CATTANOOGA CATS

 CATTANOOGA CATS
(ABC, September 6-December 27, 1969)
 
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Thames International

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Bill Callaway – Country

Julie Bennett – Kitty Jo, Chessie

Jim Begg – Scoots

Casey Kasem – Groove

Michael Lloyd & Peggy Clinger – Cattanooga Cats singing voices

Bruce Watson – Phineas “Finny” Fogg Jr.

Janet Waldo – Jenny Trent

Don Messick – Hoppy, Smirky, Opening Announcer

Daws Butler – Crumden, Lambsy Divey

Allan Melvin – Bumbler, Bristlehound

Paul Lynde – Mildew Wolf

Marty Ingels – Autocat

Dick Curtis – Motormouse

 

 

Hanna-Barbera sought to further bolster their offerings in the growing fictional band genre while duplicating the success they found with The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. They created a new variety program with an anthropomorphic band as the headliners. However, this time around, it would be completely animated. The resulting program was Cattanooga Cats.

Promotional art of Groove, Country, Kitty Jo and Scoots with super-fan Chessie and Teeny Tim.

The titular segment focused on the Cattanooga Cats (a play on Chattanooga, Tennessee) band comprised of Country (Bill Callaway), the lead singer and guitarist who also drove their converted bus, Gashopper; Kitty Jo (Julie Bennet), a singer and dancer that occasionally also drove the bus; Scoots (Jim Begg), the bassist with a magic crayon that could create anything out of thin air to get the group out of a jam; and Groove (Casey Kasem), the drummer that always spoke in rhyme. A fifth member, a keyboardist mouse named Cheesie, made it as far as storyboards but ultimately cut out of the final production. Ads for the series would also feature 5 members and presumably older, mod-inspired designs, rather than their final ones. They usually ended up embroiled in some kind of misadventure along the way to a gig; be it pestered by the supernatural—both real and man-made—or eluding a persistent autograph hound. Only nine full episodes were made with the Cats, however they would appear in bumpers and musical numbers between the other cartoons with the addition of Kitty Jo’s big blue dog, Teeny Tim (named after the Tiny Tim character from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens).

The Cattanooga Cats album.

Producer Mike Curb served as the series’ musical director and co-wrote all of the Cats’ songs along with Valjean Johns, Guy Hemric, Shaun Harris, Johnny Cymbal, Harley Hatcher, Jerry Styner, Roger Christian, Debra Clinger, Michael Lloyd and Peggy Clinger. Lloyd and Peggy Clinger also provided the Cats’ singing voices. 34 songs were produced in all, not including the series’ theme. Several songs were covers previously handled by Curb Records. “Cold Wisconsin Night (Sittin’ by the Fireside)” was recorded in 1968 by The American Revolution as “Cold Wisconsin Nights”; “I Wish I Was a Fire” and “My Girlfriend is a Witch” were recorded in 1968 by October Country; “My Birthday Suit” was composed for the 1968 independent hicksploitation comedy Jennie: Wife/Child, aka Albert Peckinpaw’s Revenge; the melody of “The Day That Love Won’t Stay Away” originated from the traditional Irish ballad, “The King of the Fairies”; and “Sing a Song of Sixpence” and “Johnny Johnny Jump Up” were based on traditional children’s songs.

Title card for It's the Wolf! featuring Bristlehound, Mildew and Lambsy.

It’s the Wolf! centered on hungry wolf, Mildew (Paul Lynde, who was uncredited), attempting to make a dinner out of sure-footed lamb, Lambsy Divey (inspired by the lyrics of the 1943 novelty song “Mairzy Doats” composed by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston, voiced by Butler), utilizing various schemes and disguises. A recurring gag would have Lambsy easily see through Mildew’s disguises and give several incorrect rhyming guesses as to his true identity before crying out “It’s the wool-uff!” Lambsy was under the watchful guard of sheepdog Bristlehound (Melvin), and when Lambsy called out Bristelhound would appear, snag Mildew with his cane, pound him and send him flying off into the horizon. This segment was largely inspired by the Warner Bros. theatrical shorts featuring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, running from 1953-63. For Japanese airings, It’s the Wolf! was renamed Ramji-chan, giving Lambsy top billing due to their love of cute characters.

Around the World in 79 Days title card featuring Crumden and his crew looking at Phineas and his.

