Will the complete UNDERDOG show ever be released? (1 Viewer)

[Carlos Garcia]

I was wondering if the complete UNDERDOG SHOW will ever get released on DVD? I know, there's a set already out there, but that set doesn't represent the show the way I remember it. Underdog used to consist of other shows like GO GO GOPHERS, TENNESSEE TUXEDO, COMMANDER MCBRAGG and more. Also missing from the Underdog DVD set are all the cool cliffhanger endings the show had. I really wish they would stop tampering with TV shows, and when they finally release them, they would release them the way they were originally shown. this means with the same original music, same original shows within the shows, unedited, etc. At the very least, there should be warning labels on edited shows, or shows missing original footage or music. This way the consumer can decide whether or not they want to spend money on a set like this (I wouldn't). Anyone else agree?

 

[david_slater]

i agree,
im sure they would never release shows like GO GO GOPHERS and COMMANDER MCBRAGG on dvd on there own.
if they did this would be ok but i know they wont.
as long as they are in order in a complete box set.
shows that did not run that long should be in complete box sets. shows that have at least 2 Seasons could be released in Season box sets. there are some shows where the Seasons was short so they can still be in a complete box set.
a lot of shows will fit on just 2 dvds. no box set needed.
just one cast for 2 dvds.

 

[Daryl Stovall]

Where O Where can my Underdog be? Dang! I miss the song stylings of Polly Purebread.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I'd definitely buy it no question but only if it were complete.

 

[Nelson Au]

Did a search and found this thread for Underdog. Looks like a new set is coming out from Classic Media. Saw that TVShowsonDVD has a mention of it. From what I can find on Amazon, looks like the show is intact here, with the other shorts like Tennesee Tuxedo. That's what I was looking for! The whole show as it was when we first saw it as kids. Did I read it right?

The sets consist of 6 shows and will be out in 3 volumes, called Ultimate Underdog, release on July 24th, 2007. And it looks more exciting then the new movie....speaking for myself of course.

 

[Tory]

Some of those shows didn't originally air with it, they originally aired with King Leonardo & His Short Subjects and Tennessee Tuxedo & His Tales but were later repackaged together which is fine by me if all are intended for release I guess but I am a little disappointed with the format of this release, larger boxsets with more material is needed.

 

[Mark Y]

I can almost guarantee they are not gonna get it right, but here's some background on how these cartoons were originally shown and in what formats. It gets confusing because various segments got swapped from one show to another almost arbitrarily; I still haven't sorted all of this out.

King Leonardo & His Short Subjects (1960)
The King & Odie (#1-78)
The Hunter (#1-39)
Tooter Turtle
Twinkles
Columbia Pictures theatrical cartoons

Tennessee Tuxedo & His Tales (1963)
Tennessee Tuxedo
The Hunter (#40-65)
The King & Odie (#79-104)
Tooter Turtle (repeats, replaced The Hunter starting in Season 2)

The Underdog Show (1964)
Underdog
Go Go Gophers
The Hunter
Aesop & Son (repeats; actually a Jay Ward cartoon; alternated with Go Go Gophers)

Cartoon Cut-Ups (1966)
Underdog
Tennessee Tuxedo
Commander McBragg

The Beagles (1967)
The Beagles
The King & Odie
Klondike Kat

The Dudley Do-Right Show (1968)
Dudley Do-Right
The Hunter
Tooter Turtle
Commander McBragg

Some sources also state that "Klondike Kat" aired on the network version of "Tennessee Tuxedo" and "Commander McBragg" aired on "The Underdog Show." However, I have yet to find any network tapes of either show with these cartoons in it. Apparently, at one point there also was a show called "Tennessee Tuxedo And The Beagles." The Beagles cartoons themselves are supposedly lost.

The later syndicated packages are a complete mess:

Tennessee Tuxedo & His Tales (syndicated)
Tennessee Tuxedo
Tooter Turtle (or Peabody's Improbable History)
Bullwinkle's Corner (or Mr. Know-It-All)
Aesop And Son (or Fractured Fairy Tales)

The Underdog Show (syndicated)
Underdog
Tennessee Tuxedo (or Go Go Gophers and Klondike Kat)
Commander McBragg (or Sing-A-Long Family)

Dudley Do Right And Friends
Dudley Do-Right
The King & Odie
Commander McBragg
The Hunter

At this point, I'd just be happy if they released the original cartoons as originally shown, no cutting four-parters together into one long cartoon, no fake remade titles with cheesy keyboard music, etc. But I'm not even going to hold my breath for that.

 

[Bryan Krantz]

I understand them leaving out the extra show-fillers like Commander McBragg and Go-Go Gophers (even though those shorts were fantastic on their own merit) as the studio is always looking to give you as little as possible. But re-editing the Underdog segments into one program? That is heresy! I too loved the cliffhangers.

 

[MattPeriolat]

Well, I was checking out the Sunday ads yesterday and I saw Target offering both Volume 1 of Underdog and a Target Exclusive Complete Underdog. I honestly don't know the details, but know they go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, July 24.

That's what I know, take it for what you will.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for the Target tip!

