related to Mario and Luigi. In one episode, Albano played as himself, but had to make the character of Mario absent for this to work, while in a number of episodes the pair were joined by Maurice LaMarche in the live-action role of the animated character Inspector Gadget (making it the first appearance of the character in live-action, predating the live-action film by ten years), before his eventual role in voicing the character in Inspector Gadget's Last Case and Gadget & the Gadgetinis. In an interview for Shout! Factory's first DVD release of the show in 2006which exclude some episodes that involved Cassandra Peterson as Elvira, alongside Gadget's second appearance and a few other episodesAlbano stated that filming of the live-action segments involved mainly himself and Wells receiving a central plot and mostly improvising the dialogue as they went along. The rest of the episode in-between these live-action segments were dedicated to animated serials. For the majority of episodes, between Monday and Thursday, each episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! featured an animated serial of the Super Mario Bros., which both Albano and Wells voiced their respective characters. A total of 52 serials were aired under this schedule until November 16, 1989. For every subsequent Friday, the animated segments consisted of serials of The Legend of Zelda, with scenes featuring during the live-action segments on the preceding Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episodes during the week, and then broadcast as sneak peeks. A total of 13 serials were aired under this schedule, and following November 16, were repeated for the remaining episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! until its eventual conclusion. Writing According to screenwriter Bob Forward, the writing team on the Legend of Zelda segments was given significant freedom to develop the series as they wished, particularly with regards to the script and character design. The fairy character named Spryte was inspired by Forward's childhood obsession with the character Tinker Bell from Walt Disney's animated film Peter Pan. Forward also explained that Link's catchphrase "Excuse me, Princess" was based on a popular Steve Martin comedy routine. He decided to include it in every episode of the series as a way to poke fun at DIC's VP of Creative Affairs, Robbie London, who had forced him to use the phrase. Forward also stated that the relationship between Link and Zelda was influenced by the dynamic between