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
GenreCartoon series
Created byArte Johnson
Directed byBrad Case
Gerry Chiniquy
Sid Marcus
Robert McKimson
Spencer Peel
Voices ofRuth Buzzi
Arte Johnson
ComposersSteve DePatie
Doug Goodwin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducersDavid H. DePatie
Friz Freleng
EditorRick Steward
Running time30 min.
Production companyDePatie-Freleng Enterprises
DistributorDisney-ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 10 (1977-09-10) –
December 3, 1977 (1977-12-03)

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.TitleOriginal air date
1"Construction Caper / Earthquake McBash"September 10, 1977 (1977-09-10)
2"Lost Dog / The Dynamic Energy Robber"September 17, 1977 (1977-09-17)
3"Baggy Pants and Forgetful Freddy / Splish Splash"September 24, 1977 (1977-09-24)
4"The Moving Man / The Hopeless Diamond Caper"October 1, 1977 (1977-10-01)
5"Circus Circus / The Evil Father Nature"October 8, 1977 (1977-10-08)
6"The Painter's Helper / Mercury Mike and His Jet Bike"October 15, 1977 (1977-10-15)
7"Electric Girlfriend / Rustle Hustle"October 22, 1977 (1977-10-22)
8"A Pressing Job / False Face Filbert"October 29, 1977 (1977-10-29)
9"A Haunting Experience / Genie Meanie"November 5, 1977 (1977-11-05)
10"Horse Laff / Chicken Lady"November 12, 1977 (1977-11-12)
11"The Magician's Assistant / Simple Simon and the Mad Pieman"November 19, 1977 (1977-11-19)
12"The Frog / The Hole Thing!"November 26, 1977 (1977-11-26)
13"Beach Fun / Ratman!"December 3, 1977 (1977-12-03)

Cast

References
  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 58. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. 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.
  3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 108. ISBN 978-1476665993.


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