September 5, 1983: “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” Premieres

September 5, 1983: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe premieres in syndication. It is the most cynical show in the history of children's television. Why? Because it was literally created to answer this question: "Can a TV show succeed if we introduce the toys first?"

The answer was, "Yes": It ran 2 seasons, 65 episodes, led to big sales of the accompanying toys made by Mattel, and produced a spinoff series about He-Man's long-lost twin sister, She-Ra: Princess of Power.

John Erwin provided the voice of Prince Adam, heir to the throne of the planet Eternia, a.k.a. He-Man. He also did a few 9-Lives commercials as Morris the Cat, and was the radio announcer in Back to Future Part II. As of September 5, 2022, he is still alive, age 85.

Alan Oppenheimer voiced not only Adam's pet Cringer, who morphed into He-Man's Battle Cat, but also Duncan, the royal Man-At-Arms, and adoptive father of Teela, Captain of the Royal Guards. Oppenheimer also voiced Skeletor, the series' main villain.

Lou Scheimer, listed in the credits as Erik Gunden, was the voice of several characters, including Orko, a wizard who served as comic relief. He also voiced Adam's father, King Randor, monarch of Eternia. Linda Gary (not to be confused with Dallas actress Linda Gray) voiced all the major female characters: Teela, Queen Marlena, the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, and the villainous Evil-Lyn. Melendy Britt served as the voice of She-Ra.

Marlena was an Earth astronaut who got thrown across space, arrived on Eternia, and, with no hope of returning home, accepted the King's marriage proposal, becoming the mother of Adam and Adora, who grew up to become He-Man and She-Ra, respectively.

The Sorceress oversees Castle Grayskull, the source of He-Man's power, and the target of Skeletor's ambition. She, Duncan and Orko are the only people who know the dual identities of He-Man and Battle Cat. Her real name is Teela Na, and, unbeknownst to all but Duncan, is Captain Teela's birth mother. (Even He-Man, who appears to be in love with the Captain, doesn't know.)

Her birth father's identity has never been revealed, in any continuity. I had assumed that Duncan was her father, and that he and the Sorceress broke up at some point, while Duncan raised Teela. But there is no indication that Duncan and the Sorceress have ever gone beyond friendship.

It’s been suggested that, because his powers are based in magic, He-Man could beat Superman in a fight. Well, "could" doesn’t mean "would." And is He-Man's protection of his secret identity any better than Superman's? A tan instead of glasses? No mask, and the same hairstyle?

And if the Sorceress is Teela's mother, shouldn't she be older? Or does she have some kind of magic that keeps her eternally young?

A live-action film bombed in 1987, probably because people who saw Rocky IV were not yet ready to see Dolph Lundgren play a hero. Frank Langella played Skeletor.

The cartoon was rebooted in 2002 (it tanked), and again in 2021 (it's doing better).

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September 5, 1983 was a Monday, Labor Day. Lincoln Riley, one of the top current coaches in college football, was born on this day.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Knuckleballer Tom Candiotti outpitched Shane Rawley. Mark Brouhard hit a home run for the Brew Crew, the defending American League Champions, managed by Harvey Kuenn and known as "Harvey's Wallbangers." Robin Yount went 1-for-3, and Paul Molitor went 1-for-4. The only Yankee run came on a home run by Don Baylor. Dave Winfield went 0-for-3, and rookie Don Mattingly went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Shea Stadium. In the 9th, the Phils scored 2 runs to take the lead, but the Mets scored 3 to win, on a home run by George Foster. Mike Schmidt hit a home run, while Pete Rose, Foster's former Cincinnati teammate, went 0-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Bob Ojeda (4 over 6 innings) and Bob Stanley (1 over 3) combined on a 5-hit shutout, outpitching Mike Boddicker. John Shelby got 3 of the Orioles' 5 hits. The Red Sox also got only 5 hits, but 1 was an RBI triple by Rich Gedman.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 7-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the California Angels, 7-0 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Jim Gott pitched a 5-hit shutout. Both Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew got the day off for the Angels.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 11-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Carlton Fisk went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3, but not only did not steal a base, but got picked off.

* Labor Day used to be a day for doubleheaders, but, this time, there was only one: The St. Louis Cardinals swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-4 and 7-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Dane Iorg hit a sacrifice fly to score Ozzie Smith with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning in the nightcap.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 13-6 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Steve Henderson, Dave Henderson (no relation) and Darnell Coles hit home runs for the M's. Darryl Motley hit one for the Royals. George Brett went 1-for-3.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Terry Kennedy hit a home run, and Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Johnny Bench, in his last month as an active player, appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

And it was the end of the opening weekend of the NFL season. On ABC Monday Night Football, one of the biggest rivalries in the League had one of its biggest games ever: The Dallas Cowboys beat the defending World Champions, the Washington Redskins, 31-30 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, in a rematch of the preceding season's NFC Championship Game. The Redskins rebounded, winning 16 of their next 17 games, including another NFC Championship, before losing in the Super Bowl.

It was in this game that ABC announcer Howard Cosell said of Washington receiver Alvin Garrett, after he caught a pass and took off, "That little monkey gets loose doesn't he?" Garrett himself said he wasn't offended by the apparently racist, certainly thoughtless remark. But Cosell had offended so many people over the years that this turned out to be the last straw: He was forced into retirement at the end of the season, and the original, golden age of Monday Night Football was over.