The Tom and Jerry Show (1975)

The Tom and Jerry Show (1975)
The world's most beloved cat-and-mouse duo became a huge victim of stringent television censorship of the 1970s.
Genre: Comedy Running Time: 22-24 Minutes (Whole) 7-8 Minutes (Segments) Country: United States Release Date: September 6 – December 13, 1975 Network(s): ABC Spacetoon TV (11 March 2002 - 6 April 2014) (Comedy Planet) Distributed by: MGM Television Starring: Henry Corden Kathy Gori Don Messick Alan Oppenheimer Joe E. Ross Hal Smith John Stephenson Jean Vander Pyl Janet Waldo Lennie Weinrib Frank Welker Seasons: 1 Episodes: 16 (48 segments) Previous show: Tom and Jerry (1965-1972) Next show: The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show (1980-1982)

The Tom and Jerry Show (sometimes known as The New Tom and Jerry Show) is an American Saturday-morning cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1975 based on Hanna Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts. It aired in an hour-long block on ABC titled The New Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show alongside The Great Grape Ape Show.

Plot

In this much toned-down, non-violent iteration of the long-popular Tom and Jerry where the cat-and-mouse duo, who were constantly feuding for many years are now best friends through a series of adventures and chaos, as they spend various episodes doing things like roaming the world, competing in sports, enduring on-the-job misadventures, running afoul of dastardly villains, solving mysteries and helping others. While the show doesn't use the chases, the slapstick, and the violence central to the theatrical shorts (due to ABC's Broadcast Standards and Practices at the time), the two do compete against each other in some episodes.

