Harlem Globetrotters (TV series)

infobox television
show_name = Harlem Globetrotters


caption = Title card for Hanna-Barbera's animated "Harlem Globetrotters" series.
rating =
format = Animated
runtime = 30 minutes
producer = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
starring =
country = USA
network = CBS
first_aired = September 12, 1970
last_aired = October 16, 1971
num_episodes = 22 (16 installments airing in 1970-71; 6 new ones combined with repeats in 1971-72)
imdb_id = 0065298
tv_com_id = 3746|

"Harlem Globetrotters" (called "Harlem Globe Trotters" in the opening titles) was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera, featuring animated versions of players from the basketball team, Harlem Globetrotters.

Broadcast from September 12, 1970 to September 2, 1972 on CBS, and later re-run on NBC as "The Go-Go Globetrotters", the show featured cartoon versions of George "Meadowlark" Lemon, Freddie "Curly" Neal, Hubert "Geese" Ausbie, J.C. "Gip" Gipson, Bobby Joe Mason, and Pablo Robertson, alongside their fictional bus driver and manager Granny, and Dribbles, their dog mascot.

The series worked to a formula where the team travel somewhere and typically got involved in a local conflict that leads to one of the characters proposing a basketball game to settle the issue. To ensure the Globetrotters' defeat, the villains rig the contest to ensure that their opponents lose. However before the second half of the contest, the team always finds a way to even the odds, become all but invincible, and win the game.

History

Twenty-two episodes of "Harlem Globetrotters" were eventually produced: sixteen for the 1970-71 season, and six more for the 1971-72 season. "Harlem Globetrotters" has a place in history as being the first Saturday morning cartoon to feature African-American male characters. Hanna-Barbera's other 1970 series, "Josie and the Pussycats", which premiered 30 minutes earlier on the same day and network, was the first Saturday morning cartoon to feature an African-American character with the appearance of Valerie Brown.

After the show was cancelled, the animated Globetrotters (minus Granny and Dribbles) made three appearances on Hanna-Barbera's "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" in 1972 and 1973. Hanna-Barbera produced a second animated series starring the Globetrotters in 1979 called "The Super Globetrotters", this time featuring the players as superheroes. In spring 1999 TV Land aired repeats of "Harlem Globetrotters" on Saturday mornings as part of its TV Land Super Retrovision Saturdaze lineup.

The syndication rights to this and a few other H-B shows on CBS were acquired by Viacom Enterprises. Although Viacom would lose TV rights to most of these shows, they retained the rights to "Harlem Globetrotters". After various corporate mergers, the TV rights would be acquired by CBS Television Distribution. However, Warner Bros. owns ancillary rights to the program (through their 1996 merger with H-B's then-parent Turner Entertainment).

Gold Key Comics series

In April 1972, Gold Key Comics launched a comic adaptation of the Harlem Globetrotters animated series; their first comic book appearance was in issue #8 of Gold Key's "Hanna-Barbera Fun-In" published in July 1971. Several stories in early issues were based on episodes of the TV show. The comic series lasted for 4 years and 12 issues through January 1975.

oundtrack LP

A soundtrack album, "The Globetrotters", was produced by Jeff Barry and released in 1970 by Kirshner Records (Kirshner #KES-106), which featured tunes heard in episodes of the series (during the basketball game sequences). Don Kirshner served as music supervisor for both the series and the record. 2 singles were generated from this onetime release, one of which (a cover of the J.R. Bailey and The Cadillacs tune "Rainy Day Bells") managed to crack the Top 100, followed by 3 non-album singles. Globetrotter frontman Meadowlark Lemon was the only member of the team to be actually involved with the project, adding occasional background vocals to some tracks.

Tracklist for "The Globetrotters"

(side 1)
#The Globetrotter's Theme (Jeff Barry) - 0:41
#Globetrottin' (Jeff Barry) - 2:19
#Bouncin' All Over the World (Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield) - 3:01
#Sneaky Pete (Rudy Clark - J.R. Bailey - K. Williams) - 2:45
#Marathon Mary (Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield) - 3:06
#River Queen (Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield) - 3:06
#House Party (Rudy Clark - J.R. Bailey - K. Williams) - 3:00(side 2)
#Gravy (Rudy Clark - J.R. Bailey - K. Williams) - 3:19
#Meadowlark (Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield) - 2:22
#Lillia Peabody (Rudy Clark - J.R. Bailey - K. Williams) - 2:56
#Put a Little Meat On Your Bones, Lucinda (Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield) - 3:00
#Rainy Day Bells (Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield) - 3:02
#Cheer Me Up (Jeff Barry - Ron Dante - J. Carr) - 2:22

