''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American animated

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

television series hosted by Bugs Bunny that was mainly composed of theatrical ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' and ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoons released by Warner Bros. between 1948 and 1969. The show originally debuted as a primetime half-hour program on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1960, featuring three theatrical ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons with new linking sequences produced by the

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

staff. After two seasons, ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' moved to Saturday mornings, where it remained in one format or another for nearly four decades. The show's title and length changed regularly over the years, as did the network: both ABC and CBS broadcast versions of ''The Bugs Bunny Show''. In 2000, the series, by then known as ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'', was canceled after the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' libraries became the exclusive property of the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

family of cable TV networks in the United States. Reruns of ''The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show'' were aired on the Canadian channels Teletoon and Teletoon's sister channel, Teletoon Retro (until 2015 when Teletoon Retro signed off). Prior to Teletoon and Teletoon Retro,

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

(1960–1975) and

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after ...

(1978–1982, 1990–2000) aired the show. In Australia, episodes of the show were divided between three networks, with most episodes aired on

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

, and some episodes divided between

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

, and Seven Network since its debut. In Asia, the program was aired in Japan and South Korea in the early 1960's and also aired on ABS-CBN and RPN in the Philippines, it was also aired on TPI (now

MNCTV MNCTV (legally PT MNC Televisi Indonesia,RCTI during 2000's in Indonesia as well.

Broadcast and format history

''The Bugs Bunny Show'' in prime time, 1960-1962

The original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' debuted on ABC prime time in the United States on October 11, 1960, airing on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM ET, under the sponsorship of General Foods ( Post cereals,

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

, etc.). Newly produced linking segments were done for each episode by the Warner Bros. animation staff.

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

and

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

produced, directed, and created the storyboards for the earliest of these, with

Robert McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePa ...

later taking over the direction while Jones and Freleng continued producing and writing. The wraparounds were produced in color, although the original broadcasts of the show were in black-and-white. A total of 52 episodes were made. Rather than display the full Warner Bros. logo and opening title/credits sequence of each cartoon shown in each episode (as shown in the original theatrical versions and could take up to 20 seconds), new title cards were created to begin each cartoon, and displayed for only about five seconds over a newly composed musical cue; the card omitted the Warner Bros. logo and any detailed credits of the animators, and simply featured the title of the cartoon in bold letters on a plain background, the main character of the cartoon standing off to one side, and the copyright notice of the cartoon rendered in a smaller font at the bottom, before cutting directly to the opening scene of the cartoon, these cuts were sometimes awkward depending on how the original opening sequence was animated. A general credits line was shown at the end of each full episode: "Stories, Animation, layouts, and backgrounds: Members of Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Local 839." (The ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons syndicated to local stations as a package, beginning in the 1950s, generally retained the original opening title sequences as shown in theaters.) The show's theme song was "This Is It", written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston (''"Overture/curtain, lights/this is it/the night of nights..."''). The opening title sequence, animated by Freleng unit animator

Gerry Chiniquy Germain Adolph Chiniquy (pronounced "chin-a-KEE"; June 23, 1912 – November 22, 1989) was an American animator known for his work with Friz Freleng, at both Warner Bros. and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Chiniquy joined Freleng's animation ...

,McCorry, Kevin (2007).
The Bugs Bunny Show Page
" features Bugs and Daffy Duck performing the song in unison. For the final chorus, a lineup of ''Looney Tunes'' characters joins Bugs and Daffy onstage (Porky Pig, however, is absent from the procession, although Porky had a spin-off show based on the original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' 4 years later titled ''

The Porky Pig Show ''The Porky Pig Show'' is an American television anthology series hosted by Porky Pig, that was composed of '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' theatrical cartoons made between 1948 and 1964. The series aired on ABC Saturday mornings fro ...

'' which aired on ABC from 1964 to 1967). ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' proved beneficial to the Warner Bros. cartoon staff, as it allowed the studio to remain open despite the shrinking market for theatrical animated shorts. Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age''. New York: Oxford University Press. Pg. 562. . The final first-run episode of the original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' aired on August 7, 1962, and the Warner Bros. animation studio closed the following spring.

