Laurel and Hardy (TV series) explained

Genre:	Comedy
Voices:	Larry Harmon Jim MacGeorge Paul Frees Allan Melvin Don Messick Hal Smith Janet Waldo Doug Young
Narrated:	Paul Frees
Theme Music Composer:	Ted Nichols
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Num Seasons:	1
Num Episodes:	156
Producer:	William Hanna Joseph Barbera David L. Wolper
Runtime:	5 minutes
Company:	Larry Harmon Pictures David L. Wolper Productions Hanna-Barbera Productions
First Aired:	^[1]

Laurel and Hardy is a 1966–1967 American animated television series and an updated version of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's comedic acts by the animation studio Hanna-Barbera and Larry Harmon Productions.^[2] Harmon had been developing the series since 1961, while Stan Laurel was still alive, although Laurel had very little involvement.^[3] ^[4]

A total of 156 shorts were made, each having its own opening and closing wrap-arounds, to make them easy to air in syndication. As Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel had died in 1957 and 1965 respectively, Jim MacGeorge provided the voice of Ollie, while Harmon voiced Stan.^[5] They would later reprise their roles in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

The majority of the cartoons usually ended with Stanley whimpering in a high register whenever things went wrong for the both of them, as they were running away after causing the damages to their situations.

Reception

The one-season show was not well received. Critic Leonard Maltin said, "To criticize these cartoons is pointless. Any imitation, even a good one, simply cannot be Laurel and Hardy... No one can duplicate Laurel and Hardy's greatness because they were unique."^[6]

Voices

Larry Harmon as Stan Laurel
Jim MacGeorge as Oliver Hardy

Additional Voices: Paul Frees, Allan Melvin, Don Messick, Hal Smith, Janet Waldo, Doug Young

Episodes

1. Can't Keep a Secret Agent
2. Mutt Rut
3. How Green Was My Lawn Mower
4. Prairie Panicked
5. Missile Hassle
6. No Moose Is A Good Moose
7. The Bullnick
8. High Fly Guys
9. False Alarms
10. Hillbilly Bully
11. Ball Maul
12. Handle with Care
13. You And Your Big Mouse
14. Sitting Roomers
15. Babes in Sea Land
16. Rome Roamers
17. Rocket Wreckers
18. Hot Rod Hardy
19. Knight Mare
20. Defective Story
21. Crash & Carry
22. Desert Knights
23. Tale of a Sale
24. Fancy Trance
25. Suspect in Custody
26. Auto-Matic Panic
27. Shiver Mr. Timbers
28. Stand Out, Stand In
29. Big Bear Bungle
30. Shrinking Shrieks
31. Mounty Rout
32. Bond Bombed
33. What Fur?
34. Spook Loot
35. Camera Bugged
36. Plumber Pudding
37. Robust Robot
38. Vet Fret
39. Copper Bopper

40. Feud For Thought
41. Love Me, Love My Puppy
42. Squawking Squatter
43. Goofy Gopher Goof-Up
44. Sassy Sea Serpent
45. Wacky Quackers
46. Truant Ruined
47. Country Buzzin'
48. Naps & Saps
49. Bad Day In Baghdad
50. The Missing Fink
51. Always Leave 'Em Giggling
52. Badge Budgers
53. Two for the Crow
54. Good Hoods
55. Animal Shelter
56. Tragic Magic
57. Ring-A-Ding King
58. Ups & Downs
59. Beanstalk Boobs
60. Leaping Leprechaun
61. Tourist Trouble
62. The Genie Was Meanie
63. Mars Little Helper
64. Curfew For Kids
65. Lion Around
66. Shoot-Down at Sundown
67. Horse Detectives
68. The Two Musketeers
69. Ali Boo Boo
70. Ghost Town Clowns
71. Hurricane Hood
72. Ride and Seek
73. Tee Pee TV
74. Shoe-Shoe Baby
75. Train Strain
76. Monster Bash
77. Say Uncle, Ants
78. Kitty Pity

79. Frigid-Ray-Gun
80. Southern Hospital-Ity
81. Frog Frolic
82. Shutter Bugged
83. Circus Run Aways
84. Witch Switch
85. Pie in the Sky
86. Slipper Slip-Up
87. Sign of the Times
88. Two Many Cooks
89. Flea's A Crowd
90. Dingbats
91. We Clothe at Five
92. The Stone Age Kid
93. Quick Change
94. Whing Ding
95. Termite Might
96. To Bee or Not to Bee
97. Mistaken Identi-Tree
98. Rodeo Doug
99. Pet Shop Polly
100. Laff Staff
101. Try and Get It
102. Riverboat Detectives
103. Unhealthy Wealthy
104. Honesty Always Pays
105. Plant Rant
106. Sky-High Noon
107. Get Tough
108. Handy Dandy Diary
109. Jumpin Judo
110. They Take The Cake
111. Gold Storage
112. Lots of Bad Luck
113. Kangaroo Kaper
114. The Finks Robbery
115. Strictly for the Birds
116. Birds of a Feather
117. Bird Brains

