For a while there, Bob Balser was the man, at least if you were talking animated pop stars.

This is the man, after all, who went from the Beatles to the Jackson Five, and almost, to the Osmonds.

Yes, back in the late ’60s and early ’70s, musical acts starred in cartoons, and Balser had a hand in directing the best ones. And now, more than 40 years after its creation, “The Jackson 5ive: The Complete Animated Series” arrives on DVD, Blu-Ray and iTunes Tuesday. It includes all 23 episodes and 46 remastered Jackson Five songs.

“I got a copy of some of the episodes,” Balser says. “I was going through them smiling. I’m so excited.”

Balser has had a career that includes prestige animated projects such as “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Around the World in 80 Days,” and work with the Peanuts gang.

In 1967-68, he co-directed the classic cartoon “Yellow Submarine,” starring the Beatles. That memorable work led to his title as supervising director on the 1971 cartoon for Motown’s famous family act.

“It was started in the United States, and it was taking forever,” says Balser, who was then based in London. “They called me in, and they wanted a full season done in 11 months or less.”

Balser tossed out the work that was already done (“I looked at them and really disliked them.”) and decided that it was important that the Jackson Five solve all their problems with music and intelligence. “It was the first series with a black group,” he says. “I thought it should be positive.”

Each episode features the adventures of the singing Michael, Marlon, Jermaine, Tito and Jackie Jackson — usually centering on Michael and his pets rats Ray and Charles, plus pet snake Rosie. Motown head Berry Gordy made appearances, as did Supremes star Diana Ross.

The Jackson brothers were too busy being teen idols to voice their characters, so Balser never met them. (Ross did voice her lines, but they were shipped to Balser, so he didn’t meet her either). He never met the Beatles, whose singing voices were used in “Yellow Submarine,” either. But he did meet the Osmond brothers, who had a cartoon in 1972. Balser was asked to help with that show, but when the Jackson Five series got a second season he had to pass.

Although boomers may remember the cartoon, today’s youth may not only not know about them, some may not even know the King of Pop was in a family group. Still, with its groovy ’70s psychedelic vibe and wholesome messages, Balser is confident the cartoon still has appeal.

“They do know Michael Jackson, and the music is terrific. It’s not going to disappear,” he says.

Jackson Five photo courtesy DreamWorks Classics

Thanksgiving night mostly means reruns and football. But there are still a few things you can doze through while you recover from your tryptophan overdose.

Hatfields & McCoys (6pm, History) - Marathon time. All three parts of the award-winning miniseries starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton air tonight.

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (8pm, ABC) - It was also on last night, but so what. It's Snoopy! Prop the kids down in front of the TV.

The Waltons: The Thanksgiving Story (8pm, INSP) - From 1973, John Boy is injured in a freak accident and covers up serious symptoms in order to study for a scholarship exam.

Glee (9pm, Fox) - Marley, Jake and Ryder find themselves entangled in a love triangle, and Blaine runs into members of the Warblers.

Bad25 (10pm, ABC) - Spike Lee's song-by-song tribute to Michael Jackson's 1987 album, "Bad," features archival footage of rehearsals for music videos, interviews with the talent behind the songwriting, choreography, production and filming. Includes interviews with Quincy Jones, the album's producer, and Martin Scorsese, who directed the video for the title track.

Winged Seduction: Birds of Paradise (10pm, NGC) - A National Geographic Channel special in which a photographer and an ornithologist travel to remote jungles in hopes of capturing 39 bird species on film.

"Marley"
Grade: A
Cast: Bob Marley with friends, family and associates
Director: Kevin MacDonald
Length: 145 minutes
Rating: PG-13

The late great Bob Marley's music has been in the air for so long that it takes some effort to ponder a time when it didn't exist. But long before reggae became stoner wallpaper for hacky sack enthusiasts, he was just another musician trying to be heard -- even if his hardscrabble circumstances were more dire than most.

"Marley," director Kevin MacDonald's epic and fascinating documentary about the reggae king, manages the remarkable feat of covering all the bases from large to small. It's fittingly grand, giving a scale of just how massive a figure Marley remains; he was an icon who could inspire cease-fires because both sides worshipped him, with an appeal spanning cultures, continents and now time. Only Muhammad Ali and Michael Jackson rival him as 20th century black popular culture's greatest figures.

At the same time, "Marley" is chock full of details that make his story palpable. You'll get something from this film no matter how much or how little you think you already know about the man.

It's all the more remarkable how well "Marley" turned out given that MacDonald is the project's third director (after Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme both bowed out), a telltale troubled-production red flag. Throw in the film's two-and-a-half-hour length and the Marley family's involvement, and you have a recipe for indulgent hagiography.

Yet "Marley" is anything but, portraying its subject and his life as both brave and flawed. It's full of larger-than-life interludes, yet some of the film's most emotional moments belong to his daughter Cedella, whose disappointment in her father is still evident 31 years after his death.

After showing an African slave port, "Marley" moves to its subject's Jamaican homeland with stunningly beautiful fly-over shots of the misty rural hill country where he grew up. Born of mixed race to a teenage mother and a white British soldier in his 60s, young Bob grew up as a "half-caste" who had to earn every meal and was not accepted by either side.

The fire that stoked within Marley would never abate. One of the film's most poignant scenes shows two of Marley's white relatives listening to "Cornerstone," a song inspired by his white family's rejection of him. Clearly shaken, his half-sister notes the irony that Bob is the Marley the world knows now.

More than three decades past Marley's death, you'd think his trail would be pretty cold by now. But "Marley" presents an amazing and varied cast going all the way back to his mother and first schoolteacher, along with various friends, relatives, lovers, associates and even a few neighbors in the Delaware town where he worked for a few years as forklift driver at the Chrysler plant. In people's descriptions as well as period footage of Marley onstage and off, his chrisma is apparent.

