A funny thing happened as Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose celebrated their 50th anniversary this month: While publicists primed media with e-mailed press releases that trumpeted the milestone of these two cartoon characters, there appears to be no new product, or repackaging of old product, to mark the occasion!
    
Not cashing in on a milestone? That's as un-American as those Russian bad folks battled by moose and squirrel, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale.
 
But today's Fanboy-dom can and should celebrate Jay Ward's cartoon, which debuted on ABC in 1959. It's as easy as picking up any of the first three seasons of "Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends" on DVD. The sets also include the adventures of Mr. Peabody, Sherman and their Way-back Machine, "Fractured Fairy Tales" and other comrades.
     
Yes, these DVD sets have been available for a while, but the dynamic duo's 50th birthday is a good time to remember that "The Simpsons" weren't the first cartoon icons to pack sly wit and satire into episode after episode.