tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post5479104636564529993..comments2024-03-28T16:36:44.544-07:00Comments on Yowp: Hanna-Barbera Chugs Along, 1961Yowphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264605351878574044noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-87178206365709501832021-03-27T11:16:18.555-07:002021-03-27T11:16:18.555-07:00Brain,maybe? I can too!~ He sounds somewhere betwe...Brain,maybe? I can too!~ He sounds somewhere between Maxie and Frank Fontaine, very punch dru nk and dimwitted (c/o Leo De Lyon, the one still surviving member. Pokeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15936757752447320636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-75900470315443454972016-09-19T21:55:31.802-07:002016-09-19T21:55:31.802-07:00I'm sitting here completely floored to learn t...I'm sitting here completely floored to learn that Mike O'Shea was to've been TC. I'd watched "It's A Great Life" on our local GOOD TV channel in MA several years ago strictly b/c I had a mad crush on Bill Bishop who'd played Steve on the show. But I never woulda thunk there'd be a connection of any kind between the two shows that had kinda been staples in my life, TC having been my first childhood "crush." PJtheSpritehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10991596417259001442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-53674845204105028112015-12-11T16:47:04.263-08:002015-12-11T16:47:04.263-08:00And, at this same season (1961), Joanna Lee was ma...And, at this same season (1961), Joanna Lee was making part of the team of writers from Hanna-Barbera, writting scripts for series as <i>The Flintstones</i>, <i>Top Cat</i>, at the following year with <i>The Jetsons</i>, and later with <i>Jonny Quest</i>. <br />rodineisilveirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07751345474415214163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-92133515831938548102015-12-10T13:08:48.642-08:002015-12-10T13:08:48.642-08:00It's interesting that in that magazine ad the ...It's interesting that in that magazine ad the way in which the characters are drawn seems to reflect their popularity. Fred, the most popular character, is the biggest. Huck, Yogi, and Quick Draw are all about the same size. Huck and Yogi (probably H-B's most popular 7-minute shorts characters) are happy. Meanwhile, Top Cat (H-B's first prime-time failure) is the smallest character, and he almost seems to be lamenting his lack of popularity, with Quick Draw seeming to feel sorry for him. Sérgio Gonçalves https://www.blogger.com/profile/06629564277385996362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-17682837923420830412015-12-10T13:07:27.095-08:002015-12-10T13:07:27.095-08:00Thanks for the confirmation information Don & ...Thanks for the confirmation information Don & Mike T!Will Finnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01297122976077620877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-22304582754990391202015-12-10T11:35:35.817-08:002015-12-10T11:35:35.817-08:00I could easily hear Maxie Rosenbloom playing one o...I could easily hear Maxie Rosenbloom playing one of TC's gang, would probably fit right in, but not Top Cat.Errolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-24790802072387826342015-12-10T10:57:12.348-08:002015-12-10T10:57:12.348-08:00Will, Hal Smith said in an interview that he and T...Will, Hal Smith said in an interview that he and Thompson had been hired to be Fred and Barney and they recorded some tracks. The problem was Thompson had trouble with the low growl (that presumably Joe Barbera wanted) for Fred and kept losing his voice. So the roles were recast. <br />Yowphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09264605351878574044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-46544683687220724452015-12-09T19:21:44.529-08:002015-12-09T19:21:44.529-08:00Nope, it definitely was Michael O'Shea. One o...Nope, it definitely was Michael O'Shea. One of the quasi-religious cable channels was running IT'S A GREAT LIFE (O'Shea's 1954-56 sitcom) a few years ago, and I could hear the similarities between what his approach to TC would have been and what Stang's was. The only problem, TC was a fast-talker a la Phil Silvers, and O'Shea was closer to Marvin Kaplan's Choo Choo, and that slower, pausing pace is what reportedly cost him the job.Mike Tiefenbacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04102752875776872720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-37472496376331638122015-12-09T18:17:01.468-08:002015-12-09T18:17:01.468-08:00I might be remembering this wrong but I thought in...I might be remembering this wrong but I thought in Barbera's memoir he said Milo O'Shea (not Mike) was originally going to be TC's voice, and he dropped out to a more lucrative role (either on stage or screen)? And my recollection of the FLINTSTONES pilot had Daws Butler as Fred, was Bill Thompson in the running too?<br /><br />Not trying to nit-pick - actually curious if i had these wrong... And man I'd give anything to hear Morey and Pat as the JETSONS - maybe they could have made it funny! Will Finnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01297122976077620877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-28182350174136595022015-12-09T14:52:25.154-08:002015-12-09T14:52:25.154-08:00I always found Joe B's oft-told anecdote of re...I always found Joe B's oft-told anecdote of rejecting a (unnamed) prominent sitcom writer's <i>Flintstones</i> script that first season because it didn't contain any "visual business" to be amusing if not disingenuous. The programs for that show's second season are noticeably more dialogue-heavy than previously, no doubt due to the hiring of the sitcom writers. Episodes such as "The Hit Songwriters", "Alvin Brickrock Presents", "The Gambler", and "This is Your Lifesaver" come to mind as examples of less action, and more yak, yak, yak. top_cat_jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06365510398800837335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403931334822730200.post-66621326964815795152015-12-09T12:23:10.486-08:002015-12-09T12:23:10.486-08:00In terms of story quality, 1961 seems to have been...In terms of story quality, 1961 seems to have been the year Hanna-Barbera finally stretched themselves too thin. The first of the Wally Gator-Touche Turtle-Lippy the Lion shorts were copyrighted at the end of '61 (as the last of the Huck-Quick Draw-Yogi efforts were rolling off the production line), while the studio had two prime time shows and were working up the third. And while they may have expanded their writing pool to sitcom writers, the new group just didn't have the visual gag skills that Michael Maltese or Warren Foster (or Tony Benedict) had.<br /><br />(Having pulled back a lot by the 1964-65 season, the first 10 or so episodes of Magilla Gorilla recapture a bit of the verbal punch of the Huck-Quick Draw-Yogi period, even if the visuals are much stiffer. But after that it was a inexorable path downward, as the studio stopped doing stories that might entertain themselves and started producing stuff that Fred Silverman and others thought would keep the kiddos happy).J Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15175515543694122729noreply@blogger.com