Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
As an actor, he was the original Chief Quimby and several
minor characters in Inspector Gadget (1983); Catchum Crocodile in The
Get Along Gang; Brave Heart Lion, Loyal Heart Dog, Mr. Miller and an
announcer in Care Bears; King Gorneesh and Trom 1 in Star Wars: Ewoks;
Jord Dusat, Uncle Gundy, Yorpo and Vinga in Star Wars: Droids; Puzzle in
Popples; Beaster and Nasty Nigel in My Pet Monster; Sloop and Eggbert
Petty in ALF Tales; RoboCop in RoboCop; Cap’n Kidder, Billy the
Crud and additional voices in Beetlejuice; Bully Koopa, Crime Wave Clyde
and additional voices in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and
reprised Bully in Super Mario World; Huff in Piggsburg Pigs!;
George Racoon, Train Engineer Sid and Sidekick in The Raccoons; Large
Cat, Baron Von Rottweiler and Bouvier DeFlaundra in Dog City; Sunder,
Ruckus and Chrome in X-Men: The Animated Series; Junkman in The
Incredible Crash Dummies; a general in Ultraforce; Patsy the
Gorilla, Lars the Gorilla and a police officer in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective;
South Wind, South Wind Giant and Troll Head #2 in The Neverending Story;
the Commissioner in The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police; Royal
Advisor, Physician, Nessus, Young Hero, Bald Headed Hunter, a Titan and various
small roles in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend; Retirement Home
Resident #3 in Rescue Heroes; and provided additional voices in Garbage
Pail Kids, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, Little Shop, Hammerman,
and Wild C.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams.
As a voice director, he worked on Care Bears,
Beetlejuice, Stickin’ Around, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, X-Men: The Animated
Series, The Magic School Bus, Blaster’s Universe, Birdz, and Rescue
Heroes.
One of those mini-movies was Dog City. Dog City was
a film noir parody set in a world entirely populated by anthropomorphic dogs,
inspired by the series of paintings by C.M. Coolidge.
Ace Yu (Kevin Clash)
traveled to the city to take over a bar following the murder of his uncle by
mob boss Bugsy Them
(Henson), whose goons harassed Ace for protection money. The MuppeTelevision portion of the episode
served as a set-up for the mini-movie, complete with an introduction and
guest-appearance by Rowlf the Dog
(Henson). Ace and Kermit
the Frog (also Henson) even made a promo for the episode together. It would
be only one of three segments of the Hour
directed by Henson.
Hour
scored three award nominations, but its ratings were abysmal. It was
cancelled by NBC before its only season even finished. Henson decided he wanted
to get out of the business side of things and entered negotiations to sell his
company to Disney. The deal fell through
when he died suddenly the following year (Disney would later acquire the
Muppets in 2004). The Henson family took over management of the company, with
his son, Brian,
being named president, chairman and CEO at the start of 1991. The younger
Henson set out to make the Henson catalogue of characters work for the company,
which included a deal with FOX
Kids to bring the popular Dog City segment
to their network.
Eliot Shag at his drawing table.
Although it retained the name and
its spoof on the film noir genre, Dog
City underwent some heavy revisions from its original concept. The
anthropomorphic dog motif remained, but the show was basically two-in-one; with
Henson Productions producing puppet
segments and Nelvana producing animated
segments that would air together and play off each other. The puppet segments
followed German Shepherd Eliot Shag (primarily Clash, retained from the special,
with assistance from Don Reardon), an animator who drew the adventures of
private eye Ace Hart (Ron White) in the tough streets of Dog City. Eliot would
often translate his own dilemmas (typically interruptions when he was trying to
work) into the stories and characters surrounding Ace, with the two tales often
running parallel. The two of them would also break the fourth wall and interact
with each other, with Ace giving input over his own story.
Bruno, Colleen, Bowser and Artie all interrupting Eliot.
The puppet segments also featured collie
Colleen Barker (Fran Brill, also from the special), Eliot’s on-and-off
girlfriend; bulldog Bruno (Brian Muehl, who was instructed to emulate Henson in
his performance), the building’s surly and incompetent superintendent; St.
