The Bugs Bunny Show on DVD and Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Timothy E]

On November 14, 1961, "Man's Best Friend" was the title and the theme of The Bugs Bunny Show. Previous weeks' episodes had focused on cats and birds, so a dog-themed episode was inevitable. Bugs began the episode with a slide show of canines, and had some technical difficulties with the slides failing to match up with the subject of discussion.

After the technical difficulties were resolved, the first dog to be highlighted was the noble sheepdog and his nemesis, the wolf, in Sheep Ahoy(1954).

A dog who loves food and has gone to great lengths to fulfill his needs, with the help of a docile cat, was the focus in Chow Hound(1951).

Butch was the final dog to be featured in this episode, as his paternal instincts created tension with Sylvester in Pappy's Puppy(1955).

 

[Timothy E]

On November 21, 1961, Bugs introduced Penelope and Penbroke as special guests on "Ballpoint Puns." The pens performed various tricks and provided titles and artwork to introduce each of the animated shorts featured in the episode.

In Duck, Rabbit, Duck!(1953), Daffy tried to trick Elmer the hunter into believing that it was not really duck season, but actually rabbit season.

Sylvester had Claws For Alarm(1954) after Porky stopped for the night in a ghost town and was oblivious to the fact that their hotel was populated by psychopathic mice. This short preceded publication of Robert Bloch's Psycho by 5 years.

In the final short, Daffy sought refuge from the winter weather and hid in Porky's home, but Porky's dog was unwilling to share the space in Cracked Quack(1952).

It is worth noting that Claws for Alarm was replaced with Room and Bird(1951) when Ballpoint Puns was rerun on Saturday morning during the 1966-1967 television season. This substitution of shorts occurred most likely because Claws for Alarm had been appropriated for use at that time in The Porky Pig Show(1964-1967). As a result, there were at least 2 separate packages of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts being distributed by the studio during the mid-1960s in The Bugs Bunny Show and The Porky Pig Show. It seems logical that shorts included in The Bugs Bunny Show were not also included at the same time in The Porky Pig Show. This is discussed in greater detail in this thread in posts numbered 53 and 57.

 

[Timothy E]

On November 28, 1961, music was the theme of The Bugs Bunny Show in the episode entitled "The Unfinished Symphony". Bugs performed on the piano during the show, and each of the shorts featured this week had music central to the plot.

A housecat teamed up with a mouse to play the piano in Pizzicato Pussycat(1955).

Bugs then conducted a symphony in inimitable fashion in Baton Bunny(1959).

The episode closed with a jazz-themed retelling of the story of the Three Little Pigs in Three Little Bops(1957).

 

[Timothy E]

On December 5, 1961, cops and robbers were the subject of the evening for The Bugs Bunny Show in the episode entitled "Prison To Prison."

This episode is something of a parody of Alfred Hitchcock Presents(1955-1962) with Bugs imitating the director in speech pattern and appearance as he introduced each of the short subjects.

(Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt directed The Last Hungry Cat(1961) with Tweety and Sylvester, which was itself a parody of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Although The Last Hungry Cat was not featured in this episode, it was actually released in December of 1961, the same month that this episode aired of The Bugs Bunny Show.)

Daffy Duck took on the persona of Victorian era detective Dorlock Homes, with Porky Pig as his Watkins, in Deduce, You Say(1956).

Next, scientist Calvin Q. Calculus invented a portable hole, which was used by a villain for nefarious purposes in The Hole Idea(1955).

FInally, Bugs showed gangsters that crime does not pay in Bugsy and Mugsy(1957).

 

[Timothy E]

On December 12, 1961, the foibles of humankind were the subject of the evening on The Bugs Bunny Show in an episode entitled "Go, Man, Go". Bugs began the episode with a discussion of the evolution of man's methods of transportation, which led into There Auto Be A Law(1953).

The second cartoon subject addressed the modern difficulties of the average housewife in Wild Wife(1954).

In the final cartoon, the encroachment of freeways into the rustic domesticity of Bugs' home was the subject of No Parking Hare(1954).

The bridging footage for this episode was produced by the Robert McKimson animation unit.

 

[Timothy E]

On December 19, 1961, Bugs was too inattentive and preoccupied to meet his cues for his hosting duties in an episode entitled "I'm Just Wild About Hare." The result is that the announcer introduced all of the shorts for the evening instead of Bugs.

Daphne Duck was more receptive than Daffy to a visit from the stork in Stork Naked (1955).

Then, the Coyote tried once again to catch the Roadrunner in Going! Going! Gosh! (1952).

In the final short of the evening, it was Touche And Go (1957) for Pepe on the French Riviera.

 

[Robbie^Blackmon]

I always see the title of this thread and think, "Is it finally..??" I end up going to the most recent post, see it and remember, "Oh, this is just the bootleg screenshot thread."

Don't get me wrong, the artwork and memories are nice, but the whole thread should have a different title, maybe.

 

[Timothy E]

I always see the title of this thread and think, "Is it finally..??" I end up going to the most recent post, see it and remember, "Oh, this is just the bootleg screenshot thread."

