Top Cat - The Complete Series

December 31, 2004

Rated: NR Runtime: 780 min Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

This show sucks. I wish I could leave it at that, but a three-word sentence does not a review make. I watched a lot of Hanna Barbera shows when I was growing up and I liked a lot of them. My fondest memories are of Space Ghost, the Hillbilly Bears, The Jetsons, Wally Gator and Magilla Gorilla. I’m sure I’m leaving out some good ones, as there were so many.

Top Cat - The Complete Series None of the local stations in my home town ever carried Top Cat, though, and maybe that’s the problem. Maybe if I’d seen it and loved it as a kid, I’d somehow “get it”. Or maybe not. Maybe it does just suck.

The basic idea here was to rip off the Phil Silvers Show by basing many of Top Cat’s feline characters on those from that beloved classic, much the way The Flintstones was based largely only The Honeymooners. In this case, Top Cat and his buddies are con artist bums that live in an alley. The only thing keeping them from stealing the city blind is the hapless Officer Dibble who despite a few hundred CCs more brain mass, always manages to be one step behind the cats and their mischief.

I admit that I didn’t watch all 30 of the episodes, but after the half-dozen or so that I sampled, I was feeling too nauseous to continue. For adults, the humor just fell completely flat with me and I doubt I so much as even chuckled once. For kids, I doubt they’d find it funny either, especially today’s generation. As well, the fact that Top Cat himself is an amoral and horrible example to kids would keep me from ever letting them watch this show even if it WAS funny.

If you loved it as a kid, then, sure, go ahead and pick yourself up a copy. Knock yourself out! Just don’t send me any whiny emails lamenting how it wasn’t nearly as funny as you remembered it to be. And for those of you who have never seen Top Cat, do yourself a favor and don’t.

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 1 Stars, Comedy, DVD, Leo De Lyon, Maurice Gosfield, NR, Paul Frees, Voices of: Arnold Stang