Why It Doesn't Deserve A Custard Pie

1. Poor grasp on the original source material, even from the same creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (who are executive producers for the show) and their animation studio Hanna-Barbera. This is mainly due to TV show cartoon regulations at the time during the 1970s which banned the use of violence in children's television (CBS's primetime show Peanuts was the exception). But even so, Hanna-Barbera was not satisfied with this spin-off when it even came out.
   • Likewise, even MGM was also not at all happy or satisfied with this spin-off when it came out and Hanna-Barbera decided to cancel it after 16 episodes since they thought this spin-off was a bad idea from the get-go.
   • There is hardly any cartoon violence and slapstick humor found in this show due to this said ban of violence in children's television of the time as mentioned above, which is absolutely ridiculous and also unacceptable since Tom and Jerry is best-known for its use of slapstick violence as its source of humor.
2. Completely ignores what made Tom and Jerry so great and so hilarious to the point that it is basically a name-only adaptation of the Tom and Jerry cartoons. There is NO form of violence or slapstick in this series whatsoever. However, they do compete in some episodes.
3. Most of the original MGM characters don't reappear in this series, like Butch, Nibbles/Tuffy, Tyke, Toodles Galore, etc.
4. Tom, Jerry and Spike (the only returning major characters from the classic cartoons) have been heavily watered-down beyond belief and barely ever acted like their classic era counterparts because of TV show cartoon regulations of the 1970s preventing them from being themselves:
   • FIRST AND FOREMOST, both Tom and Jerry have been drastically changed from a funny yet likable roughhousing cat-and-mouse duo whom are frenemies (a term meaning both friends and enemies at the same time) in the classic cartoons into bland-as-wheat protagonists who hardly ever fight or chase each other and instead they're purely the best of friends all the time because of TV show cartoon regulations not allowing the duo to be their usual feuding selves as the result of the violence ban from cartoons at the time, which just shows the 1970s was a poor time for the main duo. Tom and Jerry teaming up as good friends in every episode just get very old and boring here, being the reason why this Tom and Jerry series was poorly-received.
     • Of course, Tom and Jerry had been friends especially to team up before in some cartoons during the Golden Age of American Animation like in The Lonesome Mouse, Buddies Thicker Than Water, Matinee Mouse, and some others, but at least they go back to chasing and beating each other up after all is said than done in the end. But here, it's done in every episode, making this Tom and Jerry series completely boring.
   • Spike the Bulldog doesn't have his original personality from the classic shorts in this show, and instead only exists just to provide some forced conflict to the cat-and-mouse duo in this show similar to how Tom provides conflict to Jerry in the original cartoons, except here his personality is extremely watered-down and therefore the cat-and-mouse-and-dog chases between Tom, Jerry and Spike are barely even funny, unlike in the classic shorts.
     • The new character design for Spike looks terrible as it looks nothing like his original classic-era counterpart. It looks like a typical bland bulldog character like Meat from Shnookums & Meat. His design in the show is inconsistent as it changes throughout his appearances (in some episodes, he gets shrunk down and in some episodes, he is big).
     • Because of how Spike in this show looks and acts nothing like his original classic-era counterpart, this makes "Spike" in this show look more like a random typical bland Hanna-Barbera bulldog character which co-incidentally has the same name of "Spike", and therefore feels completely unrelated to the "Spike" which was previously seen in the Tom and Jerry classic shorts.
5. Some of the new characters introduced in this show have inconsistent character designs throughout appearances, making them seem like completely different characters with the same name, similar to Spike's new design in this show. Such examples include a Forest Ranger or Police Sargent.
   • The worst offender in this show is the shape-shifting alien from the episode Planet Pest, where it is not only unlikeable, but also causing ruckus from the house by shape-shifting, just to think that the real Tom, Jerry, or Spike is there.
6. Episodes can get boring very quickly (as mentioned in WIS #4).
7. Pathetically lame and unfunny attempts at humor, which is absolutely ridiculous and also unacceptable since Tom and Jerry is supposed to be a comedy franchise, not helping is the fact that the violence ban in children's television of the time prevents the show from using any slapstick humor the Tom and Jerry franchise is well-known for (see WIS #1)
8. Cringeworthy and laughably bad dialogue from most of the side characters, such as Supercape's lines of him losing his courage in Supercape Caper.
9. Bland, low-budget limited animation with washed-out colors, as with many other Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the period.
10. Overuse of Hanna-Barbera stock sound effects.
