Inspecteur Gadget

Here's your assignment: find another animated policeman who could possibly match Jacques Clouseau for accidents per hour...and happens to be loaded with all kinds of mechanical props.

"Inspector Gadget" makes for the perfect kid's show: lots of slapstick, the kids are the smartest ones in the room, the bad guys are all lunk heads, good always wins over evil and the dog gets all the best scenes. And then, there's Gadget himself.

Logic would dictate that Don Adams should do the voice (after all, he WAS Maxwell Smart!). That sharp, snappy voice was the perfect accent for a character who thought himself right all of the time; no matter whether he was or not.

When searching for clues, foiling the plans of Dr. Claw and his MAD organization with a heroic declaration like "I'm always on duty", accidentally blowing up his Chief Quimby every episode and striking fear into all agents out to destroy him (usually, through no fault of his own), Gadget was always cool, on top of the situation and, even when his first guess was always wrong, his third or fourth guesses made up for them.

His niece Penny was the thinker of the family, though, with her computerized notebook and keen mind for deductive reasoning. She was the main reason her uncle stayed around every episode. And faithful pet dog Brain kept a close eye on Gadget and, even when mistaken for a MAD agent, helped him time and again out of very sticky situations.

Forever alive in syndication, nothing can ever dim the might and power that is "Inspector Gadget". Gadget is, quite simply, THE MAN (main emphasis on the "simply" part)!

Ten stars. Go, "Gadget", go!

When I think of my childhood heroes, I immediately think of what a legend ‘Inspector Gadget' was. With all of his amazing Gadgets, he really was a bumbling fool, who with the help of his niece and pet dog, gets to be the world's greatest police detective. I am certain that this is one of the greatest cartoon's the world has ever seen.

The world needs a stop to crime, and to do so they need the world's greatest police detective. So after he gets the mission of Chief Quimby, ‘Inspector Gadget' goes to save the day. He is fighting against the forces of MAD and their leader, Dr. Claw. While Gadget is on the case, the real crime fighters are his niece Penny, who does the true detective work, while his pet dog Brain, helps save Gadget from MAD and sometimes even himself.

Again I am looking at series that was on TV, so I am going to try and not be so critical of it, rather be thankful that we had such a show. Whoever was the masterminds behind this cartoon deserve a great amount of praise, as it is brilliant to have a man with great gadgets, but with no intelligence to put them to good use. Instead he has a niece and pet dog to help stop Dr Claw and MAD from being a world leader in crime. While I know Gadget is a complete idiot, he is also extremely funny to watch. Stuff up his driving in the Gadget Mobile, losing his helicopter blades or his not-so-trusty umbrella, it certain entertains, (well did for this kid anyway).

I now want to take a look at the characters and talent used in the voice-overs of this truly remarkable cartoon:

Inspector Gadget: The voice of the good inspector belongs to acting legend Don Adams. Don was perfectly suited to the role, from his days as the police detective Maxwell Smart on the TV show `Get Smart'. In fact the resemblance that his character on the TV show and in the cartoon is so close, that it is no wonder he was chosen for the voice of Inspector Gadget. When I come to think about it, I can not think of anyone else voice would have matched the bumbling character of ‘the world's greatest police detective'.

Penny: The person who really saves the day, Penny was voiced by Cree Summers. She did a good job as Penny. Without Penny I am sure MAD and Dr Claw would have been more successful in their pursuits of crime and misdemeanors.

Dr Claw/Brain/ MAD Cat: The voice-overs of all these characters was taken on by Frank Weller. He did a remarkable job in all of them. Claw is a menacing character, who needed a truly sinister voice, and Frank had such a voice. Taking on the additional characters of Brain and MAD cat, to this man would have been a breeze. Brain is again another character, that without him, it would have been curtains for Gadget.

Chief Quimby: This character was voiced by Maurice LaMarche, who did a good job as the Chief. Yet I am not so sure I would want to be the boss of the great ‘Inspector Gadget', as all of his assignments seem to ‘blowup in his face'.

Can I say one thing about all the voice-over talents. They have truly had wonderful careers, with them all doing a huge amount of work, either on screen or behind the microphone. They were all good choices as voice-overs for Inspector Gadget.

Now I would would like to say what my favourite Gadget Episodes are: Race To The Finish, The Japanese Connection, Down On The Farm, Quimby Exchange. Look many of the Gadget episodes are brilliant, but these four standout to me.