Around the World in 79 Days was a sequel to the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. Phineas “Finny” Fogg Jr. (Bruce Watson) was the American great-great-grandson of Phileas Fogg who set out to not only beat his relative’s record, but gain a £1,000,000 inheritance by doing so. Joining him along the way were teenaged reporters Jenny Trent (Janet Waldo) and Hoppy (Don Messick). Attempting to stop him and get the money himself was Crumden (Daws Butler), the crooked butler of Phileas, his idiotic chauffer, Bumbler (Allan Melvin), and his pet monkey, Smirky (Messick). Unlike the other segments, 79 Days was serialized rather than episodic. Another unrelated attempt at adapting the novel would come 3 years later on rival network NBC.

Title card for Motormouse and Autocat, with the titular characters in mid chase.

Motormouse and Autocat was essentially a Tom and Jerry clone; however, utilizing various wild vehicles. Autocat (Marty Ingles) was a fast-talking race car-driving cat that was hired to get rid of the motorcycle-riding Motormouse (Dick Curtis, using an over-enunciation of various words) from a garage. To do so, he continually concocted bizarre vehicle contraptions in order to snag him. Of course, those vehicles would often fail on Autocat or Motormouse would simply outsmart his opponent. Hanna-Barbera would also utilize strange vehicle chases as a central theme of the concurrently-airing Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines.

The Cats in the Gashopper.

Cattanooga Cats debuted on ABC on September 6, 1969. The series was written by Neal Barbera, Larz Bourne, Eddie Brandt, Tom Dagenais, Len Janson, Earl Klein, Bill Lutz, Michael Maltese, Chuck Menville, Bill Perez, Joe Ruby, Dalton Sandifer, Martin Smith and Ken Spears. Along with Curb, producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were credited with the series’ theme. Ted Nichols handled the rest of the series’ music. To coincide with the series’ release, an album of 11 of the Cats’ songs were released by Forward Records and EMI, along with the singles “Mother May I” and “Merry-Go-Round”. The music has never seen a reissue, but as the album’s copyright was allowed to lapse in 1997 pirated recordings found their way online and for sale as bootleg CDs. While working on the show, layout artist Jerry Eisenberg had some fun with his new Super 8 camera during lunch breaks. He filmed and directed a live-action spoof of It’s the Wolf starring animator Bonita Versh as Lambsy, layout artist Alex Ignatiev as Bristlehound, and animator/layout artist Joel Siebel as Mildew.

Mildew disguised as a little old lady.

As part of their hopes for another hit, Cattanooga Cats had a decent merchandising blitz. All but 79 Days would be featured strips in the anthology series Hanna-Barbera Fun-In from Gold Key Comics, Heroes de la Tele from Ediciones Recreativas in Spain, and in Wacky Races Annual Featuring Motormouse and Autocat by Brown Watson Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Ben Cooper produced a costume based on Country in 1969. Western Publishing Company made a Cats tray puzzle in 1969, followed by a Magic Slate and coloring book the next year. Plastirama made party favors including a hat and wrist bracelets featuring the Cats’ images. Selex Decal produced a set of Cats stickers. Country, Motormouse and Lambsy were featured on the design for a footrest for The Happy Kingdom of Hanna-Barbera.

The air race has turned into an ice race between Phineas and Crumden.

Unfortunately, the series failed to achieve the success Hanna-Barbera was looking for. At least in part. It’s the Wolf and Motormouse and Autocat turned out to be the stand-outs, and were split off into their own half hour the following year with brand new entries. Cattanooga Cats and 79 Days would be paired up for reruns on ABC Sunday mornings until both shows left the network the following season. Reruns of the various segments, particularly Motormouse and Wolf, would air intermittently on Cartoon Network beginning in 1995 until 2000 and on sister channel Boomerang beginning in 2000 until 2012. The complete series has never seen a home media release, but Walton Home Movies released 3 of the music videos and the theme and several episodes of Motormouse on Super 8 in 1971, and 12 Wolf episodes were released by Hanna-Barbera Home Video on VHS in 1988.

Mildew in Laff-A-Lympics.

Mildew would appear as an announcer on the series Laff-a-Lympics, voiced by John Stephenson impersonating Lynde. Lambsy would appear on his own in 1972’s Yogi’s Ark Lark. Mildew (Bernardo de Paula), Lambsy (Dana Snyder), and the Cattanooga Cats (as animatronics) would go on to make appearances in the streaming series Jellystone! Plans were in place to revive The Cattanooga Cats along with The Hair Bear Bunch and Snooper and Blabber as rotating features of the second season of 2 Stupid Dogs, but were ultimately scrapped.

