One component of the last incarnation of the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (though to be fair, the umbrella title was not really being used at the time), and, clearly, its most popular, was SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron. Posited as Hanna-Barbera's answer to the runaway success known as Batman: The Animated Series over on Fox, SWAT Kats aired in syndication and on Superstation TBS, the latter twice every Sunday for 2 seasons. There should've been a third, but there are conflicting stories about why the show was cancelled.
Jake & Chance are two police department maintenance men, former officers demoted all the way down to the lower rungs because of departmental violations. This demotion actually works in their favor, as when danger threatens, the grease monkeys become the high-tech heroes Razor & T-Bone, the SWAT Kats. Revered by the public, especially bubble brained Mayor Manx, and reviled as vigilantes by their former boss, Commander Ferral (Gary Owens), the Kats sally forth to save Megakat City from threats such as the mystic Pastmaster, the villain in the series opener. Manx's assistant, Callie Briggs, also is the informant for the Kats, perhaps unaware that T-Bone harbors a crush on her. Razor (Barry Gordon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is the more level headed one, while T-Bone is often prone to recklessness.
In season 2, Ferral's niece, Felina, joined the Enforcers, but also became an ally of the Kats, and some fans have envisioned her being romantically involved with Razor. With the series soon to mark its 20th anniversary, there are rumors of a revival, so some fan questions could be answered.
Here's the intro:
Reruns currently are airing on Boomerang on a nightly basis, so fans can catch up on what they've missed.
Rating: A.
2 comments:
I liked the Swat Kats and I hope a quality revival comes down the pike in the near future.
This was one of the last (if not THE last) project to be part of the Hanna Barbera Studio label before it was gobbled up by Warner Bros.
IIRC Felina was Feral's niece not daughter. There were rumors at the time that Felina would actually become the third member of the Swat Kats - although I'm not sure if viewers would have wanted that to happen.
I think you're right about Felina. I was trying to put this together and couldn't remember the familial link in time.
The last H-B series before it was absorbed into WB, BTW, was the Powerpuff Girls, just a few years later, as it had the Swirling Star logo, which was brought back for that series.
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