Top Cat (TV series)

Top Cat is a prime time animated TV series which ran between 1961 and 1962. When it was presented on the BBC in Great Britain, the title was changed to Boss Cat to avoid commercial associations with a local brand of cat food.
The plot involves Top Cat, the leader of a gang of New York alley cats: Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Benny the Ball, The Brain, and Choo Choo. 
Top Cat and his gang were inspired by the characters from the popular situation comedy The Phil Silvers Show (a/k/a You'll Never Get Rich); however, it has also been suggested that the Bowery Boys series of two-reeler comedy shorts 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). Arnold Stang's voicing of Top Cat strongly resembled Phil Silvers' voice as well.
A frequent plotline revolved around the local policeman, Officer Dibble, and his ineffective attempts to evict the gang from the alley, especially from his telephone near Top Cat's trash can/residence. 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. The name Dibble has passed into the vernacular as slang for police officers. One time he fall in love with Nurse LaRue.
==Voice Cast==
* Arnold Stang - Top Cat
* Maurice Gosfield - Benny the Ball
* Marvin Kaplan - Choo Choo
* Leo DeLyon - Brain/Spook
* John Stephenson - Fancy-Fancy
* Allen Jenkins - Officer Dibble
==Episode List==
NOTE: These episodes are the mid-1990s Turner prints. All episodes feature the 1994 Hanna-Barbera logo in the end. Dates given in parentheses are those of the original broadcast over ABC.
# Hawaii, Here We Come (September 27, 1961)
# The Maharajah of Pookajee (October 4, 1961) (A favourite episode of Joseph Barbera from this series; such, Mr. Barbera recalls, was inspired by an actual prankster of the times who threw glass "jewels" at waiters in high-end Hollywood restaurants as an ur-tip.)
# All That Jazz (October 11, 1961)
# The $1,000,000 Derby (October 18, 1961)
# The Violin Player (October 25, 1961)
# The Missing Heir (November 1, 1961)
# Top Cat Falls in Love (November 8, 1961)
# A Visit From Mother (November 15, 1961)
# Naked Town (November 22, 1961)
# Sergeant Top Cat (November 29, 1961)
# Choo-Choo's Romance (December 6, 1961)
# The Unscratchables (December 13, 1961)
# Rafeefleas (December 20, 1961)
# The Tycoon (December 27, 1961)
# The Long Hot Winter (January 3, 1962)
# The Case Of the Absent Anteater (January 10, 1962)
# T.C. Minds the Baby (January 17, 1962)
# Farewell, Mr Dibble (January 24, 1962)
# The Grand Tour (January 31, 1962)
# The Golden Fleecing (February 7, 1962)
# Space Monkey (February 14, 1962)
# The Late T.C. (February 21, 1962)
# Dibble's Birthday (February 28, 1962)
# Choo-Choo Goes Ga-Ga (March 7, 1962)
# King for a Day (March 14, 1962)
# The Con Men (March 21, 1962)
# Dibble Breaks the Record (March 28, 1962)
# Dibble Sings Again (April 4, 1962)
# Griswald (April 11, 1962)
# Dibble's Double (April 18, 1962)
==Recurring characters==
# Police Captain First appearance Season 1 Episode 10 Sergeant Top Cat
# The Sergeant First appearance Season 1 Episode 1 Hawaii Here We Come
# Ship Captain First appearance Season 1 Episode 1 Hawaii Here We Come
# Counterfitter First appearance Season 1 Episode 1 Hawaii Here We Come
# Catwaleder First appearance Season 1 Episode 6 The Missing Heir
# Jazz First appearance Season 1 Episode 3 All That Jazz
# Chutney aka Machine Gun Chutney First appearance Season 1 Episode 6 The Missing Heir
# Griswald First appearance Season 1 Episode 6 The Missing Heir
# Nurse LaRue First appearance Season 1 Episode 7 Top Cat Falls In Love
# Mrs. Ball First appearance Season 1 Episode 8 A Visit From Mother
# Goldie and Pierre First appearance Season 1 Episode 11 Choo-Choo's Romance
# Jimmy First appearance Season 1 Episode 16 The Case of the Absent Anteater
# Charlie First appearance Season 1 Episode 17 TC Minds the Baby
# Doctor First appearance Season 1 Episode 22 The Late Mr. TC
# Lola First appearance Season 1 Episode 24 Choo-Choo Goes Ga-Ga
# Tony First appearance Season 1 Episode 26 The Con Men
# Al the Actor First appearance Season 1 Episode 30 Dibble's Double
==DVD==
DVD Name 	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
Top Cat - The Complete Series	30 	 	
*Commentary on various episodes
*Back to Hoagy's Alley: The Making of Top Cat (retrospective featurette)
*Interviews: Cool Cats in Interview Alley
*Top Cat sing-along
*Production Sketches: Top Cat Collection (art, stills, sketches, backgrounds)
*Storyboards: Storyboard Showcase
*TV Spot: Top Cat Kellogg's commercials (US release only)
==Movies==
*Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats (1988) (Made-for-TV)
*Top Cat: the Movie (2011) (Mexico, Latin America and UK only) (Feature film)
*Top Cat Begins (2015) (Mexico, India and UK only) (Feature film)
Category:Hanna-Barbera shows
Category:ABC shows
Category:The Funtastic Index