Bernard Bowser (David Rudman), Bruno’s dim-witted assistant; English Springer
Spaniel Artie Springer (Joey Mazzarino), Eliot’s young neighbor and his biggest
admirer; and feline Ms. Fluffé (Kathryn Mullen & Lisa Buckley), Eliot’s aloof
landlady. All of the puppets were recycled from the special and given some
cosmetic makeovers, with Colleen even retaining her name.
Ace, Eddie and Rosie on the case.
Over in Ace’s world, there was Rosie
O’Gravy (Elizabeth Hanna), the beautiful, by-the-book chief of detectives who
also served as Ace’s love-interest. The two exchanged witty barbs and the
affection was often mutual, but Rosie’s first love was the law and would never
hesitate to lock up Ace if the law required it. She was also the most competent cop on the
force, with the rest of the police department being akin to the Keystone Kops. Eddie
(Stuart Stone) was a young and enthusiastic news-pup that often followed Ace on
his cases. Eddie was hungry for knowledge, and always preempted a barrage of
facts with “It’s a well-known fact…”
The cast (from top): Frisky, Bruiser, Rosie, Ace, Barron, Kitty, Leon, Dot, Eddie and Bugsy.
Ace’s chief opponent was Bugsy Vile (John Stocker), the “Dogfather of
Crime”, and his henchmen, including the excitable chihuahua Frisky (James
Rankin); psychotic mongrel Mad Dog (Stephen Ouimette), who could only
communicate through snarling and mauling until a bump on the head (at least
once per episode) turned him articulate; his muscle-bound, though ultimately
kind-hearted, nephew Bruiser (Howard Jerome); and his cat moll Kitty (Tabitha
St. Germain), who actually was the brains behind Bugsy’s plans. Kitty owned the
Kitty Kat Club, which served as the gang’s hideout.
One of Barron's schemes almost saw Rosie marrying him.
Also giving trouble to Ace was German Rottweiler Baron Von Rottweiler
(Dan Hennessey), a stereotypical German villain with a monocle and tailored
suits, and his mute dachshund valet, Leon Burger. As the owner of Rottweiler
Explosives Incorporated, it was rare to not see Barron without some form of
explosive device. Barron’s maniacal schemes, generally involving twisted
science, painted him as more of a spoof of typical James Bond villains. His plans were often
thwarted by his own valet’s love of fetch, which usually resulted in Leon
retrieving some kind of dangerous item.
The second season cast, featuring Terri (bottom), Ms. Fluffé (top), and Eliot's new look.
The show was renewed for two
additional seasons, and both came with some changes. For the second season, the
character of Colleen was dropped, with the in-story explanation of having moved
away, and replaced by Artie’s mother, Terri (still Brill), in an attempt to
have a female character whose identity wasn’t just “Eliot’s girlfriend” and
give Artie some kind of family. Terri was a confident businesswoman and single
mother, which explained why Artie hung out with Eliot so often. Fluffé was
originally intended as a one-off character but was given a recurring role with
Buckley assuming her performance. Bruno
and Bowser were also given larger roles. Eliot was given a new look; his
striped shirt and sweater vest replaced by a t-shirt and open Hawaiian shirt.
On the animated side, O’Gravy was given a rival in the form of Mayor Kickbark
(Ouimette). He was the mayor of Dog City who always undermined O’Gravy either
intentionally or accidentally, hampering investigations. Kickbark was often
accompanied by his flunky, Spunky (Stocker).
The Woof Pack.
For the third season, which was also
the show’s shortest, Dog City’s
format was heavily revamped. The noir spoofing and references were greatly
reduced in favor of science fiction and sitcom elements. The animated segments
were split to include several rotating short slapstick segments that
interjected during the main story: “His Masters Choice Theater”, spoofing Masterpiece Theater, was
hosted by Bugsy from his prison cell and featured sketches starring Frisky; “Rosie
and Dot” had O’Gravy spending time with her niece, Dot (Tara Strong), who often
only said “Why?”; “The Woof Pack” saw the return of superhero guest-character
the Watch Dog now leading a team of heroes in a spoof of the genre; “The
Adventures of Moogie” gave Artie’s favorite chew toy his own spotlight
(narrated and “animated” by Artie in a slightly different style); and “Yves and
Steven” (pronounced like “even Steven”), where literal cat burglar Yves (Rino
Romano) ended up being foiled by dimwitted, overweight guard dog, Steven
(George Buza). Each segment had its own title card introducing the shift in
focus from the main story.
