Western Animation: Josie And The Pussy Cats aka: Josie And The Pussycats
Although based on an Archie Comics publication, this series was produced by Hanna-Barbera rather than Filmation. The all-female rock trio comprised guitarist Josie McCoy, tambourinist Valerie Brown and drummer Melody Valentine. Valerie is Black and Nerdy, Melody is a Dumb Blonde and Josie is of average intellect.Supporting characters were Alan Mayberry, an ex-country singer who became the Pussycats' roadie and Josie's love interest; Alexandra Cabot, who continually competed with Josie for Alan's affections; Alexander Cabot III, Alexandra's cowardly twin brother and the Pussycats' manager, and Sebastian, Alexandra's snickering cat. In the successor series, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, a woolly creature named Bleep joined the cast.Voice talent included Janet Waldo, Casey Kasem and Don Messick, enabling Josie and friends to cross over to Scooby-Doo.It was adapted into a live-action film in 2001. For information on that, click here.
This series provides examples of the following tropes:
Cats are Mean: Sebastian was a nasty prankster in the main show. He bedeviled Scooby when there was a Cross Over, and he and Bleep were in a constant state of war when the show ended up Recycled In SPACE.
Failure Is the Only Option: Once the series was recycled in Space, this became the only option for our heroes finding their way home. Even if some benevolent aliens pointed them in the right direction, Alexandra would inevitably accidentally bump into something, throwing them off course (which is how they got lost in space in the first place).
The Talking to Himself was particularly weird since, although Casem is perfectly capable of doing a wide range of voices, he had voiced Shaggy and Alexander pretty much the same way.
Prince and Pauper: Melody was more than once mistaken for somebody of elevated status, including one Outer Space episode where the residents of a planet mistook her for their goddess.
For that matter, a pair of shoes was accidentally mixed up for another pair of shoes that were intelligence-gathering devices.
Valerie turned out to be a dead ringer for a princess from India, and agreed to act as a decoy to catch a villain who was after her.
Red-Headed Hero: Josie is the leader of the Pussycats and often leads the whole group.
Rich Bitch: Alexandra, the sarcastic and selfish twin sister of the Pussycats' manager, Alexander.
Rock Trio: A pop version that swapped the bass guitar with a tambourine.
Shout Out: From the debut episode "Greenthumb Is Not A Goldfinger" after the others find Alexandra, Alexander and Sebastian hiding in plants:
Josie: Alexandra, it's you!
Alexandra: Of course it's me! Who were you expecting? Scooby-Doo?
Spy Speak: In the episode "Never Mind A Master Mind".
Strictly Formula: Similar to a lot of Hanna-Barbera mystery shows - The gang shows up in a new town, stumbles onto some great crime or mad plot, solves the mystery, and then everyone laughs as Alexandra's attempt to steal Alan screws up.
Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: A second episode has the team flying into outer space and encountering a dog-bird alien named Bleep, who communicates as follows: "Bleep bleep bleep." Melody, the Ditz, says, "Bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep?" Bleep responds, "Bleep bleep bleep, bleep." Melody then gives an English translation.
There Are No Adults: Teenage musicians just wander around performing in strange places with no parents, or chaperones, or other authority figures...and everyone's okay with this.
Averted in the show; they appear to be in their 20s.
Token Minority: Valerie, but this was the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pretty progressive for the times, really, especially considering her TV Genius and MacGyver talents.
TV Genius: Valerie could often hold her own understanding what the Mad Scientist was talking about.
Walking the Earth: The band was always getting into trouble in a city or town they'd visit as part of a gig for their tour.
With Friends Like These: Alexandra and Alexander (sometimes Alan as well) got the Pussycats more often in trouble than aided them.
You Meddling Kids: Very rarely were those words used verbatim, but the sentiment was there when the gang solved the mystery. This was true for the majority of Hanna-Barbera's Animated Series in the 1970s.
Although based on an Archie Comics publication, this series was produced by Hanna-Barbera rather than Filmation. The all-female rock trio comprised guitarist Josie McCoy, tambourinist Valerie Brown and drummer Melody Valentine. Valerie is Black and Nerdy, Melody is a Dumb Blonde and Josie is of average intellect.Supporting characters were Alan Mayberry, an ex-country singer who became the Pussycats' roadie and Josie's love interest; Alexandra Cabot, who continually competed with Josie for Alan's affections; Alexander Cabot III, Alexandra's cowardly twin brother and the Pussycats' manager, and Sebastian, Alexandra's snickering cat. In the successor series, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, a woolly creature named Bleep joined the cast.Voice talent included Janet Waldo, Casey Kasem and Don Messick, enabling Josie and friends to cross over to Scooby-Doo.It was adapted into a live-action film in 2001. For information on that, click here.
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