Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?

Hanna-Barbera's TV special "Alice in Wonderland, or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?" doesn't promote fidelity to the source material; having to do a book report on "Alice in Wonderland," Alice falls through her TV set after her dog Fluff leaps into it and finds herself you know where, meeting several of Lewis Carroll's best-known characters while trying to find her pet.

It's less boring than the Disney version, but concerns about some dated trappings aside (will any children watching this today know who Hedda Hopper was?), Bill Dana's adaptation isn't as funny as it wants to be; Alice's trial for stealing the tarts - I told you it wasn't loyal to the book - is particularly tiresome. It also drags a bit when the focus is purely on Alice, and when she has to sing as well...

But all is forgiven when the cards are playing the game, when Fred and Barney's caterpillar come on, or when the Sammy Davis Jr-voiced Cheshire Cat is on screen. The latter isn't on for long, but he makes this worth tuning in for.

"I've gotta split..."