THE TOM AND JERRY COMEDY SHOW

 

THE TOM AND JERRY COMEDY SHOW
(CBS, September 6-December 13, 1980)
 
Filmation Associates, MGM Television

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Frank Welker – Spike, Tyke (episodes 1-6), Droopy, Slick Wolf (episodes 1-6, 12, 14), Tuffy (episodes 1-2, 8), Barney Bear (episodes 1-6, 8), various

Lou Scheimer – Tom Cat, Jerry Mouse, Spike (episodes 6-15), Tuffy, Slick Wolf (episodes 7-15), Barney Bear (episode 4, 7-15), opening announcer, various

 

For the history of Tom and Jerry, check out the post here.

 

            Following Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s displeasure with Hanna-Barbera’s attempts to bring new Tom and Jerry cartoons to television with The Tom and Jerry Show, they decided to give their chief rival, Filmation, a shot.

Promotional artwork of Tom and Jerry.

            Hanna-Barbera’s previous effort sought to subvert television restrictions on violence by making Tom and Jerry friends. Filmation decided to restore the more adversarial nature of the property; but rather than enemies, they were simply rivals always competing against each other. They also got rid of the bowtie Hanna-Barbera added to Jerry in order to section off his head for their animation style and restored the element of slapstick comedy. Bulldog father and son Spike and Tyke also returned to give the pair additional foils. Occasionally, another Tom and Jerry character would make an appearance: the diaper-wearing orphan mouse Nibbles (renamed “Tuffy” here), who first appeared in the 1946 short, The Milky Waif.

Droopy going to work with Spike.

            Filmation decided to load up the show with additional MGM properties. Sandwiched between two Tom and Jerry story segments was a Droopy segment. Droopy was a lethargic and depressed-sounding Basset Hound created by Tex Avery for the 1943 short, Dumb-Hounded (although he went unnamed on screen until his 5^th short, 1949’s Señor Droopy). His voice and personality were modeled after the character Wallace Wimple from the radio program Fibber Mcgee and Molly, and was initially portrayed by Wimple’s actor Bill Thompson before and after serving in World War II. Droopy’s demeanor and size hid a great strength, which was often utilized as a recurring gag for whenever he got upset (well, upset for him) or easily moved an obstacle out of his way. Like other characters of the era, Droopy was often featured in a variety of scenarios and occupations. He appeared in 24 shorts until MGM shut down their cartoon division in 1957, with his last one shown in 1958.

Slick Wolf up to his old tricks against Droopy.

            Another featured Avery creation was the villainous Slick Wolf, who had undergone several different names over his career: Big Bad Wolf, Adolf Wolf, Wally Wolf and McWolf. He made his debut in 1942’s Blitz Wolf—Avery’s first for MGM—in a WWII-influenced retelling of The Three Little Pigs. His most memorable short was most likely 1943’s Red Hot Riding Hood, where he’s aroused by the buxom Red’s song and dance number (this short was seen and referenced in the 1994 film The Mask). While simultaneously starring in more girl-chasing shorts, he would also be used as a frequent foe against Droopy until his last appearance in 1952. Filmation once again utilized Slick to be a frequent foe and rival against Droopy. Spike would occasionally be paired up with Slick or replace him as the story’s antagonist, taking the place of Avery’s own Spike character (later renamed Butch to avoid confusion between the two characters) that appeared in Droopy’s shorts.

Barney Bear interfering with Slick Wolf's scheme.

            Another MGM character that played supporting roles in both Tom and Jerry and Droopy’s segments was Barney Bear. He was created by director Rudolf Ising, who also initially voiced him, and debuted in 1939’s The Bear That Couldn’t Sleep. Barney was a sluggish, sleepy bear that often wanted nothing more than peace and quiet and constantly struggled to attain either, or set out to accomplish a task and ended up overdoing it or just completely mucking it up. He had a grumpy yet pleasant disposition based on Ising’s own personality, and his mannerisms were largely based on actor Wallace Beery’s. He appeared in 26 shorts, ending his run in 1954.

Droopy painting in the scene for the wraparound segments.

