Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats (formatted as Josie and the Pussy Cats in the opening titles) is an American animated television series based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo. Produced for Saturday morning television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, 16 episodes of Josie and the Pussycats aired on CBS during the 1970–71 television season and were rerun during the 1971–72 season.

Plot
Each episode found the Pussycats and crew en route to perform a gig or record a song in some exotic location where, somehow, often due to something Alexandra did, they became mixed up in an adventure. The antagonist was always a diabolical mad scientist, spy, or criminal who wanted to take over the world using some high-tech device. The Pussycats usually found themselves in possession of the plans for an invention, an item of interest to the villains, a secret spy message, etc., and the villains chased them to retrieve it. Eventually, the Pussycats would ruin the villain's plans, resulting in a final chase sequence set to a Pussycats song. With the villain captured, the Pussycats would return to their gig or recording session, and the final gag was always one of Alexandra's failed attempts to interfere with the Pussycats' performance or steal Alan away from Josie.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) As the case with most Hanna-Barbera shows, good animation.
 * 2) The Pussycats are all very likable characters:
 * 3) * Josie is the red-headed lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and leader of the band, and the most likable out of the 3, and she has a cute crush on Alan.
 * 4) * Valerie is the band's black bassist and backup singer; most often shown playing tambourines, she’s the voice of reason, is highly smart and is a mechanical genius.
 * 5) * Melody is the band's drummer and backup singer and a stereotypical, but lovable dumb blonde. What Melody lacks in intellect she makes up for in heart; to wit, her perpetual sweetness and optimism, and her ears wiggle whenever there’s danger.
 * 6) There are other likable characters, such as Alan, Alexander, Alexandra, and Sebastian.
 * 7) While Alexandra is typically the mean girl who tries to steal Alan’s heart and/or ruin the Pussycats’ performance, it usually ends up failing and leaving her in a humiliating position, which is often hilarious. Sebastian sometimes helps Alexandra with her schemes, and it’s even more hilarious if he’s the reason she messes up.
 * 8) A good plot with each episode, where the group gets a band gig at a place, but then faces off against villains, in which they get what the villain wants, and they have a chase scene, where in the end, the villains are defeated and the Pussycats then play their gig at whatever location they’re at.
 * 9) Great voicing acting, like Janet Waldo, Barbara Pariot, Jackie Joseph, Jerry Dexter, Casey Kasem, Sherry Alberoni, and Don Messick.
 * 10) * Kathleen Dougherty, Patrice Holloway, and Cherie Moor are all great singing voices for the Pussycat trio.
 * 11) Had a great crossover with Scooby-Doo! and was their final appearance of their classic 1970s selves, and so ended their legacy on a high note (at least, their animated counterparts).

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The show only lasted one season, which sucks because it was a pretty good show.
 * 2) The show’s spin-off, mh:terribletvshows:Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, was not well-received and that officially started the mh:terribletvshows:Bad Hanna-Barbera Spin-offs of Good Shows.
 * 3) The 2001 movie based on the cartoon wasn’t very good.