Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space
| Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space | |
|---|---|
 On-screen title card. | |
| Network | CBS |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera Archie Comics |
| Distributor | Taft Broadcasting |
| Original release | September 9—December 23, 1972 |
| Run time | 20 minutes |
| Starring | Janet Waldo Barbara Pariot Jackie Joseph Jerry Dexter Sherry Alberoni Casey Kasem Don Messick |
| Producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera Art Scott |
| Music composed by | Hoyt Curtin |
| Writer(s) | Larz Bourne Tom Dagenais Phil Davis Joel Kane Fred Freiberger Woody Kling Draper Lewis Bill Lutz Dennis Marks Paul West |
| Director(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Animation director(s) | Charles A. Nichols |
| Series navigation | |
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Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, titled on-screen as Josie and the Pussy Cats in Outer Space, is an American animated sci-fi musical/adventure/comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and Radio Comics, the latter an imprint of Archie Comics, for CBS' Saturday morning line-up. It ran in 1972, airing 16 episodes that spanned one season. It is a direct spin-off to Josie and the Pussycats, which aired from 1970 to 1971.
In a very brief attempt at trying to explain how Josie and the Pussycats could possibly get lost in space, the theme song depicts the group and their friends taking publicity photos in front of a spaceship (wearing futuristic space uniforms), when Alexandra pushes them out the way to get more attention, but accidentally pushes all of them in the spaceship which launches into space. They then spend the duration of the series trying to set the controls back to Earth, which inevitably get reset by Alexandra in some typical foul-up.
Instead of the pilot being about the Pussycats being rocketed into space, it is about Melody's discovery of her new alien companion, Bleep, who can only communicate through bleeping sounds, which she can only understand.
There was never a conclusion to the series, so they could be floating in space right now (or perhaps not).
The entire series has been released on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
Production
Development
Music
The theme song was sung by Patrice Holloway. The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin, credited as musical director, with Paul DeKorte as musical supervisor.
Episodes
| Episode | Original air date |
|---|---|
| 1x01 | September 9, 1972 |
| 1x02 | September 16, 1972 |
| 1x03 | September 23, 1972 |
| 1x04 | September 30, 1972 |
| 1x05 | October 7, 1972 |
| 1x06 | October 14, 1972 |
| 1x07 | October 21, 1972 |
| 1x08 | October 28, 1972 |
| 1x09 | November 4, 1972 |
| 1x10 | November 11, 1972 |
| 1x11 | November 18, 1972 |
| 1x12 | November 25, 1972 |
| 1x13 | December 2, 1972 |
| 1x14 | December 9, 1972 |
| 1x15 | December 16, 1972 |
| 1x16 | December 23, 1972 |
Cast
- Janet Waldo as Josie
- Barbara Pariot as Valerie
- Jackie Joseph as Melody
- Jerry Dexter as Alan M.
- Sherry Alberoni as Alexandra Cabot
- Casey Kasem as Alexander Cabot III and Bleep
- Don Messick as Sebastian
In popular culture
- If the MGM live-action Josie and the Pussycats film had done well, the crew had hoped to base a sequel on Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.
- In the Futurama episode "Möbius Dick," while the Planet Express ship flies through the Bermuda Tetrahedron, the crew pass an aged-looking version of Josie's spaceship, implying that Josie and the Pussycats never made it back to Earth and their rotten corpses are probably inside.
- In the Comic Book Men episode "Ghostbusting in the Stash," Mike said his favorite cartoon was Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space because it had songs in the middle of a bad guy showing up. Brian compared it to "Spice Girls in space."
- Archie Comics collaborated with ComiXology to publish the digital exclusive limited comic Josie and the Pussycats in Space.
- There is an unofficial conclusion to the series in The Bleepin' Robot Chicken Archie Comics Special, where they land in Riverdale and fight off an alien invasion. The ship is also called the S.S. Hitachi Wand due to its unintended shape.
Merchandise
Home media
On October 19, 2010, Warner Home Video released the entire series on DVD as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space!: The Complete Series.
On April 13, 2021, the Warner Archive Collection released the series in high definition Blu-ray Disc set called Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space!: The Complete Series.
