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 became successful when repeated on Saturday morning television. The show also became popular in Latin American countries (especially Mexico), the United Kingdom and the South of Europe.

Background

Top Cat was created as a parody of The Phil Silvers Show (1955–59), a successful military comedy whose lead character (Sergeant Bilko, played by Silvers) was a fast-talking con artist. Hanna-Barbera sold the cartoon to ABC based on a drawing of Top Cat. Arnold Stang's vocal characterization of the main character 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 it was paying for Stang, not Silvers—so in later episodes Stang modified his characterization, bringing it closer to his own voice, though still copying Silvers. Additionally, 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 chubby appearance was based on Gosfield's. Top Cat and his gang were also inspired by the East Side Kids, roguish, street-smart characters from a series of 1940s B movies.

This was only the second original cartoon series to premiere on prime time network television in the United States. Top Cat was conceived along the lines of a traditional, live-action situation comedy, and Hanna-Barbera recruited top sitcom writers of the day to furnish scripts, including Barry Blitzer (a Phil Silvers Show veteran), Harvey Bullock, and Kin Platt.

Premise

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

The gang constantly hatch get-rich-quick schemes through scams but they usually backfire, and a frequent plot thread revolves around the local police officer, Charles "Charlie" Dibble (voiced by Allen Jenkins), ineffectually trying to either arrest them, evict them from the alley, get them to clean the alley, or stop them using the policebox phone.

Like The Flintstones, all the episodes use a laugh track, and feature a cold open, which is a small scene from the episode that takes place in medias res, and after that, a long flashback that leads to the scene begins with the series' theme song "The Most Effectual Top Cat" and features Top Cat's misadventures that happen before the scene from the beginning plays. The story then continues from where it left off. In some episodes, the flashback stops near the middle when the same scene plays.

Broadcast

Top Cat aired on Wednesday nights in prime time at 8:30 pm. Hanna-Barbera created 30 half-hour episodes. The show was broadcast in black-and-white but was created in color. The show aired on Saturdays in 1962 and 1963 on ABC, and was then rerun (now in color) in various Saturday-morning slots on NBC from 1965 to 1969, and occasionally in the 1980s.

Reruns of the series aired on Cartoon Network from 1992 until 2004, and on Boomerang from 2000 to 2014 and again from November 26 to 29, 2020. Reruns later returned to Boomerang on April 4, 2023. The show began airing on MeTV Toons on June 29, 2024.

Analysis

Animation historian Christopher P. Lehman says that the series can be seen as social commentary. The cats may represent disenfranchised people confined to living in a poor environment. Top Cats' get-rich-quick schemes are efforts to escape to a better life. The gang faces a human police officer who frustrates their efforts and keeps them trapped in the alley. This enforcement of the social order by police ensures, says Lehman, that the cats will not escape their current living conditions.

Characters

thumb|upright|right|Top Cat and the gang (left to right): Benny the Ball (foreground); Brain; Officer Dibble (behind fence); Fancy-Fancy; Top Cat; Spook (foreground); Choo-Choo

Main characters

  • Top Cat (voiced by Arnold Stang imitating Phil Silvers) is a yellow cat with a purple hat and vest who is the leader of the gang and titular character of the series. He is a clever, smooth-talking con-artist who is always hatching get-rich-quick schemes.
  • Benny the Ball (voiced by Maurice Gosfield) is a blue cat with a white sports jacket who is Top Cat's sidekick and right-paw cat who often falls into and assists with his schemes, but is innocent and kind-hearted and is willing to help anyone.
  • Choo-Choo (voiced by Marvin Kaplan) is a pink cat with a white turtleneck sweater who is Top Cat's voice of reason. He has a nervous personality and speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent, and gets anxious when it comes to dating mates, but he usually has a caring attitude. He is often referred to as "Chooch" by the other members.
  • Brain (voiced by Leo De Lyon) is an orange cat with a purple shirt with a black band on the bottom who, despite his sarcastic name, is the slow, dim-witted member of Top Cat's gang, usually not understanding the tasks given to him and failing to keep secrets. Despite this, he is a loyal member of Top Cat's gang and is helpful to the other cats.
  • Spook (voiced by Leo De Lyon) is an olive-green cat with a black tie who is a member of Top Cat's gang. He speaks with a stereotypical 1960's beatnik slang (using terms including "like"), but in the theatrical movies, he speaks like a surfer. He has a laid-back attitude and a music appreciation.
  • Fancy-Fancy (voiced by John Stephenson) is a brown cat with a white scarf who is a member of Top Cat's gang. Like Spook, he has a laid-back personality, but unlike Choo-Choo, he has a romantic knack for mates and is often seen flirting with them, until Top Cat calls for him. Despite his name, the word Fancy can sometimes be said once or twice.
  • Officer "Charlie" Dibble (voiced by Allen Jenkins) is a strict but well-meaning police officer who is usually the target of Top Cat's schemes, and always patrols the alley to keep a watchful eye on Top Cat and his gang, especially when it comes to using the police phone located on a pole in the alley.

Additional voices:

  • Bea Benaderet
  • Herschel Bernardi
  • Daws Butler
  • Walker Edmiston
  • Paul Frees
  • Sallie Janes
  • Don Messick
  • Ge Ge Pearson
  • Hal Smith
  • Jean Vander Pyl
  • Herb Vigran

Episodes

Series overview

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