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Top Cat: The Complete Series — Cancelled in 1962. Still Airing Today. | Blu-Ray Review

Anthony's Animation Talk

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Sergeant Bilko ran for four seasons, won three Emmy Awards, and was considered one of the sharpest comedies on American television. Top Cat ran for one season, was cancelled, and somehow kept going for another sixty years.

In this review, we trace the full story — from Hanna-Barbera's deliberate lift of the Bilko formula, through a prime-time death slot cancellation that should have ended it, to a syndication afterlife that made it a global phenomenon under three different names. We compare the new Blu-ray restoration against the 2004 DVD, investigate the missing footage buried inside "All That Jazz," spotlight the three standout episodes in the run, and assess whether the bonus features — commentaries, retrospectives, and more — justify a place on your shelf.

Plus: a 1988 TV movie exists. We need to discuss it.

0:00 – Top Cat vs. Sergeant Bilko: the knockoff that outlived the original
0:24 – The one-season flop that somehow outlived the hit
1:05 – How Hanna-Barbera built Top Cat from Sergeant Bilko
1:23 – Hiring the actual Bilko writers and cast
2:30 – Top Cat's death slot debut on ABC (1961)
3:15 – Cancelled, then saved by syndication
3:51 – Going global: Boss Cat and Don Gato
4:14 – 1988 TV movie and Hanna-Barbera all-star status
4:36 – Episode spotlight: The Million Dollar Derby
5:25 – Episode spotlight: All That Jazz
6:02 – Episode spotlight: A Visit from Mother
6:41 – Comparing the 2004 DVD vs. the new 4K Blu-ray
8:12 – The missing footage issue in "All That Jazz"
9:20 – Bonus features: commentaries, retrospectives, and more
11:01 – Final verdict and what's coming next

Top Cat: The Complete Series — https://amzn.to/4pOhkbM
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#topcat #hannabarbera #animationhistory #classicCartoons #blurayreview #vintagecartoons #primetimeanimation

20 Comments

@AnthonysAnimationTalk Creator 2 months ago Pinned

I hope you all enjoy the continuation of the exploration of the Hanna-Barbera series via the blu rays!
The whole Don Gatto thing was such a rabbit hole that yep it needs its own video
Should I also cover those Superstars 10 movies? Hearing Arnold Stang rapping again would be worth the journey 😂

@Freezer94 2 months ago

As a casual fan of Top Cat I can't believe it died so quickly. I always assumed it was a hit.

@JustinCoasters 2 months ago

Time for Laff-A-Lympics

@jonathanadair6847 2 months ago (edited)

One of my absolute favorite Hanna-Barbera series. If I had to choose a favorite episode, I’d go with either “The Long Hot Winter” (the shenanigans the gang get up to in Dibble’s apartment are hilarious) or “Farewell Mr. Dibble” (I especially love the gang’s scheme to confuse Prowler, particularly when they trick him into believing the mayor is the notorious “Cha-Cha Charlie McGee”).

@GdSza 2 months ago

As a child in the 60s, I knew instinctively it was Sgt. Bilko with cats. It was years before I learned it was Arnold Stang, not Phil Silvers as Top Cat.

@jorgefinkielman4657 2 months ago

Don Gato was so popular in Argentina that frequently was repeated daily, even if there were no new episodes. The Spanish dubbing is so good that between Argentina and Mexico a feature film for theaters was produced just to feature the same voice cast; the version dubbed in English is reportedly not good.

@Tadicuslegion78 2 months ago

Welp, got the theme song suck in my head now for the next 7 hours.

@canaisyoung3601 2 months ago (edited)

I remember watching this at 5am on Cartoon Network while eating Captain Crunch peanut butter cereal the year I started high school. It's probably the closest thing to experiencing how kids of the 1970s and 1980s tuned in to see Saturday morning cartoons (wake up early and have a big bowl of cereal while watching cartoons). I know I should have had some experience with it in the 1990s (since, yeah, Saturday morning cartoons were still there, but starting to decline due to the FCC wanting more educational shows for kids and, of course, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel [back when it was airing old and new Disney animation], FOX Family, and Cartoon Network, as well as other cable channels you didn't expect to have cartoons on them, like USA, TBS, HBO, and TNT airing cartoons and kids' shows that actually were entertaining), but this was a more vivid memory.

