Editing Time for Timer

{{Short description|ABC series of animated PSAs (1975–1992)}}
{{Infobox television
| image                    = Timer cartoon.png
| caption                  = Timer in "Eat Some Kind of Breakfast"
| starring                 = [[Lennie Weinrib]]
| writer                   = John Bradford<br>Larry Spiegel
| composer                 = [[Dean Elliott]]
| country                  = United States
| language                 = English
| num_seasons              = 1
| num_episodes             = 7
| runtime                  = 30 seconds–1 minute
| company                  = [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]]<br>ABC
| network                  = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
| first_aired              = {{Start date|1975}}
| related                  = ''[[The Bod Squad]]''
}}

'''''Time for Timer''''' is a series of seven short [[public service announcements]] [[Broadcasting|broadcast]] on Saturday mornings on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[television network]] starting in 1975. The animated spots feature Timer, a tiny cartoon character who is an anthropomorphic [[circadian rhythm]], the self-proclaimed "keeper of body time."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://dangerousminds.net/comments/time_for_timer_saturday_morning_cartoon_psas_from_the_70s|title='Time for Timer!': Saturday morning cartoon PSAs from the 70s|date=January 15, 2013| website= DangerousMinds.net |access-date=July 8, 2017}}</ref> The series was produced by the cartoon studio [[DePatie-Freleng Enterprises]]. 

Timer first appears in the 1973 ''[[ABC Afterschool Special]]'' "The Incredible, Indelible, Magical, Physical Mystery Trip", where he was voiced by [[Len Maxwell]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher= Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/276/mode/2up |page=276}}</ref> In this special, he works inside the body of a man named Uncle Carl. 

Timer also appears in the 1974 ''ABC Afterschool Special'' "The Magical Mystery Trip Through Little Red's Head", working inside a teenaged [[Red Riding Hood]].<ref name= Lenburg>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1= Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher= Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/294/mode/2up |page=294}}</ref> In this special, and in all future appearances, Timer's voice was provided by actor [[Lennie Weinrib]].<ref name= Lenburg />  

''Time for Timer'' ran until 1992 concurrently with ABC's other educational spots, primarily ''[[The Bod Squad]]'' and ''[[Schoolhouse Rock!]]'' They generally appeared during [[Saturday morning cartoon|cartoon programs]] at the end of commercial breaks. The shorts included a Consultant credit for Dr. Roslyn B. Alfin-Slater, [[UCLA School of Public Health]].

==Episodes==
* "I Hanker Fer a Hunk O Cheese": Timer, recast as a [[cowboy]] with a thick Western accent, suggests "wagon wheels", sandwiches made with cheese slices and crackers, as an easy and nutritious snack. When Timer prepares one on a kitchen counter, he rolls it down the counter on its edge and exclaims, "Look! A wagon wheel!"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arnold |first1=Mark |title=Think Pink: The Story of DePatie-Freleng |date=2015 |publisher=BearManor Media |isbn=978-1593931698 |page=54}}</ref>
* "Take Care of Yourself": Timer shows how to brush teeth to protect them from cavities.
* "You Are What You Eat": Roving reporter Timer is at the digestive system to provide a simplified explanation of nutrients and how the body uses them.
* "Have A Carrot": Timer, channeling [[W. C. Fields]], assembles some nutritious in-between meal snacks like carrot sticks for a boy. At the end of the short, Timer literally changes the boy into a banana as a gag.
* "Eat Some Kind of Breakfast": Timer shows that if people don't have time for breakfast, their stomach will be empty and angry; leftovers and other premade foods for breakfast is better than none at all.
* "Sunshine on a Stick": Timer suggests making [[ice pop]]s with fruit juice, an ice tray, and toothpicks.
* "Don't Knock It Till You Try": Timer suggests trying new foods by eating a smorgasbord of smidgens of different foods.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0322745|title=The Incredible, Indelible, Magical, Physical Mystery Trip}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0305786|title=The Magical Mystery Trip Through Little Red's Head}}
* [http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/senate/inmemoriam/RoslynB.Alfin-Slater.htm Bio of Dr. Roslyn B. Alfin-Slater, UCLA nutrition professor and consultant to Time for Timer]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017062030/http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/senate/inmemoriam/RoslynB.Alfin-Slater.htm |date=2007-10-17}}

{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company}}

[[Category:Interstitial television shows]]
[[Category:Public service announcements of the United States]]