MeTV Toons is giving retro gaming fans a major nostalgia boost: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! begins airing on the classic animation channel starting March 30, 2026. The announcement brings back the live-action/animated hybrid that introduced Mario and Luigi to television audiences in 1989 — right alongside the channel’s already stacked lineup of vintage cartoons and just weeks before the theatrical release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Here’s the TL;DR…
- MeTV Toons confirmed The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! premieres March 30, 2026, featuring Captain Lou Albano as Mario in the original 1989 DIC series.
- The channel already airs a deep bench of classics including Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny and Friends), Popeye and Pals, Casper and Company, House of Hanna-Barbera (Flintstones, Yogi Bear, etc.), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, Speed Racer, Inspector Gadget, Taz-Mania, Krypto the Superdog, Space Ghost, and more.
- The show ran for one season in 1989 with live-action plumbing segments and animated Mario/Zelda adventures — the very first Mario TV series ever made.
- The timing lines up perfectly with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the next Illumination/Nintendo theatrical release set for April 1, 2026.
- This adds yet another nostalgic Mario property to a channel built for classic animation fans.
MeTV Toons’ Current Lineup: A Treasure Trove of Classic Cartoons
Since launching as a 24/7 destination for vintage animation, MeTV Toons has filled its schedule with beloved hits from the golden age of TV and theatrical cartoons. Daily blocks include:
- Bugs Bunny and Friends — classic Looney Tunes shorts featuring Bugs, Daffy, Elmer, and the gang.
- Popeye and Pals — the original Max Fleischer theatrical Popeye cartoons with Bluto and Olive Oyl.
- Casper and Company — the friendly ghost and other Harvey Comics favorites.
- House of Hanna-Barbera — a rotating block of Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, Wacky Races, and other H-B staples.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — the original 1987 animated series.
- The Real Ghostbusters — the 1986–1991 animated adventures.
- Beetlejuice — the 1989–1991 animated series.
- Speed Racer, Inspector Gadget, Taz-Mania, Krypto the Superdog, Space Ghost and the Herculoids, and more action and comedy gems.
The channel’s mix of theatrical shorts, Saturday-morning staples, and 1980s/90s action cartoons has made it a go-to for nostalgia seekers.
The History of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Debuting in syndication on September 4, 1989, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was the first animated series based on Nintendo’s blockbuster video games. Produced by DIC Entertainment, it ran for one season with 65 episodes (plus a handful of Zelda segments on Fridays).
The format was unique: each half-hour episode opened and closed with live-action segments starring Captain Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi in their Brooklyn plumbing shop basement. Celebrity guests (including Cyndi Lauper, Sgt. Slaughter, and even a young appearance by a pre-fame rapper in one episode) would drop by for plumbing “emergencies” that led into the animated adventures.
The cartoons followed Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool (Peach), and Toad battling King Koopa (Bowser) across the Mushroom Kingdom. Fridays swapped in The Legend of Zelda cartoons. The show was a direct tie-in to the NES games Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2, complete with the catchy theme song (“Come on, it’s time to go do the Mario!”) and plenty of 1980s cheese. It ended in December 1989 but lived on in reruns and home video.
How This Fits with the Upcoming Super Mario Galaxy Movie
The timing couldn’t be better. Illumination and Nintendo’s next theatrical Mario film, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, hits theaters April 1, 2026. Following the massive success of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie (which grossed over $1.3 billion), this one adapts the beloved Wii/Nintendo DS space-exploration games, sending Mario and friends on cosmic adventures.
Bringing the original 1989 Super Mario Bros. Super Show! to MeTV Toons just weeks before the new movie lands gives fans a perfect nostalgia bridge — from the very first Mario cartoon to the latest big-screen adventure in the same year.
The arrival of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! on MeTV Toons starting March 30, 2026, is a win for anyone who grew up with the original Mario cartoon. It slots neatly into a channel already packed with Bugs Bunny, Popeye, TMNT, Ghostbusters, and Hanna-Barbera classics — and it arrives at the perfect moment with the Super Mario Galaxy Movie just weeks away in theaters. For retro animation lovers and Mario fans alike, 2026 is shaping up to be a very toony year.
Hat Tips
MeTV Toons Official Site, “The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is coming to MeTV Toons,” March 2026 announcement
Wikipedia / Mario Wiki, Full production history and episode details of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, accessed March 2026
IMDb / Official Site, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie release info and cast (April 1, 2026 theatrical), accessed March 2026
Bleeding Cool / YouTube schedule reviews, Current MeTV Toons lineup including Looney Tunes, Popeye, Hanna-Barbera, TMNT, and recent additions like Taz-Mania and Krypto, 2026
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