Looking Back at Curt-Hiss: America's Friend, Pusher's Enemy

[@ZyxthePest]

I mentioned this on Vinny's video, who also recently just watched it, but this entire thing feels like a Sifl & Olly bit. It's remarkable how similar the unintentional humor is to the actual humor on that show.

[@TheEmeraldWeirdo]

Curt-Hiss looks like somebody tried to make a Muppet frog but only had enough material for the head and sleeve.

[@otaking3582]

Having an edutainment video with a character named "Cool Cat" sends shivers down my spine...

[@colestawicki7760]

I think I'm going to write a fanfic about this universe.

[@marcusblackwell2372]

No matter what you think about these tapes, there's one unique thing that I respect about them: they held the government accountable for the failed war on drugs

[@kyonkochan]

This is right up my alley. My favourite Redletter Media segments are when they do their Best of the Worst with random obscure VHS tapes. I have a weird nostalgia for VHS tapes since it was the format I grew up watching most media on until DVDs overtook them. There's this weird ethereal-ness to watching one like you're unpacking some kind of archaeological thing. Especially when you've gotten so used to streaming, to hear an actual machine doing a thing to play a video is kind of crazy.

[@ColinLooksBack]

I really hope RLM covers this at some point. I'd love to hear their take on it.

[@kyonkochan]

@@ColinLooksBack Mike Stoklasa: OH MY GAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWD

[@TheAnchorArmsChad]

Curt-Hiss.... That's actually a clever name.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

Still more tolerable than Gerbert. And that Grim Reaper puppet is actually pretty cool.

[@Rubberman202]

Man, I wish videos like these got more views on your channel. It'd be a good series to look into when you eventually finish your Disney Villains retrospective. After all, your channel isn't called "Colin LooksBack" for nothing. :P

[@ColinLooksBack]

Thank you. I really love doing videos like this on the really obscure, weird, niche stuff. I understand why they don't do quite as well, though. Everyone knows Disney Villains, no one knows Curt-Hiss. He was America's friend, and we never knew it.

[@SirChubbyBunny]

Curt-Hiss was before my time, but it's absolutely something they would have played for me and my peers in daycare and elementary school in the 90s and early 2000s. It's cheesy, tacky, awful, out of touch, and unintentionally hilarious - which makes it all the more perfect.

[@TylerRakstis]

That gulping and coughing part of the rap is probably the funniest part: 3:08-3:16

[@evanprince3875]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone cough like that after taking a hit. That's a full throated cough man, sometimes you think you'll throw up.

[@pgj1997]

This feels like a creepypasta

[@Robbie-14]

It dose😳

[@lilybug4854]

I am blessed to have this channel covering so many bizarre funny and old topics.

[@wickedfeylady]

First! I enjoy all your content, but I really live for the niche stuff like this. I'm glad you made a retrospective on this. It's a neglected classic.

[@ColinLooksBack]

Thank you! I love niche stuff, too. There are some real hidden gems out there.

[@McForkCoverup2005]

Man, Cool Cat really fell on hard times after his video series ended.

[@MegaZzZeux]

If he can't save himself, who will?

[@WasatchWind]

As someone named Curtis this video was a trip xD

[@PhantosTheHedgehog]

This looks like one of the TV shows in Aqua Teen Hunger Force XD

[@ColinLooksBack]

"This is your left, this is your right, you're gonna die!"

[@bethanyparker3938]

Rip cool cat who's gonna save kids from bullying?

[@jenneacubero1036]

Not gonna lie, the songs are a lot better than they should've been for the second video.

[@mikekomarinski]

Curt-Hiss looks like The Blue Racer if anyone even remembers that cartoon.

[@alishahird897]

My class never had these videos. We did see Mcgruff the crime dog, his mascot came to my elementary school in the early 90s. He came as part of the D.A.R.E program (I think), we saw alot of commercials/videos from that organization about crime/drugs destroying lives.

[@ColinLooksBack]

I remember DARE. In retrospect, I might have been one of the only kids who those scare tactics actually worked on.

[@alishahird897]

@@ColinLooksBack My favorite part was the pizza parties held at the local roller rink. It was a highlight of the week. We had pizza, soda and prizes for special crime fighters. One special occasion we also got to go to play mini golf next door.

[@therewillbefudd]

Thank you for finding these gems for us! I completely agree on old VHS tapes. Knowing that someone took the time to package and market something in that way gives it a very unique appeal.

[@jenneacubero1036]

Never saw this before but it does remind me of another puppet PSA video series I was shown in first grade. I'm clueless of the actual name but the puppets looked a lot better in comparison to Curt-Hiss. The main characters include a little green frog with a white and red T-shirt, a female purple toucan and a dog who's dad is (I think) an alcoholic.

[@motxmod]

It's a shame we have failed Curt-Hiss.

[@moonstoneuniverse8516]

When that thing goes boom is actually sung beautiful 😂

[@sasamichan]

a woman dying from a broken heart, a man in a black robe with a white face and a man who becomes addicted to power , dresses in black and later reforms? sounds like Star Wars. my childhood experience includes more then one example of children being educated by a "Police Robot" and by that I mean a robot that could roll around and talk and answer questions from the audience. Robots we were told were real but that I always suspected were puppets or costumes. Let me know if you ever find any robot based shows. These guys never broke character. So I have no clue what was up with them or if they still perform.

[@joefrew1614]

Oooh yeeeah, I remember seeing some sorta old police robot at my school

[@sonic23233]

Was it one of those remote-controlled robots for educational purposes?

[@austinreed7343]

A Lookback at TV is Ok’s Disney VHS documentaries could be fun.

