The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour (partially found NBC comedy variety show; 1978)
The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour was an hour-long weekly variety TV series that was hosted by two female puppets called Honey and Sis, who are meant to be sisters and teenage star characters.
It aired on NBC in 1978 and was produced by Ken and Mitzi Welch. Only five episodes were shown; The first episode aired on April 14 and the last on May 11th.
It was possibly cancelled due to low ratings as it competed with NBC's Welcome Back, Kotter and ABC's What's Happening, and variety shows becoming an aged formula. It was replaced in its timeslot with reruns of the CHiPs series.
Plot and Production
Honey (voiced by Udana Power)[1] is the tall blonde one, age 19, who would think of herself as highly talented, while Sis (voiced by Wendy McKenzie - her only listed role), her younger redheaded sister, 17, would be the one who actually is gifted. They got into a musical career after being convinced by their voice teacher (played by Betty White), who was drunk due to too much alcohol-laced candy. They first audition for a musical, whose director (played by Melissa Sue Anderson) is being condescending.
Honey and Sis would sing, do regular sketches such as "The Disco of Life" - where they'd meet people in a disco club - or "The Truth Tub" - where they relax in a hot tub and do parodies of popular TV shows at the time, such as Laverne and Shirley and Three's Company.
There were guest stars such as Abe Vigoda, Anson Williams, Tony Randall, Dan Haggerty, Melissa Gilbert, Linda Lavin, Connie Stevens, and Twiggy. They would introduce themselves instead of an announcer.
Actors in costume impersonating famous Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters would cameo, such as Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss or Huckleberry Hound, being voiced as usual by Daws Butler.
Honey and Sis were designed by Iwao Takamoto and their costumes were created by fashion designer Bob Mackie. They were manipulated by a team of six puppeteers who would wear full-body blue leotards in front of a blue screen so that the two characters would be chroma-keyed on a different background. Takamoto remembered that the puppeteer's extent of movements was "very impressive".[2]
Availability
The episodes have never resurfaced anywhere, and no copies are known to exist. All that remains now are stories from crew and viewers, some pictures, and ads that would describe the premises.
On September 17th, 2019, YouTube user Kevin Day uploaded episode 5 of the series onto his channel. The episode features guest stars Tom Bosley, Connie Stevens, and The Sylvers.
Gallery
Footage
Images
See Also
- Boss Cat (found British opening and ending titles of "Top Cat" animated series; 1962-1989)
- CBS Storybreak "What Happened in Hamelin" (lost episode from animated series; 1987)
- Dastardly & Muttley - Operation: Pigeon Pursuit (lost build of unreleased PlayStation 2 video game; 2007-2008)
- Fender Bender 500 (partially found episodes of "Wacky Races" reboot animated series; 1990s)
- Jetsons: The Movie "Gotcha" (partially found full version of song from Hanna-Barbera animated film; 1990)
- Jetsons: The Movie - Janet Waldo performance (lost audio of animated film; 1988-1989)
- Jokebook (partially found Hanna-Barbera animated series; 1982)
- Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone (partially found episodes of syndicated animated series; 1990)
- Return of the Bunjee (lost ABC Weekend special; 1985)
- Rock Odyssey (partially lost Hanna-Barbera animated film; 1987)
- Showbiz Pizza's Yogi Bear and Boo Boo Showtape (found animatronic audio showtape; 1987)
- The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (partially found Hanna Barbera live action-animated TV series; 1968-1969)
- The Flintstones (cancelled Seth MacFarlane reboot of animated series; 2013)
- The Flintstones Movie (partially found Sega Channel exclusive build of 2D movie tie-in platformer; 1995)
- The Funny World of Fred and Bunni (partially found live-action/animated variety show pilot; 1978)
- The Moxy Show (partially found episodes of CGI anthology series; 1993-2000)
- The New Teen Titans "Just Say No!" (partially lost Hanna-Barbera anti-drug animated PSA; 1983)
- The Ruff and Reddy Show (found episodes of NBC Hanna-Barbera animated series; 1957-1960)
- The Snorks (partially found unaired pilot of Hanna-Barbera animated TV series; 1982)
External Links
References
- ↑ Interview of Udana Power. Retrieved 22 Aug '14
- ↑ Recalling of Iwao Takamoto in his memoirs. Retrieved 22 Aug '14