Don't get me wrong, the artwork and memories are nice, but the whole thread should have a different title, maybe.

I hope that someday you will read this thread and see that this show has finally been restored and released.

This thread has been viewed more than 18,000 times just a little over 12 months since it was started. The response on this thread has been overwhelmingly positive, with the exception of one thread-crapper. Clearly, there is strong consumer interest in The Bugs Bunny Show and I hope the people who are the current managers for Bugs Bunny take note of that interest. We know that people from all the major film studios, including Warner Brothers, do read The Home Theater Forum.

Maybe the next time that plans are being laid for yet another Space Jam movie, the people involved will say “Let’s do it, but let’s also bring out this great TV series with original cartoon footage created by the likes of Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Robert McKimson, Arthur Davis, and others, with original dialogue recorded specially for the show by the great Mel Blanc!”

All I want for Christmas is the complete series of The Bugs Bunny Show on Blu-ray. Is there anyone else who feels the same?

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

I forgot to say to you that during the 1982-83 season on CBS, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show was reduced back to 1 hour to make way for The Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy and Speedy Show, also 1 hour long. The latter, which ran for just six weeks from September 18 to October 23, 1982, was an amalgamation of CBS's earlier The Sylvester & Tweety Show (1976-77) and NBC's The Daffy Duck Show (1978-82; renamed in 1981 to The Daffy-Speedy Show).

After the sudden cancellation of The Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy and Speedy Show, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show would, for the first and only time in its history, be a solid two hours long (thanks to the additional content from the canceled companion series). This unprecedented format ran on CBS from October 30, 1982 to January 29, 1983. Therefore, not only were there the traditional Part 2 and Part 3 mid-show bumpers, but now there was also a Part 4 mid-show bumper.

~Ben

 

[Timothy E]

This image is one of the promotional materials for The Bugs Bunny Show. This is printed as a photograph on AGFA stock.

 

[Timothy E]

On January 16, 1962, The Bugs Bunny Show returned with its first new entry of 1962, in the episode entitled "Do or Diet." The Tazmanian Devil interrupted Bugs in his hosting duties, and so Bugs recalled the first time he met Taz, which led into presentation of Bedevilled Rabbit(1957).

(Technically, Bugs met the Tasmanian Devil for the first time in Devil May Hare(1954) which preceded Bedevilled Rabbit by 3 years. The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies never let strict continuity get in the way of telling a good story or a good joke, so for purposes of telling the story in Do or Diet, this is Bugs telling the story of how he first met the Tasmanian Devil.)

Bugs then recommended a diet of carrots to Taz, with the idea that carrots would offer him the same level of strength as Daffy in Stupor Duck(1956).
Stupor Duck was a brilliant parody of the Superman Fleischer cartoon series as well as the Superman TV series starring George Reeves which had been a staple of 1950s television.

Do or Diet concluded with Little Boy Boo(1954) in which Foghorn Leghorn attempted to worm his way into the good graces of Miss Prissy and her son, Egghead, Jr., to avoid freezing during the upcoming winter.

The interstitial footage for this episode was produced by the Robert McKimson unit, and all 3 cartoons included were directed by McKimson.

 

[Timothy E]

On February 13, 1962, The Bugs Bunny Show presented a parody of the TV show This Is Your Life(1952-1961) in an episode entitled This Is A Life?

In this episode, Bugs and Daffy were in the studio audience of the show hosted by Elmer Fudd, with Bugs seemingly unaware that he was to be the subject of this episode, while Daffy complaining that he would have made a more interesting subject than Bugs. Most of the bridging footage for this episode was adapted from the original theatrical short entitled This Is A Life?(1955).

Some interesting changes were made to This Is A Life?(1955) in expanding it to a full length episode of The Bugs Bunny Show. The fake sponsor plug from the Wishy Washy Washing Machine Company of Walla Walla, Washington was removed from the opening title, perhaps to avoid confusion with actual sponsors.

This Is A Life?(1955) originally featured clips from A Hare Grows In Manhattan(1947), Hare Do(1949), and Buccaneer Bunny(1948). This full length episode retained the brief footage from A Hare Grows In Manhattan(1947), but substituted footage from other shorts to pad out the episode.

Following the flashback of Bugs as an infant from A Hare Grows In Manhattan(1947), new footage was created to bridge into Robot Rabbit(1953). Bugs and Elmer looked at Bugs' photo album, and Bugs talked about various relatives, including his Uncle Ben, who always liked to tell a certain story which Bugs said was not suitable to share on a family TV show. Bugs then reminisced about the occasion in which Elmer tried to use modern technology to get Bugs off his farm in Robot Rabbit(1953).

Yosemite Sam was introduced, following a commercial break, as another notable personality from the life of Bugs Bunny.

In the original This Is A Life?, this footage led directly into a clip from Buccaneer Bunny(1948). For this episode of The Bugs Bunny Show, Mel Blanc created new dialogue for the animation so that Yosemite Sam recalled, instead, the time that Bugs was his partner in the Klondike, which segued into the opening of 14 Carrot Rabbit(1952).

