# Mischief Makers (TV series)

Mischief Makers was a children's television series created by National Telepix that debuted on television syndication in 1960. The fifteen-minute series consisted of shortened Our Gang silent shorts that were originally released through Pathé, as well as various shorts from rival series including Mickey McGuire, Buster Brown, and others. Films from Hal Roach's all animal series the Dippy Doo Dads were also occasionally shown. The series ended production in 1961, but continued to be aired by certain local television stations well into the 1970s, and even during the 80's in Latin America.

## Overview

The series mainly featured shorts from Hal Roach's Our Gang series, but shorts from other series were also sometimes shown. Each episode ran about fifteen minutes, with the featured short only being about twelve minutes in length (the shorts originally ran about twenty minutes long).
The shorts were always given a new, relatively simple title (i.e. Every Man For Himself became Shoeshine Shop). Most of what was deleted from the shorts were from the first half of the film, though some of the first half were retained in the episodes. The deleted footage sometimes wound up in other episodes, known as 'hybrid episodes'; these contained clips from more than one short. The original inter-titles were usually cut, though a few episodes did retain some of the titles. To compensate for the absence of the titles, most episodes were narrated by two kids who are identified as 'Bobby' and 'Bunny'. Bunny typically used the catchphrase "Skeedly Skeedly!". Carnival-like music (composed by Jack Saunders) and rather inappropriate sound effects were also added onto the films.

## Theme

The animated opening and closing theme featured a song titled "Hip, Hip, Hooray". It was written by Jack Saunders and Phyllis Brandell Saunders. An instrumental version of this song was among the several soundtrack tunes added onto the silent films.
The animation was produced by Gene Deitch. It featured four animated characters in front of a picket fence doing various activities. The animated characters were a fat kid with a beanie hat (probably meant to be Joe Cobb, a girl (probably Mary Kornman), a freckled-face boy (probably Mickey Daniels), and a dog with a ring around his eye (obviously meant to be Pete the Pup).

## Narration

Most episodes were narrated by two kids identified as 'Bobby' and 'Bunny'. The way the two interact with each other makes it seem plausible that the two are intended to be siblings, with Bobby being the older of the two. When narrating an episode, they typically leave very little space in between their comments. Today, most fans of the Our Gang series who have come across narrated Mischief Makers episodes find the narration to be rather irritating.
The writers for the narration sometimes gave rather odd names to some of the kids in the shorts. Others however were identified by their familiar names. Our Gang members Mickey, Mary, Ernie, Farina, Jackie, and Johnny all had their familiar names retained. Meanwhile, Joe Cobb was called 'Joey', Jack Davis was referred to as 'Rocky', and Jay R. Smith was called 'Freckles'.

