25, 1992 when NBC cancelled all of its Saturday morning cartoon shows. A dark day for children everywhere.

Wait a minute! Why didn’t Kevin just use the pause button all the time to kick ass? Stupid cartoon!

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