Turner Classic Birdman

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Turner Classic Birdman
Network	Adult Swim (Cartoon Network)
Premiere date	August 21, 2005
Starring	Gary Cole Stephen Colbert Peter MacNicol John Michael Higgins Neil Ross Robert Osborne
Music composed by	Michael Kohler
Writer(s)	Michael Ouweleen Erik Richter
Director(s)	Richard Ferguson-Hull
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"Turner Classic Birdman" is the fifth episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law season three, and the twenty-fifth overall. It aired on August 21, 2005 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. It was written by series creators, Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter, produced by Evan W. Adler, and directed by Richard Ferguson-Hull. The Hanna-Barbera series ridiculed in this episode is Birdman itself.

Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies presents "Busy Day for Birdman," which bridges the gap between Birdman and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Live-action Robert Osborne	Himself
General	Unavailable
Reducto	Stephen Colbert
Birdman/Harvey Birdman	Gary Cole
Avenger	Unavailable
Falcon 7	Stephen Colbert
Vulturo	Neil Ross
Mentok, the Mindtaker	John Michael Higgins
Mamie Van Doren
X, the Eliminator	Peter MacNicol
Birdman's date	N/A
Mr. Peebles
Mr. Dibble
Fred MacMurray
Barbara Stanwyck
Fred Capra
Lucille Reyburn
Frank Fay
Robert Taylor

Organizations

• United States Army
• United States Coast Guard
• Sebben & Sebben

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Virginia
      • Arlington
        • The Pentagon
    • Bird Lair
    • Reducto's lair
    • Mentok's lair
    • X's lair
    • Washington, D.C.
      • Sebben & Sebben offices

Objects

• Reducto's shrink gun
• Contro-Ray
• Tab
• Vice Ray

Vehicles

• X's jet

Music

The music was composed by Michael Kohler.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: August 21, 2005 on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network)

Behind the scenes

• The episode title and opening of the episode is a parody of Turner Classic Movies, hosted by Robert Osborne at the time.
• As Osbourne talks about Birdman's past superhero career, the title cards of the Birdman episode "Morto the Marauder," and Galaxy Trio episode "Revolt of the Robots" are displayed on screen.
• The whole episode except for the final scene with Harvey, is presented in the original style of Birdman, even the end credits. The only time it's indicated that it's still a Harvey Birdman episode is from Osborne.
• This is the fourth episode to get a title card, although it is done for the "Busy Day for Birdman" segment.
• Birdman asking for "Threepio" to shut down the trash compactors on the detention level, is taken from a line said by Luke Skywalker in the film Star Wars Episode V: A New Hope.
• Double Indemnity is a real film released by Paramount Pictures in 1944, which Osbourne suddenly starts talking about at the end of the episode.

Errors

• Peter MacNicol is credited as Peter Mac Nicol.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • July 24, 2007: Warner Home Video releases Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Volume Three on DVD.
• In Australia:
  • August 6, 2008: Madman Entertainment releases Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Volume Three on DVD.
  • November 28, 2012: Madman Entertainment releases Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: The Complete Cases on DVD.
• In the United Kingdom and Ireland:
  • December 7, 2009: Revolver Entertainment releases Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Seasons 1,2 & 3 on DVD.
  • April 12, 2010: Revolver Entertainment releases Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Volume Three on DVD.