            

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Witch Whacky / It’s the Wolf! / The Race is On / Wheelin’ and Dealin’” (9/6/69) – A witch plans to make Kitty Jo her replacement so she can finally retire. / Mildew Wolf plans to have Lambsy for dinner—if he can get past Bristlehound first. / Crumden attempts to end Phinny’s trip early in Paris. / Motormouse and Autocat compete with their newly-arrived upgrades.

Songs: “How Did I Ever Get So Lucky”, “My Group Has Too Many Cavities”

 

“Geronihoho / When My Sheep Comes In / Swiss Mis-Adventure / Party Crasher” (9/13/69) – The Cats deal with a Native American chief set on chasing tourists off his land to preserve it. / Mildew attempts to snag Lambsy while he’s on his way to an Australian sheep show. / A rescue dog saves the crew after Crumden leaves them frozen in the Alps. / Autocat attempts to crash Motormouse’s party.

Songs: “My Girl Friend is a Witch”, “Alle Alle Oxen Free”

 

“The Big Boo-Boo / A Sheep in the Deep / Arabian Daze / Water Sports” (9/20/69) – A princess’ servant decides to kidnap Kitty Jo so that the princess may learn the Cats’ dances. / Mildew finds Bristlehound and Lambsy on a deserted island. / Crumden kidnaps Jenny to give to a sheik to be his princess. / Autocat tries to get Motormouse back to the garage from vacation to avoid being fired.

Songs: “Wait a Minute for Country”, “She’s the Right One”

 

“The Wee Greenie Goofie / High Hopes / Winter Blunder-Land! / Madrid or Busted / What’s the Motor with You?” (9/27/69) – The Cats deal with a mischievous leprechaun that followed Kitty Jo’s uncle home from Ireland. / Mildew becomes the Crimson Baron in order to snatch Lambsy out of the sky. / Dinner will be served cold if Mildew can catch Lambsy in the snow. / Crumden steals the crew’s map, leaving them lost in Spain. / Autocat tries to stop Motormouse’s testing of a new motorcycle.

Songs: “Country Carnival”, “Come and Play with the Cattanooga Cats”

 

“Mummy’s Day / Merry Go Roundup! / Mr. Bom Bom / Mini Messenger” (10/4/69) – The Cats end up locked inside a museum for the night and run afoul of a reanimated mummy looking to steal a ruby. / Bristlehound builds an amusement park for Lambsy. / Crumden’s storm causes the crew to become acquainted with a gorilla. / Autocat attempts to stop Motormouse’s new delivery service.

Songs: “My Birthday Suit”, “Super Love”

 

“Zoo’s Who / Super Sceintific Sheep Sitting Service / India or Bust / Wild Wheelin’ Wheels” (10/11/69) – The Cats try to figure out how to get a homesick elephant out of the zoo and back home. / Bristlehound employs a video security system to keep an eye on Mildew. / Crumden cuts away Phinny’s balloon after failing to trick him with an abominable snowman. / Unable to catch Motormouse, Autocat decides on some drastic actions and crafts new automobiles.

Songs: “Cold Wisconsin Night”, “Mother May I”

 

“Autograph Hounded / Any Sport in a Storm / Snow Slappy / Soggy to Me” (10/18/69) – The Cats try to get away from a very persistent autograph hound. / Lambsy just wants to play sports, but Mildew has other plans. / Crumden plots some dirty tricks at the North Pole. / Autocat ends up all wet after Motormouse becomes a firefighter.

Songs: “Johnny Johnny Jump-Up”, “Day When Love Won’t Stay Away”

 

“The Caribbean Kook / Magic Wanderer / Finney, Finney, Fun, Fun / Crash Course” (10/25/69) – The Cats take on a pirate that crashes their cruise ship gig. / Mildew, Lambsy and Bristlehound add prestidigitation to their chase. / Crumden forces the crew to land in an area where trespassing is a jailable offense. / Autocat tries to keep Motormouse out of a motorcycle race only to end up in it himself.

Songs: “Merry Go ‘Round”, “Story of My Life”

 

“Ghosting A-Go-Go / Runaway Home / The Argentiny Meany / Fueling Around” (11/1/69) – The Cats end up in a haunted house where a ghost is determined to put the fright into them. / Lambsy decides to run away from home to seek his fortune. / Crumden and Bumbler saw off the spot where the crew landed their balloon in Argentina. / Autocat tries to come up with his own super fuel to rival Motormouse’s.