Yves and Steven.
In true Dog City fashion, the new segments were introduced to the audience
by Eliot himself in the first episode of the season. Following the show’s
cancellation, the final episode also served as a series finale; with Eliot and
his characters saying farewell to each other and the audience within context of
the story (Eliot was actually going away on vacation in the story and was going
to miss Ace). All of the animated series regulars made cameos in the episode,
and the segments interjected into the main story rather than being separated as
usual. During the show’s run, it was nominated for several Gemini Awards, winning
one for “Best Children’s Television Programming” for 1993-94. Following its
conclusion in the United States, the show was translated into German, French,
Italian, Danish and Swedish and broadcast internationally.
Rosie and Dot camping out next to Bugsy.
In 1993, Sony Wonder released two VHS
collections of the show. The Big Squeakcontained the episode of the same name and “Boss Bruiser”. Much Ado About Mad Dogalso contained the titular episode, and
“Old Dogs, New Tricks”. In 2006, Australia got a DVD release called Disobedience Schoolthat featured five episodes, including
the titular one. The first five episodes of the German dub of the
show was released to DVD in 2008 by Foreign Media Group. It was re-released by Constructive Media Service in 2009, following their
release of the next five episodes the month before. 1993 also saw Western Publishing
releasing a coloring
book based on the show. In 1994, Golden
Books released an adaptation of
“The Big Squeak” as part of their Golden
Look-Look Books line.
Dog City: The Movie.
Between 2005-2010, the original special, called Dog City: The Movie,
was released to home video without the MuppeTelevision
segments, since they are owned by Disney (Rowlf’s appearance in the actual
film remained, however). HIT Entertainment
released it in the United Kingdom and Lions
Gate Entertainment in the United States. KSS
Films released it in Japan on Laserdisc and was the only release to include
the Muppet segments.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Big Squeak” (9/26/92) – Ace and Rosie have to retrieve the city’s
squeaky toys from the clutches of Bugsy.
“Taming of the Screw” (10/3/92) – A loose screw in Eliot’s drawing
table inspires Screwie Louie, a crazy dog whose obsession with screwing things
attracts the attention of Bugsy.
“Meat, the Butcher” (10/10/92) – Ace convinces Eliot to follow his
boss’ wishes and create the violent Meat, but Meat ends up taking over the
story and puts the entire city in peril.
“Disobedience School” (10/17/92) – While Eliot consoles Artie over
having to go to a new school, Ace has to rescue Eddie from Bugsy’s school that
looks to create new gang members early.
“The Dog Pound” (10/31/92) – Eliot being accused of chewing Bruno’s
slipper leads to Ace being framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
“Radio Daze” (11/14/92) – As Eliot’s TV is being haphazardly repaired,
Ace investigates a series of mysterious accidents plaguing one of the radio
shows at WFIDO.
“The Bloodhound” (11/21/92) – Eliot suspects Colleen’s new friend is a
vampire, leading to one plaguing the citizens of Dog City.
“Adventures in Puppysitting” (11/28/92) – As Eliot is talked into
puppysitting Colleen’s nephew, Ace goes up against Puppy-Face Felson who plans
to steal the Hope on a Rope Diamond.
“Ya Gotta Have Hart” (12/12/92) – When Eliot and Ace refuse to change
the show as per the boss’ wishes, they end up getting fired.
“In Your Dreams” (1/9/93) – When Eliot falls asleep at his table, he
ends up inside Dog City in a surreal parallel dimension created by his
subconscious.
“Rocketship K-9” (1/16/93) – Bruno’s beliefs that aliens are invading
has Eliot send Ace to the moon to investigate the disappearance of Arfstrong,
the first mutt on the moon.
“Cats ‘N Dogs” (1/23/93) – Ms. Fluffé fires Bruno over his bigotry of
a cat potentially moving in, while Bugsy is plagued by his own cat rival whose
gang mirrors his own.
