Lancelot Link: The C.H.U.M.P Code Caper/ Weather or Not

Lancelot Link: The C.H.U.M.P Code Caper/ Weather or Not
ABC
Approximately December 26, 1970
Children's
VHS
B-

This episode includes some odder than usual humor for the show, from a joke about smog to a reference to Nixon's Checkers speech.  Also, the musical sequence has the Ev Rev performing in a late '60s disco, with other chimps dancing.

Lancelot Link: The Dreaded Hong Kong Sneeze/ The Great Bank Robbery

Lancelot Link: The Dreaded Hong Kong Sneeze/ The Great Bank Robbery
ABC
Approximately November 28, 1970
Children's
VHS
B-

This is an improvement, with slightly better scripts (even if they repeat the "What's your theory, Darwin?" joke) and definitely a better song (something about "hyperstatic instamatic" something or other).  Also, when you get to the point of a chimp ventriloquist, you've reached Krofft-level surrealism.

Lancelot Link: The Great Great Race/ The Great Plane Plot

Lancelot Link: The Great Great Race/ The Great Plane Plot
ABC
Approximately November 14, 1970
Children's
VHS
C

Calling the adventures "great" doesn't mean they are.  Even with the introduction of mild romance (Mata kisses Lance to prevent film star Raquel Wench from kissing him, and the Ev Rev's song is about "rolling in the clover"), I found this episode a bit dull.  Also, if you're going to give your hero the voice of a Bogart impressionist, you probably shouldn't make him as stupid as Maxwell Smart.

Lancelot Link: The Great Brain Drain/ The Great Double Double Cross

Lancelot Link: The Great Brain Drain/ The Great Double Double Cross
ABC
Approximately October 10, 1970
Children's
VHS
C+

Unlike the Krofft productions, this was not something I grew up watching, and in fact I didn't encounter it till the late '80s, on Nick at Nite.  Once the initial shock of seeing chimpanzees wear mod clothing, act out spy stories, play pop music, and be dubbed by voice actors (including Bernie Kopell, who was still doing That Girl) wears off, the show seems a bit slow-moving and repetitive.  I recommend watching in small doses and possibly fast-forwarding to the music segments, which are introduced by "Ed Simian."  The dates on these episodes are approximate, since I can find episode titles but not original airdates.

Other than Kopell, the series regulars:

1. Dayton Allen
2. Debbie (as Mata Hairy)
3. Joan Gerber
4. Malachi Throne (narrator)
5. Tongo (as Lance)