So, Hanna-Barbera, Anyone?

[mtw12055]

Any fans of the works of Bill and Joe? I've always enjoyed their early TV work -

- "The Huckleberry Hound Show" with Huck, Pixie, Dixie, & Mr. Jinks, Yogi & Boo Boo, and Hokey Wolf & Ding-a-Ling
- "The Quick Draw McGraw Show" with Quick Draw & Baba Looey, Augie Doggie & Doggie Daddy, and Snooper & Blabber"
- "The Flintstones"
- "The Yogi Bear Show" - with more Yogi & Boo Boo, Snagglepuss, and Yakky Doodle
- "Top Cat"
- "The Jetsons"

These six series (particularly the first four) received spin-offs and reboots well into the 1980's. One of the few legitimately good ones was the underrated "Yogi's Treasure Hunt". Besides remaining true to the characters, and having fun callbacks to the old shorts, this series approached the original cartoons in a somewhat satirical manner. The latter half of the show's run was especially enjoyable, as episodes would regularly feature fun cameos by the more obscure H-B characters.

The later comedy series (Wally Gator, Magilla Gorilla, Peter Potamus, Atom Ant, Secret Squirrel, etc.) were hit-and-miss, though I quite enjoy Lippy the Lion & Hardy-Har-Har. So many of these felt like rehashes of the older cartoons - Breezly and Sneezly is essentially Yogi & Boo Boo Bear in the arctic, while Pumkin' Puss & Mushmouse are merely hillbilly versions of Tom & Jerry. The fact that Bill and Joe tried to copy their previous successes by making nearly identical shows seems to have been one of their biggest flaws.

I also enjoy the various Wacky Races series, particularly the Dastardly-Muttley cartoons ("stop the pigeon, stop the pigeon...").

Admittedly, I never really got into their action-adventure series. And I'm not a huge Scooby-Doo fan. The majority of his various series had too much repletion. Though I did like later attempts at playing around with the formula ("A Pup Named Scooby-Doo").

[arno]

Yeah the first 6 you mentioned are straight from my childhood. I was about 6 or 7 years old when they came out. I even had Quick Draw McGraw & Baba Looey stuffed animals along with Huckleberry Hound. If I'm not mistaken, The Flintstones were the first prime time cartoon.

[ymymeatemup]

Most of my viewings of the early H-B product was when I was small, and I liked them quite a lot back then. More recent viewings (which have been sporadic) have changed my opinion of these, but not too drastically. I think they're pleasantly amusing, but that they don't hold a candle to similar things such as the Warner Bros. cartoons. The later H-B stuff (that is, from the late '60s) doesn't impress me too much, but I liked it when it was new - mainly because I was still a little kid at the time. "Wacky Races" was my favorite show when I was 5, for instance.

[rascalstooge]

I personally liked "Wacky Races" and "The Banana Splits". I once had a record of Splits tunes.