Don Gato

This is a jewel of a show: fun, clean, sometimes even very clever. Why was this show so short running? Maybe it was ahead of its time. As not as cynic as more recent cats (like Garfield), Top Cat has its dose of pinching quotes and memorable, clever one-liners, as the 'hobo-like' background puts the acid dose to the series. The show is maybe naive for the 90's and beyond, but in the innocence of the early 60's it had punch and spice, maybe 20 years before its time.

Top Cat has always been my favorite cartoon series. set in my town, NYC, Top Cat and his gang (Chooch, Fancy Fancy, Benny, Spook and Brain) struggle on the streets trying to survive and make a buck. Their efforts are always being thwarted by the cop on the beat, Officer Dibble, who in reality actually has a soft spot for the cats (as they do him).

This was a primetime series, hence the slightly-adult humor from time to time. One way Top Cat and the cats always try to make a buck is by fleecing people (especially tourists) in various different creative ways. They even try to set up gambling, as Dibble once caught Top Cat with a roulette wheel! They even like to bet on the horses (Spook: "Hey TC, like when are we going to the track?" Top Cat: "As soon as we raise the two bucks for a bet!").

The dynamic between Dibble and the cats is often exhibited in many ways, because really Dibble doesn't actually want to run them in the slammer. Dibble even narrated the beginning of one episode explaining the delicate balance of his beat, it being "non-scientific" but he keeps that balance. And his unique relationship with TC and the others is a big part of that balance.

So far only one episode (to my knowledge) has been released on DVD, on a cartoon compilation release. I really hope the entire series gets a DVD release, that'll be incredible! Every second of all 30 episodes is a winner.

I love this show, I have loved it ever since I was 8. Just for the record I love Hanna Barbera cartoons-Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones etc. but I will always have a soft spot for Top Cat. The animation is typical of Hanna Barbera and holds up reasonably well after all these years. The theme tune is in one word irresistible, and the show is very funny a vast majority of the time, especially with the character of Benny. Another character I loved was Officer Dibble, he was priceless and had a caring side towards the mischievous cats. And I have to love Top Cat, such an iconic and individual character.

Top Cat is constantly witty, humorous and charming. It is non-violent and often simple, but this is in most ways a good thing. The voices are superb particularly from the late Arnold Stang, Allen Jenkins and Marice Gosfield. Superb show, wish it had lasted longer though. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I first remember seeing "Top Cat" when it was part of NBC's Saturday morning lineup in the late 60's (I was born on April 29, 1962, when the show was halfway through its first - and only - prime-time season on ABC).

Whoever said, "You don't really appreciate something until after it's gone," was right - once "Top Cat" left NBC in 1969, all I had were comic books of the show to enjoy, as well as a coloring book of when T.C. and the gang went to the local zoo. When "T.C." was first syndicated in 1969, no stations here in Detroit (or around Lansing, Michigan, where I moved to in 1971 and lived until 1978) decided to purchase the reruns and show them (apparently the program directors of said stations didn't know a good cartoon series when they saw one); until 1996, when Cartoon Network reran "T.C." for the first time in ages, it would be a miracle (such as when I visited my relatives near Pittsburgh or my grandparents in California) before I ever saw any episodes of the show again.

About two weeks ago (January 14), I FINALLY purchased the entire 30-episode DVD box set of "Top Cat." It was such a treat to see all the episodes again, as well as the shorts with the actors who voiced the characters (my favorite "Top Cat" episodes have to be "All That Jazz," about the "diamond mine in Diambodi," and "The Golden Fleecing," about the female cat Honeydew Melon). And the best part is: Now I DON'T have to wait until if and when Boomerang decides to rerun "T.C." in the future; I can watch the show again any time I want!

(I also recently tracked down a copy of the 1962 TV soundtrack album on vinyl, so now I have another "T.C." collectible to enjoy. I hope to have one of my friends dub it onto a CD for me.)

So thanks, Warner Home Video, for helping revive an old, enjoyable childhood memory. It was certainly $45 well spent! (Now would you PLEASE see about putting another one of my all-time favorite, and seldom-seen, Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, "The Roman Holidays," on DVD soon? I know that would also be worth paying good money for!)

A little trivia. You can see Arnold Stang (Top Cat) and Marvin Kaplan (Choo Choo) together as a hilarious duo in the classic comedy "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" 1963. They play the hapless gas station owners that take on the crazy Jonathan Winters' character, a truly funny highlight in a movie that is filled with great comedy. They make such an absolutely wonderful team that I wonder why they never got paired up again; except that it might have been feared that they would steal the show. I can't recommend their scenes and the entire movie enough. Marvin Kaplan was also on a half dozen episodes of the TV show "Becker" as a returning patient, Mr Gordon. It's funny just hearing these voices.