Songs: “Hoot Owl”, “I Wish I Was a Fire”

 

“Smart Dummy / The Tree Man / Buzzin’ Cousin” (11/8/69) –Mildew increases his odds by creating mechanical duplicates of himself. / Bumbler downs the crew’s balloon, but they end up rescued by a jungle man. / Motormouse decides to have some fun with Autocat when his identical cousin comes to visit.

Songs: “Do You Dig the Music”, “It’s Summertime”

 

“Cat Caper / Saucy Aussie / Snow-Go” (11/15/69) – Paths get crossed as a cat attempts to catch a bird while Mildew goes after Lambsy. / Kangaroos help the crew retrieve the balloon Crumden lets loose. / Autocat comes up with snow-bound vehicles to catch Motormouse in the winter.

Songs: “We’re Incompatible”, “Love Could Be”

 

“Mask Me No Questions / Crumden’s Last Stand / Hard Day’s Day” (11/22/69) –Lambsy writes to his favorite TV super hero to help protect him from Mildew. / Crumden ends up betrothed to an Indian chief’s daughter. / Autocat creates a remote-controlled device to deal with Motormouse.

Songs: “Pretty as a Picture”, “Stop Right There”

 

“Freeway Frenzy / Egyptian Jinx / Tally Ha Ha” (11/29/69) –Mildew attempts to catch Lambsy as he plays on an unfinished highway. / Crumden attempts to scare off the crew with a fake haunted pyramid. / Leadership of a club comes down to who can capture Motormouse.

Songs: “Magic Machine”, “Come Back, Baby, Come Back”

 

“Slumber Jacks / Border Disorder / Hocus Focus” (12/6/69) – Bristlehound is unable to stay awake while Mildew pursues Lambsy. / Crumden recruits a Mexican criminal to help stop the crew. / Motormouse takes pictures to win a new motorcycle in a contest, despite Autocat’s best efforts to interrupt him.

Songs: “Children Understand”, “Up, Down and On the Ground”

 

“Pow-Wow Wolf / Troubles in Dutch / Kitty Kitty Bang Bang” (12/13/69) –Mildew goes after Lambsy as he pretends to be a Native American. / Phinny enters an ice-skating competition to pay for some prize-winning tulips Crumden caused them to crush. / Autocat tries to keep Motormouse from going on his cruise vacation.

Songs: “She Sure Got Soul”, “Cash Register Romance”

 

“Ghost of a Chance / The Fiji Weegees / King Size Kaddy” (12/20/69) – Mildew plays ghost when Bristelhound and Lambsy take shelter in an abandoned house. / Crumden tricks a tribe into thinking the crew are evil spirits. / Autocat interrupts Motormouse’s golf game.

Songs: “I Want to Sleep Tonight”, “Sing a Song of Sixpence”

 

“Hawaiian Hangup” (12/27/69) – Crumden plots to stop the crew during their Hawaiian break.

Songs: “Daydream”, “Honey”

DENNIS THE MENACE (1959)

 

DENNIS THE MENACE (1959)
(CBS, October 4, 1959-July 7, 1963)

 

Dariell Productions, Screen Gems, Hank Ketcham Enterprises

 

For the history of Dennis the Menace, check out the post here.

            Hank Ketcham was inspired by the antics of his son, Dennis, to create the comic strip Dennis the Menace. The strip followed young Dennis as he inadvertently caused chaos for the adults in his life through his well-meaning intentions. The strip became immensely popular, and it wasn’t long before Hollywood came calling.

Dennis with his parents (front) and the Wilsons (back).

            The first adaptation of the strip was a sitcom for CBS, who were looking to replace Leave it to Beaver after losing it to ABC, produced by Dariell Productions and Screen Gems. Like the strip, Dennis (Jay North) was a well-intentioned mischievous boy whose antics often came at the expense of his long-suffering neighbor, George Wilson (Joseph Kearns). Dennis, at first, was more directly responsible for the trouble he caused, but that was toned down at the network’s request to avoid imitable behavior among younger members of their viewing audience. Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry portrayed Dennis’ parents Henry and Alice, and Sylvia Field played George’s wife, Martha. Missing was the Mitchells’ dog, Ruff, who was replaced by the Wilsons’ dog, Fremont. Other characters included Dennis’ best friend Tommy Anderson (Billy Booth); Margaret Wade (Jeannie Russell, cast at North’s suggestion), who had a crush on Dennis though he found her annoying; Sergeant Harold Mooney (George Cisar), a local policeman that took great pleasuring in ruining Mr. Wilson’s day; Otis Quigley (Willard Waterman), the local grocer; Miss Esther Cathcart (Mary Wickes), a spinster that threw herself at every man she could; and Grandma Mitchell (Kathleen Mulqueen), Henry’s mother who stayed with them briefly while Alice was away taking care of her father (a cover for Henry being on maternity leave). Ron Howard portrayed another of Dennis’ friends, Stewart, for six episodes before he was cast to star in The Andy Griffith Show.

