Imagine if you will Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, & Speedy Gonzales---living in the same neighborhood!!!!
That was the premise behind The Looney Tunes Show, now out of production after a 2 year run on Cartoon Network, which has the repeats airing at odd times during the day these days. Check your listings. The idea was to band the familiar gang together in a small cul-de-sac of a town where Bugs (Jeff Bergman) is sharing space with Speedy (Fred Armisen, Saturday Night Live) and Daffy Duck (Bergman). And if you think that's wack enough, they would eventually add the Tazmanian Devil----as a house pet.
SAY WHAT?
Producers Spike Brandt & Tony Cervone also worked on Daffy's last series, Duck Dodgers, and on Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, and wanted to treat the beloved characters more like humans on a human level. Witch Hazel was rebooted as Witch Lezah (Roz Ryan, ex-Amen). Hazel's original portrayer, the ageless June Foray, is heard as Granny, of course. Lola, introduced in the 1996 movie, "Space Jam", turns up as a overly chatty babe with a fixation on Bugs, who eventually becomes her boyfriend. I haven't seen any season 2 episodes, so I don't know how far that went. Kristen Wiig (ex-Saturday Night Live) voiced Lola, and played her as more of a bubblehead in season 1, but apparently the character matured very quickly, having to defend Bugs---as seen in a promo during season 2---from her father, who wants to break up the couple. I definitely have to catch up.
Accentuating the fun are some CGI Road Runner shorts that often were funnier than the main stories! Then, there were short music videos under the Merrie Melodies heading. Ah, what fun. I passed on one DVD release that only had a handful of episodes from season 1, but when they come out with complete seasons, then we'll chase 'em down. The Merrie Melodies, though, are likely to turn up sooner than that.......
For your entertainment pleasure, let's scope out the series opener, "Besties". Seems Daffy's not that bright when it comes to game shows......
Edit: 8/4/15: The video was deleted due to copyright issues, so there is just a sample clip:
Rating: A++.
2 comments:
I thought it was an interesting premise but I just couldn't get into it. I wasn't crazy about Lola being a borderline crazed stalker type either. Making Taz a pet was downright hilarious though.
Daffy was by far the worst recharacterization. He was just plain stupid! While he had been depicted previously as greedy, a bit of a jerk and well, DAFFY, he was never out and out dumb.
You would think Brandt & Cervone, who've handled Daffy before, would've played up his strengths more than what perceived weaknesses that seemed to exist. It didn't happen. Two seasons, to me, shouldn't have been the limit, but that's what the creative team decided on. A new series can't come soon enough....
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