Cartoon Vault: Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos

There are times that I question the insanity of some celebrities, it's bad enough that MC Hammer made a cartoon but I bet few people know that Chuck Norris also made one. Get ready for Karate Kommandos.

In 1986 Chuck Norris took on the form of likeable action hero for much of his early career following a starring role next to "better" rated action star Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon; at this point much like many of his contemporaries Hulk Hogan & Mr.T became marketable to the youth of that era, so much so that Hanna Barbara successors Ruby Spears took it upon themselves to create action cartoon Karate Kommandos starring Chuck Norris himself alongside a cast of cliches and stereotypes fighting a generic villain called the Claw (No not that one) and Shredder's whiny cousin Super Ninja.
This series ran for five episodes for one week in September 1986 a month before my own birth but also had a brief run on Adult Swim many years later. There was also a Home Video release with a DVD release under the classic Hanna Barbara label.
It can be best remembered for numerous groaner scenes and dated plotlines that defined many action cartoons of that era but I call it a GI Joe knock off run by a terrible actor, I've no doubts about his athletic ability or his martial arts but as an actor he is utterly terrible and the fact that this cartoon only lasted a week is not going to get him a free pass back to stardom, regardless of the amount of Chuck Norris facts he gets.
Still need convincing? Here's the intro.

It looks far too much like a bad toy commercial, enjoy the badness that is Karate Kommandos.

End