The replacement Wilsons.

            Dennis the Menace began on October 4, 1959 and ran for a total of four seasons. North would also reprise the role for appearances on The Donna Reed Show, The Red Skelton Hour, and in the film Pepe. After the filming of the 100^th episode, Kearns died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. For the remainder of the third season, George was said to be out east settling an estate, and his brother, John (Gale Gordon), was staying in his house as a guest. John, interestingly enough, bore a stronger resemblance in appearance and personality to the Mr. Wilson of the comic strip than George did. For the final season, the original Wilsons were written out as having moved away, with John buying their house with his wife, Eloise (Sara Seegar). At the end of the season, CBS ultimately decided to cancel the show as North, approaching 12-years-old, was getting too old to believably be involved in the antics of the character. The show entered reruns on NBC Saturday mornings later that year before going into syndicated reruns in 1965. In the 1980s, it began to make the rounds on various cable networks including Nickelodeon, TV Land and Antenna TV, and on the streaming service Hulu.

STORYBOOK SQUARES

 

STORYBOOK SQUARES
(NBC, January 4-April 19, 1969)
 
Heatter-Quigley Productions

 

MAIN CAST:
Peter Marshall – Host
Kenny Williams – The Guardian of the Gate

 

Hollywood Squares (also The Hollywood Squares) was a long-running game show created by Heatter-Quigley Productions. Two contestants competed against each other for cash and prizes in a game of tic-tac-toe. The twist? The game board was populated by celebrities.

The show’s game board was comprised of a large 9-compartment grid in which celebrities from various entertainment media sat. Contestants would pick out a celebrity and the host would then ask them a trivia question, and it was up to the contestant to figure out if the answer they gave was correct or not. Guessing that correctly meant the contestant secured that square with either an “X” or an “O”. A wrong answer awarded it to their opponent (except if that would lead to an automatic win, in some versions of the rules). The game was won by lining up 3 X’s or O’s in a row in any direction, or by capturing the most number of squares if all the rows were blocked.

The celebrity grid, comprised of Rich Little, Rose Marie, John Davidson, Sandy Duncan, Paul Lynde, Totie Fields, Charley Weaver, Leslie Uggams and George Gobel.

The show, however, was basically a backdrop for the comedy in the form of jokes—or “zingers”—delivered by the celebrities before they answered. The writing staff supplied the jokes when needed, and the celebrities were clued into the questions’ subjects (but not the actual questions) prior to the show to help develop those zingers as well as plausible bluff answers.

After two pilots were filmed, NBC acquired the show and debuted it on October 17, 1966. Two years later, it gained a nighttime version, as well as a syndicated version in 1971. Peter Marshall was hired as host; his taking the job only to prevent Dan Rowan from getting it. Marshall had worked as a writer for Rowan along with his partner, Tommy Noonan, and took issue with the lack of respect he showed Noonan during his terminal illness. Kenny Williams, a Heatter-Quigley regular, served as the announcer. Although the celebrities were cast on a rotating basis, many became known as regulars on the show and appeared often. Among these regulars were Cliff Arquette (as his alter-ego “Charley Weaver”), Rich Little, Wally Cox, Roddy McDowall, Rose Marie (playing to her lovelorn persona), and Demond Wilson. Most notable was Paul Lynde, who was known for delivering outrageous and innuendo-laden jokes. Not only did he earn a permanent spot in the all-important center square, but he nabbed three daytime Emmy Award nominations for his tenure as well.

Kenny Williams introducing Peter Marshall.

In 1969, Heatter-Quigley decided to try a spin-off geared towards a younger audience, having previously dabbled in children’s game shows with Video Village Jr. and Shenanigans. Dubbed Storybook Squares, the set behind the players was designed with a medieval theme and featured children as contestants; always a boy, playing “X”, and a girl, playing “O”. Williams appeared on camera as “The Guardian of the Gate” in full costume, acting as a town crier by introducing the show and host Marshall with a bell. Marshall would then introduce that episode’s panelists, who emerged from a castle gate that appeared after Williams closed the “storybook” the show’s name was emblazoned on.

