Thursday, March 3, 2011

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: The Houndcats (1972)

DePatie-Freleng's two freshman entries for NBC in 1972 were derived from a pair of CBS prime-time series. The Barkleys was a canine version of All in the Family, though patriarch Arnie Barkley had more in common with Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners) than Archie Bunker in that Arnie was a bus driver. Meanwhile, DFE used Mission: Impossible as the template for their comedy-adventure series, The Houndcats.

Three dogs & two cats make up the Houndcats, led by Stutz, who had more in common with Maxwell Smart than Jim Phelps, to be honest with you. Actor Michael Bell based his characterization of Stutz on Smart himself, Don Adams, who ironically had done a prime time series for NBC the previous year---The Partners.

Here's the intro. The theme song was composed and performed by Doug Goodwin:



The series was cancelled after 1 season, perhaps a victim not so much of ratings, but being a wee bit ahead of its time.

Rating: B.

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