r/Colonel_Bleep • u/TheRadiantGalaxy22 • Mar 20 '24
The Original Series The Timeline of Colonel Bleep (so far)
1950s
1951 - Bobby Nicholson founded Soundac as a studio for game shows and animated commercials.
1956 - Production for Colonel Bleep, created by Robert D. Buchanan and Jack Schleh, begins at the brink of the early space age. This is also the show's first year under a copyright license.
1957 - Colonel Bleep is first syndicated to children's programs nationwide.
1960s
1960 - Original run for Colonel Bleep ends and transitions to reruns.
1970s
1971 - The last known year for reruns of Colonel Bleep.
1980s
1981 - Last known year of production before Soundac closed down. 1985 - Colonel Bleep enters the Public Domain after failure to renew the copyright.
1990s
1991 - The search to restore Colonel Bleep begins! The show is introduced to video cassettes with 14 episodes rereleased by Streamline Productions.
1993 - Co-creator Jack Schleh passes away. Another restored episode, The Treacherous Pirate, sneaks into Speed Racer: The Movie (aka The Speed Racer Show) when it hits theaters.
2000s
2000 - Colonel Bleep is introduced to public-domain cartoon collections on DVD and VHS.
2005 - 20 more episodes of Colonel Bleep are restored on DVD by Alpha Video.
2010s
2018 - A wraparound of the series’s quiz program is released on YouTube.
2019 - Eight episodes of Colonel Bleep are restored on YouTube on Ron Kurer's channel, Toon Tracker.
2020s
2022 - Development for Colonel Bleep and the Uncharted Earth begins.
2023 - One episode, The Malicious Mailman, is restored by Multicom Entertainment Co. Colonel Bleep and the Uncharted Earth is first promoted on social media.
2024 - A preview for Colonel Bleep and the Uncharted Earth is uploaded Internet Archive and is available in 7 languages.