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-->''"There's no need to fear -- Underdog is here!"''

One of Total Television's most famous AnimatedSeries, '''''Underdog''''' was a canine parody of ''Superman'' which debuted on Creator/{{NBC}} in 1964 and moved to Creator/{{CBS}} in 1966. Usually, each half-hour episode consisted of two chapters of a four-part ''Underdog'' story, separated by an unrelated TTV short.

Underdog's alter ego was "humble, lovable Shoeshine Boy". When summoned by TV reporter Sweet Polly Purebred, Shoeshine Boy dashed into the nearest phone booth and emerged in his heroic costume. For some unexplained reason, Underdog always [[RhymesOnADime spoke in rhyme]]. His foes included the mad scientist Dr. Simon BarSinister and his henchman, Cad Lackey (voice caricatures of [[Film/ItsAWonderfulLife Lionel Barrymore]] and HumphreyBogart), and the lupine crime boss Riff Raff (based on George Raft).

Supporting segments included ''TennesseeTuxedoAndHisTales'', ''Go Go Gophers'' and ''Klondike Kat''. The series' voice talent included Wally Cox as Underdog/Shoeshine Boy and Norma [=McMillan=] as Sweet Polly Purebred.

A live-action film [[InNameOnly that just happened to be called]] ''Film/{{Underdog}}'' was released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2007.

Underdog also inspired a well-remembered, well-loved Macy's UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay balloon, as evidenced by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMf5cCDy1I this commercial]], made 35 years after the balloon's debut.

You might've heard the theme song thanks to being SampledUp by Music/{{Wu-Tang Clan}} on their "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F' Wit". Parts of the ''Underdog'' theme song could also be heard in ''Wheels!'', an AppleMacintosh game aimed at disabled children.