[@lyricrogersofficial]

I didn't even know that snake's name til now! I'm going back down the rabbit hole of KZbin again lol

[@withiethewither1993]

Back when I was in grade school there's 1 play that I remember vividly. It was where a bunch of adults pretending to be teens and do a bunch of lazy stuff like eating junk food and sleeping too much. Each kid had a random organ in their body come to life as a Puppet and scold them, only for the kids to say the organs told them to do it, and then the organs would openly admit that the kids are right but just continue scolding them anyways. I remember feeling like the organs were kinda hypocrites.

[@nicholassims9837]

My mom used to record vhs taps for me they were mostly Rugrats

[@randomads7935]

18:37 Well that’s dark for a children VHS Tape.

[@KTChamberlain]

I don't know why, but the cop puppet looks a lot like the mascot to Pizza Factory on a bad day. I suppose poor pizza sales will do that.

[@laragallahue7127]

Great video

[@trashymc4564]

Death is just a evil drug lord... YEP checks out xD

[@cadensylvester5889]

The puppets look like something out of baby Einstein’s

[@anthonykolb8083]

I know this might be a coincidence but today is my birthday ,thank you for making this video today

[@georgerobertson7010]

Awesome review, I’ve never even heard of this

[@moxxiepeppino]

I think I just unlocked a memory. Help

[@mightyfilm]

There is a LOT to unpack here, but for me the entire thing falls apart with the lyrics about how he likes to sip his liquor slow. What!?! What is he drinking? Wine? Is he slowly sipping it to get the undertones of fruit peels and to appreciate the vintage? If the point is that he wants to get riggidey wrecked, isn't he supposed to be going bottom's up and chugging it as fast as possible to get into his system? He's barely going to get a buzz if he nurses the thing all night. If you're coming at the audience with the "Drugs are bad" message, you need to understand how addiction works. Bad enough these things never understand how addiction works.

[@bennybotros2082]

That was a good ons. I should consider seeing “when will i learn who i can trust”

[@theadaptationstationmaster]

"I hope you like that rap because it's repeated multiple times throughout the video." To be fair, all rap by professional rappers sounds the same to me.

[@nicholassims9837]

if you do cereal again do Cookie Crisp as they change mascots the most from a wizrd to a crook and cop then dog and wolf

[@TheTrumpReaper]

Sigh. Why is the reaper *always* the bad guy? 😡🤬

[@austinreed7343]

Got any nostalgia for Spot the Dog?

[@raggedyanarchist]

15:15 Did... did you just slip in a pop culture reference to Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson? IS Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson even a pop culture reference? Also, tension within a relationship because your career-gal girlfriend is defending a criminal you helped apprehend in court is definitely a struggle that is very relatable to preschoolers.

[@ColinLooksBack]

Someone caught the reference!

[@MungkaeX]

I remember one that involved a Galactic Council or something that was refusing Earth’s entry into it due to our Drug Epidemic, so the Protagonists were sent back in time to help curb our drug use so they could enter this Galactic Council or whatever.

[@timothyblakney9834]

Where did the clip 0:31-0:37 come from?

[@tinawebb696]

Hay I have a question with your Disney villain retrospective are you going to also do Disney show villains or Disneys other products like Pixar marval starwars blue sky 20th century fox it might be a lot of work I'm just wondering

[@nitrosherbert888]

It's weird that snakes are the good guys.

[@nathanblevins158]

Hay can you talk about more about gigantic or muppet show rip offs or Sesame Street rip offs. Or bear and the big blue house. I grew up with those shows.

[@80sDisneyFan]

What is your opinion on the Benji film series because that would make an interesting video topic.

[@belleroseelizabethsmith8148]

Would u do DreamWorks villains videos?

[@MovieFan1912]

3:21-3:32 I’m guessing he doesn’t mean that metaphorically, or rhetorically, or poetically, or theoretically, or any other fancy way?

[@alexrivera5283]

That are about this

[@Glasshouse828]

15:03-15:10 straight is an old slang term for sober, though I’m pretty sure by 1988 “straight” was more likely to be understood to mean “heterosexual” like it is today.

[@sonic23233]

Are you sure this wasn't shown on MST3K?

[@jaggerguth4391]

This Is Not Made to Stop Drugs, It Was Made WHILE on Drugs.

[@MajinGatomon]

most Drug PSA are just stupid, but Curt-Hiss is low quality stupid. You really need some MJ to like it.

[@ModelsExInferis]

If this is the level of PSA Americans get they'd be jumping off their schools roof at the ones we got! They were on on weekend mornings and every day after school, usually a few kids would come to a sticky end. I think my favourite one was set on a farm. One kid gets run over by a tractor and another drowns in some liquid cow shit! They were disturbing but I just found them funny! Kids in Britain were scared straight in the 70's and 80's! 🤣

[@ColinLooksBack]

I think I've seen that farm one. That would have absolutely traumatized me as a kid.

[@g-forcefgt323]

That's apaches, right?

[@austinreed7343]

@@g-forcefgt323 Yes. Stuff like "Dying For a Smoke", "Never Rest"...

[@MovieFan1912]

I tend to groan at rap breaks unless they are done by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

[@memethyst]

this is so odd ahahaha

[@austinreed7343]

There’s a fourth: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5-tk6GfqZqXnZI

[@ColinLooksBack]

I found out about this one ("Miami Spice") shortly after making the video. I will definitely do a follow-up if I can ever track down the full tape. I have also found some vague evidence suggesting at least one other Curt-Hiss tape.

[@PinataTimeExtras]

@@ColinLooksBack would love to see my good friend Curt-Hiss again if there is another tape.