The move to Saturday mornings, 1962–1985

ABC began re-running ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' on Saturday mornings in mid-August 1962 until September 1967 when it was moved to Sunday mornings for the remainder of its run. The series was rerun in color beginning in 1965, and remained on ABC until September 1968. At this point, the series switched to CBS, where it was combined with ''

The Road Runner Show ''The Road Runner Show'' is an American Saturday morning animated anthology series which compiled theatrical Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'', which were produced by Warner Bros. Carto ...

'' (which had aired on CBS since 1966) to create ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour''.McCorry, Kevin (2007).
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour Page
" The standard ''Bugs Bunny Show'' opening and the announcer's introduction of Bugs Bunny ("that Oscar-winning rabbit!") were directly followed by the rabbit's saying, "...and also starring my fast feathered friend, the Road Runner", after which ''The Road Runner Show's'' theme was played. ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'' combined re-edited bridging sequences from both shows to link the seven cartoons featured in each episode. The bridging sequences would be edited further in later versions of the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour''. In 1971, ''The Road Runner Show'' moved to ABC, and a reconstituted half-hour ''Bugs Bunny Show'' aired on CBS, featuring re-edited versions of the bridging sequences and a different grouping of cartoons. In 1973, ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' returned to ABC for two seasons, only for CBS to re-acquire both shows and bring back ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'' in 1975. In 1976,

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

and Tweety were featured in their own ''Sylvester and Tweety Show'' for one year, necessitating the removal of most of the Tweety and/or Sylvester cartoons on ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner'' that season. Also that year, a weekly half-hour prime-time edition of ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'' briefly aired on CBS' Tuesday night schedule from April through June. ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'' became ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'' in November 1977 after CBS added another half-hour to the runtime. In 1981, a companion ''Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy, and Speedy Show'' was added to the CBS schedule, which included a number of later cartoons produced by a reestablished Warner Bros. Cartoons studio from 1967 to 1969. The following year, this new companion series was canceled, and its cartoons were incorporated into ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'', which was broadcast as two separate hour-long programs on Saturday mornings (for the second program, the show's opening titles were re-animated). In 1983, CBS returned the show to 90 minutes and the bridging sequences were dropped. The following year, the "This Is It" opening was jettisoned altogether; a new title sequence (created from clips of the cartoons) and new theme song ("It's Cartoon Gold"), composed by

Steve Zuckerman Stephen Edward "Steve" Zuckerman (born November 7, 1947) is an American television and theater director. He began his career in the theater. After being trained at the University of Michigan and the Yale School of Drama, he went on to be the Assoc ...

with lyrics by

John Klawitter John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, introduced the show.

Final Saturday morning years, 1985–2000

CBS gave up the rights to broadcast the Warner Bros. cartoons following the 1984–1985 season, and as a result, the show moved back to ABC, where it became ''The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour''. Cartoons featuring Tweety or Speedy Gonzales were not broadcast on ABC during the 1985–86 season, the latter presumably due to Mexican stereotypes. The following year, however, Tweety cartoons were added to the program, which was reduced to a half-hour and renamed ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show''.McCorry, Kevin (2007).
The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show Page
" Beginning with its third season, ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'' was expanded to a full hour, and the original "This Is It" theme was reintroduced with similar animation as the original, accompanied by the introductory sequence introduced in 1982. Another version of the "This Is It" opening sequence was done in 1992 with different character animations. Though the program did not qualify for the

educational/informational The broadcast of educational children's programming by terrestrial television stations in the United States is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under regulations colloquially referred to as the Children's Television Act (C ...

designation, it nonetheless remained on Saturday mornings after the new designation debuted in 1996, one of the few non-E/I programs to survive the rules changes. The previous year, ABC was bought by The Walt Disney Company, and ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'' was the only non-Disney cartoon to remain on the lineup, due to their contract not being up yet, and was in the first few years of the Disney's One Saturday Morning block starting in 1997 (with the Disney logo omitted from the blocks bumpers during the show). The program was often paired with ABC's in-house

Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The theme ...

shorts during this time. The hour-long ''Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'' remained on the air until 1999, when it was again reduced to a half-hour. In 2000, Warner Bros. made the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies film library exclusive to

, which Time Warner owned as part of the purchase of Turner Broadcasting in 1996. As a result, ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' ended its nearly four-decade-long network run, one of the longest runs in the history of United States network television. Outside cartoons in the public domain, Warner Bros. cartoons would not return to American broadcast television until the 2021 debut of '' Toon In with Me'' on MeTV, along with a companion Saturday morning block.

Legacy

This show is credited for keeping the Warner Bros. cartoons made during the

Golden Age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the late 1960s, where theatrical animated shorts began losing popularity to the ...

a part of the American consciousness. Indeed, the show ran for almost four decades, and helped inspire

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

s, comedians,

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, and others who watched Saturday morning television. The "This Is It" song's fame is such that it has been used elsewhere, such as in the Canadian province of Ontario where it was used in a TV commercial promoting the various performing arts tourist attractions where artists of various disciplines sing separate lines of the song. In " The Opera," an episode from the fourth season of the US sitcom ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'',

Jerry Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

sings "This Is It" to Elaine while both characters are waiting outside the theater, causing Elaine to exclaim, "You know it is so sad, all your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons." When Warner Bros. released its video series "Golden Jubilee", featuring the classic cartoons, the opening sequence shows the

Tasmanian Devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

maniacally riding a motorcycle down a city street, chased by a police car. He makes a sharp turn into a theater, where the rest of the Looney Tunes are performing to the ''Bugs Bunny Show'' tune. In 2021, the original "This is It" opening sequence was re-edited into the intro to ''Bugs Bunny and Friends'' as part of the ''Saturday Morning Cartoons'' block on MeTV.

Animated sequences produced for the show

A series of short animated scenes were produced for the show, featured "linking" moments during the fictional theater setting of the show. These scenes included: * A frustrated Daffy Duck bickering on stage with Bugs Bunny. Daffy declares, "''Last'' week you said you were going to introduce me ''next'' week!" Bugs replies, "Right...but this isn't next week, is it?" Daffy trips himself up and replies, "You're doggone tootin' is isn't! This is ''this'' week! And next week is uhhh...ummm...sheesh!" * A barking sheepdog wanders into the theater, saying "Which way did he go? Where's the little bunny I saw on TV last week?" Daffy, at this time, has dressed up in a rabbit costume and is on stage pretending to be Bugs. The sheepdog pounces upon Daffy and exclaims, "At last, at last! I have caught a bunny rabbit!" * Bugs entertains the audience by playing a guitar. An angry Yosemite Sam barges in the theater shouting, "Can't ya see I'm tryin' to sleep?!?", snatches the guitar from Bugs, and snaps all of its strings. * Bugs demonstrates some cartoon physics, including slow motion, fast speed and "virbrating to a stop." The show's title sequences and some of these linking material scenes from the original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' are included as bonus features on each volume of the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection'' DVD collection (with the exception of

Volume 6 Volume Six or Volume VI or Volume 6 may refer to: *Hangover Music Vol. VI *Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 6 * Volume 6: Black Anvil Ego * Warts and All: Volume 6 *Anjunabeats Volume Six See also : : *Volume Zero (disambiguation) *Volume One (disa ...

). As the original color negatives were cut up by CBS and ABC to create later versions of the show, the linking sequences are presented on DVD using a combination of footage from both what's left of the color negatives (some of which were used in later incarnations, thus helping to preserve them) and the black-and-white ABC broadcast prints prepared in the early 1960s. On the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'', the opening to the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'' (with the announcer calling it the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'') and two openings to the ''Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show'' (the 1988 opening and the 1992 opening) were released as special features. In 2009, an episode of the ''Bugs Bunny Show'' in color was released on the Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Volume 2 set. Saturday Morning Cartoons 1970s Volume 2 includes an episode of the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show''.

