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Yes, he's back! Improved Jonny Quest airs

The "new" Jonny Quest is a teenager with longer hair and a deeper voice.

By Steve Wartenberg, Staff Writer

Every kid has to grow up sometime. Even Jonny Quest.

Jonny made his TV debut at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 18, 1964, along with his father, Dr. Benton Quest; Race Bannon, their loyal and hunky assistant; Hadji, Jonny's wise friend from India; and Bandit, his lovable but mischievous canine companion.

It marked the first time an animated series was ever broadcast in prime time.

It was a grown-up cartoon, filled with high-tech weapons and vehicles, chases, intrigue and mystery, exotic settings and the irrepressible 11-year-old Jonny, who always seemed to find a way to save the day after Race got conked on the head nad the bad guys were about to let a giant, man-eating spider loose on Dr. Quest.

The series lasted a little more than a year, but the original 26 episodes — to date no lost episodes have surfaced — have been rerun almost continuously, becoming something of a cult classic.

But now, thanks to Turner Broadcasting and our friends at Hanna-Barbera, who also brought us Fred and Barney, George Jetson, Yogi Bear and the original Jonny Quest, to name just a few, Jonny is back.

And he's bigger and better than ever. Heck, he's even got muscles.

Beginning Monday, "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" will begin airing on three different cable stations: Turner Network Television (TNT), weekdays at 8 a.m. and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m.; TBS Superstation, weekdays at 4:30 p.m.; and Cartoon Network, weekdays at 8 p.m. and midnight.

That's a total of 21 times a week for all you Jonnyholics who can't get enough of our spunky young friend.

Fortunately, we've been able to get our hands on the premiere episode, "Darkest Fathoms".

First, there are a few differences in the "new" Jonny.

He's a little more grown-up now, 14 to be exact. His voice is an octave deeper, his hair is longer and he looks like he's a year or two into puberty.

That's a good thing since there's a new character on the show, Jessie, Race's 15-year-old daughter.

So far, no sparks have flown between the two-adventure-loving teens, but who knows what the future holds in store?

The theme music is new and it's not as good as the original. Dr. Quest has gone from a red head to a darker, more distinguished look, and Race seems younger and more muscular. Hadji also is more grown-up and even more philosophical than ever.

But Quest-lovers can relax. Everything else is just about the same.

"Dark Fathoms" follows the tried-and-true "Jonny Quest" formula: Somewhere in the world, something strange, dangerous or illegal happens. Dr. Quest is called in to help solve the problem and everyone jumps into a really cool vehicle to fly to the scene. Once there, all heck breaks loose.

"How do you feel about a trip to Bermuda?" Dr. Quest asks Jonny and Hadji in "Dark Fathoms".

He didn't have to as ktwice.

Once there, Jonny, Hadji and Race investigate the wreckage of a sunken pirate ship.

"Underwater operations are tough, Ben," Race says. "And we're adding the supernatural to this one."

We'll stop here. We don't want to ruin the ending.

An added bonus to "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" is "QuestWorld", a virtual-reality laboratory Dr. Quest designed and build where he could safely experiment with hazardous materials and strange and abstract theories.

When Jonny and Hadji get their hands on "QuestWorld", they turn it into a high-tech playground.

Then, along comes Dr. Jeremiah Surd, a good scientist gone bad and archenemy of the Quests. He finds a way to tap into "QuestWorld" and alter the program to make dying a reality.

He'll stop at nothing.

Best of all, "QuestWorld", which will be shown as part of many of the upcoming episodes, will use traditional animation techniques, plus the same type of computer-graphics imagery that was so spectacular in "Toy Story".

What would be better than a computer-generated, 3-D Jonny Quest?

"Arf!"

That's right, Bandit. Nothing could be better.

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