History Series / TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow

The show was presented in a ThreeShorts style, where one live-action story is split into two parts and straddles an animated short. The live-action shorts play out like typical sitcom episodes and feature the brothers in Brooklyn before they were sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom, providing plumbing duties for normal joes (like Dr. Frankenstein) and celebrities (like Lyle Alzado and Music/CyndiLauper) alike. The animated shorts feature Mario and Luigi who (as shown in a in-show bumper) wound up stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom while doing a routine plumbing job and got sucked down a drain which happened to be a warp pipe. They inadvertently save Princess Toadstool[[note]]her American name at the time, years before the West officially adopted her Japanese name, Peach, in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (other than one time briefly beforehand in ''VideoGame/YoshisSafari'')[[/note]] and her servant Toad from the evil King Koopa.[[note]]Bowser. [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Long story.]][[/note]] The episodes saw the group travelling the oddly variously themed sections of the Mushroom Kingdom, as the Brothers and Toad bodyguard Toadstool from Koopa and saving the lands they visited while trying to find a way back home.

* WouldHurtAChild: Koopa establishes himself as a danger to children in "Two Plumbers and a Baby", where he overloads the FountainOfYouth so he can turn the denizens of the Kingdom of Youth into helpless babies that he can easily capture, at one point almost getting an infantile Princess Toadstool devoured by a school of Trouters.

* SpeakingSimlish: Dr. Nerdni([[SpellMyNameWithAnS c]])k in "Robo Koopa" speaks German-sounding gibberish.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Female villains were a rarity in this show, much less King Koopa using female minions. A female Koopa Troopa is clearly seen fanning “Koop Tut” in "The Ten Koopmandments" and of course Theres [[Series/WheelOfFortune Vampa White]] in "On Her Majesties Sewer Service". Of note: Queen Rotunda in "Love Em and Leave Em" is the only example of King Koopa not being the main villain in an episode.

** A few of the humans that appear in the Mushroom Kingdom also have four fingers such as Mugga the Medicine woman in "Quest for Pizza" and Dealin' Delbert in "Mario and the Beanstalk".

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Koopa becomes a giant in two episodes. So does Mario in one of these two. And that was before they became giants in their [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros later]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory games]].

* {{Catchphrase}}

* CelebrityParadox: Captain Lou Albano played Mario in both the live-action and animated segments of the show. In a particularly memorable live-action segment, Luigi mentions that Mario idolizes Captain Lou, who goes missing. Music/CyndiLauper then shows up to lead a search to find Albano. Albano appears at the end of the episode, shortly after Mario leaves...
** Mario is also apparently a fan of WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget's show, but then there are the two episodes where the Inspector stops by the brothers' pad in the live-action segments.

* CardCarryingVillain: Koopa ''knows'' he's evil and revels in it.

* ILied: In "Do You Princess Toadstool Take this Koopa...?", King Koopa turns Toad and the mushroom Kingdom denisens to stone and promises the Princess to turn them back to normal and let them live their lives if she marries him. While he briefly changes them back, he turns them to stone again the moment the Princess is unaware. Of course, once the Mario Brothers inform her that Koopa double crossed her, she is quick to back out of the deal.

* ArtisictLicenseBiology: In "Quest for Pizza", it seems that a venomous bite on the leg from a Cobrat is enough to put Mario into a coma within seconds, rather than sometimes a minute in real-life.

* CaptainErsatz: Stand-ins for Franchise/IndianaJones [the above-mentioned Indiana Joe], RobinHood [Hooded Robin] and Music/ElvisPresley [Elvin Parsley], among others, appear. Plus [[Film/CrocodileDundee Alligator Dundee]] in one live-action segment. ("Hooded Robin" is odd because Robin Hood is a PublicDomainCharacter, but they probably couldn't resist the VisualPun involved in turning the character into an actual talking bird.)

The show was presented in a ThreeShorts style, where one live-action story is split into two parts and straddles an animated short. The live-action short features the brothers in Brooklyn before they were sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom, providing plumbing duties for normal joes (like Dr. Frankenstein) and celebrities (like Lyle Alzado and Music/CyndiLauper) alike. The animated short features Mario and Luigi who (as shown in a in-show bumper) wound up stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom while doing a routine plumbing job and got sucked down a drain which happened to be a warp pipe. They inadvertently save Princess Toadstool[[note]]her American name at the time, years before the West officially adopted her Japanese name, Peach, in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (other than one time briefly beforehand in ''VideoGame/YoshisSafari'')[[/note]] and her servant Toad from the evil King Koopa.[[note]]Bowser. [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Long story.]][[/note]] The episodes saw the group travelling the oddly variously themed sections of the Mushroom Kingdom, as the Brothers and Toad bodyguard Toadstool from Koopa and saving the lands they visited while trying to find a way back home.