Sam also demanded that Bugs perform the carnival act of Fearless Freep in High Diving Hare(1949).

Bugs laughed enthusiastically in recalling his experiences with Elmer and Sam, while Elmer and Sam did not remember those incidents with the same fondness.

Sam and Elmer prepared a booby-trapped gift for Bugs, but after a brief game of hot potato, Daffy insisted that he deserved it more than Bugs, and he was the winner of the game.

All of the shorts featured in this episode were created by the Friz Freleng unit, as was the new bridging footage.

 

[Timothy E]

On March 13, 1962, Bugs and Porky hosted an episode with an outer space theme entitled The Astro-Nuts.

Bugs appeared as Super Rabbit in his own superhero costume. His superhero power was speed, which he demonstrated by running to stage right at such velocity that his costume stayed behind him. Bugs suggested that we should check in with Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century(1953).

The layouts by Maurice Noble and backgrounds conceived by Philip DeGuard for Duck Dodgers are just amazing.

After playing second fiddle to Daffy in Duck Dodgers, Porky had his hands full once again while dealing with his cowardly cat Sylvester, and some Martians, in Jumpin' Jupiter(1955).

Porky returned in his Duck Dodgers space cadet uniform to introduce one of Bugs' most memorable adventures in outer space in Hare-Way To The Stars(1958).

The original footage created for this episode was produced by the Chuck Jones unit, and each of the animated shorts integrated into The Astro-Nuts was originally directed by Chuck Jones.

 

[LouA]

So, now that we are in 2022, has Warner Brothers made any attempt to restore the original Bugs Bunny Show? I know that reassembling this material in color would be a daunting task, but it would be worth it so that WB had a complete archive of Looney Toons. Most , if not all if the original cartoons have been restored and released on DVD and/or Blu-ray, so maybe it’s time for the Bugs Bunny Show.

 

[Paintbeanie]

So, now that we are in 2022, has Warner Brothers made any attempt to restore the original Bugs Bunny Show? I know that reassembling this material in color would be a daunting task, but it would be worth it so that WB had a complete archive of Looney Toons. Most , if not all if the original cartoons have been restored and released on DVD and/or Blu-ray, so maybe it’s time for the Bugs Bunny Show.

That is not entirely true, out of the 1002 original cartoon shorts produced through the 1960s only 689 of them have been released on dvd/blu ray. This leaves over 300 cartoons still not available on dvd/blu ray due to a variety of reasons such as cost and also fear of getting sued due to the content in the cartoons.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

Does anyone familiar with watching The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show on CBS remember the very first time it had been expanded from 90 minutes to two consecutive hours, nine months before NBC pulled the plug on The Daffy-Speedy Show?

It was on this run, and the subsequent 1982-83 run following the cancellation of the six-week long The Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy and Speedy Show, in which there was also a part 4 bumper.

~Ben

 

[Desslar]

That is not entirely true, out of the 1002 original cartoon shorts produced through the 1960s only 689 of them have been released on dvd/blu ray. This leaves over 300 cartoons still not available on dvd/blu ray due to a variety of reasons such as cost and also fear of getting sued due to the content in the cartoons.

Is there list of those unavailable shorts somewhere? Would be interested to see what's on there and why.

 

[Paintbeanie]

Is there list of those unavailable shorts somewhere? Would be interested to see what's on there and why.

There’s a website dedicated to getting everything released with lists out the wazoo. It doesn’t list any official specific reasons for the ones left out (it might for the censored eleven but it’s been awhile since I really looked at the page) but it does a good job on the history of the looney tunes releases on physical media and what is available and what is not. It can be found here: http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/history/

 

[Desslar]

There’s a website dedicated to getting everything released with lists out the wazoo. It doesn’t list any official specific reasons for the ones left out (it might for the censored eleven but it’s been awhile since I really looked at the page) but it does a good job on the history of the looney tunes releases on physical media and what is available and what is not. It can be found here: http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/history/

Thanks! I will check that out.

 

[Mark Y]

Does anyone familiar with watching The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show on CBS remember the very first time it had been expanded from 90 minutes to two consecutive hours, nine months before NBC pulled the plug on The Daffy-Speedy Show?

It was on this run, and the subsequent 1982-83 run following the cancellation of the six-week long The Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy and Speedy Show, in which there was also a part 4 bumper.

~Ben

I must have watched but I don't specifically remember anything about it. I do have a memory though, shortly after the "Sylvester/Tweety/Daffy/Speedy" show went off the air and those characters were folded back into BB/RR, there was a bumper played during BB/RR with the announcer saying "Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy and Speedy will be right back..."

I thought it was a mistake and they just used the wrong bumper, but decades later (and I have no memory of this at all) I now see on You Tube bumpers from the BB/RR show mentioning other characters who didn't have their own show, as if CBS was just teasing the characters coming up in the next cartoons. I don't remember exactly who was mentioned, but they are on You Tube.