Top Cat

***Top Cat*** is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a single season of 30 episodes. The show was a ratings failure in prime time, but found a receptive audience in a Saturday morning time slot. *Top Cat* made its United Kingdom debut on the BBC (later renamed BBC One) on 16 May 1962.

It was shown on Channel 5 in the UK, as part of their *Shake!* block.

## Premise

The central character, Top Cat (T.C.) (voice of character comedian Arnold Stang) is the leader of a gang of Manhattan alley cats living in Hoagy's Alley: Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Benny the Ball, Brain, and Choo-Choo.

Top Cat and his gang were inspired by the East Side Kids, humorous tough characters from a series of 1940s B movies, but their more immediate roots lay in *The Phil Silvers Show* (1955–59), a successful military comedy whose lead character (Sergeant Bilko, played by Silvers) was a crafty con man. Maurice Gosfield, who played Private Duane Doberman in *The Phil Silvers Show*, provided the voice for Benny the Ball in *Top Cat*, and Benny's rotund appearance was based on Gosfield's. Also, Arnold Stang's vocal characterization was originally based on an impression of Phil Silvers's voice. During the original network run, the sponsor objected to the Silvers impersonation -- insisting that he was buying Arnold Stang, not Phil Silvers -- so in later episodes Stang modified the Top Cat voice, as a closer approximation of his own voice.

The gang constantly attempts to earn a quick buck, usually through illegal scams, and a frequent plot thread revolved around the local beat cop, Charles "Charlie" Dibble (voiced by veteran character actor Allen Jenkins), ineffectually trying to evict them from the alley and stop them using the policebox phone.

## Episodes

The show's theme song was "The Most Effectual Top Cat" for the opening and closing credits.

The opening credits feature Top Cat entering a high-class restaurant to have lunch... which he picks from a construction worker working across the restaurant. He escapes from the maitre'd and the worker into a taxi and gets away (originally the series title appears on a blind TC pulls down in the taxi - later versions feature the title as TC gets into the taxi).

The closing credits feature Top Cat returning to his alley and going to bed. The series title also appears on a billboard above the alley. In some cases (mainly BBC Two UK reruns), the series title on a billboard above the alley is absent, and the closing credits is shortened to 30 seconds, beginning with Top Cat in a bin putting the pyjamas on.

The episodes are now available in colorized versions.

1. *Hawaii, Here We Come*
2. *The Maharajah of Pookajee*
3. *All That Jazz*
4. *The $1,000,000 Derby*
5. *The Violin Player*
6. *The Missing Heir*
7. *Top Cat Falls in Love*
8. *A Visit from Mother*
9. *Naked Town*
10. *Sergeant Top Cat*
11. *Choo-Choo's Romance*
12. *The Unscratchables*
13. *Rafeefleas*
14. *The Tycoon*
15. *The Long Hot Winter*
16. *The Case of the Absent Anteater*
17. *T.C. Minds the Baby*
18. *Farewell, Mr. Dibble*
19. *The Grand Tour*
20. *The Golden Fleecing*
21. *Space Monkey*
22. *The Late T.C*
23. *Dibble's Birthday*
24. *Choo-Choo Goes Ga-Ga*
25. *King for a Day*
26. *The Con Men*
27. *Dibble Breaks the Record*
28. *Dibble Sings Again*
29. *Griswald*
30. *Dibble's Double*