Promotional image of Ted Cassidy as Tarzan.

While the grid remained the same as the parent version, the big change was that the panelists would appear adorned in costumes representing historical figures, fictional characters, or roles they had played previously. Among them were Arquette still as Charley Weaver; Jim Backus reprising his characters Mr. Magoo and Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island; Arte Johnson reprising Wolfgang the Nazi from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (billed as the “Very Interesting Soldier”); Soupy Sales as King Henry VIII and Thomas Edison; Leslie Uggams as Snow White; Stu Gilliam as the wizard Merlin; Ted Cassidy as Tarzan, which was also played by Marty Allen when he wasn’t being Cupid; Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney as Romeo and Juliet and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Roy Rogers and Dale Evans; Nanette Fabray as The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe; Bob Crane reprising Colonel Hogan from Hogan’s Heroes; Marie as Pocahontas and Annie Oakley; Cox as Paul Revere and Davy Crockett; Carolyn Jones reprising Morticia Addams from The Addams Family; Abby Dalton as Little Miss Muffet; and Barbara Eden reprising Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. Each panelist would do a quick routine as they were introduced, often interacting with Marshall.

Paul Lynde and Jerry Mahoney as Romeo and Juliet.

Storybook Squares debuted on NBC on January 4, 1969. Rather than cash and prizes, the contestants played strictly for prizes for as many games as time permitted. A “Secret Square” was in play for the first two rounds of the episode, similar to the 1968 primetime version. A random celebrity was labelled as the “Secret Square” and awarded a prize for the contestant that correctly agreed or disagreed with them. If the prize was missed in the first round, it was carried over into the second. At the end of each episode, the contestants were brought over to the stage entrance to meet the panelists as they walked off during the credits. Unfortunately, the concept ended up being short-lived as it would end its run on April 19^th. Of the spinoff, Marshall would say in a 2003 interview for E! True Hollywood Story that while the concept was good, the character introductions took too much time away from actual gameplay. Heatter-Quigley would revisit the concept during the 1976-77 season of Squares for special episodes of the daytime series. The set was redesigned to expand the medieval theme around the panel grid as well. This time around, a boy would play with his father and grandfather against a girl and her mother and grandmother, alternating between each family member per round. $50 was awarded for each captured square, $300 for each game, and the most money at the end of play won a large prize.

The original Hollywood Squares ended its run in 1981 after moving to Las Vegas from California for the final year. NBC, however, would attempt several revivals not long after. In 1983, they combined Hollywood Squares with Match Game to form the short-lived Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour, with Jon Bauman of Sha Na Na serving as the host of the Squares segment and long-time Match Game host Gene Rayburn presiding over the rest. It returned on its own again in 1986 until 1989, hosted by semi-regular original panelist John Davidson and announced by Shadoe Stevens, who himself became a regular panelist occupying the bottom center square. Joan Rivers was that version’s permanent center square starting in the second year. The next revival came in 1998-2004 with Tom Bergeron as host, and executive producer Whoopi Goldberg as the center square until 2002. Stevens returned to announce for the first couple of seasons. In 2023, BET had greenlit a new revival of the series called Celebrity Squares and CBS their own for 2025. There were also several spin-off versions: Hip Hop Squares was a music-based version aired on VH1 and MTV2 in 2012 and 2017; The West Virginia Squares in 2014 was a one-off limited stage production that had questions that dealt with the history of the state; Nashville Squares was a country music-themed version in 2019; and Hollywood Museum Squares served as a fundraiser for the organization in 2021.

THE ADVENTURES OF GULLIVER

 

THE ADVENTURES OF GULLIVER
(ABC, September 14, 1968-January 4, 1969)
 
Hanna-Barbera Productions

 

MAIN CAST:
Jerry Dexter – Gary Gulliver
John Stephenson – Captain John Leech, Thomas Gulliver, King Pomp, various
Ginny Tyler – Flirtacia
Allan Melvin – Bunko
Don Messick – Eager, Tagg, various
Herb Vigran – Glum

  

 Gulliver’s Travels, or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships is a book written by Jonathan Swift and first published in 1726. It was meant to be a satire of human nature, English customs, politics of the day, and travelouges, and contributed to the rise of the novel as a literary form in English. 