            The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, also known as The New Adventures of Tom and Jerry, debuted on CBS on September 6, 1980. As well as starring in his own segments, Droopy would also introduce wraparound segments by using a comically-large paintbrush to paint a scene into view in which a short routine would follow with the series’ speaking characters. Frank Welker was tapped to provide all of the voices on the show. He completed recording six episodes’ worth of material when a Screen Actors Guild strike occurred, forcing him to stop work. Producer Lou Schimer ended up assuming the voices for the remainder. Additional voices were provided by an uncredited Linda Gary, Jay Scheimer, Alan Oppenheimer, Erika Scheimer and Diane Pershing. A very limited score was composed by Norm Prescott (as Jeff Michael) and Ray Ellis (as Yvette Blais) modeled after ragtime to give the shorts a vintage feel (although theatrical shorts generally used swing and big band music).

Vehicles being added to the classic chase.

            While Coslough Johnson and Jack Hanrahan were the series’ primary writers, with additional scripts by Charlie Howell and Eddie Fitzgerald, a number of the animation staff ended up getting writing credits as well; including Mike Joens, Steve Clark, Tom Minton, Mike O’Connor, Jim Mueller and Wendell Washer. During the show’s production, a rivalry had developed between the writing and animation staff. The writers wanted their scripts to be followed to the letter. The animators, many of them new additions to the Filmation crew, wanted to make Tom and Jerry as comparable to their classic shorts as possible. They attempted to make them livelier than the usual Filmation output every chance they could, which was not well-received by others at the studio. Unscripted sight gags were added to the storyboards, as were classic animation techniques inspired by theatrical shorts. Layout artist John Kricfalusi was heavily inspired by Chuck Jones’ The Dover Boys at Pimento University and tried to incorporate abstract elements into a zip-pan shot, which angered background department head Erv Kaplan. In the unreleased book The Art of Spümcø and John K, Kricfalusi alleged that animator Lynne Naylor was almost fired by Scheimer for incorporating “smear frames”—a method of simulating a motion blur to convey fast movements without requiring multiple drawings—in a Droopy segment. Additionally, many of their attempts at subversion would end up sterilized as the art went through the process before making it to their episodes. Scheimer would state in his own book, Creating the Filmation Generation, that they tried to encourage the staff to go “as wild as possible” despite budget restrictions.

Alberto De Mello's model sheet for Tom.

            The production also encountered two more hurdles. Lead character designer Alberto De Mello was introduced to classic model sheets and Preston Blair’s animation instruction books. The old techniques excited De Mello and he attempted to design the show’s characters using them—completely misunderstanding how to use them in the process. Following the classic breakdown of characters into geometric shapes resulted in De Mello’s models looking like sausage-fingered horror balloons. The crew chose to follow older model sheets instead. The other hurdle was CBS executive Faith Heckman. She felt that characters balling up their hands into fists just before they started running—a classic cartoon action—was too violent and potentially threatening to their kid audience. Every instance of fists had to be redrawn to show the hands as being open.

Tom at Spike's mercy.

            Despite their intentions to outdo Hanna-Barbera’s effort, Filmation’s rendition of the show didn’t fare much better. While arguably the most lively and dynamic out of Filmation’s offerings, it still didn’t compare with the theatrical versions of Tom and Jerry fans had come to know and love. No further episodes were ordered, but the show did remain on the network schedule until the new 1982 season began. The following year, it was absorbed into the syndicated Tom and Jerry packages from Turner Television.

Jerry's super-strong identical cousin comes for a visit. Chaos ensues.

            The poor reception of the series during its initial broadcast has left no urgency in current rights-holder Warner Bros. to release it on home media. “Jerry’s Country Cousin”, however, was included on Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection in 2010, and “Snowbrawl” was a bonus cartoon on the DVD Tom and Jerry: Snowman’s Land in 2022. All of the Tom and Jerry segments and 8 of the Droopy segments were available to stream on the Boomerang app until it was closed in 2024. Reruns had also aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, as well as Pop in the United Kingdom.

            

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Farewell, Sweet Mouse / Droopy’s Restless Night / New Mouse in the House” (9/6/80) – Jerry takes advantage of Tom thinking he’s dead by pretending to be a ghost. / Spike seeks to get revenge on Droopy for constantly getting him in trouble with their foreman. / Tom tries to trap Jerry with a remote-controlled female mouse.

