The Tom & Jerry Show is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with MGM Television. Based on the Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon series, which was created by H-B co-founders and former MGM cartoon studio staff William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the show originally aired on ABC from September 6 to December 13, 1975 (for a total of 16 episodes) as the first half-hour of The Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show, with The Great Grape Ape Show representing the series' second half-hour and The Mumbly Cartoon Show representing the series' third half-hour. This series marked the first time that Tom and Jerry appeared in animated installments produced specifically for television.
Contents
Premise
Unlike other incarnations, Tom and Jerry are shown as friends instead of enemies and this series did not use the slapstick chases and the violence central to the theatrical shorts due to concerns at the time regarding such material on children's programming.
Most episodes have either of them dealing with different hi-jinks at home, working different jobs, and contending with Spike.
Voice cast
John Stephenson – Tom (vocal effects only), Jerry (vocal effects only), Macho Cat (in "Beach Bully"), Cosmic Cat (in "Cosmic Cat and Meteor Mouse"), Rex the Lion (in "The Hypochondriac Lion"), Spike (in "Triple Trouble"), Pierre LeChoppe (in "The Big Feet"), various
Henry Corden – Giant (in "Beanstalk Buddies")
Kathy Gori – Katy O'Kitty (in "The Police Kitten"), Fairy Godmother (in "Chickenrella"), Short Stepsister (in "Chickenrella")
Don Messick – Spike, Quacker (in "The Lost Duckling"), Meteor Mouse (in "Cosmic Cat and Meteor Mouse"), Zookeeper (in "The Hypochondriac Lion"), Giant Watchdog (in "Beanstalk Buddies"), Big Feet (in "The Big Feet"), various
Alan Oppenheimer – Ringmaster (in "Stay Awake or Else..."), Sapstone (in "The Sorcerer's Apprentices")
Joe E. Ross – Spike (in "Planet of the Dogs")
Hal Smith – Black Barney
Jean Vander Pyl – Evil Stepmother (in "Chickenrella"), Fairy godmother (in "Chickenrella")
Janet Waldo – Yvonne Jockalong (in "The Ski Bunny"), Cindy (in "Chickenrella"), Tall Stepsister (in "Chickenrella")
Lennie Weinrib – Dinky (in "Jerry's Nephew"), Squirrel (in "Triple Trouble")
Frank Welker – Additional Voices
Broadcast history
A total of 48 seven-minute Tom and Jerry shorts were produced in 1975 and originally aired in these following formats on ABC Saturday morning:
The Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show (September 6, 1975 – September 4, 1976, ABC Saturday 8:30–9:30 a.m. [EDT])
The Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show (September 11, 1976 – November 27, 1976, ABC Saturday 8:00–9:00 a.m. [EDT]) (reruns of Tom & Jerry and Grape Ape)
The Tom & Jerry/Mumbly Show (December 4, 1976 – September 3, 1977, ABC Saturday 8:00–8:30 a.m. [EDT]) (reruns)
The Tom & Jerry Show (international reruns)
Immediately following the end of the original ABC run, these cartoons were edited within the main and end title credits and added to run with theatrical-era MGM Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 to 1967 for syndication by MGM until 1986 (H-B retained ancillary rights to the Mumbly and Grape Ape segments, with syndication rights to those segments going to Worldvision Enterprises from 1979 until 1991). Some independent television stations in the 1980s have aired the Tom and Jerry segments without the Mumbly and Grape Ape segments in their syndicated Tom and Jerry package as part of some stations' lineup, such as WFLD in Chicago and WYAH in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Since 1986, it has been rebroadcast on TBS, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Canada's Teletoon and Teletoon Retro (the former three networks are part of Warner Bros. Discovery's Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, which Turner Broadcasting System purchased the pre-1986 MGM library in 1986 and Hanna-Barbera in 1991).
The cartoons have been shown with the main and end title credits intact on TBS, the Boomerang streaming service, and Cartoon Network.
From 1985 until 1995, ATN, later Seven Network (the Australian "American Broadcasting Company") aired the show in Australia.
Home media
The premiere episode (show #TJGA-1, September 6, 1975) of The New Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show was released as part of Warner Home Video's Saturday Morning Cartoons – 1970s Volume 2 on October 27, 2009; it marked the first home video release of the 1975 made-for-TV version of Tom and Jerry. Another cartoon, episode #80-15, "Cosmic Cat and Meteor Mouse", is included as part of the Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection, which was released by Warner Home Video on June 22, 2010. The episode (show #TJGA-11, November 15, 1975) of The New Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show was released as the digital version of Tom and Jerry: School's Out. 2 episodes was released as the digital version of Tom and Jerry: House Pests.
Reception
When Joseph Barbera was asked in 2000 by The Guardian if public pressure had resulted in Tom and Jerry being less violent in this show, he said that the same arguments were going on 50 years ago.