11. Some episodes had chances at potential gags are a hit and miss with weak gags, for example when a broken pole is about to fall on Tom and Jerry, but they successfully dodged a falling pole but end up walking on the pool until they notice as they sink, not helping that the violence ban in children's television of the time prevents the show from using any slapstick comedy gags the Tom and Jerry franchise is well-known for (see WIS #1).
12. Lazy editing as there are animation errors, for example:
    • Jerry lost his swimming trunks for one scene in Beach Bully.
    • Part of Tom's hand was slightly missing for a few frames when he was activating the pole in The Wacky World Of Sports.
13. There is no title card in every episode, unlike the classic cartoons, which can be confusing for audiences and means that you have to find out the name of the episode.
14. It is very cliché, as it rips off other Hanna-Barbera cartoons using the Funny Animal formula. In fact, since Tom and Jerry themselves are not their usual feuding selves in this show, you could replace Tom and Jerry with Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo or any other Hanna-Barbera anthropomorphic animal character duos and nothing would change in this show in the slightest, with the result being a weaker clone of Yogi Bear, Ruff and Ready or any of the earliest Hanna-Barbera Funny Animal television cartoons of the 1950s-1960s.
15. Poorly-written episodes which often have barely any originality.
    • Many episodes such as "Double Trouble Crow", "Hold That Pose", "An Ill Wind" and "Tricky McTrout" for example tend to have a stale and often-repeated formula of Tom and Jerry getting tormented by the side characters for no reason and unsuccessfully overcoming their shared adversary, which for the most part, often ends with both Tom and Jerry losing in the end mainly due to the duo they never fighting back their foes.
    • One notable episode, Castle Wiz, is a failed attempt to imitate the Scooby-Doo formula with Tom and Jerry thrown in without talking out of the problem and never fighting back. They're passive and are so weak, and not to mention, the Scooby-Doo formula doesn't work with only silent characters like them because the mystery cannot be conveyed properly to the audience.
    • Some plots are recycled from the Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons, albeit heavily watered-down with all the slapstick humor, hilarity, charm, cleverness and Tom and Jerry's conflicts taken out completely;
      • "Stay Awake or Else" is basically a remake of Sleepy Time Tom.
      • "The Ski Bunny" is basically a rehash of both Springtime for Thomas and Casanova Cat.
      • "No Way, Stowaways" feels like a rip-off of Dicky Moe.
      • "Beach Bully" is a watered-down version of Muscle Beach Tom.
      • "The Mammoth Manhunt" recycles the plot from Jerry and Jumbo.
      • "Robin Ho Ho" is a sub-par version of Robin Hoodwinked.
      • "The Super Bowler" feels like a rip-off of The Bowling Alley Cat.
      • "Tricky McTrout" feels like a duplicate of Cat Fishin'.
      • "The Tennis Menace" is a watered-down version of Tennis Chumps.
      • "The Flying Sorceress" is basically a remake of the 1956 short of the same name, right down to sharing the same title.
      • "The Kitten Sitters" recycles plot elements from both Puppy Tale and The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse.
      • "The Hypochondriac Lion" is a sub-par version of Jerry and the Lion.
      • "The Egg and Tom and Jerry" feels like a duplicate of both Hatch Up Your Troubles and it's CinemaScope remake The Egg and Jerry, right down to ripping off the latter's title.
      • "The Towering Fiasco" recycles the plots from both Busy Buddies and it's sequel Tot Watchers.
      • "The Lost Duckling" recycles plot elements from both Southbound Duckling and Just Ducky.
      • "Jerry's Nephew" feels like a duplicate of Happy-Go-Ducky.
      • "The Cruise Kitty" is a sub-par version of Cruise Cat, right down to ripping off it's title.
      • "See Dr. Jackal and Hide" is a watered-down version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse.
    • On that topic, most of the sports-themed cartoons which Tom and Jerry compete with each other such as "The Wacky World of Sports", "The Tennis Menace", "The Super Cyclists", "The Super Bowler", and "Give 'Em the Air" are basically pale rip-offs of the sports-themed Droopy cartoons from the 1950s featuring Droopy and Butch the Irish Dog such as "The Chump Champ", "Daredevil Droopy" and "Mutts About Racing" but with none of the charm and cleverness those Droopy cartoons had, with Tom and Jerry basically being inferior versions of Butch and Droopy respectively in those episodes.
    • Similarly, the episode "Two Stars Are Born" recycles plot elements from the Looney Tunes cartoon "A Star is Bored" but with none of slapstick humor, charm and cleverness that Looney Tunes cartoon had.
16. Many of the new characters are either underdeveloped to the point where you can't remember them, mostly annoying as ever, or a mixture of both. For example:
    • The termites from Termites Plus Two.
    • The shape-shifting alien from Planet Pest.
17. While the voice acting is decent, Don Messick is seriously miscast as Quacker, as his new voice here is nothing compared to the original shorts and the 2014 reboot. He speaks in a deeper voice instead of a duck voice similar to Disney's Donald Duck. He sounds too old for his age, which isn't right, since Quacker is supposed to be a young duckling.
    • But here just like Nibbles/Tuffy in the next show, he sounds more like a young teenager.

