CB Bears

The 1970s have a lot to answer for.

The popularity of citizens band radio in the 1970s inspired this hourlong Animated Anthology from Hanna-Barbera, which ran on NBC in 1977-78.

The series' headliners were crime-solving bears named Hustle, Bump and Boogie (voiced by Daws Butler, Henry Corden and Chuck McCann, respectively). They traveled in a garbage truck and received orders via CB radio from their female boss, "Charlie" (voiced seductively by Susan Davis).

Supporting segments in the CB Bears show were:

• Blastoff Buzzard, a cartoon similar to Road Runner vs. Coyote, and the only H-B cartoon whose soundtrack had no human voices at all;
• Heyyyy, It's the King, an all-animal parody of Happy Days;
• Posse Impossible, a Spin-Off of the series finale of Hong Kong Phooey;
• Shake, Rattle and Roll, in which a trio of ghosts inhabited an abandoned hotel, and
• Undercover Elephant, about a secret-agent pachyderm and his mouse partner.

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Tropes used in CB Bears include:

• Animated Anthology
• Comic Trio (the ghosts of Shake, Rattle & Roll)
• Expy: The King of Heyyyy! It's the King is an expy of Arthur Fonzarelli.
• Forgot I Could Fly: Happened a lot in Blastoff Buzzard shorts. May or may not have been an intentional joke.
• No Dialogue Episode (all Blastoff Buzzard shorts)
• The One Who Wears Shoes (Boogie and Square)
• Talking Animal
• Theme Naming: The bears are named for dance styles; the ghosts of Shake, Rattle & Roll are named for a rock song from the 1950s.
• The Voice (Charlie)
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Boogie has blue fur.