List of Original Primetime Episodes

Season 1 (1960–1961)

Season 2 (1961–1962)

Formats

Prime Time: * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', October 11, 1960 – August 7, 1962 (

) Saturday Mornings: * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', August 1962 – September 8, 1968 (in color starting September 10, 1966) (

) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'', September 14, 1968 – September 4, 1971 ( CBS) * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', September 11, 1971 – September 1, 1973 (CBS) * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', September 8, 1973 - August 30, 1975 (ABC) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'', September 6, 1975 – November 12, 1977 (CBS) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'', November 19, 1977 – September 7, 1985 (CBS) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour'', September 7, 1985 – September 6, 1986 (ABC) * ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'', September 13, 1986 – September 2, 2000 (ABC)

Credits

* Senior Directors:

* Co-directors: Hawley Pratt,

, Art Davis,

Abe Levitow Abraham Levitow (July 2, 1922 – May 8, 1975) was an American animator who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and MGM Animation/Visual Arts. He is best known for his work under Chuck Jones' direction. Career Levitow was born in Los Angeles ...

Maurice Noble Maurice James Noble (May 1, 1911 – May 18, 2001) was an American animation production designer, background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate and right-hand man ...

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the cart ...

, David Detiege,

Rudy Larriva Rudolph Larriva (February 12, 1916 – February 19, 2010) was an American animator and director from the 1940s to the 1980s. Early life Born in El Paso, Texas, which his parents moved out at the age of two, he attended several grammar schoo ...

Tom Ray Thomas Archer Ray (August 2, 1919 – April 6, 2010) was an American animator. Career Ray was born in Williams, Arizona. He began work at Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1937, working under Tex Avery for six months. He applied for a job at MGM and wa ...

* Stories, Animation, layouts, and backgrounds: Members of Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Local 839 * Music: Carl W. Stalling,

Milt Franklyn Milton J. Franklyn (born Milton Julius Frumkin; September 16, 1897 – April 24, 1962) was an American musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoons. Career Franklyn was born in New York City Sept ...

, John Seely,

William Lava William "Bill" Benjamin Lava (March 18, 1911 – February 20, 1971) was a composer and arranger who composed and conducted music for feature films as well as that for the Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' animated cartoons ...

, William L. Hendricks, Walter Greene, Eugene Poddany, Doug Goodwin, Rob Walsh, Quinn Amper, Fred Strittmatter,

Dean Elliot William Lorenzo Bunt (May 11, 1917 – December 31, 1999), known professionally as Dean Elliott, was an American television and film composer. Career Elliott was born William Lorenzo Bunt on May 11, 1917 in Sioux City, Iowa to George Leroy Bunt ...

* ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' Opening and Closing Theme: "This Is It" by Mack David & Jerry Livingston * Film Editors: Treg Brown, Hal Geer, Fred Farrell, Chuck McCann, Jim Champin, Lee Gunther * Producers:

David H. DePatie David Hudson DePatie (December 24, 1929 – September 23, 2021) was an American film and television producer who was the last executive in charge of the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio and the longest-living until his death. He also formed ...

* Executive Producers:

, William L. Hendricks *Cast:

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...

, June Foray, Hal Smith, and

Arthur Q. Bryan Arthur Quirk Bryan (May 8, 1899 – November 30, 1959) was an American actor and radio personality. He is best remembered for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr. Gamble on the radio comedy ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' and f ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bugs Bunny Show 1960s American animated television series 1960s American anthology television series 1970s American animated television series 1970s American anthology television series 1980s American animated television series 1980s American anthology television series 1990s American animated television series 1990s American anthology television series 2000s American animated television series 2000s American anthology television series 1960 American television series debuts 1975 American television series endings 1985 American television series debuts 2000 American television series endings American children's animated anthology television series American Broadcasting Company original programming ABC Kids (TV programming block) CBS original programming English-language television shows Looney Tunes television series Television series by Warner Bros. Animation Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Warner Bros. Cartoons Animated television series about rabbits and hares Bugs Bunny