I also had the DVD of the show, but either it got lost or I had to sell it, I dunno. Besides, I have a Blu-ray player and I do want the episodes at a higher quality (and to see if they have any good special features).

@dylanmcfarland8356 2 months ago

Boy, do I remember Top Cat from watching it alongside Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines on Boomerang UK during my childhood, and by having the DVD in my collection. It was a five disc set here in the UK, compared to the four discs the Americans got. As for the Blu-ray, it’s nice to see they went back to the original film elements to restore it, even though a bit of a scene was cut from the All That Jazz episode. At least it wasn’t cut in the 1990s remaster from Turner Entertainment, which served as a base for the DVD release.

@GdSza 2 months ago

In my opinion, the entire catalog of Hanna-Barbera prime time shows are just as good (or better) than many of their live action contemporaries.

@Tricolor-c1c 2 months ago

Thx for the info. In my native Brazil, TC was called Mandachuva, literally Rainmaker, but more loosely Big Boss

@macsnafu 2 months ago

I remember watching Top Cat occasionally on Saturday mornings. But probably what helped me remember the show was that I somehow had a copy of a Top Cat comic book sans cover as a kid, too. So that reinforced Top Cat in my mind. So I'd re-read the comic and remember watching the show.

@IgorsDen 2 months ago

Although it’s probably become less recognisable to the public in the last 15 years or so, Bilko was a lot better known in the UK than more famous US sitcoms like I Love Lucy and particularly The Honeymooners, and it aired here in prominent repeat/rerun slots on a regular basis for decades. For that matter I would say Top Cat, despite having been saddled with the awkward alternative title Boss Cat, was/is more popular here than The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound and maybe even Yogi Bear. The copycat aspect is well know but we don’t really care.

@albuquerqueturkey1567 2 months ago

I remember Getting up at 3am in the morning watching Top Cat with my Father when I was a kis..RIP.. Great memories

@painteddragoness5943 2 months ago

Isn't it nuts how a one-season "flop" completely outlived the live action show that inspired it? You ask anyone today who Sgt. Bilko is and they just go "Huh?" You're right about the dialogue-heavy timing feeling a bit dry for kids back then, but honestly? Top Cat was way ahead of its time for an animated series. The Flintstones may have opened the door for prime-time animated sitcoms like The Simpsons and Family Guy, but I firmly believe that Top Cat brought a level of nuanced writing that was rare for its time. In a roundabout way, I think it proved that viewers could care more about the character's personalities and relationships than just feeding them a bunch of slapstick. Heck, I think you could argue it started a slow evolution that eventually led to the deeper, more character-first animated shows we have today.

I love the blu-ray, despite its few flaws, and to be honest? I planned on keeping my DVD copy anyway. It's far too sentimental for me to give away. I'm a rather comprehensive Hanna-Barbera collector.

@backbayipodshuffle 2 months ago

My favorite episode of this show is as when the gang thought they were gonna go to Hawaii. It’s been so long but they aired that episode plenty on Boomerang back in the day.

@orboakin8074 2 months ago

😂Oh man! I used to watch this cartoon as a kid in Nigeria in the early 2000s😊 It's so entertaining and even though I was too young and not culturally familiar with all the jokes or references, I still enjoyed it😊The gang was memorable and the writing felt both marmture and juvenile in a good way. One of the best Hannah Barbera cartoons, besides Scooby-Doo of course😊

@monsivais40 2 months ago

Top Cat is an institution in Latin America, and especially in Mexico... Unfortunately, judging by the samples I've seen, it has been redubbed (a poor imitation of the original)—not featuring the Spanish voices from the 1960s. And that is precisely what made the show so great in Latin America.

@ethanrocket430 2 months ago

4:03 I wish this was on Google play

@yipyipwahoo 2 months ago

Top Cat has had such a lasting legacy that even I grew up watching it (on UK VHS as well as subbed on Flemish Belgian Boomerang) and I was born in the year 2000 😁