* BrownNote: In one episode, Koopa is defeated by the playing of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' theme song. Seriously.

* OffModel: This show is ''so'' infamous for this (and its follow-ups are even worse) that it may be a potential contender for the title of ''Off-Model: The Series''.
** Mario and Luigi have the colors of their shirts and overalls swapped[[labelnote:*]] (in the modern games and official art, their overalls are blue and their undershirts are red/green; it's the opposite here)[[/labelnote]], and King Koopa's face is entirely green, plus Princess Toadstool's AdaptationDyeJob mentioned above. To be fair, though, all of these are based on how the characters looked in the first three games – their current appearances weren't really established yet, especially outside Japan. Toad also sported a red cap with white spots for the first few episodes before it was reversed, although it is still used for when he becomes Super Toad, from "The Fire of Hercufleas" onward.
*** These changes are maintained in subsequent Mario cartoons, including ''World'' where it's a lot less justified.
** The look of the animation designs waffles between a 1970s Creator/HannaBarbera cartoon and a 1940s WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short featuring the Mario cast depending on the scene.
** As a cheaply-produced cartoon from the 80's, mistakes in the animation were inevitable. However, this show's errors in animation and continuity are so pervasive that it's impossible to list them all here. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqrIhmmbT8E&ab_channel=TheSuperMarioBrosCartoonStuffandmore%21 This video]] highlights some of the more glaring examples.
** As mentioned, we’d be hours discussing all the mistakes, but '''this''' particular one sets a new low even for these standards. At one point in "Two Plumbers and a Baby", not only has Luigi's cap become the same color as Mario's. But Mario's lips are ''animated'' to Luigi's voice.

''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show'' is a 1989 animated/live action Creator/{{DiC|Entertainment}} production and an AnimatedAdaptation of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s flagship games, featuring the adventures[[note]]the show doesn't coexist nor have anything canon with the games outside of setting and characters, so consider it an AlternateContinuity, just like the WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie[[/note]] of those plucky plumbers from Brooklyn, the Franchise/SuperMarioBros. Mario is voiced and portrayed in live-action by Italian-American professional wrestler Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano, with Canadian actor Creator/DannyWells as Luigi.

''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show'' is a 1989 animated/live action Creator/{{DiC|Entertainment}} production and an AnimatedAdaptation of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s flagship games, featuring the adventures[[note]]the show doesn't coexist nor have anything canon with the games outside of setting and characters, so consider it an AlternateContinuity, just like the WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie[[/note]] of those plucky plumbers from Brooklyn, the Franchise/SuperMarioBros. Mario is voiced and portrayed in live-action by professional wrestler Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano, with Canadian actor Creator/DannyWells as Luigi.

* TookALevelInBadass: Robo Koopa. His episode starts with a DownerBeginning, with Mario and co. on the run from him in his new, NighInvulnerable PoweredArmor -- complete with a [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4SH0Q7R6-tY/hqdefault.jpg design]] that looks legitimately menacing. And their attempt to match him with a {{Mecha}} of their own ends in a ShootTheShaggyDog failure. Only a last-second IndyPloy -- and by one of the local [[OneShotCharacter One-Shot Characters]] instead of, you know, Mario and/or any of his friends -- manages to put a stop to his NearVillainVictory.

* RockBottom: See TemptingFate below.

* ShellBackpack: King Koopa regularly dressed up in setting appropriate costumes, and in almost every situation, this trope is in full effect, with the shell appearing to be worn over whatever other clothes he has on.

* TagalongKid: Toad.