''(For the Japanese manga of the same name, [[Manga/{{Underdog}} click here]])''
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!!''Underdog'' provides examples of:
* AnimalSuperheroes
* AnimatedSeries
* ArrangedMarriage: Underdog was forced into a marriage with an alien princess in "Zot." [[spoiler:He doesn't follow through, though, and the princess marries someone else. And that's after Underdog defeats a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Two-headed dragon]] that was menacing the aliens, also making it an inversion of RescueRomance.]]
* BadassAdorable
* BeachEpisode: A [[DeletedScene storyboarded idea]] involved Underdog and Polly going to the beach and playing super-volleyball with a horde of robotic aliens in "The Nug of Nog."
* BigBad: Dr. Simon Bar Sinister
* BraggingThemeTune
* CartoonishSupervillainy: Simon Bar Sinister
* CatchPhrase: "It's hip, hip, hip, and away I go!"
** "There's no need to fear. Underdog is here!"
** "The secret compartment of my ring I fill / with an Underdog super energy pill."
** Simon Bar Sinister would frequently preface an imperative with "Simon says..."
* ChasteHero: He seems to be rather eager to escape Polly's advances.
* CliffHanger
* CombatTentacles: The Guard from "The Bubbleheads."
* CoolGate: Simon Bar Sinister has one bearing his surname.
* CounterfeitCash: The opening of every episode shows a customer tossing a nickel to Shoeshine Boy, and Shoeshine Boy [[TastyGold biting the nickel]]. This was an old trick dating back to TheGreatDepression, to tell if a nickel was real or just a wooden disc painted to look vaguely nickel-like. (He was adhering to the old adage "Don't take any wooden nickels!")
* CriminalDoppelganger: One of Underdog's enemies was his exact double, Tap-Tap the Chiseler, who didn't have any of Underdog's powers. It didn't stop Tap-Tap from using Underdog's image to get stuff like bombs without anyone batting an eye.
* [[CuteClumsyGirl Cute Clumsy Dog]]
* DisneyDeath: Underdog himself several times, ''e.g.'', in "A New Villain" and "The Silver Thieves".
* DistressedDamsel: Sweet Polly Purebred, in practically every episode.
** Subverted in [[spoiler:"The Phony Booths", where Polly takes it upon herself to stop the [[MassHypnosis Phony Booths]]. By that time, Simon Bar Sinister has gotten Underdog under his control, so he sends Underdog to stop Polly. However, LoveRedeems, and because of this, Polly saves Underdog for a change]].
* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Would get him into some serious trouble if it weren't for his HeroInsurance.
* DumbMuscle / {{Evil Minion|s}}: Cad to Simon, as well as Mooch to Riff Raff. Then again, they're not much dumber than the average citizen on this show.
* EveryEpisodeEnding:
-->'''Man 1:''' Look, up in the sky! It's a bird!
-->'''Man 2:''' It's a plane!
-->'''Woman:''' It's a frog!
-->'''Man 1:''' A frog?
-->'''Underdog:''' Not bird, nor plane, nor even frog, / It's just little old me— ''([[WatchOutForThatTree crash]])'' Underdog.
* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Everyone Calls Him Shoeshine Boy]]
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: When characters overcame their EasyAmnesia from the Forget-Me-Net, they would spin in the air.
** Underdog once spun so fast that he [[{{Invisibility}} could no longer be seen]]. [[ArtisticLicensePhysics Or heard]].
* EvilCounterpart: With a hero called Underdog, it was practically inevitable that there would be a [[CatsAreMean villain named Overcat]]. He's unlike Underdog in every way: whereas Underdog is a small, good-natured dog who uses his powers to help others, Overcat is a hulking, loudmouthed {{Jerkass}} cat who uses his own powers to bully his entire planet into submission.
* FlyingBrick
* FurryConfusion: Humans and talking animals living together? Say what you want about TheMovie but at least it makes a point of averting this.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The "''[[GratuitousFrench barre sinistre]]''" (or in English, the "baton sinister") was a heraldic mark of cadency indicating that the bearer was a ''bastard''.
** Also, Underdog gets his powers by popping [[GRatedDrug pills.]]
* GrandFinale: Vacuum Gun. Simon brings several old villains, including Electric Eel and Batty Man, BackForTheFinale. The end of the episode apparently has [[spoiler: all the villains KilledOffForReal when, after Simon tries to use the Vacuum Gun for the last time on Underdog, Underdog uses his "[[SuperBreath Atomic Breath]]" and sucks all the villains and the Vacuum Gun towards him, uses the Vacuum Gun on the villains, then exhales into the Vacuum Gun, causing it to [[StuffBlowingUp explode]]]].
* GratuitousIambicPentameter
* HauntedHouse: In "The Gold Bricks." [[spoiler:The ghosts were really all just special effects set up by Riff Raff.]]
* HeroicDog
* HeroInsurance: "I am a hero who never fails; / I can't be bothered with such details."
** Often makes him look like a complete {{Jerkass}}. Sometimes he'll even crash into the wrong building and be like, "Oop, not my problem."
* TheHerosBirthday: Sweet Polly repeatedly mentions this in "Pain Strikes Underdog".
* HumanPopsicle: Underdog (and several other town citizens) get this treatment in "Go Snow."
* LightningBruiser
* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy
* LovedINotHonorMore: "The Witch of Pickyoon"
* MadeOfExplodium: The telephone booths that Shoeshine used to become Underdog.
* MadScientist: Simon Bar Sinister, who would create a new machine to take over the world, but was always stopped by Underdog.
* MonsterOfTheWeek: Underdog often fights one of these in episodes where the villain isn't Simon Bar Sinister or Riff Raff.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed
* NotableCommercialCampaigns: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMf5cCDy1I Underdog vs. Stewie Griffin]]
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Batty Man.
* [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Our Anthropomorphic Wolf Gangsters Are Different]]: Riff Raff.
* PaperThinDisguise: Aside from the various villains, Underdog himself. This is {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the movie.
* PsychoElectro: Electric Eel, who acquired his power from an electrified prison fence.
* RhymesOnADime: This once became Underdog's AchillesHeel, when Simon Barsinister undertook to commit crimes based upon the word "orange".
* RoguesGallery: For most of the show's run, Underdog had exactly two recurring enemies: Simon Bar Sinister and Riff Raff. For the GrandFinale, Simon recruits Raff along with 2 other villians introduced in the final season, Batty Man and Electric Eel.
* SayMyName: The antidote to the Forget-Me-Net.
* ShoeShineMister: Underdog's secret identity.
* SuperBreath
* SuperSerum: Underdog's "Super Energy Pill" or "Energy Vitamin Pill" — sometimes removed from syndicated broadcasts.
* TakenForGranite: Underdog/Shoeshine, Polly, and several others in "The Marbleheads."
* TalkingAnimal
* [[ThanksgivingEpisode Thanksgiving Day Balloon]]: One of the best remembered Macy's balloons.
* ThreeShorts
* ThroughAFaceFullOfFur: Underdog's face quickly turns bright red upon receiving praise.
* TrueLovesKiss: Once done with Sweet Polly thanks to a WickedWitch.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Underdog in "Forget-Me-Net." [[ItMakesSenseInContext It's a long story...]]
* WeatherControlMachine: Simon combined this with an OminousPipeOrgan in "Weathering the Storm".
* XRayVision: His can set things on fire, apparently, making them more like [[EyeBeams Heat Vision]].
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