Hong Kong Phooey (TV series)
- This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see Hong Kong Phooey.
| Hong Kong Phooey | |
|---|---|
 On-screen title card. | |
| Network | ABC |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera |
| Original release | September 7―December 21, 1974 |
| Run time | 30 minutes |
| Starring | Scatman Crothers Kathy Gori Joe E. Ross Don Messick |
| Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | Iwao Takamoto |
| Music composed by | Hoyt Curtin |
| Writer(s) | Bill Raynor Fred Fox Seamon Jacobs Jen Janson Chuck Menville Larz Bourne Jack Mendelsohn |
| Director(s) | Charles A. Nichols Wally Burr (voices) |
Hong Kong Phooey is an American animated action-comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC's Saturday morning children's programming. It ran in 1974, airing 16 episodes, each containing two stories, that spanned one season.
Working as a police station's janitor, mild-mannered Penry Pooch is really Hong Kong Phooey, who believes himself to be a competent and wise martial artist, when in fact, he is the complete opposite. His idiocy gets to the point where he has to be saved by his pet cat, Spot, who makes Hong Kong look like a hero.
Big Duke, Blubber and Stick from the final episode titled, "Comedy Cowboys," would later be spun-off into their own segments of the CB Bears television series.
The entire series has also been released on DVD.
Production
Development
Hong Kong Phooey was developed by Hanna-Barbera as a response to the kung fu fad popularized by Bruce Lee. Early in development, the series was considered to have Huckleberry Hound as its main star, but was instead favored for the original character of Penry Pooch.[1] The series also went by the name "Kung Phooey", but was changed to Hong Kong Phooey for its final production.[2]
Casting
Rather than have a traditional voice actor to provide a stereotypical Asian accent, the studio decided to have singer Scatman Crothers do the voice of Hong Kong Phooey.[2] However, executive producer Joseph Barbera did not tell the ABC network of Crothers's name when he was cast, as he believed that they would not approve of a Black man in the role. Without knowing about his identity, the network found out that they enjoyed Crothers's performance due to his sense of humor.[3]
Music
The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin, with musical supervision from Paul DeKorte. The sound editor was Joe Sandusky.
Episodes
| Episode | Original air date |
|---|---|
1x01
|
September 7, 1974 |
| 1x02 | September 14, 1974 |
| 1x03 | September 21, 1974 |
| 1x04 | September 28, 1974 |
| 1x05 | October 5, 1974 |
| 1x06 | October 12, 1974 |
| 1x07 | October 19, 1974 |
| 1x08 | October 26, 1974 |
| 1x09 | November 2, 1974 |
| 1x10 | November 9, 1974 |
| 1x11 | November 16, 1974 |
| 1x12 | November 23, 1974 |
| 1x13 | November 30, 1974 |
| 1x14 | December 7, 1974 |
| 1x15 | December 14, 1974 |
| 1x16 | December 21, 1974 |
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: September 7, 1974 at 9:00 am on ABC
- United Kingdom and Ireland: March 17, 1975 at 5:15 pm on BBC 1
Cast
- Scatman Crothers as Hong Kong Phooey
- Kathy Gori as Rosemary
- Joe E. Ross as Sergeant Flint
- Don Messick as Spot and the Narrator
Legacy
Hong Kong Phooey was memorable enough to be brought back in the Hanna-Barbera crossover series Laff-a-Lympics in 1977, as a member of the Scooby Doobies. Then in 2001 and 2018, he appeared in a web short and DC Comics' Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special, respectively, with both times redoing him as someone serious and in complete control.
He also guest-starred in the 2017 reboot of Wacky Races.
Warner Bros. Pictures also attempted to make a live-action feature-length film, with Eddie Murphy in the lead. They only achieved producing a test film in 2012.
In popular culture
- In the Animaniacs segment "Back in Style," Chun-King Fooey is mentioned to have lost ratings by adding the Warner siblings.
- In the Family Guy episode "I Never Met the Dead Man," Peter can't resist the urge to jump into a children's ball pit at Cheesie Charlie's, shouting out "Hong Kong Phooey!" as he does.
- The theme song appears on the Billboard for the Hot 100 Cartoon Songs in The Cleveland Show episode "Harder, Better, Faster, Browner." The writers are also mentioned below.
- In The Goldbergs episode "Kara-te," Murray called Barry's karate performance for the talent show a "Hong Kong Phooey act."
Comic Book Men
- Main article: Comic Book Men
- "To the Bat Cave:" Walt says his favorite talking dog is Hong Kong Phooey.
- "Dukes of Jersey:" Kevin Smith used Hong Kong Phooey as an example of being a fan of something, but wouldn't be so drastic as to get a tattoo of a show he may later have no interest in.
- "KITT and Caboodle:" Walt mentions how Hong Kong Phooey was created during the kung fu craze of the 1970s.
Merchandise
Home media
On August 15, 2006, Warner Home Video released Hong Kong Phooey: The Complete Series on DVD.
Reading material
From 1975 to 1976, Gold Key Comics released a nine-issue comic series that they also called Hong Kong Phooey.
Toys
In 2014, Funko released the first Funko Pop toy of Hong Kong Phooey. In 2017, Funko released the Phooeymobile with Hong Kong in their Funko Pop Rides, which was an exclusive at Emerald City Comic-Con.