* ThroughAFaceFullOfFur: In "Crocodile Mario", when Princess Toadstool gives the statue a kiss, its face turns neon pink.
* TooDumbToLive: In "Love Em and Leave Em", the heroes are arrested by Queen Rotunda's royal guards for stealing her royal red-hot peppers. Princess Toadstool tries to argue that the peppers were growing wild, despite it clearly being shown that the peppers were fenced in.
** In "The Unzappables", Mouser is the doorman at Koopa's hideout, which requires a password to get in. When the Mario gang (in disguise) approaches, he asks them for the password; they take too long to think about it, and he yells, "It's cheese balls'!" After they enter, Mouser [[BreakingTheFourthWall turns to the audience]] and remarks that [[{{Irony}} some people are really stupid]].
** In "King Mario of Cramalot," Koopa, sitting on the throne he stole, rages to his Troopa minion about Mario's plan to attack him: "There's only ONE King of Cramalot--and WHO IS THAT?" The Troopa asks for a hint...and when Koopa tells him that "he's sitting ''right here on this throne''", he remarks "Well, gee, maybe you'd better get off him."

* JerkassBall:
** "Mario and the Beanstalk" shows a more irritable side of Princess Toadstool where, in a rarity for the show, she gets frustrated with the Marios. [[JustifiedTrope Though, that's likely the concerns of the Mushroom Orphanage closing down talking, and you'd be pissed off too if someone you trusted with the task of selling the royal cow was talked into buying (seemingly) ordinary bean seeds instead]].
** Toad in "Koopa Klaus". He can be a BrattyHalfPint sometimes, but when Koopa attacked Mario and Co., Toad [[SkewedPriorities cared more about his snowboard]], earning him a well-deserved scolding from the Princess.

* MayTheFarceBeWithYou: "Star Koopa".

* MsFanservice: Princess Toadstool.

* BadBoss: Koopa/Bowser often abuses his minions (including [[TheDragon Mouser]] himself) for even the slightest inconveniences.

* BigEater: Mario, to the extent that his primary motive for stopping Koopa's plans is simply so he can sit and eat in peace. Luigi, Toad, and the Princess have called him out on it at least once. This exchange from "Koopenstein" sums it up quite nicely:
-->'''Princess:''' Don't you ''ever'' think about anything but food?
-->'''Mario:''' What else ''is'' there?

* ClothingDamage: In "Mario of the Apes", Mario's shirt gets torn apart in a fight with a lion, and it stays that way for the rest of the episode.

* CombatPragmatist: In "Star Koopa", Mario faces Darth Koopa in a lightsaber duel and disarms him. When Mario orders him to surrender, Koopa draws a FreezeRay and zaps him with it, winning the duel.

* TheDragon: Mouser.

* ExcitedShowTitle: The show's full title is ''The Super Mario Bros Super Show!'' The exclamation point is officially part of the title.

* GooGooGetup: King Koopa's Goo Goo Ga Ga Koopa alias from "Two Plumbers and a Baby" has him dressed in a bib, bonnet, and diaper, despite him being his normal adult age (at least until he falls into the fountain and de-ages into an actual baby near the end of the episode).
* GushingAboutGuestStars: the show had plenty of guest stars for the live action segments, and almost inevitably, Mario and Luigi will be avid watchers of their show, consider them an inspiration, or whatever fits for the relevant star's claim to fame.
* HateSink: Unlike the later cartoons, where he demonstrates some genuine redeeming qualities, this cartoon's version of King Koopa is consistently shown to be a completely unrepentant scumbag from the get-go. Which, to be fair, is largely because he’d only appeared in one game at the time. This being before he had an established personality and was merely the main villain of the games.

* IdentityAmnesia: "Mario of the Apes" sees Mario suffer this after a bang on the head, becoming "Marzan" as a result.

* InsultBackfire: Koopa often replies to being insulted by thanking the offender in some way. It fits his CardCarryingVillain nature.

* KarmaHoudini: Even though Koopa's schemes occasionally resulted in his own defeat, he always made a VillainExitStageLeft either by running away or by using a warp potion. For some reason the Mario gang did not always try chasing him down while the portal's opened. In fact in one episode they were literally STANDING on it and they never tried to jump down to catch him (granted, it was an animation error, but still).
* KidSidekick: Toad, to Mario.