 

“Heavy Booking / Matterhorn Droopy / The Puppy Sitter” (9/13/80) – Tom chases Jerry into a library where he must keep him quiet to prevent the large librarian from waking. / Slick pretends to run a rescue dog school to take Droopy’s money. / Jerry tries to make Tom’s job of babysitting Tyke difficult.

 

“Most Wanted Cat / Pest in the West / Cat in the Fiddle” (9/20/80) – Jerry must get Tom to come back to the house before the owner calls in pest control. / Slick and Spike attempt to rob Droopy’s stagecoach. / Jerry tries to keep Tom from disastrously playing the violin.

 

“Invasion of the Mouse Snatchers / The Incredible Droop / The Plaid Baron Strikes Again” (9/27/80) – Tom tries to fool Jerry into thinking he’s a hostile invading alien. / Droopy uses a Jekyll and Hyde formula to keep a scientist’s ray gun out of Slick’s hands. / Spike’s model airplane gets destroyed when Tom chases Jerry into it.

 

“Incredible Shrinking Cat / Scared Bear / When the Rooster Crows” (10/4/80) – Jerry uses a mad scientist’s size-modifier on Tom and himself. / Slick disguises himself as a ghost to chase Droopy and Barney out of an old house where they search for treasure. / Jerry uses a stranded circus rooster to constantly wake up Tom.

 

“School for Cats / Disco Droopy / Pied Piper Puss” (10/11/80) – Tom is sent to military school where Spike is his instructor and Jerry is on hand to make him miserable. / Droopy engages Slick in a disco contest. / Tom uses a flute to capture Jerry and Tuffy.

 

“Under the Big Top / Lumber Jerks / Gopher It, Tom” (10/18/80) – Jerry gets Tom involved in a circus act he subsequently sabotages. / Droopy and Slick compete to see who’s the best lumberjack. / Jerry keeps Tom from capturing a gopher in his master’s garden.

 

“Snowbrawl / Getting the Foot / Kitty Hawk Kitty” (10/25/80) – Tom and Jerry attempt to lock each other out on Christmas Eve. / Droopy and Slick compete to see who can get a picture of Bigfoot for their paper. / Tom is chosen to be the test pilot for the Wright Brothers.

 

“Get Along, Little Jerry / Star-Crossed Wolf / Spike’s Birthday” (11/1/80) – Tom chases Jerry onto a ranch and ends up becoming a reluctant cowboy. / Slick wants to get into a Hollywood studio but is constantly foiled by security guard Droopy. / Tom is ordered to guard Spike’s birthday food and Jerry is intent on ruining it.

 

“No Museum Peace / A Day at the Bakery / Mouse Over Miami” (11/8/80) – Spike keeps kicking Tom out of the museum where Jerry and Tuffy absconded with his fish. / Droopy and Spike compete to make the best cake for a gorgeous movie star. / Lifeguard Spike protects Jerry from Tom.

 

“The Trojan Dog / Foreign Legion Droopy / Pie in the Sky” (11/15/80) – Tom tries to get the upper hand on Jerry and his robot dog. / Droopy is assigned to capture Alley-Ben Slick. / Tom chases Jerry into a construction site where he has to deal with Spike.

 

“Save That Mouse / Old Mother Hubbard / Say What?” (11/22/80) – Tom’s owner’s sister believes Jerry to be a hamster and won’t let Tom near him. / Droopy must keep Slick in check while they’re in Storybook Land. / Jerry teams up with a new pet parrot to give Tom trouble.

 

“Superstocker / Droopy’s Good Luck Charm / The Great Mousini” (11/29/80) – Tom chases Jerry around a supermarket to protect the food stock from him. / Slick and Spike attempt to get back the good luck charm Slick sold to Droopy after Spike tells him it’s legit. / Jerry joins the circus with a magic act and Tom as his assistant.

 

“Jerry’s Country Cousin / The Great Diamond Heist / Mechanical Failure” (12/6/80) – Jerry’s identical and super-strong country cousin comes for a visit. / Inspector Droopy is on the trail of a stolen diamond. / Tom and Jerry use a new robot maid against each other.

 

“A Connecticut Mouse in King Arthur’s Cork / The Great Train Rubbery / Stage Struck” (12/13/80) – Tom dreams about chasing Jerry in a medieval setting. / Slick attempts to steal a bank package from mail clerk Droopy. / Tom get jealous of Spike’s appreciation for Jerry’s dancing ability.