The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show
Title card
Genre	Variety Comedy
Based on	Tom and Jerry created by William Hanna Joseph Barbera and Droopy created by Tex Avery (original characters)
Creative director(s)	Don Christensen
Voices of	Frank Welker Lou Scheimer Jay Scheimer Erika Scheimer Lennie Weinrib
Theme music composer	Ray Ellis
Composer(s)	Yvette Blais Jeff Michael
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	15 (45 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Lou Scheimer Norm Prescott
Running time	21 minutes (whole) 6 minutes (segments)
Production company(s)	Filmation MGM Television
Distributor	MGM Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Distribution (currently)
Release
Original network	CBS
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 6 (1980-09-06) – December 13, 1980 (1980-12-13)
Chronology
Preceded by	The Tom & Jerry Show
Followed by	Tom & Jerry Kids

The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show (also known as The New Adventures of Tom and Jerry) is an American animated television program produced by Filmation for MGM Television featuring the popular cartoon duo Tom and Jerry. The show aired in September 6, 1980 on CBS and continued reruns until December 13, 1980. Its episodes were eventually added to syndicated Tom and Jerry packages in 1983. Episodes of the show also occasionally appeared on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

Description

The series is the fifth incarnation of the popular Tom and Jerry cartoon franchise, and the second made-for-television production. The series was notable in being the first attempt since the closing of the MGM studio in the 1950s to restore the original format of the cat and mouse team. After the original 114 theatrical shorts run of the William Hanna-Joseph Barbera directed series, the characters were leased to other animation studios which changed the designs, and eliminated all of the supporting characters. The previous made-for-TV Tom and Jerry Show for the ABC network in 1975 was produced by Hanna and Barbera under their own studio (with MGM), but had made the cat and mouse friends in most of the episodes, due to the reaction against violence in cartoons. The version by Filmation (Hanna-Barbera's leading competitor for TV animation at the time) was able to restore the familiar slapstick chase format, and reintroduced not only Tyke and Nibbles (here named "Tuffy"), but also some of the other MGM stars. Half-hour shows would consist of two seven-minute Tom and Jerry episodes, plus one Droopy cartoon in the middle, featuring some other characters such as Barney Bear.

Spike from Tom and Jerry was used in many of these Droopy episodes as well, filling in for the other "Spike" bulldog created by Tex Avery for the old Droopy films, who was not used as a separate character here. The villainous wolf from the classic series was also included, and named "Slick Wolf". While still under the "Seal of Good Practice" code, the "Red Hot Riding Hood" character would not reappear until the following made for TV series, Tom & Jerry Kids, in 1990. Characters not seen in this series of Tom and Jerry shorts are Butch, Quacker, Topsy, Lightning and Toodles Galore. The show's opening begins with Tom chasing Jerry through a blank yellow screen. They continue chasing, as all of the other stars build a giant "Tom & Jerry" sign (similar to the second opening of Tom & Jerry Kids). The familiar rotating executive producer credit of Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott briefly runs as Tom chases Jerry past the screen, knocking things over and running over others along the way. After the opening sequence, the wraparound segments, hosted by Droopy, would begin. He would start by painting the whole background with a single large brush stroke (making stylistic use of Filmation's characteristic "limited animation" technique), and he and the other speaking characters would engage in brief comedic sketches (like Droopy's opening poem in one of them "Roses are red, violets are blue, painting's my job, that's what I do; cute and somewhat wet").

In addition to the animation, the show was characterized by a very limited music score; all of the episodes, both Tom & Jerry and Droopy, used the same stock music, mostly created new for the series, but consisting of only a handful of largely synthesized tunes, either with minor variations or played at different speeds or pitches. This did match the chase scenes, but gave the episodes a very monotonous soundtrack, making these episodes "stand out" to many Tom and Jerry viewers when they aired. Where the original series and the third series by Chuck Jones would have favorable endings for Tom occasionally, this series followed the second series by Gene Deitch in never having definite "wins" for Tom. Also similar to the Deitch films is the character design, in them being drawn similar to the original, but still slightly different. The Droopy episodes would usually feature Slick and sometimes Spike being antagonists to Droopy. Barney had miscellaneous roles, such as being the boss of movie studio guard Droopy in "Star Crossed Wolf", and a frightful companion to Droopy in a haunted house in "Scared Bear".

Frank Welker and Filmation head Lou Scheimer provided the voices for the first six episodes. Welker voiced Spike, Tyke (in "The Puppy Sitter"; the character was silent in the wraparound segments), Droopy, Slick, Barney, Tom's owner and other characters. Lou Scheimer voiced Tom, Jerry, Tuffy (erroneously giving him an adult voice, although his voice sounded appropriately higher and childlike in the wraparound segments before "Droopy's Restless Night", "Pest in the West", "Getting the Foot", "Old Mother Hubbard" and "The Great Mousini"), Slick in the wraparound segments before "Droopy's Restless Night", "Invasion of the Mouse Snatchers", "The Incredible Droop", "Incredible Shrinking Cat", "When the Rooster Crows" and "School for Cats", Barney in the wraparound segments before "Pest in the West", "The Incredible Droop", "The Plaid Baron Strikes Again", "Incredible Shrinking Cat", "When the Rooster Crows", "School for Cats" and "Pied Piper Puss" and "The Incredible Droop", Spike in the wraparound segments before "Invasion of the Mouse Snatchers", "Scared Bear" and "School for Cats" and "School for Cats", and other characters. From the seventh episode onward, Welker voiced Droopy, while the other male characters in the Tom and Jerry and Droopy segments (including Spike, Slick, Barney and Tom's owner) were voiced by Scheimer. Welker's voice was also heard in the eighth, 12th, 13th and 14th episodes as Nibbles, Slick, Barney and other characters. Additional voices were done by Lennie Weinrib, Jay Scheimer, Erika Scheimer and other voice actors, with Jay, Erika and other actresses voicing the female characters, although Welker voiced two of them and Lou Scheimer voiced twelve of them. The show itself was originally going to be called The Cat and Jam Comedy Show.

Voice cast

• Frank Welker – Spike and Tyke (episodes 1–6), Tuffy (episode 8), Droopy, Slick (episodes 1–6, episode 12, episode 14), Barney Bear (episodes 1–6, episode 8), additional voices (episodes 1–5, episode 8, episodes 13–14)
• Lou Scheimer – Tom, Jerry, Spike (wraparound segments, episodes 6–15), Tuffy, Slick (wraparound segments, episodes 7–15), Barney Bear (wraparound segments, episode 4, episodes 7–15), additional voices
• Jay Scheimer – Additional voices (episode 2, episode 6, episode 12)
• Erika Scheimer – Additional voices (episode 1, episode 6)
• Lennie Weinrib – Additional voices (episode 3, episode 14)

Episodes