Vira-Lata

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.

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.

I used to watch this show when I was a little girl. When I think about it, I remember it pretty well. If you ask me, it was a good show. The opening sequence and theme song are two things I remember pretty well, too. In addition to that, everyone was ideally cast. Also, the writing was very strong. The performances were top-grade, too. I hope some network brings it back so I can see every episode. Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that I'll always remember this show in my memory forever, even though I don't think I've seen every episode. Now, in conclusion, if some network ever brings it back, I hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good.

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

10/10

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.