T.H.E. Cat

I can't add much, but I want to echo the comments of the person below. I thought this was the coolest show ever when I was 12, and was disappointed when it was canceled. There was a drum rhythm that was played during each tense scene that I still play in my mind nearly 40 years later. And like the person below, I can't find anybody who remembers it! I liked the way the star answered when anybody asked his name: "Cat, T. Hewitt Edward Cat." That's all I can remember, other than how cool he was with his black turtleneck sliding down wires from one building to the next. How come I never see this on late night cable? I'm getting sick of the Munsters and Leave it to Beaver.

The main review hit it on head. I was a 9 or 10 kid in Portville California watching the cool Cat Loggia. He was more gutsy ( cat-gutsy?) than anything on TV. I stole my mom's black leotards and god-awful hot black sweater then rush out into the mid day heat to scale our walnut tree as if it was a high rise condo. I always imagined rescuing Annette Funicallo from her penthouse under siege from international thievies, some guys I did time with but those dorks turned on me. Yup, it was perfect fodder for a growing pre-teen tired of the unacrobatic honey thief Winnie the Pooh.

Whenever I see post-Cat Loggia performances, I remember his earlier invincible feline incarnation, expecting him to leap tall buildings with a single grappling hook, and I wonder if he longs for his old powers, too. I had power to rally a dark macho persona in me, ready to stalk the alleys of injustice to right the woeful wrongs, accompanied Lao jazz themes,...but alas, my bedtime in 1966 was 10 pm on THE nights.

Thanks Robert. Now I'm a mystery writer in SW Florida, created equally dark yet hopeful characters who defend the undefensible and get the girl eventually. It was great to see this IMDb listing to provide reference for my cherished times watching T.H.E. at the Gato Cafe.

Best regards, Will Lloyd willmation@comcast.net

In 1966 on Friday nights I had two brand new series to look forward to as a 13 year old.The Green Hornet & T.H.E.Cat were unique among the standard TV offerings of cop shows,lawyer shows,doctor shows & sitcoms.Cat was a former circus acrobat & jewel thief who did his prison time & now was on the side of law.But instead of the standard cliché of his becoming a p.i.,he sold his services as a bodyguard & security expert.This propelled him into many exciting adventures.He generally was clad in black pants & a turtleneck.His weapons were his "Cat's Claws" knives that were hidden up each shirt sleeve.He was athletic & fast and could easily scale over high fences,up the side of any building,& over rooftops with a lithe skill.The Lalo Schifrin musical score is superb,the writing excellent as were the actors,and the show had a dark & gritty look to it.It remains a favorite of mine today even though it only lasted one season.Like The Green Hornet it deserved a long run,but both series managed to become cult classics for many fans even with their short runs.

Please, if anyone has information on how to get copies of the Cat program, please contact me ASAP. This was my Favorite show. It took me YEARS just to find this site.(Just got computer) I have lost money betting that this program did exist,have been laughed at and finally told that it was just my childhood imagination. THANKS & God Bless

In his role as Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat, Robert Loggia was undoubtedly the coolest hero of the television 60's. A retired second-story man, Cat undertook missions in which he used his acrobatic skills to their best advantage. NBC advertised the program as a "high tension adventure series you can really sink your claws into," and it was just that.

Probably drawing on his earlier portrayal of the cat-like Elfego Baca, an acrobatic western Disney character, the athletic Loggia apparently did a lot of his own stunts in the series. He was everything an adolescent boy of the time could aspire to: he wore a cool black outfit while on the prowl; he drove a cool black 'Vette; he carried a dagger-like knife referred to in one episode as "The Cat's Claw," which he could throw with unerring accuracy; he was, of course, irresistable to women; and he hung out between missions at the Casa del Gato (House of the Cat), a cafe owned by his gypsy friend Pepe, played to the suave hilt by Robert Carricart. The only other recurring character was the one-handed police Captain McAllister, played by the marvelous R.G. Armstrong.

The original jazz score by Lalo Schifrin (sort of a flute- accoustic bass-drum trio number) set just the right mood for this dark series -- and Shifrin went on to compose for Mission Impossible!

Television later picked up on the theme of using a reformed crook as a hero, notably with Robert Wagner in "It Takes a Thief" and "Switch." But Loggia was the original in this short-lived but lamented series.