Cobra Commander Sold 10 Sitcoms to Network Television in 1984

For any of you G.I. Joe fans who are on Facebook, there’s a great group called G.I. Joe Discussion in which fans and collectors share insights, images and links. One member posted the panel below from a 1984 issue of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic and asked which 80s sitcoms Cobra Commander could have been referring to.

This is one of the things that made the Hama comics great, the in-jokes and jabs at the pop culture and entertainment of the day. This panel implies that Cobra had placed at least ten sitcoms on American network television in an attempt to “dumb down” society.

So what “mindless sitcoms” could the Cobra Media Department have been behind? Hit the comments or visit the Facebook group to share your thoughts. Here’s mine:

Married With Children

After pitching the show to network execs in 1984, the show stayed in production limbo for 3 years. Think about it though: Cobra’s goal was to recruit disenfranchised American men. What better way to make men realize they are stuck in a living hell than to create a show based on the typical working man in a dead end job, stuck with what he perceived to be his freeloading, ungrateful family?

Al Bundy was the exact kind of person Cobra was targeting: the down-on-his-luck former high school athlete looking for one more shot at glory no matter the price. Compared to selling women’s shoes at the local mall all day, the Cobra lifestyle would look like paradise.

A few weeks of training with Big Boa and Al would be in prime shape to take on G.I. Joe. Trade in your shoe horn for a laser pistol Al Bundy! You can re-live the glory days of Polk High! COBRA!!

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