## Episode List

Currently Incomplete
[*] indicates hybrid episode with more than one short used.
| Episode Title | Original short |
| 1. Galloping Ghosts | Shootin' Injuns |
| 2. Treasure Hunt | Buried Treasure |
| 3. Private Eyes | The Mysterious Mystery |
| 4. Monkey Magic | Chicken Feed |
| 5. Mary's Dream | Mary, Queen of Tots |
| 6. Carnival Time | Boys Will Be Joys |
| 7. Ride Em' Cowboy | War Feathers |
| 8. All Aboard | Official Officers |
| 9. Little Officers | The Sun Down Limited |
| 10. Animal Hunters | It's a Bear |
| 11. Movie Makers | Playin' Hookey |
| 12. Runnaway Taxi | One Wild Ride |
| 13. Big Fight | The Champeen |
| 14. Warm Up | Olympic Games |
| 15. The Big Fire | The Fourth Alarm |
| 16. Fourth of July | The Glorious Fourth |
| 17. A Double Birthday | Ten Years Old |
| 18. A Crazy Dream | Seein' Things |
| 19. Little Heroes | Young Sherlocks |
| 20. The Rich Uncle | Baby Clothes |
| 21. County Fair | The Big Show |
| 22. Puppy Love | July Days |
| 23. The Haunted House | Shivering Spooks |
| 24. The Pirates | The Buccaneers |
| 25. Rockaby Baby | Baby Brother |
| 26. Spring Fever | Circus Fever |
| 27. Little Jockeys | Derby Day |
| 28. The Baby Show | Cradle Robbers |
| 29. Little Red Schoolhouse | Commencement Day |
| 30. Grandma Knows Best | Ask Grandma |
| 31. Boarding School | Boys to Board |
| 32. Shoeshine Shop | Every Man For Himself |
| 33. A Birthday Present | Dog Days |
| 34. Little Orphans | Bring Home the Turkey |
| 35. The Barber Shop | Big Business |
| 36. Show Business | Film Unknown |
| 37. Dog Catchers | Love My Dog |
| 38. The Secret Meeting | Lodge Night |
| 39. Sweet Revenge | Tired Business Men |
| 40. The Big Adventure | The Big Town |
| 41. Operation: Tonsills! | No Noise |
| 42. The Lucky Shoemaker | The Cobbler |
| 43. The Outing | One Terrible Day |
| 44. The Beauty Parlor | The Love Bug |
| 45. The Music Lesson | Saturday Morning |
| 46. The Flea Circus | Thundering Fleas |
| 47. The Big Bully | Telling Whoppers |
| 48. A Roamin' Holiday | Seeing the World |
| 49. Little Firemen | Fire Fighters |
| 50. The Little League | Giants vs. Yanks |
| 51. Mickey’s New Home | High Society |
| 52. The Big Switch | Fast Company |
| 53. Hollywood U.S.A. | Dogs of War Playin' Hookey |
| 54. Farina’s Friend | Monkey Business |
| 55. Happy Holiday | Good Cheer |
| 56. Battleground | Dogs of War |
| 57. Stage Struck | Better Movies |
| 58. The Cure | Tire Trouble |
| 59. Sparky the Star | Film Unknown |
| 60. The Brave Chimp | Film Unknown |
| 61. The Rival Clinic | No Noise Unknown Hey Fellas short |
| 62. The Rival Circus | Film Unknown |
| 63. Sparky Tags Along | Film Unknown |
| 64. Quiet Sunday | Sunday Calm |
| 65. Railroad Rivals | Film Unknown |
| 66. The School Play | Stage Fright |
| 67. Sparky's Picnic | Buster's Picnic |
| 68. Ernie’s Adventure* | High Tide (Sunshine Sammy and George Rowe short) Young Sherlocks |
| 69. Wild Northwest | Film Unknown |
| 70. Monkey Mischief | Film Unknown |
| 71. The Monkey Story | Film Unknown |
| 72. An Average Day* | Playin' Hookey Telling Whoppers Love My Dog Ten Years Old |
| 73. Sparky Rides High | Film Unknown |
| 74. Sparky at School | Film Unknown |
| 75. Summer Daze | Knockout Buster |
| 76. Sparky and the Tutor | Buster's Skyrocket (1926 film) |
| 77. Football Rivals | Film Unknown |
| 78. Back to School | Mickey in School (Mickey McGuire short) |
| 79. Let Me Dream | Film Unknown |
| 80. Play Ball!* | Fast Company The Cobbler (film) Official Officers The Champeen High Society |
Episode production numbers for the following titles are still unknown.
* Sparky the Star
* Summer Daze (Buster Brown short)
* Sparky at School (Buster Brown short)
* Monkey Mischief
* Rival Circus
* The Monkey Story

## Comedy Capers

After the cancellation of Mischief Makers, National Telepix produced Comedy Capers, a spin-off series consisting of various comedy films produced by Hal Roach and Mack Sennett. Top billing for the series went to Laurel and Hardy (even though very few of their films as a team were shown), Ben Turpin, Harry Langdon, Billy Bevan, and The Keystone Cops. Other films shown starred Will Rogers, Charley Chase, Snub Pollard, Billy West, Larry Semon, Clyde Cook, and Mabel Normand, among others.
The beginning to the opening theme immediately recognized the series as a spin-off of Mischief Makers, as the singers of the theme song mention "The Mischief Makers present...". Although actual Our Gang shorts were not featured on Comedy Capers, the opening theme featured clips from Our Gang shorts Official Officers and Playin' Hookey.