Baggy Pants and the Nitwits
Baggy Pants and the Nitwits is a 1977 American animated series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and broadcast on NBC.[1]
| Baggy Pants and the Nitwits | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Cartoon series |
| Created by | Arte Johnson |
| Directed by | Brad Case Gerry Chiniquy Sid Marcus Robert McKimson Spencer Peel |
| Voices of | Ruth Buzzi Arte Johnson |
| Composer(s) | Steve DePatie Doug Goodwin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | David H. DePatie Friz Freleng |
| Editor(s) | Rick Steward |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Production company(s) | DePatie-Freleng Enterprises |
| Distributor | Disney-ABC Domestic Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 10 – December 3, 1977 |
Overview
Though the characters appeared together in the show's introduction, they each appeared separately in their own episodes. Each 30-minute episode of Baggy Pants and the Nitwits contained two segments: one for Baggy Pants and the other for the Nitwits.[2]
Baggy Pants is an anthropomorphic cat mimicking Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp" character, right down to Chaplin's signature toothbrush mustache and walking cane. Similar to Chaplin and the Pink Panther, Baggy Pants performed all of his misadventures in pantomime, without a spoken dialogue by any of the characters in his segments.[3]
The Nitwits is about an elderly superhero named Tyrone (voiced by Arte Johnson) who, by public demand, re-emerged from retirement to again fight crime, taking cases at his own discretion with help from his wife Gladys (Ruth Buzzi) and his anthropomorphic cane which he called "Elmo" which, among other things, helped Tyrone and Gladys to fly.
Johnson and Buzzi adapted and reprised the roles they had originated in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, with much of the adult innuendo (including Tyrone's original last name Horneigh) being removed to keep the cartoon family-friendly. In the opening titles of The Nitwits segment, Johnson himself was credited with having "created The Nitwits for television."
The series ran for 13 episodes; As of 2019, it has yet to be released on home video.
Episode list
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Construction Caper / Earthquake McBash" | September 10, 1977 |
| 2 | "Lost Dog / The Hopeless Diamond Caper" | September 17, 1977 |
| 3 | "Baggy Pants and Forgetful Freddy / Rustle Hustle" | September 24, 1977 |
| 4 | "The Moving Man / The Dynamic Energy Robber" | October 1, 1977 |
| 5 | "Circus Circus / The Evil Father Nature" | October 8, 1977 |
| 6 | "The Painter's Helper / Mercury Mike and His Jet Bike" | October 15, 1977 |
| 7 | "Electric Girlfriend / Splish Splash" | October 22, 1977 |
| 8 | "A Pressing Job / False Face Filbert" | October 29, 1977 |
| 9 | "A Haunting Experience / Genie Meanie" | November 5, 1977 |
| 10 | "Horse Laff / Chicken Lady" | November 12, 1977 |
| 11 | "The Magician's Assistant / Simple Simon and the Mad Pieman" | November 19, 1977 |
| 12 | "The Frog / The Hole Thing!" | November 26, 1977 |
| 13 | "Beach Fun / Ratman!" | December 3, 1977 |
Cast
- Ruth Buzzi - Gladys
- Arte Johnson - Tyrone
References
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 58. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 108. ISBN 978-1476665993.
External links
- Baggy Pants and the Nitwits on IMDb
- Baggy Pants and the Nitwits at TV.com
- Baggy Pants and the Nitwits at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Baggy Pants and the Nitwits at SaturdayMorning.Pop-Cult.com
- Baggy Pants and the Nitwits at Toonarific.com