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If there’s one thing I miss from my childhood, it’s Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The Jetsons, the Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo and the gang filled my Saturday mornings and my after-school afternoons. I loved Huckleberry Hound and Jabberjaw and Hong Kong Phooey. I collected Smurfs—and I even watched the Snorks from time to time. And while I can appreciate the occasional SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon, I still miss the good old Hanna-Barbera days.
Though it only ran for one season in 1970—for a total of 16 episodes—Josie and the Pussycats is on my list of HB favorites. Based on the Archie comics, Josie and the Pussycats follows a group of globe-trotting teenagers, traveling with an all-girl band. As they travel to gigs in Mexico, Amsterdam, Paris, and any other cities where people dig their music, the trio and their friends regularly find themselves in the middle of all kinds of trouble.
Though Josie (Janet Waldo), the band’s front-woman and guitarist, is a little bit dull, the rest of the gang more than makes up for it. Melody (Jackie Joseph), the blonde, bubble-headed drummer, adds a little bit of humor (though she’s probably my least favorite character on the show)—as does Alexander (voiced by Casey Kasem, who was also the voice of Scooby-Doo’s pal, Shaggy), the band’s manager, who’s always the first to run and hide whenever danger rears its head. Fortunately, they have Valerie (Barbara Pariot), the band’s tambourine player and resident genius, who always seems to find a way out of the toughest of situations—often with the help of Alan (Jerry Dexter), Josie’s brawny and brainy boyfriend. Finally, there’s Alexandra (Sherry Alberoni), Alexander’s sister, who’s constantly trying to steal the band—and Alan—away from poor, sweet Josie.
The 16 episodes in the series pretty much follow the same formula. Each episode begins with the group in some exotic part of the world, getting ready to perform. But they somehow stumble upon some bad guy (usually an evil genius—one with plenty of hired goons), who threatens to take over and/or destroy the world. As the teenagers (who are referred to at least once during every episode as “meddlers”) try to foil the bad guy’s plan, they’re captured and/or chased. They come up with some creative plan to get away—and then, after a musical number, in which they run around a lot and often ride in flying saucers, they somehow manage to save the day (with enough time left over to make it to their gig). During each episode, Alexander is called a “chicken” at least once. Melody makes at least two or three stupid blonde comments. And Alexandra tries to get Alan away from Josie.
Despite the predictable storylines, though, Josie and the Pussycats is still a great show. There’s always a fun adventure—with plenty of bad guys who have wonderfully ominous names like “The Laser” or “Master Mind” or “Dr. Strangemoon”—and it’s filled with plenty of laughs and even more music.
Josie and the Pussycats is a little bit The Monkees and a little bit Scooby-Doo (and even the tiniest bit Power Puff Girls). It’s musical and fun, and it’s a cartoon classic that Hanna-Barbera fans won’t want to miss.
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