Space Cats

Space Cats is a 1991-1992 animated television series (with some live-action puppetry sequences) created by Paul Fusco, that aired on Saturday mornings on NBC.[1] It is a comedy show about alien felines helping mankind.

Space Cats
GenreAnimation
Adventure
Comedy
Created byPaul Fusco
StarringPaul Fusco as Captain Catgut
Charles Nelson Reilly as D.O.R.C.
Voices ofRob Paulsen
Townsend Coleman
Pat Fraley
Narrated byRobert Ridgely
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producer(s)Paul Fusco
Bernie Brillstein
Producer(s)Leslie Ann Podkin
Production company(s)Marvel Productions
Paul Fusco Productions
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 14, 1991 –
July 25, 1992

Charles Nelson Reilly made brief but memorable appearances in each episode as D.O.R.C.[2]

Plot

The Space Cats come from a planet called Trygliceride-7, ruled by a being named D.O.R.C. (short for Disembodied Omnipotent Ruler of Cats) which can be described as a disembodied, bespectacled, human head with a funny voice. The Space Cats station themselves on Earth in an underground base with a garbage can as its only access. A live-action segment is shown, where various Space Cats are seen on duty.[3]

D.O.R.C. describes each mission to the team's leader Captain Catgut. The animated segment is then shown where Captain Catgut sends the team of Tom, Scratch and Sniff out to work. At the end of each episode, the group gives the viewers a moral, then wrap up the episode vocalizing the Charge music and shouting out their team name. This was spoofed, when one Space Cat says the moral is for kids to stop watching TV and go read a book, the other two angrily remark that if that is taken seriously it would result in their own cancellation!

Episodes

Season 1
# Title Original Airdate
1"Send in the Clones"September 14, 1991 (1991-09-14)

The Spacecats are sent to investigate why a clown who runs a respected children's show has now been promoting violence and crime. The Spacecats find the real TV host who has been kidnapped and replaced with a robotic doppelganger. A sleazy show business executive now controls programming through these robot clones, and the second plan of his stage is to do this with the President of the United States. Unfortunately for the Spacecats, the bad guy has captured them and replaced them with robots, who commit crimes and ruin the reputation of the Space Cats.

Trivia: When the Space Cats are thrown in the bad guy's dungeon, three of their cellmates are Spider-Man, ALF, and George H. Bush. This was likely tribute to Spider-Man being the flagship character of Marvel Productions, ALF also having been created by Paul Fusco, and Bush being in office at the time of the episode's original airing.
2"Stinking Pollution"September 21, 1991 (1991-09-21)
Mass pollution and toxic waste has been infecting communities. The Spacecats look to root of the matter whilst being stalked by a "shadowy figure".
3"Like Cats to Water"September 28, 1991 (1991-09-28)
Earth's water supply is drying up at a rapid pace. The Space Cats are at a loss to explain, until they find a water park has been doing a roaring business.
4"Thank You, Masked Man"October 5, 1991 (1991-10-05)
An old superhero is now a has-been forgotten by the general public. A Hollywood producer says he can revive the over-the-hill superhero's career, but it is a conspiracy to dupe him into committing crimes. The Spacecats try and get him to return to his glory days.
5"A Recession is Depressin'"October 12, 1991 (1991-10-12)
The U.S. Treasury is empty, sending the country into grinding poverty. When a lack of physical robbery is found, it is shown to be the work of a crooked government employee, who beats the Space Cats to the punch through computer crime, digitally sending the stolen cash into random bank accounts across America.
6"Diamonds are Fur-ever"October 19, 1991 (1991-10-19)
7"Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall"October 26, 1991 (1991-10-26)
Beautiful women are turning into ugly hags without explanation. Captain Catgut assigns an extra member to the team, a female Space Cat named Yvette Meow. The cats link the ugliness to a hairdresser who wishes to be the only beautiful woman in the world, and suspect the movie star Lollipop is the next target. Tom, Scratch and Sniff are not enthralled about having a girl on their team, until the male Space Cats commit a big error and it is up to Yvette to save the mission.
8"The Incredible Shrinking Monuments"November 2, 1991 (1991-11-02)
9"Blintzcapades"November 9, 1991 (1991-11-09)
10"A Tale of Two Kitties"November 23, 1991 (1991-11-23)
11"Mysteriously Missing Guests"November 30, 1991 (1991-11-30)
12"Operation Pine Crud"December 7, 1991 (1991-12-07)
The Spacecats are sent to investigate deforestation. They link it to an air freshener company owned by Chuck von Crud.
13"Y.I. Auto"December 14, 1991 (1991-12-14)

Cast

Principal voice actors

Live-action segment

Additional voices

Crew

References
  1. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 406. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 568. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 772–773. ISBN 978-1476665993.


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