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God, I loved this show! It was in syndication when I was little and I watched it everyday. There was nothing better than watching Underdog match wits with the likes of Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff. With a gulp of a power pill, he would be off to save Sweet Polly Purebread. The stories were fun and the music helped keep the pace frantic. The great Wally Cox provided the voice of our hero, with his rhyming speech patterns. Man, you gotta love this show and names like Underdog and Simon Bar Sinister.

The show also featured Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales, the Go-Go Gophers, Klondike Kat, Commander McBragg, and the Hunter. The Go-Go Gophers were a pair of indians who delighted in confounding the Colonel and his Sergeant, in the Old West. It was hardly PC, but the Gophers always pulled one over on the Army, so some good came from it. Klondike Kat was a feline Mountie who persued the thieving Savior Faire, who constantly shouted his motto, "Savior Faire is everywhere!," as he stole cheese; but, Klondike Kat always got his mouse. Commander McBragg was an old British gentleman who would regale his friend (an unwilling audience) with tales of his amazing (and far-fetched) adventures, while smoking his briar pipe. The Hunter was a dog detective, on the trail of the Fox. It was pretty much the same as Klondike Kat, but with different animals. The best of these sideshows was Tennessee Tuxedo.

Tennessee Tuxedo (a penguin) and his pal, Chumly (a walrus), lived in the Metropolitan Zoo. They spent their days outsmarting the zoo director, Stanley Livingston, and their rival, Jereboah Jump (a mouse). Their plans would often backfire and they would seek the help of Mr. Whoopee, a man with all of the answers, and a 3DBB (3 Dimensional Blackboard). The duo would escape from the zoo and seek Mr Whoopee's help to solve their latest problem. Mr Whoopee wold illustrate the solution on the 3DBB, where the pictures would come to life. Then, Tennessee and Chumley would return to the zoo and triumph (more or less). Don Adams provided the voice of Tennessee. The show was great fun and very educational.

I later saw these shows on Nickelodeon. They had edited out every scene of Lovable Shoeshine Boy taking his power pill to become Underdog. This riled me up as much as ABC censoring the Warner cartoons. I saw these cartoons as a child, uncut, and did not grow up to shoot people in the face with a shotgun, or pop pills to change identities. Sometimes people go overboard to protect children. I'm glad to see that at least a few of these cartoons are available on DVD and VHS. They beat most cartoons aimed at kids these days.

I grew up watching Underdog. Although the series ended in 1973, it continued in reruns for many years after (at least through 1979-1980, when I remember watching it.)

Underdog always spoke in rhymes. Normally, he spent his time as "Shoe Shine Boy", and was just that. But when he took one of his super power pills, he transformed into Underdog and saved his love interest, news reporter Sweet Polly Purebred. His nemesis was usually Simon Bar Sinister (voiced by Allen Swift, who is a true living legend of animation voiceovers).

The storylines were always pretty much the same, but there was usually a lesson to be learned at some point in the show.

It didn't end there, however.

After Underdog had beat up Simon Bar Sinister for the 300th time, the show often segued into "Tennessee Tuxedo", a silly cartoon (also involving lessons learned) starring a penguin as the title character (voiced by Don Adams of "Get Smart" fame), his dimwitted walrus pal Chumley, and Mr. Whoopee, who would give them science lessons with his magic expanding chalkboard.

There were a number of other cartoons that ran along with Underdog, including one about 2 American soldiers in the old west tangling with two Native Americans (who would probably be seen as racially offensive today). I can't recall the others.

It was a great, fun kids show back in its day.

The cartoon was not only a favorite of mine as a child, but of my late father's as an adult. There were the gimmicks of where every phone booth he heads into to change from Shoe Shine Boy to Underdog explodes, as well as how he always crashes through roofs and walls even when there are door or window openings nearby, as well as his talking in rhyme. But what makes the comic work is the witty writing.

Examples include how he makes Simon Bar Sinister dizzy by flying in circles around him, thus preventing him from using his snow gun, or the clever ways he defeats a flotilla of alien flying saucers, or how he makes the Wicked Witch of Pickayoon wealthy by compressing lumps of coal into diamonds, or how he sends villains directly into confinement or jail. Too bad the DC Superman didn't have that level of cleverness...but then he didn't have Underdog's computer brain.

Underdog, was of course, purely Wally Cox's persona

Simon Bar-Sinister was based on Lionel Barrymore(Mr. Potter in "It's A Wonderful Life")

Riff Raff - The name is taken from George Raft, but sounded a lot like Sheldon Leonard

Tennessee Tuxedo - Of course, this was Don Adams' characterization

Baldy Eagle - Based on Ned Sparks, known for the deadpan monotone delivery of lines in his movies, in the 1940's

Yakety Yak - Based on Joe E. Ross (Fred Gwynne's partner in "Car 54: Where are You?")

Major Minor - Terry-Thomas, comedic British Actor of the 1960' and 70's

Savoir Fare - Kind of like the Pepe LePew variety of characterization.

Colonel Kit Coyote - The name is based on Kit Carson, a figure in the old American west, but his mannerisms are liked many characterizations of Colonel/President Teddy Roosevelt(see: Robin William's portrayal of Roosevelt in "A Night At The Museum"[2006])

Seargent - sounded something like Brian Keith, or Buddy Ebsen's portrayals in the Daniel Boone TV series? Maybe not.

I'd love to know if anyone has any ideas on what personalities Stanley Livingston, Chumley, Jereboah Jump, Tiger, Cad, Miss Polley, and Klondyke Kat were based on.

It was great stuff, fun, educative, and morals were a bit higher then than they are now.

10/10