Josie and the Pussycats (formatted as Josie and the Pussy Cats in the opening titles) is an American animated television series, based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo. Produced for Saturday morning television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, 16 episodes of Josie and the Pussycats aired on CBS during the 1970-71 television season, and were rerun during the 1971-72 season. In 1972, the show was re-conceptualized as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, 16 episodes of which aired on CBS during the 1972-73 season and were rerun the following season. Josie and the Pussycats was later rerun on NBC Saturday mornings during the 1975-76 television season.
Josie and the Pussycats featured an all-girl pop music band that toured the world with their entourage, getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers and mysteries. On the small screen, the group consisted of level-headed lead singer/guitarist Josie McCoy, intelligent tambourinist Valerie Brown and air-headed blond drummer Melody Valentine. Other characters included their shady manager, Alexander Cabot III; his conniving sister, Alexandra; her cat, Sebastian, and hunky roadie Alan Mayberry.
The show, more similar to Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! than the original Josie comic book, is famous for its music, for the girls' leopard-print leotards (replete with "long tails and ears for hats", as the theme song states), and for featuring the first regularly appearing female black character in a Saturday morning cartoon show. Each episode featured a Josie and the Pussycats song played over a chase scene, which, in a similar fashion to The Monkees, featured the group running after and from a selection of hapless villains.