Hammerman

America

The story

Hammerman is an animated series, starring rapper MC Hammer, which aired for thirteen episodes on ABC in the fall of 1991. It was produced by DIC Animation City and Italian company Reteitalia S.p.A., in association with Spanish network Telecinco.

Synopsis

Youth center worker Stanley Burrell (Hammer's real name) owns a pair of magical dancing shoes (which are alive and can speak), which when worn cause Burrell to transform into the superhero Hammerman. He frequently gets advice from his "Gramps", who was a former owner of the shoes and was known as Soulman. While in the guise of Hammerman, Burrell was dressed in MC Hammer's signature purple Hammer pants and myriad golden chains.
The show was hosted by the real MC Hammer, who also sang the show's theme song, telling about the origin of Hammerman. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Gramps (Robert Nameson) was the superhero Soulman, but as he grew older, he grew weaker and was forced to retire. Gramps and his granddaughter Jodie traveled to find the next new superhero. Their search was over when they met Stanley and he put on the shoes. In each episode, Hammerman faced various social issues; at the end of each episode, MC Hammer would speak to the audience and provide methods to address these issues themselves.

Cast

MC Hammer - Hammerman/Stanley Burrell (live action)
Neil Crone
Clark Johnson - Hammerman (cartoon)
Jeff Jones
Miguel Lee
Joe Matheson
Susan Roman - Hammerman's Would-Be Girlfriend
Ron Rubin - Righty
Carmen Twillie - Fly Girls
Louise Vallance - Jodie
Maurice Dean Wint - Showbiz

Additional voices

Philip Akin
Réal Andrews
Jason Burke
George Buza
Len Carlson
Rob Cowan
Michelyn Emelle
Dan Hennessey - Boss Grindenheimer
Marc Marut
Greg Morton
Jackie Richardson
Judith Scott
Errol Slue
Michael Stark
John Stocker - Defacely Marmeister
Marlow Vella
Richard Yearwood

Episodes

While the airdates and order of most episodes is unknown, "Defeated Graffiti", the first episode (as confirmed by MC Hammer's comments at the beginning of the episode), aired on September 7, 1991. The cartoon aired on Saturday mornings at 10 AM on ABC.

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly journalist Dalton Ross listed Hammerman at the top of his list "Top 5 Most Ridiculous Things to Be Turned Into a Saturday Morning Cartoon", and described the show as "idiotic".