In 1999, the world got to see this cartoon character, come to life, as Walt Disney finally had the rights to the movie ‘Inspector Gadget'. Now from where I sit, I found the movie to not be what I wanted Inspector Gadget to be. It was not as funny as the cartoon was, though it did try to be. For me Inspector Gadget will forever remain a cartoon legend until till I die. While I am now in my mid 20's, would you believe I can still sit and watch Gadget strut his stuff and not be in the slightest bit bored. In fact he sometimes brings out a laugh that I know I need. Inspector Gadget you still have a fan here!

Shows like Inspector Gadget, Dangermouse, Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes, Pink Panther Show, Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Darkwing Duck, Talespin, DuckTales, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain and Tiny Toons make me realise how much I miss my childhood. Whenever I see an episode of either of those shows all those warm, nostalgic memories come flooding back.

Inspector Gadget is a classic. Forget the movies, which were both quite poor, this show is the real thing. The animation has a great look to it, I loved the designs of the characters and backgrounds and the colours are visually pleasant too. The music alone gives the show its classic status, the theme tune is wonderful. The writing is very consistent in a good way, the stories are always exciting and well-thought out and the pace is spot on.

The characters add a huge amount to the show. Gadget himself is bumbling yet very lovable, Penny is not irritating instead she is very likable and smart and Dr Claw(who you never see other than his claw) is a great villain. The voice acting also adds a lot, Don Adams, Cree Summer and Frank Welker are all top notch. Overall, this childhood favourite is a classic and worth looking out for. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Recently I finished watching every episode of the original "Inspector Gadget" episode. It's kind of crazy considering I didn't even like the show as a kid.

The main reason for the differences because how I perceive Gadget as a kid as an adult is that when I saw it as a kid, I didn't know who Don Adams was. Becoming acquainted with "Get Smart", I learned what a genius Don Adams was and this gave a lot more credibility to Gadget as Don Adams voiced him. "Inspector Gadget" has long been considered a spiritual successor to "Get Smart". It helps that Gadget said "sorry about that, chief" on a few occasions and even said "would you believe..." once or twice.

"Inspector Gadget" is one of those shows that has a set formula for what happens in each episode but it's so entertaining in action and comedy that even after 86 episodes it didn't seem stale. No matter what happens, you'll still be laughing at Gadget and cheering on his niece Penny & dog Brain as they're the real ones who save the day. You'll probably laugh at the self-destructing messages harming Chief Quimby but I always felt sorry for him.

Of course you can't talk about "Inspector Gadget" without its awesome villain. Dr. Claw is always entertainingly evil (he perhaps gets his name from Get Smart's villain "The Claw"). I never get tired of hearing him threatening his underlings. His pet/punching bag, Mad Cat is also very entertaining, especially when he does random stuff like mimicking Dr. Claw's fish- shaking or tying Dr. Claw's hand to his chair for no reason.

While the show was always good, it declined a bit in the second season. It seemed a tad lazy to use the same chief henchman in 3 separate episodes after all Season 1 episode used a different chief henchman. I was disappointed that they did less travel episodes and keep most of Season 2 in Metro City. The less said about Corporal Capeman the better. DIC thought he's be a welcome addition and they were wrong.

One good thing I can say about season 2 is they had good parodies of movies like Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Godfather and Arsenic & Lace. It's good to see Frank Welker & Maurice Lamarche working on the same show 1 year before they began voicing Egon & Ray in "The Real Ghostbusters".

DIC was no match for Nicktoons or Disney Afternoon but they still made some dang good cartoons.

This show was before my childhood but my brother used to love it, I think it was his favourite show of all time.

But it is on every morning very early on Canada's children's network so I have seen it a lot lately and I think it's a great show for kids. If you ask me, it is a good show after all these years but also educational for children, not just entertaining.

The theme song really sticks in your head but not in an annoying way (at least not yet for me).

The voices were all great. Whoever did Inspector Gadget must have been a known actor because it is a familiar voice and was perfect for the part. Dr. Claw's voice was awesome, I love how you never see him and only get to see his metal hand. Every episode he sends agents to get Inspector Gadget, who is a bumbling stumbling guy who always ends up in various accidents but somehow accidentally gets the bad guy in the end (always with the help of Penny and his dog Brain who seem to be the only ones who realize how bumbling he is). The show always ended up with Dr. Claw seeing he's defeated and shouting "next time, Gadget, next time!" For each episode these missions seem to almost always be in a different place, so that kids watching learn about other parts of the world.

I hope it stays on the network so I can see every episode and that it is on when I have kids someday (fingers crossed).