Top Cat is an animated television series made by the Hanna-Barbera studios that first ran from September 27, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a run of 30 episodes on the ABC network.
Originally broadcast on Wednesdays (8:30–9pm Eastern), Top Cat was co-sponsored by Kellogg's and Bristol-Myers (Bufferin). The central character, Top Cat (called T.C. by close friends, "pro-vid-ing it's with dignity" according to the lyrics of the theme song) is the leader of a gang of Manhattan alley cats living in Hoagy's Alley: Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Benny the Ball, Brain, and Choo Choo.
Top Cat and his gang were inspired by characters from popular 1940s B movies, "The East Side Kids", but many[who?] suggest it derived from The Phil Silvers Show, a late-1950s military comedy whose lead was a crafty con-man. Maurice Gosfield, who played Private Duane Doberman on The Phil Silvers Show, also provided the voice for Benny the Ball in Top Cat (Benny's rotund appearance was based on Gosfield as well).
Arnold Stang's voicing of Top Cat even strongly resembled Phil Silvers' voice. Other possible sources include Guys and Dolls where actor Stubby Kaye played a short, stout street-wise gambler and a virtual Benny the Ball prototype. Lastly, an unlikely contender (as it also came from Hanna Barbera) was the character Hokey Wolf on The Huckleberry Hound Show, whose segment also paralelled The Phil Silvers Show.
A frequent plot-line revolved around the local beat cop Charles "Charlie" Dibble, and his ineffective attempts to evict the gang from the alley due to them constantly attempting to earn a quick buck (usually through an illegal scam). Dibble's appearance was modeled after his voice actor, Allen Jenkins. The word dibble was previously used only for an implement for making holes to plant seeds, but acquired a second meaning in the vernacular as slang for police officers.
Cast[]
Character Gallery[]
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