The Beagles (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Beagles |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Animation |
| Voices of | Mort Marshall Allen Swift |
| Narrated by | Kenny Delmar |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 36 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Joe Harris |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Total Television Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC CBS |
| Picture format | Color |
| Original release | September 10, 1966 – September 2, 1967 |
The Beagles was a fun animated cartoon television series. It aired on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 2, 1967. The show was made by Total Television, the same company that created other popular cartoons like King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, and Underdog.
Even though The Beagles was one of the top 10 most-watched shows on Saturday mornings, CBS decided to cancel it after just one season. But don't worry, it then aired again in reruns on ABC from September 9, 1967, to September 2, 1968.
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What Inspired The Beagles?
Many people think the show got its name and idea from the famous rock band the Beatles. This is because the names sound so similar! However, the two main characters in the band, Stringer and Tubby, were actually spoofs of famous comedians Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
The original recordings of this cartoon series are kept by Joe Harris. He was an artist who worked for Total Television. He shared this information in a book called Created and Produced by Total Television Productions by Mark Arnold.
A music album for the show, called Here Come the Beagles, was released in 1967. It was put out by Harmony, a part of Columbia Records. A single song, "Looking For The Beagles/I Want To Capture You," was also released on Columbia Records.
Meet The Beagles Characters
The Beagles cartoon band was different from The Beatles in a few ways. First, The Beagles were a duo, meaning they only had two members, not four. Second, both members were talking dogs!
- Stringer was the tall dog. He was voiced by Mort Marshall, who sounded like Dean Martin. Stringer played the guitar.
- Tubby was the short, chubby dog. He wore glasses and played the stand-up bass. His voice was done by Allen Swift, who sounded like Jerry Lewis.
Their manager was a Scottish terrier dog named Scotty. Scotty was also voiced by Allen Swift. Scotty often planned funny publicity stunts for the band. These stunts usually got Stringer and Tubby into some kind of trouble!
Episodes of The Beagles
The show had a total of 36 episodes. Each episode was 30 minutes long. The stories often involved the Beagles getting into funny situations because of their manager, Scotty.
Some of the episode titles included:
- "Ghosts, Ghouls and Fools" (a four-part story)
- "Dizzy Dishwashers" (another four-part adventure)
- "Drip, Drip, Drips"
- "Tummy Troubles"
- "I'm Gonna Capture You"
- "Foreign Legion Flops"
- "The Braves"
- "Man in the Moon"
- "Captain of the Ship"
- "I Feel Like Humpty Dumpty"
Why The Beagles Show Ended
Sadly, the original materials for The Beagles series were thought to be lost for a long time. According to Joe Harris, the person who edited the show passed away. His wife accidentally threw out all the editing materials, including the master recordings.
However, decades later, the original recordings were found! They were in a warehouse owned by Golden Books. It seems the films were sent by mistake to Producers Associates of Television. This company was a TV film part of General Mills and owned all of Total Television's other shows. The films were only found after Golden Books bought Producers Associates of Television.