118. Switcheroony
119. Mechanical Mess-Up
120. Horsey Sense
121. Bowling Boobs
122. Dog Tired
123. Wayout Campers
124. Goofer Upper Golfers
125. My Friend the Inventor
126. Hard Day's Work
127. Sky-Scraper-Scape
128. Sleepy King
129. Fair Play
130. Fly Foot Flat Feet
131. Baboon Tycoon
132. A Real Live Wife
133. Wishy Washy Fishy Tale
134. Stuporman
135. Wheel and Deal Seal
136. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
137. Lumber Jerks
138. That's Snow Biz
139. A Clothes Call
140. Boot Hill Bill
141. Stop Action Faction
142. Molecule Rule
143. Peek A Boo Pachyderm
144. Mummy Dummy
145. Nitey Knight
146. Fly Spy
147. Franken-Stan
148. A Real Tycoon
149. Puppet Show Down
150. Madcap Mischief
151. Secret Agents 000
152. Flight of the Bumble-Brains
153. Salt Water Daffy
154. From Wrecks to Riches
155. Truant or Consequences
156. Flipped Van Winkles

^[7]

Comic book

From 1969 - 1974, Thorpe & Porter in the United Kingdom published a color comic book series based on the Laurel & Hardy cartoon, which lasted 141 issues plus eight extra large issues.

In 1972, DC Comics published a single issue of a comic book series based on the Laurel and Hardy cartoon series. The cover for the unpublished second issue appears in The DC Vault.^[8]

Home media

The series has been made available in VHS and DVD formats over the last 35 years.

VHS

Congress Video Group released two volumes in 1986 consisting of the following entries:
- Volume 1 – "Can't Keep a Secret Agent", "How Green Was My Lawn Mower", "Handle With Care", "Camera Bugged", "Plumber Pudding", "Robust Robot".^[9]
- Volume 2 – "Copper Bopper", "Feud For Thought", "Love Me, Love My Puppy", "Squawking Squatter", "Goofy Gopher Goof-Up", and "Sassy Sea Serpent".^[10]
Video Gems released the first 20 episodes on VHS over two volumes in 1988:
- Crash and Carry – episodes 1-10
- Can't Keep a Secret Agent – episodes 21-30
Parkfield Entertainment released three volumes in 1988.
- Volume 1 – episodes 51-60, 71-72
- Volume 2 – episodes 61-70, 73-74
- Volume 3 – episodes 81-96
Gemini Entertainment LTD released 12 entries in 1991 as Always Leave 'Em Giggling

DVD

The complete series was released on DVD in France in November 2012; it included 68 episodes in English with French subtitles.^[11]

External links

- Episode guide at the Big Cartoon DataBase

Notes and References

Web site: A Laurel and Hardy Cartoon . TV.com . October 16, 2019.
Book: Woolery . George W. . Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 . 1983 . Scarecrow Press . 0-8108-1557-5 . limited . March 14, 2020 . 168–169.
http://www.lettersfromstan.com/stan-1961-05.html "Letters From Stan-May 1961"
http://www.lettersfromstan.com/stan-1963-01.html "Letters From Stan-January 1963"
Book: Perlmutter . David . The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows . 2018 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1538103739 . 351.
Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 488–489.
bcdb.com February 9, 2011
Book: Pasko, Martin. Martin Pasko. The DC Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the DC Universe . limited. Running Press. 2008. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 978-0762432578. 139. Unpublished 1972 Laurel and Hardy cover by Henry Scarpelli with Superman figure redrawn by Joe Orlando..
Book: Larry Harmon's Laurel & Hardy cartoons, volume 1 (VHS tape, 1986) . [WorldCat.org] . February 22, 1999 . 32404661.
Book: Larry Harmon's Laurel & Hardy cartoons, volume 2 : a Laurel & Hardy cartoon. (VHS tape, 1986) . WorldCat.org . February 22, 1999 . 26473727.
Web site: Larry Harmon . Coffret Laurel et Hardy dessins animes - Larry Harmon : DVD & Blu-ray . Amazon.fr . February 17, 2015.