T.H.E. Cat

Out of the night comes a man who saves lives at the risk of his own. Once a circus performer, an aerialist who refused the net. Once a cat burglar, a master among jewel thieves. Now a professional bodyguard. Primitive... savage... in love with danger. The Cat![2]

The series had a hero who was a reformed thief, having spent an unspecified term in prison,[3] and of Gypsy heritage. In the mold of famed private eye Peter Gunn and the waterfront bar Mother's, Cat operated out of the Casa Del Gato (House of the Cat) in San Francisco, of which he was part owner. Thomas (The Cat) was a master of the martial arts, who used his skills numerous times to stop antagonists in his pursuit of justice for the downtrodden, and for his various clients. He always worked on the side of the law...occasionally using his skills for the local police. His police contact was Police Capt. McAllister, a man with only one hand. R.G. Armstrong played McAllister in 12 episodes of the series.[4]

T.H.E. Cat was one of two characters of TV series in the 1966 season who employed martial arts skills in the cause of justice. The other was Bruce Lee's character of Kato on the ABC-TV series The Green Hornet. These two characters were among the first on network television to employ martial arts skills as weapons against crime.[5] Cat was also a master gymnast and acrobatic artist, who used his acquired skills as a circus performer to get into places that the police could not reach.[6]

Series star Robert Loggia had previously played a character known as "the Cat" in the 1958–60 Walt Disney television miniseries The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca, in which Loggia played Baca, an Old West Mexican-American lawman whose nickname was "the Cat", a fact viewers were reminded of each week in the series' theme song.[7] The series ran for 10 episodes and was recut into a feature movie.

After T.H.E. Cat, Loggia, an actor with a long history of film and television credits, went on to star in a number of high-profile hit Hollywood films, including An Officer and a Gentleman, Scarface, Sylvester Stallone's Over the Top, the Tom Hanks hit film Big, and the science fiction action film Independence Day. In 1985, Loggia was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of crusty private detective Sam Ransom in the thriller Jagged Edge and had the starring role in another NBC series, Mancuso, FBI, for which he was nominated for an Emmy in 1989.

Though T.H.E. Cat was popular among children and teens, the series fared poorly in the ratings overall, a situation that prompted its cancellation after a single season.[8]

• Robert Loggia as Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat
• R. G. Armstrong as Captain McAllister
• Robert Carricart as Pepe Cordoza

Guest stars: Chris Alcaide, Barbara Stuart, Steve Ihnat, Robert Duvall, Laura Devon, Yvonne Romain, Sorrell Booke, Diana Muldaur, Linda Cristal

Several times he drove a Chevrolet Corvette. It was a mid-'60s convertible Stingray. It was customized with a bar that extended up and over the back of the driver. It was not, however, a roll bar—there were two flaps on the top portion. When the headlights were rolled to the "on" position, there were accents by each light that mimicked a cat's eye shape. Its body was painted black.

• The A-Team television series about a team of former military personnel who help those in need.
• It Takes a Thief television series about an ex-cat burglar released from prison to steal for the fictional government agency SIA (Secret Intelligence Agency.

• T.H.E. Cat at IMDb
• T.H.E. Cat at TV.com
• T.H.E. Cat at epguides.com
• T.H.E. Cat intro—YouTube Video
• T.H.E. Cat Pilot Episode Starring Robert Loggia—YouTube Video
• T.H.E. Cat Episode 3 "Payment Overdue" Starring Robert Loggia—YouTube Video
• T.H.E. Cat Episode 6—Starring Robert Loggia—YouTube Video