Abbott & Costello
Abbott & Costello | |
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On-screen title card. | |
Network | Syndication |
Production company | Hanna-Barbera RKO General |
Original release | September 9, 1967–June 1, 1968 |
Run time | 5 minutes |
Starring | Bud Abbott Stan Irwin |
Producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Music composed by | Hoyt Curtin |
Writer(s) | Neal Barbera |
Director(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Abbott & Costello, also known as Abbott & Costello Cartoons, is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and RKO General. It first aired in syndication. It ran from 1967 to 1968, airing 39 episodes that spanned one season.
A half-hour show starring the comedy duo, it follows the animated misadventures of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The two were wildly known for their personalities, with Abbott acting as the cunning straight man, and Costello as the innocent, yet bumbling foil to the former.
The series was originally syndicated by Gold Key Entertainment and King World Productions, with the rights later being acquired by Warner Bros. Television Distribution, who currently holds rights to the cartoon.
Although Warner Bros. holds rights to the cartoon, they, unsurprisingly, haven't done much with it aside from releasing the episode "Gadzooka" on the DVD, Best of Warner Bros. 25 Cartoon Collection: Hanna-Barbera back in 2013.
Production
Development
During production, Bud Abbott, an original actor for the Abbott & Costello series, provided the voice of his animated self in the hopes of getting some more money. By the time the cartoon was produced, Lou Costello had already passed away, so his voice was done by a close friend named Stan Irwin.
Since the actual Abbott was near death during production of the series, Costello was more so the focus of the cartoons' plots.
Music
The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin.
Episodes
Title | Original air date |
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1x01 | September 9, 1967 |
1x02 | September 16, 1967 |
1x03 | September 23, 1967 |
1x04 | September 30, 1967 |
1x05 | October 7, 1967 |
1x06 | October 14, 1967 |
1x07 | October 21, 1967 |
1x08 | October 28, 1967 |
1x09 | November 4, 1967 |
1x10 | November 11, 1967 |
1x11 | November 18, 1967 |
1x12 | November 25, 1967 |
1x13 | December 2, 1967 |
1x14 | December 9, 1967 |
1x15 | December 16, 1967 |
1x16 | December 23, 1967 |
1x17 | December 30, 1967 |
1x18 | January 6, 1968 |
1x19 | January 13, 1968 |
1x20 | January 20, 1968 |
1x21 | January 27, 1968 |
1x22 | February 3, 1968 |
1x23 | February 10, 1968 |
1x24 | February 17, 1968 |
1x25 | February 24, 1968 |
1x26 | March 2, 1968 |
1x27 | March 9, 1968 |
1x28 | March 16, 1968 |
1x29 | March 23, 1968 |
1x30 | March 30, 1968 |
1x31 | April 6, 1968 |
1x32 | April 13, 1968 |
1x33 | April 20, 1968 |
1x34 | April 27, 1968 |
1x35 | May 4, 1968 |
1x36 | May 11, 1968 |
1x37 | May 18, 1968 |
1x38 | May 25, 1968 |
1x39 | June 1, 1968 |
Cast
Critical reception
The series was not received well by its viewers, as many found the show to be not very funny nor hardly anything like the original live-action Abbott and Costello in which it was based on, and instead using stereotypical cartoony humor done with many other cartoons from around the time. Many point out that the series also bared similarities to previous Hanna-Barbera series, Laurel & Hardy, but being less funnier than the latter.