Possibly none of you even know what Top Cat is. Right? I thought so. Well, I'll tell you and hopefully it'll jog a few memories of something.
TOP CAT:
If you have DIRECT-TV and you have the channel Boomerang, "Top Cat" is always on at 8:30 am and 10:30 pm
Top Cat was a show in the early 1960's that ran from 1961 to 1962. Unfortunately the show waste very famous, unlike Scooby-Doo and other Hanna-Barbara shows.
HistoryOriginally broadcast on Wednesdays [8:30-9pm Eastern], Top Cat was co-sponsored by Kellogg's and Bristol-Myers (Bufferin). The central character, Top Cat—called T.C. by close friends, "pro-vid-ing it's with dignity" as the lyrics of the theme song say—is the leader of a gang of New York City alley cats: Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Benny the Ball, The Brain, and Choo Choo.
Top Cat and his gang were inspired by characters from the popular situation comedy You'll Never Get Rich (later called The Phil Silvers Show). It has also been said[by whom?] that the Bowery Boys influenced the show. Maurice Gosfield, who played Private Duane Doberman on The Phil Silvers Show, also provided the voice for Benny the Ball in Top Cat (Benny's rotund appearance was based on Gosfield too).
Even Arnold Stang's voicing of Top Cat strongly resembled Phil Silvers' voice. Another possible source material was Hokey Wolf, a segment on The Huckleberry Hound Show, which also had parallels to The Phil Silvers Show.[2][3]
A frequent plot-line revolved around the local policeman, Officer Charles "Charlie" Dibble, and his ineffective attempts to evict the gang from the alley. The only reason that he wanted to be rid of them was that Top Cat and his gang were constantly attempting to earn a quick dollar—usually through an illegal scam. Dibble's appearance was modeled on Allen Jenkins, who did his voice. Dibble, previously only an implement for making holes for planting seeds, has acquired a second meaning in the vernacular as slang for police officers.
CharactersTop CatTop Cat (or TC) is the yellow skinned, greedy, somewhat lazy and clever main character. He wears a purple hat and vest. He often rips off and/or tricks his gang and Officer Dibble. He does respect the effort the gang does for him, but he often takes credit for it. He also stops Officer Dibble from arresting him by lying to Dibble about how much talent Dibble has. He is voiced by Arnold Stang.
Benny the BallBenny is TC's right-hand man. He is short, innocent, chubby, naive and cute. A blue-coloured cat with a white sweater that fastens with a single button at his neck. His eyes are shown as black dots unlike the other cats who have white sclerae with black pupils. Benny may appear to be simple-minded, but he manages to ask the most logical questions during the gang's erratic endeavors. The gang relationship between Benny and TC is based on a devoted friendship between them. A number of episodes have focused on Benny, including "The Violin Player", "The Unscratchables" and "The Missing Heir". He also he made a cameo appearance on Kid vs. Kat in "The Kat Whisperer". Benny the Ball is modeled after his voice actor Maurice Gosfield.
Choo-ChooChoo-Choo, nicknamed Chooch to TC and the gang, is enthusiastic and devoted to TC even when he’s clueless as to what he’s doing. He is a pink cat with a white long-sleeve turtle-neck shirt, he is the tallest of the alley gang cats and often is depicted with the eyes of a Siamese cat. He lives at the fire house as the fire house cat as seen in one episode "Hawaii Here We Come". He had a couple of love crushes "Choo-Choo's Romance" and "Choo-Choo Goes Gaga-Gaga", however unlike Fancy-Fancy or Top Cat, Choo-Choo has no courage talking to girls. When he talks, his voice sounds like Woody Allen. He is voiced by Marvin Kaplan.
BrainBrain appears to be a common henchman to Top Cat. Contrary to his name (which appears to have been given in jest or sarcasm), Brain is the dim-witted member of the alley gang, an orange cat with a violet T-Shirt with a black line. Brain is notorious for being unable to keep a secret and for his stuttering. He also seems to be in charge of the group's money (which they rarely have) and he runs up and down the road. Despite his apparent stupidity, he can sometimes say something brilliant, which TC instantly rephrases to make it sound like he said it. He is voiced by Leo De Lyon.
Fancy-Fancy
Fancy-Fancy also appears to be a common henchman to Top Cat. He is laid-back, sweet-talking and is regularly seen chatting up the ladies before leaving them when hearing the 'dustbin lid call'. A brown cat with a white scarf, he resembles Spook in appearance. His look and voice is based on Cary Grant. He is voiced by John Stephenson.
SpookSpook rarely speaks in the episodes, but when he does, a torrent of "like"'s are used. He is similar to Fancy-Fancy in demeanor and appearance, a sweet talking cat whose vernacular is based on that of a beatnik. He is a pool shark with green fur and a torn black tie. He too is voiced by Leo De Lyon.
Officer Dibble
Officer Dibble is an NYPD Policeman whose beat includes the alley. His full name is discovered in the episode Dibble breaks the record which is Officer Charlie Dibble. Though he usually resents the gang's presence in the alley, there are times when he respects and loves them. He wants TC to clean up the alley and to stay off his telephone. Is sometimes called variations of his name by TC such of Dabble, Drubble, Dripple and so on. In reference to this character, 'Dibble' has been adopted as a British derogatory slang term for Police Officers. He is voiced by Allen Jenkins.
You really thing i was expecting you to read all that? Well, i guess not.
I just wanted to see if you remember, but hey, you saw the picture so now you know what the show looks like, and is if you read you know a bit of what it's about