Redeeming Qualities

1. At least, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (the creators of Tom & Jerry) finally brought back their duo, since 1957 after the closure of the MGM cartoon studio.
   • Both William Hanna and Joseph Barbera eventually restored the original slapstick chase format the Tom and Jerry franchise is well-known for when working on Tom & Jerry Kids 15 years later.
2. Spike the Bulldog returns in this series after being absent during the 60s era. Quacker the Duckling also re-appears in one episode "The Lost Duckling", and the originally unnamed female cat from Muscle Beach Tom also appears in three episodes of the series, and is her name is now revealed to be "Yvonne Jockalong". They are the only original MGM Tom and Jerry characters to appear in this series.
   • Yvonne Jockalong, the originally unnamed female cat from Muscle Beach Tom, has her role expanded as a more complex character and is given more personality in this show compared to her debut appearance in Muscle Beach Tom.
   • The only returning classic era character to still retain his original personality from the classic shorts is Quacker, who only appeared in the episode "The Lost Duckling", despite his miscast voice.
3. The music and voice-acting are decent (except for Don Messick as Quacker).
4. Tom and Jerry's character designs are at least decent, (it's too bad, the same can't be said for Spike).
5. Awhile not so much, there are a few funny moments like for example Tom's attempts to tricks/sabotages Jerry in the sports ("The Wacky World of Sports" "The Tennis Menace" etc.) which sometimes come back to him can be funny.
   • Although it's rare, Tom does still chases Jerry he does chase Jerry occasionally in a few instances like in the beginning in ''The Kitten Sitter'', "Planet Pest" and even in a remade of a scene from ''Quiet Please!" In the intro.
   • Tom trying to sabotage Jerry in the sports episodes (like "The Wacky World of Sports" "The Tennis Menace" etc.) which sometimes come back to him can be funny.
6. At least one side character comes off as memorable and not annoying: Katy O'Kitty from The Police Kitten, who was honestly very sweet and tough as well as brave.
   • Other good characters such as the six kittens from The Kitten Sitter and Yvonne Jockalong from The Ski Bunny, The Beach Bully, and The Tennis Menace.
7. Tom and Jerry themselves are likable characters despite their personalities being heavily watered-down.
8. To be fair, none of this was mostly William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's fault. This was mainly due to the television standards of the 1970s that banned the use of violence in children's television.

Reception

The Tom and Jerry Show received mostly negative reviews from critics, audiences, Tom and Jerry fans and even William Hanna and Joseph Barbera themselves, due to the lack of slapstick and violence, having Tom and Jerry as friends all the time, it's boring and poorly-written episodes, it's massive ignorance on the source material, it's low budget animation, and the fact this cartoon was made in the 1970s where cartoons have to follow all super-stringent television regulations which banned the use of violence in children's television, and it has often been regarded as the worst Tom and Jerry spin-off show ever made. Some fans also consider it to be even worse than the infamous and notorious Gene Deitch era. This show received numerous complaints during its first run, and as the result, Hanna-Barbera Productions consequently ceased production of the show after one season.

Due to the intense negative reception this show had, the show's non-violent format depicting Tom and Jerry as friends is completely ignored and is not carried over onto later Tom and Jerry spin-off shows, and subsequent Tom and Jerry spin-off shows had since then returned the cat and mouse duo to their usual chases once again beginning with Filmation's The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show.

25 years since this show came out, when co-creator Joseph Barbera was asked in a 2000 interview on whether public pressure against cartoon violence was what resulted in Tom and Jerry to be non-violent in this show, he said that the same arguments were going on 50 years ago.

Despite its overwhelmingly negative reception, both it and The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show have high IMDb ratings.

Trivia

• The character of Mumbly, the detective dog, was based on Peter Falk's Columbo.
• This series marked the very first time that Tom and Jerry appeared in animated installments produced exclusively for television.
• The negative reception this series had due to TV show cartoon regulations at the time during the 1970s is later satirized and mocked in The Simpsons episode Itchy and Scratchy and Marge from series two in 1990, wherein that episode the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons (which were created as parodies of Tom and Jerry) underwent severe censorship to be very child-friendly thanks to complaints from Marge Simpson, which resulted in both Itchy and Scratchy being best friends much to the dissatisfaction of Itchy and Scratchy fans, very similar to how Tom and Jerry became the best of friends in this show much to the dissatisfaction of Tom and Jerry fans.
• While the complete series never saw a home video release (presumably due to its negative reception), only the episode "Cosmic Cat and Meteor Mouse" is available on The Tom and Jerry Deluxe Anniversary Collection DVD release (a 2-disc set celebrating the 70th anniversary of Tom and Jerry) and the complete series is also available for streaming on the Boomerang app.

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A riff on "Castle Wiz", an episode from this show.

References

1. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/dec/27/features.features11

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