Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos - The 1986 animated series

December 13 2020

Karate Kommandos (also known as Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos) is an American animated series that originally aired in 1986 as a five-episode miniseries. It was conceived and played by Chuck Norris as himself and produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises.

Reruns of the cartoon aired on Boomerang and Adult Swim.

History

In this cartoon series, Chuck Norris is a United States government agent. He fights with a team of different race warriors known as Karate Kommandos. Together, they fight against the VULTURE organization led by the Claw and its right-hand Super Ninja

Production

The series follows the framing device of the Mister T series (also a Ruby-Spears production).

At the beginning of each episode, a live action segment with Norris is shown, usually in a gym or martial arts studio, to explain what's going on.

At the end of each episode, Norris tells a moral lesson that the audience must learn.

Characters

Karate Kommandos

Chuck Norris - The leader of the Karate Kommandos.
Pepper - A tech savvy and mechanic.
Reed - Chuck's young apprentice and Pepper's brother.
Kimo - A samurai warrior.
Tabe - A sumo champion.
Too Much - Chuck's young pupil.

VULTURE
VULTURE it's an evil organization plotting to take over the world. Its members include:

Claw - The leader of VULTURE who serves as the main antagonist of the series. Claw has a metal claw on his right arm which he often displays when he mentions his agents about their assignments for "Remember this".
Super Ninja - A ninja who is Claw's right hand.
VULTURE Ninjas - The infantrymen of VULTURE.

Technical data

Author Chuck Norris
Developed by Dan DiStefano
Directed by Charles A. Nichols, John Kimball
Music Hear Harpaz
country of origin United States
Original language English
No. of seasons 1
Number of episodes 5
Executive producers Joe Ruby, Ken Spears
The manufacturer Larry Huber
Duration 30 minutes
Production company Ruby Spears Enterprises
Distributor World Vision Enterprises
Original network First run syndication
Audio format stereo
Transmission date 15 September - 19 September 1986