The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour

The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour is an American television comedy-variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions which aired for five consecutive weeks on NBC from April 13 to May 11, 1978.[1]

The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour
GenreComedy
Variety show
Written byStan Hart
Directed byJim Washburn
Joe Layton
Voices ofUdana Power
Jane Hamilton James
Wenndy McKenzie
Daws Butler
Don Messick
ComposerBilly Byers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes5
Production
Executive producerJoseph Barbera
ProducersKen Welch
Mitzie Welch
Joe Layton
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesHanna-Barbera Productions, in association with Welch/Layton/Welch Productions
DistributorTaft Broadcasting
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseApril 13 (1978-04-13) 
May 11, 1978 (1978-05-11)

Overview

The show was hosted by two life-size female puppets named Honey and Sis: Honey (voiced by Udana Power) is a 19-year-old willowy tall blond who fancies herself a gifted performer, while her 17-year-old red-headed sister Sis (voiced by Wendy McKenzie) is actually the talented one.[2] On each episode, Honey and Sis sang, danced and participated in comedy sketches as "The Disco of Life", a soap opera parody where they interacted with people at a disco, and "The Truth Tub" where they relaxed in a hot tub and parodied TV shows such as Laverne & Shirley and Three's Company.

The guest stars during the five-week period included Melissa Sue Anderson, Tom Bosley, Gary Burghoff, Charo, Leif Garrett, Melissa Gilbert, Dan Haggerty, Linda Lavin, Peter Lupus, Gavin MacLeod, Tony Randall, Connie Stevens, The Sylvers, Twiggy, Abe Vigoda, Betty White and Anson Williams. The stars introduced themselves rather than by an announcer. Costumed actors impersonating Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters such as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and Snagglepuss (all voiced by Daws Butler) made cameo appearances.

Honey and Sis were designed by Hanna-Barbera animator Iwao Takamoto and their costumes created by fashion designer Bob Mackie. They were manipulated by a team of six puppeteers who would wear full-body blue leotards in front of a blue screen, so that the two characters would be chroma-keyed on a different background.

Episodes

Production credits

Reception

Although only scheduled for a five-week test run, The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour failed in the ratings as it competed with ABC's Welcome Back, Kotter and What's Happening!! and was replaced in its timeslot with reruns of CHiPs.

References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. McFarland & Co. p. 148. ISBN 9780786476503.
  2. Mallory, Michael (2009). Iwao Takamoto: My Life with a Thousand Characters. University Press of Mississippi. p. 161. ISBN 9781604734775. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  3. " Thursday previews", Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York), 20 April 1978.
  4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/98574603/?terms=%22hanna%2Bbarbera%2Bhappy%2Bhour%22%2Bsis
  5. "Thursday previews", Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York), 23 April 1978.
  6. "Thursday previews", Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York), 30 April 1978.
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