Josie and the Pussycats

Although based on an Archie Comics publication, this series was produced by Hanna-Barbera rather than Filmation. The all-female rock trio comprised guitarist Josie McCoy, tambourinist Valerie Brown and drummer Melody Valentine. Valerie is Black and Nerdy, Melody is a Dumb Blonde and Josie is of average intellect.

Supporting characters were Alan Mayberry, an ex-country singer who became the Pussycats' roadie and Josie's love interest; Alexandra Cabot, who continually competed with Josie for Alan's affections; Alexander Cabot III, Alexandra's cowardly twin brother and the Pussycats' manager, and Sebastian, Alexandra's snickering cat. In the successor series, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, a woolly creature named Bleep joined the cast.

Voice talent included Janet Waldo, Casey Kasem and Don Messick, enabling Josie and friends to cross over to Scooby Doo.

It was adapted into a live-action film in 2001. For information on that, click here.

Tropes used in Josie and the Pussycats include:

• Animated Adaptation: It started in Archie Comics, after all.
  • Adaptation Displacement: Though some people don't realize that.
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: In the Japanese version.
• Betty and Veronica: Averted slightly in that Alan is very clearly involved with Josie and has no interest in the scheming Alexandra.
• The Blank: Mastermind from "Never Mind a Master Mind".
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead
• Cats Are Mean: Sebastian was a nasty prankster in the main show. He bedeviled Scooby when there was a Crossover, and he and Bleep were in a constant state of war when the show ended up Recycled in Space.
• Catgirl: The theme of the band.
• Crossover: Particularly noticeable is the one with Scooby Doo.
• The Ditz/Dumb Blonde: Melody to the point she could be the poster child of the tropes!
• Dumb Is Good: Although she was also uber-nice, Melody had a preternatural power to understand the speech of alien animals.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Usually because of some tragedy befalling Alexandra.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Once the series was recycled in Space, this became the only option for our heroes finding their way home. Even if some benevolent aliens pointed them in the right direction, Alexandra would inevitably accidentally bump into something, throwing them off course (which is how they got lost in space in the first place).
• Fake Band: Well, yeah. Interestingly, as part of the development process an actual trio was assembled for recording (rather than relying entirely upon studio musicians), including Patrice Holloway voicing Valerie and Hollywood newcomer Cherie Moor (later known as Cheryl Ladd) as Melody. (See the Executive Meddling entry on the Trivia page for some consequences of the casting.)
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Josie.
  • The Lancer: Alexander.
  • The Smart Guy: Valerie.
  • The Big Guy: Alan.
  • The Chick: Melody.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Alexandra.
  • Team Pet: Sebastian.
• Genius Ditz: As dumb as Melody is, she plays the drums professionally.

Melody: Eat your heart out, Ringo!

• Glurge Addict
• Heroes Want Redheads: Though he's not The Hero (he fits as a sort-of Lancer), Alan would rather have Josie than Alexandra.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Casey Kasem was the voice of Alexander, while Melody's singing voice was by Cheryl Ladd (her speaking voice was Jackie Joseph, then of The Doris Day Show). Josie is Judy Jetson and Penelope Pitstop. Since Casey Kasem also voiced Shaggy, the Scooby Doo crossover resulted in a lot of Talking to Himself.
  • The Talking to Himself was particularly weird since, although Casem is perfectly capable of doing a wide range of voices, he had voiced Shaggy and Alexander pretty much the same way.
• Jerkass: Alexandra. In the comics, Alexander can slip between this and Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Large Ham: Alexander in the comics, Alexandra in the cartoon.
• Limited Wardrobe
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: If you're gonna kidnap Valerie, you'd better be damn sure she can't move or speak.
• Love Triangle: Josie, Alan, Alexandra. In the comics, Alexander (who was far less cowardly and much meaner) had a crush on Josie.
• MacGyvering: Valerie was the champion of this, making solutions and springing traps with guitar strings, bubble gum and hairspray.
• Mad Scientist: SEVERAL.
• Mind Control
• Non-Human Sidekick: Sebastian, and Bleep in outer space.
• Power Trio: Josie, Melody, Valerie.
• Prince and Pauper: Melody was more than once mistaken for somebody of elevated status, including one Outer Space episode where the residents of a planet mistook her for their goddess.
  • For that matter, a pair of shoes was accidentally mixed up for another pair of shoes that were intelligence-gathering devices.
  • Valerie turned out to be a dead ringer for a princess from India, and agreed to act as a decoy to catch a villain who was after her.
• Redheaded Hero: Josie is the leader of the Pussycats and often leads the whole group.
• Rich Bitch: Alexandra, the sarcastic and selfish twin sister of the Pussycats' manager, Alexander.
• Rock Trio: A pop version that swapped the bass guitar with a tambourine.
• Shout-Out: From the debut episode "Greenthumb Is Not A Goldfinger" after the others find Alexandra, Alexander and Sebastian hiding in plants:

Josie: Alexandra, it's you!
Alexandra: Of course it's me! Who were you expecting? Scooby Doo?

• Skintone Sclerae
• Skunk Stripe: Alexandra.
• Spy Speak: In the episode "Never Mind A Master Mind".
• Strictly Formula: Similar to a lot of Hanna-Barbera mystery shows - The gang shows up in a new town, stumbles onto some great crime or mad plot, solves the mystery, and then everyone laughs as Alexandra's attempt to steal Alan screws up.
• Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: A second episode has the team flying into outer space and encountering a dog-bird alien named Bleep, who communicates as follows: "Bleep bleep bleep." Melody, the Ditz, says, "Bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep?" Bleep responds, "Bleep bleep bleep, bleep." Melody then gives an English translation.
• Sunglasses at Night: Alexander, who's seldom seen without his sunglasses.
• There Are No Adults: Teenage musicians just wander around performing in strange places with no parents, or chaperones, or other authority figures...and everyone's okay with this.
  • Averted in the show; they appear to be in their 20s.
• The Three Faces of Eve
• Token Minority: Valerie, but this was the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pretty progressive for the times, really, especially considering her TV Genius and MacGyver talents.
• TV Genius: Valerie could often hold her own understanding what the Mad Scientist was talking about.
• Walking the Earth: The band was always getting into trouble in a city or town they'd visit as part of a gig for their tour.
• With Friends Like These...: Alexandra and Alexander (sometimes Alan as well) got the Pussycats more often in trouble than aided them.
• You Meddling Kids: Very rarely were those words used verbatim, but the sentiment was there when the gang solved the mystery. This was true for the majority of Hanna-Barbera's Animated Series in the 1970s.