Commercial singles (1970)

* "Cheer Me Up" b/w "Gravy" (Kirshner # 63-5006)
* "Rainy Day Bells" b/w "Meadowlark" (Kirshner #63-5008)

Non-album singles (1971)

* "Duke of Earl" b/w "Everybody's Got Hot Pants" (Kirshner #63-5012)
* "Everybody Needs Love" b/w "ESP" (Kirshner #63-5016)
* "Sweet Georgia Brown" b/w "Bye Bye Blues" (Harlem Globetrotters #45-HGT-300 A/B)

Episodes

eason 1 (1970-1971)

:HG-1. The Great Geese Goof-Up (9/12/1970) :HG-2. Football Zeros (9/19/1970):HG-3. Hold That Hillbilly (9/26/1970):HG-4. Bad News Cruise (10/3/1970):HG-5. Rodeo Duds (10/10/1970):HG-6. Double Dribble Double (10/17/1970):HG-7. Heir Loons (10/24/1970):HG-8. From Scoop to Nuts (10/31/1970):HG-9. What a Day For a Birthday (11/7/1970):HG-10. It's Snow Vacation (11/14/1970):HG-11. The Great Ouch Doors (11/21/1970):HG-12. Hooray For Hollywood (11/28/1970):HG-13. Shook-Up Sheriff (12/5/1970):HG-14. Gone To The Dogs (12/12/1970):HG-15. The Wild Blue Yonder (12/19/1970):HG-16. Long Gone Gip (1/2/1971)

eason 2 (1971-1972)

:HG-17. A Pearl Of A Game (9/11/1971) :HG-18. Nothing To Moon About (9/18/1971) :HG-19. Pardon My Magic (9/25/1971) :HG-20. Granny's Royal Ruckus (10/2/1971) :HG-21. Soccer To Me (10/9/1971) :HG-22. Jungle Jitters (10/16/1971)

Production Credits

* Produced and Directed By: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
* Co-Producer: Alex Lovy
* Story Supervision: Joe Ruby, Ken Spears
* Story: Mike Maltese, Woody Kling, Dalton Sandifer, Tom Dagenais
* Story Direction: Earl Klein, George Singer, Paul Sommer, Howard Swift
* Voices: Eddie Anderson, Rudy Clark, Scatman Crothers, Robert Do Qui, Richard Elkins, Stu Gilliam, Meadowlark Lemon, Nancy Wible, Johnny Williams, Ken Williams
* Animation Director: Charles A. Nichols
* Production Design: Iwao Takamoto
* Production Supervisor: Victor O. Schipek
* Layout: Bob Singer, Don Morgan, Mike Arens, Rick Gonzalez, Mo Gollub, Dan Noonan, Alex Ignatiev, Herb Johnson
* Animation: Volus Jones, Rudy Cataldi, Don Patterson, John Walker, Ken Southworth, Carlo Vinci, Bob Goe, Dave Tendlar, Jack Parr
* Background Styling: Walt Peregoy
* Backgrounds: Lorraine Andrina, Bill Butler, Philip DeGuard, Rolly Oliva, Don Watson, Ann Guenther
* Animation Checking: Marceil Ferguson, Jeanne Thorpe, Grace McCurdy, Woody Chatwood
* Titles: Robert Schaefer
* Music Supervision: Don Kirshner
* Musical Director: Ted Nichols
* Globetrotters Tunes Produced By: Jeff Barry
* Technical Supervision: Frank Paiker
* Ink & Paint Supervision: Roberta Greutert
* Xerography: Robert "Tiger" West
* Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
* Editorial Supervisor: Larry Cowan
* Music Editor: James Yaras
* Effects Editors: Joe Reitano, Rex Lipton
* Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
* Post Production: Joed Eaton
* Camera: Charles Flekal, Dick Blundell, Dennis Weaver, George Epperson :A HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTION

External links

*
* [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/G-J/The_Harlem_Globetrotters/ The Harlem Globetrotters Episode Guide: @ Big Cartoon DataBase]
* [http://www.hbshows.com/site.php?c=./globetrotters1.htm HB Shows.com - The Hanna-Barbera Super Center - The Harlem Globetrotters]
* [http://www.wingnuttoons.com/HarlemGlobetrotters.html Harlem Globetrotters according to Wingnut]