The Tom & Jerry Show was produced by Hanna-Barbera and MGM Television for ABC in 1975 as part of an omnibus series with The Great Grape Ape Show. The series revived the award-winning cat and mouse characters William Hanna and Joseph Barbera created for MGM.
Development[]
Having purchased rights from MGM to produce new Tom & Jerry cartoons for TV, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, T&J's creators, screened some of their best MGM theatrical Tom & Jerry shorts for ABC executives. The executives laughed heartily at the antics of the cat and mouse, then sighed because it was a shame that network Broadcast Standards and Practices ruled out such violence on Saturday mornings. Thus arose The New Tom & Jerry Show.
But, out of respect for the characters who helped them pave the way for their newfound careers, Hanna and Barbera refused to grant Tom and Jerry the ability to speak. Except for nonverbal sounds provided by veteran Hanna-Barbera voice actor John Stephenson, the cat and mouse were entitled to their right to remain silent. And Spike, the bulldog in the Tom & Jerry theatrical releases, was also brought back by Hanna-Barbera to be a recurring foe on New Tom & Jerry.
Differences from the theatrical shorts[]
- Unlike the theatrical Tom & Jerry shorts, the TV series casts the cat and mouse as friends.
- Jerry wears a red bow tie. Early production drawings show Tom wearing a collar, but this was not included in the series.
Broadcast History[]
A total of 48 7-minute New Tom & Jerry cartoons were produced in 1975 and originally aired in these following formats on ABC Saturday morning:
- The New Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show (6 September 1975 - 4 September 1976, ABC Saturday 8:30 – 9:30 A.M. [EDT])
- The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show (11 September 1976 - 27 November 1976, ABC Saturday 8:00 – 9:00 A.M. [EDT])
- The Tom and Jerry/Mumbly Show (4 December 1976 - 3 September 1977, ABC Saturday 8:00 – 8:30 A.M. [EDT])
- The Tom and Jerry Show (international re-runs)
Immediately following the end of the original ABC run, these cartoons were edited within main and end title credits and added to run with theatrical-era MGM Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1967 for syndication by MGM until 1986 (H-B retained ancillary rights to the Mumbly and Grape Ape segments, with syndication rights to those segments going to Worldvision Enterprises in 1979 – 1991).
Since 1986, it has been rebroadcast on TBS, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Canada's Teletoon and Teletoon Retro (the former three networks are part of Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System, which purchased the pre-1986 MGM library in 1986 and Hanna-Barbera in 1991).
The cartoons have been shown with the main and end title credits intact on TBS and on the Teletoon channels, whereas Cartoon Network and Boomerang air the cartoons without the opening/closing graphics.
Episodes[]
- No Way Stowaways / The Ski Bunny / Stay Awake or Else
- No Bones About It / An Ill Wind / Beach Bully
- Mammoth Manhunt / The Wacky World of Sports / Robin Ho-Ho
- Safe but Not Sorry / Gopher Broke / The Super Bowler
- Tricky McTrout / The Tennis Menace / Cosmic Cat and Meteor Mouse
- Castle Wiz / Grim and Bear It / The Flying Sorceress
- The Kitten Sitters / Termites Plus Two / Planet Pest
- The Hypochondriac Lion / Give 'Em the Air / The Egg and Tom & Jerry
- Watch Out, Watch Dog / The Super Cyclists / The Police Kitten
- The Outfoxed Fox / Towering Fiasco / The Lost Duckling
- Beanstalk Buddies / Two Stars Are Born / Son of Gopher Broke
- The Sorcerer's Apprentices / Hold That Pose / The Supercape Caper
- Chickenrella / Double Trouble Crow / Jerry's Nephew (Thanksgiving broadcast)
- See Dr. Jackal and Hyde! / Planet of the Dogs / The Campout Cutup
- Triple Trouble / The Bull Fighters / Cruise Kitty
- It's No Picnic / Big Feet / The Great Motorboat Race
Voice cast[]
- Henry Corden - Weirdbeard the Pirate, Giant
- Kathy Gori– Katy O'Kitty
- Don Messick – Spike, Quacker, Meteor Mouse, additional voices
- Alan Oppenheimer – Ringmaster, Sapstone
- Joe E. Ross – Spike
- Hal Smith – Black Barney
- John Stephenson – Tom, Jerry, Spike, Macho Cat, Cosmic Cat, Husband, additional voices.
- Jean Vander Pyl
- Janet Waldo – Yvonne Jockalong
- Lennie Weinrib– Dinky, Announcer, Tricky McTrout, Outfoxed Fox
- Frank Welker– Sheriff of Nottingham
- George Carlin - Big Feet