The music is, of course, amazing. "Marley" does a fantastic job of putting it in context as an outgrowth of ska, with elements drawn from gospel and American pop and soul. In early photographs of Marley's band the Wailers, they look like the Temptations in their matching suits. Marley's bandmates get plenty of camera time, too, especially Bunny Livingston's soft-shoe demonstration of reggae's signature rhythmic style (perfectly synced to the background music).

"Marley" touches on its subject's ramblin' ways and the unseemly post-death squabbling over his estate without dwelling on either too much, which is honestly just as well because it ultimately doesn't matter. Even knowing that Marley had 11 kids (confirmed, at least) by seven different women, you just can't resist the man as he's presented here. As one of his girlfriends summarizes, "We still couldn't hate him for it."

As you'd expect, live-performance scenes are a big part of the film, and "Marley" has some great ones. The 1978 peace concert in Jamaica, where Marley brought the country's main political rival leaders onstage and made them clasp hands as his band throbbed away, remains an incredible piece of political as well as musical theater.

Throughout, MacDonald's attention to detail is impressive, cannily interweaving archival footage and photos with modern-day scenes and a killer soundtrack. As the camera traverses the numbered streets of Kingston's Trench Town district, the song playing is "Natty Dread," with lyrics counting off those same streets. And the gospel-style demo of "No Woman, No Cry" with Peter Tosh on piano adroitly shows Marley's debt to American spirituals.

But popular music's debt to him is still far greater. See this film and find out just how much.

File this under "Sentences I never imagined writing".

Holden Thorp is a mediocre dancer but a pretty good zombie.

The UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor took a couple steps outside the old comfort zone Monday, gamely taking part in a student re-enactment of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. You know, the one with the ghouls and zombies.

Thorp was flanked by his wife Patti on one side and by Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt on the other.

 (Tar Heel basketball coach Roy Williams, standing nearby, could not be coaxed into participating.)

They joined about 30 students in trying to create some buzz for the Eve Ball, a Nov. 5 fundraiser for the scholarship named for Eve Carson, the student body president shot and killed in March 2008.

I could go on and on about the chancellor's jaunty toe stepping, shoulder shrugging and hip swiveling, but really, you should see it for yourself. Have a look below or at this link.

Friday Night Lights (8pm, NBC) - Coach Taylor realizes his East Dillon squad has problems both on and off the field. Also, Luke's injury worsens and Riggins makes a life decision that could backfire.

Whale Wars (9pm, Animal Planet) - It hasn't been a great week for whales, so it's comforting to know someone out there is fighting for them. In tonight's installment, the Sea Shepherds use their stealth boat the Ady Gil to ambush a Japanese reconnaissance vessel. Get 'em!

Merlin (10pm, Syfy) - In an effort to end Uther's reign, the sorcerer Morgause revives the formidable Knights of Medhir and convinces her half sister Morgana to cast a sleeping spell on the people of Camelot.

Miami  Medical (10pm, CBS) - A construction worker becomes trapped underground when a giant sinkhole opens, and Serena has an unexpected encounter with Dr. Kaye.

There are also a ton of Michael Jackson programs on tonight, marking the first anniversary of his death, including special editions of "20/20" and "Dateline." Read the full schedule here.

There will be no shortage of television specials to mark Friday's first anniversary of the sudden tragic death of pop king Michael Jackson. Nearly every channel has something to offer, starting Thursday and continuing all weekend. Here's what we've seen so far and we'll update if there's more. The "Bubbles" special on Animal Planet looks like it can't miss.

ABC
“20/20: Michael Jackson, After Life ” (Friday, 9pm)

Animal Planet
 “Michael Jackson & Bubbles: The Untold Story” (Friday, midnight)

BET
“Michael Jackson: Our Icon” (Saturday, 1:30 am)
“The Jacksons: An American Dream” (Thursday, 1 pm)
 “Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Michael Jackson” (Saturday, 1 am)
“Michael Jackson: Life of a Superstar” (Friday, 1 pm)
“Inside the Michael Jackson Mansion: Never Can Say Goodbye” (Friday, 2 pm)
“Michael Jackson History: The King of Pop” (Friday, 8 pm)

There's been some hate surrounding "The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty" (A&E, 9 tonight), and that's a shame.

Yes, it's true Michael was the the star of The Jackson 5/Jacksons, but the brothers aren't hacks.

They could all sing and dance and write; Jermaine was big enough, at one point, to be paired with Whitney Houston to help launch her career.

They just happened to have a brother who was extraordinary.

Pop stars are never more present than immediately after their deaths, and Exhibit A is Michael Jackson -- whose posthumous concert movie, "This Is It," arrives today in the Triangle. There's a long and storied tradition of such artifacts, too. For more, see the story in Wednesday's paper.

Once again, the WarmTV bloggers elected (begged) my mom to be our Dancing with the Stars correspondent. After each show, she calls me with her report...

Last night's episode of "Dancing with the Stars" proved once again that
the show is just as much a popularity contest as it is a real dancing contest. How else can you explain the dancers in the bottom group, much less the dancer who so undeservedly went home? But hey, that's what you get when you let America vote. We end up with the dancer we deserve. 

But despite the crushing  disappointment of the elimination, my mom thought it was a great episode. 

...So unless you've got a sincere pumpkin patch onhand, you'd better get busy planning your light display for that night's festivities. This dude has a big jump on the season (resolution isn't the best, but watch in full-screen mode and you'll get the idea).

(Found via Pop Candy).