A well-known image of Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputians.

The book was told in four parts from the first-person from the perspective of Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon and sea captain that travelled the world. The first part, probably the most well-known, had Gulliver as the sole survivor of a shipwreck that ended up in Lilliput, a land where the populace was only 6-inches tall. Parodying the English political parties, the Tories and Whigs, the Lilliputians engaged in ridiculous customs and petty debates while court positions were filled by those that were good at ridiculous feats of skill. Gulliver is asked to help in the conflict with the empire of Blefuscu over which end of an egg should be broken, their religious doctrine. After falling out of favor with the Lilliputians he found a human-sized boat in Blefuscu and escaped back to England.

Gulliver in the land of giants.

The second voyage took him to Brobdingnag, this time populated by giants. Captured by a farmer, Gulliver was put on exhibit and eventually purchased by their queen. Their king, however, wasn’t quite as taken by him over his stories of England and was horrified by Gulliver’s offer to make them projectile weapons. He was snatched up by an eagle and rescued by normal-sized people at sea.

Gulliver spying Laputa.

The third voyage saw him on the flying island of Laputa, whose populace were so lost in thought they needed to be reminded to pay attention, and who loved mathematics and music but had no practical applications for either. Visiting the continent of Balnibarbi, the land below the island, he found the fields in ruin and people living in squalor as the citizenry were governed by a learned academy that spent all their time on impractical experiments; such as extracting sunbeams from cucumbers. The island of sorcerers, Glubbdubdrib, yielded insights into the great lies of history. Finally, he went to the kingdom of Luggnagg, whose citizens were immortal but aged as if they were mortal, rendering them miserable. From there, Gulliver was able to get to Japan and back to England.

The Houyhnhnms herding their Yahoos during a harvest.

The last voyage took him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, intelligent horses who were superior to the brutish humanoid race of Yahoos; some of whom were tamed in a twist on the human-beast relationship. The Houyhnhnms were fascinated by Gulliver who seemed to them to be a better version of the Yahoos, but his stories of England led them to conclude they were just as bad as the Yahoos and that Gulliver must leave. Upon his return to England, Gulliver decided to spurn human connections and bought horses to converse with instead.

The first edition of the book.

The book was first published in England by Benjamin Motte, utilizing five printing houses for speedy production to avoid piracy. Fearing persecution due to the book being transparently anti-Whig, he made several edits to the manuscript without Swift’s input to soften the blow and added material defending Queen Anne before publication. The book proved popular with the populace, although Swift’s peers were often critical of its messages and depictions of humanity. Naturally, members of the Whig party were offended at the mocking of their politics. The book was reprinted in 1735 by Irish publisher George Faulkner with Motte’s edits removed. Swift composed a “letter” from Gulliver to his cousin Sympson complaining of Motte’s alterations to be included in the new edition, as was a set of five Verses on Gulliver’s Travels written by Swift’s friend, Alexander Pope. Both versions of the book would be reprinted over the years with additional material.

Gary with Tagg and the sinister Captain Leech.

As with many other great works of literature that have endured over centuries, Gulliver’s Travels has been adapted numerous times—although many put to film have tended to focus only on the first two adventures—and there have been a wide range of unofficial sequels and imitations.  One of these efforts was made by Hanna-Barbera, loosely borrowing the names and themes from the first adventure for an all-new animated series. The Adventures of Gulliver followed father and son Thomas (mistakenly called “Lemuel” by many sources, voiced by John Stephenson) and Gary Gulliver (Jerry Dexter) as they went on a treasure-hunting voyage with their dog, Tagg (which many sources mistakenly call “Bib”, voiced by Don Messick). However, the sinister Captain Leech (Stephenson) also wanted the treasure and tried to steal their map, resulting in their ship crashing on the rocks.

Our Lilliputian friends (clockwise from top): King Pomp, Flirtatica, Bunko, Eager and Glum.

Gary and Tagg found themselves on the very island they were looking for, which turned out to be the home of the Lilliputians—beings only 6-inches tall. After some initial mistrust of their giant visitors, Gary’s rescuing of King Pomp (Stephenson) put him in their good graces; particularly with Bunko (Allan Melvin), Eager (Messick), Glum (Herb Vigran), and Flirtacia (who was never indicated as being a princess despite many claims as such, voiced by Ginny Tyler). As he helped protect their kingdom from assorted threats like giant birds and other tiny people, they in turn helped him search for his father somewhere in the perilous wilds of the island. Of course, additional danger continued to lurk in the form of Captain Leech, pursuing Gary for the map he was initially unaware his father hid in Tagg’s collar.