* AdaptationalSkill: The Mario Brothers' aptitude as plumbers is rarely explored in the games (though it does come up in some titles, such as ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld''). In the animated segments they're plumbing savants, while in the live action segments the implication is that they're inept.
* AdaptationalUgliness: In the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros.'' video games, the Koopa Troopas look cute, in this show, ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' Shows however the Koopa Troopas look uglier and more evil. This might be so to help the Audiences root for the Mario Bros. Instead of the Koopa Troop in these shows. Though this largely has to do with updating their designs from the official artwork or sprites.
* AdaptationalWimp: King Koopa can't breathe fire the way Bowser can. Though on the other side of the coin, he can still do magic and has turned people into stone [[AllThereInTheManual just like the story in the game's manual.]]
** The Mario brothers themselves tend to surrender or flee whenever confronted with King Koopa's goons, unless they have weapons or power-ups handy.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Yes and No with Princess Toadstool. She's a redhead (or sometimes had brown hair in the later episodes- the animation was a bit inconsistent with this show and tended to fluctuate even between scenes) in this series (and its sequels). Official Nintendo art even at the time leaned toward making her blonde – as she is in all games from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' on – but the hardware/palette limitations of the NES meant she had red hair in the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1''[[labelnote:*]]she and the Toads use the Fire Mario palette[[/labelnote]] and brown hair in ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 SMB 2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 3]]'', so her hair in these cartoons (which predate ''World'') is at least justified.

* ArbitrarySkepticism:
** In one episode, Luigi doesn't believe in magic lamps despite all the other stuff like warrior turtles, mushroom people, and magic stars and flowers he's okay with.
** Similarly, in the episode "Count Koopula," even though he's seen crazy things like magic stars and flowers, mushroom people, and warrior turtles, Mario doesn't believe in vampires... until a [[MixAndMatchCritters Tweeter Bat]] sucks every drop of tomato sauce out of his ravioli right in front of him.

* AbnormalAllergy: In "Mario and the Beanstalk", Princess Toadstool is shown to be allergic to garbonzo beans and has a sneezing reaction to them. While people can get a rash from consuming them since they're a legume, it's not at all possible to sneeze from them.

* AdaptationalDyeJob: Koopa Troopas have been recolored to look more green as a side effect of King Koopa being a composite of Bowser and Wart.

The show was presented in a ThreeShorts style, where one live-action story is split into two parts and straddles an animated short. The live-action short features the brothers in Brooklyn before they were sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom, providing plumbing duties for normal joes (like Dr. Frankenstein) and celebrities (like Lyle Alzado and Music/CyndiLauper) alike. The animated short features Mario and Luigi who (as shown in a in-show bumper) wound up stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom while doing a routine plumbing job and got sucked down a drain which happened to be a warp pipe. They inadvertently save Princess Toadstool[[note]]her American name at the time, years before the West officially adopted her Japanese name, Peach, in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (other than a time briefly beforehand in ''VideoGame/YoshisSafari'')[[/note]] and her servant Toad from the evil King Koopa.[[note]]Bowser. [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Long story.]][[/note]] The episodes saw the group travelling the oddly variously themed sections of the Mushroom Kingdom, as the Brothers and Toad bodyguard Toadstool from Koopa and saving the lands they visited while trying to find a way back home.

''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show'' is a 1989 animated/live action Creator/{{DiC|Entertainment}} production and an AnimatedAdaptation of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s flagship games, featuring the adventures[[note]]it's unlikely that the show has anything canon with the games outside of setting and characters, so consider it an AlternateContinuity[[/note]] of those plucky plumbers from Brooklyn, the Franchise/SuperMarioBros. Mario is voiced and portrayed in live-action by professional wrestler Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano, with Canadian actor Creator/DannyWells as Luigi.

The show was presented in a ThreeShorts style, where one live-action story is split into two parts and straddles an animated short. The live-action short features the brothers in Brooklyn before they were sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom, providing plumbing duties for normal joes (like Dr. Frankenstein) and celebrities (like Lyle Alzado and Music/CyndiLauper) alike. The animated short features Mario and Luigi who (as shown in a in-show bumper) wound up stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom while doing a routine plumbing job and got sucked down a drain which happened to be a warp pipe. They inadvertently save Princess Toadstool[[note]]her American name at the time, years before the West officially adopted her Japanese name, Peach, in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''[[/note]] and her servant Toad from the evil King Koopa.[[note]]Bowser. [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Long story.]][[/note]] The episodes saw the group travelling the oddly variously themed sections of the Mushroom Kingdom, as the Brothers and Toad bodyguard Toadstool from Koopa and saving the lands they visited while trying to find a way back home.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Compared to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', where she was a recurring minion of Wart, Birdo in the ''Super Show'' is merely a {{doting|parent}} mother who only kidnaps Toad because she confuses him for her lost child, Cheepy, and even helps Mario and Toad fight King Koopa. Anything Birdo-related that Koopa uses is merely a weapon made in her likeness or a hybrid animal like Birdo-Kangaroos or a Birdo-Pterosaur.