“Is It Arf?” (1/30/93) – Artie’s new detective hero inspires Eliot to
give Ace a rival in super sleuth Surelick Bones, who is called in to stop a
rash of theft’s Ace has thus far been unable to.
Season 2:
“Boss Bruiser” (9/18/93) – Bruno’s firing leaves Bowser in charge,
inspiring Eliot to put Brusier in charge of the Vile gang for a while.
“Springer Fever” (9/25/93) – Eliot meets and becomes smitten with
Artie’s mother, leading him to create embarrassing situations for Ace and Rosie
as they try to rescue the mayor’s secretary.
“Much Ado About Mad Dog” (10/2/93) – While Ace is busy with Mad Dog
after saving his life, a rash of flea powder thefts plague the city.
“Of Mutts and Mayors” (10/9/93) – The new mayor strips Ace and Rosie
of their licenses.
“Who Watches the Watch Dog?” (10/16/93) – Reminiscing about his
favorite superhero leads Eliot to introduce the Watch Dog to Dog City.
“The Great Dane Curse” (10/23/93) – Ace thinks Eliot’s idea of dating
Terri is dumb, and Eliot sets out to prove him wrong.
“Out of the Mouths of Pups” (10/30/93) – Artie and some fan mail
inspire Eliot to have the Vile gang kidnap Eddie, which then turns into Eddie
giving them a never-ending lecture.
“Old Dogs, New Tricks” (11/13/93) – Eliot and his old mentor team-up
Ace with his character Sam Spayed, but their differing methods lead to clashes
between Eliot, Ace and their guests.
“Farewell, My Rosie” (11/6/93) – An interview causes Eliot to learn a
lot about Terri, which inspires him to have Ace learn more about Rosie while
investigating her disappearance.
“Sick as a Dog” (11/20/93) – When Eliot is too sick to make his
deadline, his neighbors all take turns trying to finish Eliot’s latest story.
Season 3:
“The New Litter” (9/14/94) – While Ace faces the Vile gang in Jurassic
Bark, Eliot introduces the new segments of “Yves and Steven” and “Rosie and
Dot.”
“Doggy See, Doggy Do” (9/24/94) – Eliot shows Artie learning can be
fun, Ace works on a case involving a kiddy show star, Bugsy reads a twisted
fable, Ace and Mad Dog demonstrate table manners, and Mr. Moogie learns about
math by entering a blackboard.
“Comedy of Horros” (10/1/94) – Artie, Bruno and Eliot believe Bowser
may have gone mad, Rottweiler uses a Sci-Fido monster to try and take over the
world, Mr. Moogie goes on an adventure under the bed, and the Dog City cast
live their own version of an Edgar Allen Poe story.
“Howl the Conquering Hero” (10/8/94) – Eliot helps Artie understand
what makes a real hero, Ace and Bugsy compete for “Hero of the Year”, Mr. Mooge
shrinks into the stomach of the Presidog to remove some bad grass, and The Wolf
Pack searches the supermarket for biscuits.
“Reduce, Reuse, Retrieve” (11/5/94) – Artie makes life miserable to
inspire recycling, Rottweiler steals all the trees in the city, Rosie and Dot
end up on a camping trip next to the Vile gang, Yves’ theft is once again foiled
by Steven.
“Future Schlock” (11/12/94) – Eliot and Artie deal with their fear of
the future, Rottweiler develops a doggie door time portal machine, Yves’
reputation as the greatest cat burglar in the cosmos comes to an end when
Steven’s foils his plot, Rosie and Dot visit an exhibit about the city of the
future.
“No Pain, No Brain” (11/19/94) – Eliot takes up exercising so that he
can run with Terri, Ace investigates the disappearance of athletes ad the Fido
Olympics, Mr. Mookie acts out his own version of The Tortoise and the Hare, and the Woof Pack engage in their own
exercises.
“The Dog Days of Summer Vacation” (11/26/94) – With everyone else
going on vacation, Eliot decides to send Ace and Rosie on one as well with
Eddie and Dot.
This weekend we continue our 3 year anniversary celebration.
As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 25. A quarter of a freakin' century right here, folks.
Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page, or on Twitter @SatMForever. We'd love to hear from you!
Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...