If someone doesn't end up tied down by little people, is it even a Gulliver adaptation?

The Adventures of Gulliver debuted on ABC on September 14, 1968. The series was written by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, with character designs by Alex Toth and music by Ted Nichols. The biting satire found in Swift’s novel was greatly reduced, if at all present, to instead focus on fantastic adventure tales with the Lilliputians providing Hanna-Barbera’s trademark comic relief. Further differences involved neither Gulliver being noticeably British and being set in the present day. Although only 17 episodes were produced, the series ran through the summer of 1970 before being integrated into The Banana Splits and Friends Show syndicated package program. Reruns would eventually make their way to both Cartoon Network and its sister channel, Boomerang. A decade after the series’ production, Hanna-Barbera would return to Lilliput with a new adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels for their anthology television series Famous Classic Tales. This version would stick a bit closer to the book.

Model sheet by Alex Toth.

A line of figurines of the main characters were produced by Heimo in Germany, a Magic Slate by Western Publishing, and a frame tray puzzle by Whitman. An adaptation of the first episode was published by Gold Key Comics in the first issue of the short-lived Hanna-Barbera Hi-Adventure Heroes, which featured some noticeable visual inconsistencies with the show (Greg and Tagg’s coloring, Flirtacia missing her hat and leggings, etc.). A dedicated German Gulliver comic was published almost a decade later by Bastei Verlag (now Bastei Lübbe). The characters were also represented in the Spanish Hanna-Barbera trading card set and as Mexican puffy stickers. As part of ABC’s Super Saturday Club promotion, a booklet was sent out with club members that featured a Gulliver coloring page.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Dangerous Journey” (9/14/68) – After being attacked on the sea, Gary and Tagg end up on the island of the Lilliputians where Gary rescues their king.

 

“The Valley of Time” (9/21/68) – Leech blackmails Gary for the map by trapping him and his friends in a cave, only for them to find another way out into a land stuck in prehistoric times.

 

“The Capture” (9/28/68) – Leech and Gary are conscripted by Captain Cutler to serve as members of his pirate crew.

 

“The Tiny Vikings” (10/5/68) – Leech partners with a band of tiny Vikings to help them on their raid on Lilliput if they help him get the map.

 

“The Forbidden Pool” (10/12/68) – Gary and Tagg drink from a pool that shrinks them down to Lilliputian size and must race to another to restore themselves before it disappears at sunrise.

 

“The Perils of the Lilliputs” (10/19/68) – Bunko, Eager and Glum are captured by a circus owner for his show when their ship stops on the island for water.

 

“Exit Leech” (10/26/68) – Leech declares he’s leaving the island, but returns disguised as a witch doctor to trick the Lilliputians into giving him the map.

 

“Hurricane Island” (11/2/68) – Gary sets out to get an egg his friends need for a festival while searching for his father, and Leech watches over him believing he’s after the treasure.

 

“Mysterious Forest” (11/9/68) – A group of treasure-seeking ghosts drags Gary off into the Mysterious Forest.

 

“Little Man of the Year” (11/16/68) – Gary offers to leave for the duration of a contest so Eager could win “Man of the Year”, but Eager causes a disaster that requires Gary’s help to fix.

 

“The Rescue” (11/23/68) – Leech captures Tagg and offers to exchange him for the map, but with Gary gone searching his friends are left to rescue Tagg on their own.

 

“The Dark Sleep” (11/30/68) – Leech attempts to slip Gary a sleeping potion but Flirtacia takes it instead, leading the others to find the antidote for her.

 

“The Runaway” (12/7/68) – When King Pomp comes across a photo of an attractive woman Gary has, Flirtacia decides to leave the village in a jealous rage.

 

“The Masquerade” (12/14/68) – Leech and an outlaw Lilliputian gang decide they’ll acquire the map by replace the king with a doppelganger.

 

“The Missing Crown” (12/21/68) – Bunko and Eager investigate the disappearance of various items around the village, leading to the discovery of clues that pit friend against friend.

 

“Gulliver’s Challenge” (12/28/68) – Gary challenges the Black Knight to a duel for the freedom of his friends.

 

“The Hero” (1/4/69) – Eager becomes dejected when the others reminisce about Gary’s heroic deeds and ends up eating a fruit that makes him hallucinate that he is a superhero.