In
1961, UPA Productions produced and released a series of "Dick Tracy"
cartoons to nationally syndicated TV. WPIX Ch. 11 was the first NYC
based station to air the cartoons weekday evenings.
Unlike
the original Chester Gould comic strip (which was violent and surreal)
the UPA "Dick Tracy" cartoons were played more for laughs. The villains
were foiled by the members of Tracy's detective squad: "Hemlock Holmes",
"Officer Heap O'Calorie", "Joe Jitsu", & "Go Go Gomez".
Character
actor Everett Sloan was the voice of Dick Tracy, Benny Rubin was the
voice of Joe Jitsu, former network tv kids show comedy performer "Uncle
Johnny" Coons did the voices of Stooge Villa, Mumbles & Officer Heap
O'Calorie, Paul Frees & Mel Blanc did the voices of "Prune Face",
"Flat Top", "BB Eyes" and "Sketch Parrie". Jerry Hauser was the voice
of "The Mole".
Joe
Bolton hosted the series as "Police Chief Joe" Bolton. The show debuted
on Thursday evening, September 7, 1961.
"Police
Chief Bolton" entertained and informed the visitors to his police
station set until the
show was dropped on Friday, August 31, 1963.
A
year later "Dick Tracy" cartoons were paired with "Popeye"
movie cartoons on a weekday afternoon kids show: "The Popeye/Dick
Tracy Show!" which debuted on WPIX TV Ch. 11 in NYC on Monday,
September 14, 1964.
"Captain Jack" McCarthy entertained and informed "his Mateys" between
the usual cartoons until
Ch. 11 dry docked the show on Friday, October 16, 1964.
"The
Dick Tracy Show" returned in the late 1970's on WOR Ch. 9 where the
cartoons were screened without a host. The last NYC based station
to air the cartoons was WNYW Ch. 5, they screened the "DC" cartoons
on "The Fox Five Kids Club" hosted by Craig Marin's "Flexatoon
Puppets".
The
Fox Five Kids Club was seen weekday afternoons from 1990 until station
execs at Ch. 5 shut the doors to the Clubhouse on Friday, March 15,
1991.