Wonderbug

Wonderbug is one of the component series on The Krofft Supershow.

Plot

Wonderbug 's alter ego, "Schlepcar" (so named due to its personalized California license plate "SCHLEP"), was an old, beat-up conglomeration of several junked cars that looked like a rusty dune buggy.

Like Herbie of Disney movie fame, Schlepcar was sapient and could drive itself, and could also talk in a mumbling voice. It was found in a junkyard by teenagers Barry Buntrock (David Levy), C.C. McNamara (John Anthony Bailey) and Susan Talbot (Carol Anne Seflinger). Schlepcar transformed into the shiny metal-flake orange Wonderbug whenever a magic horn (which played the bugle call for "cavalry charge") was sounded. In his Wonderbug identity, Schlepcar had the power of flight and was able to help the three teens capture crooks and prevent wrongdoing.

Behind the scenes

In Wonderbug mode, the car was a Volkswagen-based Meyers Manx-clone body. Specifically, the body was a Dune Runner manufactured by Dune Buggy Enterprises of Westminster, California. Dune Buggy Enterprises offered the Dune Runner with three different hood choices. Wonderbug has the T-Bird hood choice.

The car had articulated eyeball headlights, and a custom bumper that resembled a mouth; different bumpers were sometimes used to give the car different facial expressions. When the car spoke in its mumbling voice, a rubber puppet stand-in with a moving mouth was sometimes used.

The space that would normally contain the right rear passenger seat instead contained a box, described in dialog as "the costume/wardrobe trunk"; this box actually served to conceal a hidden driver in scenes in which the car drives itself. The car also had a long fender-mounted radio antenna that terminated with a robot-like claw or gripper. Its license plate would change to "1DERBUG".

Character dynamics

Barry often thought he was the brains of the outfit. However, it was usually Susan who came up with the ideas that saved them. A running gag was that Barry would suggest an outrageously implausible plan, its absurdity recognized by both C.C. and Susan. Susan would then suggest a far more sensible plan (usually involving disguises), which Barry would then suggest as if it were his own, prompting C.C. to praise Barry's supposed genius. Susan accepted the situation uncomplainingly, even telling a female character who observed one such exchange, "You get used to it."