I read some reviews on Amazon and DVD Talk and it wasn't good. Some minor edits and odd assemblidge of episodes from various seasons, he said. He was dissapointed that there are no complete season sets in correct order and content. Underdog and other shorts are intact though. I don't know the original order of seasons or shows, so the above listing is great! Thanks for doing that. I did watch this as a kid in the 60's.

Someone also mentioned that the shows are intact, but time compressed. I may buy this anyway to satisfy my curiousity and fondness for these. I really like the production design, as I recall, the way the artists designed the contraptions and cars, they almost victorian!

 

[Mark Y]

I got all three of the new DVDs and have watched all or parts of two of them.

My take is that they might not actually be "time compressed," but may actually originate from PAL transfers, accounting for the speedup. But I'm not sure.

These sets are a sampler only. There appears to have been no effort to present anything in any kind of sequence at all. Some of the "shows" are around 18 minutes, some are around 22 minutes. As far as I have ever seen, these shows never aired anywhere in these configurations, unless this is from some foreign syndicated package. Essentially, they are using Underdog as the "title hook" and the other segments are filled with other Total TV characters from any of the studio's other shows. (Tennessee Tuxedo And His Tales, King Leonardo And His Short Subjects, etc.)

Quality on all the segments is excellent, especially compared to the 25-year-old film transfers that have been playing in syndication.

Some of the "bonus material" is duplicated from the previous 3 DVDs Classic Media released, and some is new to these DVDs. Most of the cartoons I've looked at have thankfully had their original title sequences, except for a couple of Commander McBragg shorts which still have the fake remade titles. I am glad to see some King & Odie segments presented properly--the majority were 2-part episodes, and past releases often have included only the second part of each.

It's nothing short of bizarre to have an Underdog intro (lopped off the top of an Underdog cartoon) replacing the individual intros of Tooter Turtle, Hunter and the rest. That makes no sense at all. (Especially since Tooter Turtle never aired as part of the Underdog show.)

It's an improvement over the previous DVDs they put out, I have to say that.

As far as original running order, I have a list of the US syndicated shows, and as far as I know, the Underdog segments themselves are in their original running order except for "Tricky Trap By Tap Tap" (a one-shot cartoon made as a sequel to the "From Hopeless To Helpless" 4-parter) taken out of sequence and placed after the first three one-shot Underdog segments ("Safe Waif," "March Of The Monsters" and "Simon Says"). This was probably done so the episodes that followed (all 4-part storylines) would be uniform and would be presented within two consecutive half-hours. The US syndicated "Underdog Show" also includes the first 34 (of 70) Tennessee Tuxedo segments (Tuxedo originally was a separate show), the first 27 (of 48) Go Go Gophers, and all of Commander McBragg and Klondike Kat (not sure whose show these originally premiered on). There are three segments of "Sing-A-Long Family," which show up three times throughout the 62 half-hours...that's all I've ever seen, I don't know if there were ever any more than that. (These also showed up as part of the syndicated Bullwinkle and Uncle Waldo.) The last two Underdog syndicated half-hours included a couple of one shot characters (Cauliflower Cabbie and Gene Hattree), which didn't show up in the Cartoon Network versions...those cartoons were replaced with additional Tennessee Tuxedo segments.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Mark. I did stop by Target yesterday out of curiousity and found that they had packaged all 3 sets into one box and the price was very right. I guess this was the Target exclusive package.

I sampled the first Underdog episodes with the shorts; The Simon Says, Dry up! segments, Tennesse Tuxedo, Commander McBragg, Go-Go Goofers and Tooter Turtle. I forgot about Tooter Turtle!

It's odd to see Underdog without the Intro, Shoeshine boy segment. What was also odd is the speed, especially Don Adams' whose voice is already deliberately high for the character. Wally Cox' voice also sounds odd. It's a real pity this could not have been better. The video quality and the source materials were definitely in great shape! Oh well, it's the first Underdog DVD I've bought.

 

[Mark Y]

Did you know that...

...the "Shoeshine Boy intro segment" you mention above is actually the first minute or so of the first Underdog cartoon! They just snipped it off and stuck it on the beginning of the rest of the half-hours.

 

[rayman1701]

So I was looking around Amazon last night and found this set coming out on Jan. 24th 2012: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SQRYG4 from Shout! Factory. If this gets as close as the reviewer says the initial info seems to indicate, then this could be a really really cool set. I was really disappointed in those sampler DVD's, since they didn't have very many "episodes/shorts". I know the way Underdog was put together makes this kind of thing hard to put together, but if they get it in the ballpark it will be awesome.


I did a search and didn't see anything discussing this set yet, so that's why I brought this one back to life.

 

[Statskeeper]

I just got an e-mail from Amazon informing me that the set has been delayed until 3/20/12. Bummer.

 

[ChrisALM]

I received an email from Amazon too, about the delay. I hope this means they are working extra hard to make this release the best that it can be.

 

[Statskeeper]

According to TVShowsonDVD.com it was a "system error" on the part of Amazon and the sets will ship out next week.

 

[ChrisALM]

I saw that, too. After reading the Mark Arnold review on Amazon I was hoping Shout might be going back to correct some of the minor problems, but I guess not. All in all, it still sounds like it will be a great set.