''Mister T'' is an American animated series that aired on NBC on Saturday morning from

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, featuring the popular actor Mr. T. A total of 30 episodes were produced during all three seasons, with the thirteen episodes for Season 1, eleven for Season 2, and six episodes for the third and final season. The series was produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises. Reruns were later seen on the USA Cartoon Express in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and more recently as part of

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 ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

late-night programming block and sibling network, Boomerang that airs classic cartoons from the

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, pre-1991 Ruby-Spears, Turner and classic Warner animated libraries. This is also Phil LaMarr's first role.

Plot

The cartoon stars Mr. T as a coach to a

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

team (with a specific emphasis on members Jeff, Woody, Robin, and Kim), travelling the world while becoming involved in and solving various mysteries similar to the Scooby-Doo franchise. At the beginning of each episode, a live-action introduction featuring Mr. T himself is shown to explain what the episode is about. At the end of each episode, he narrates a moral lesson for the audience.

Characters

* Mr. T (voiced by himself) – He is the coach of the gymnastics team, and also appears to be a licensed bus driver as he drives the team's bus when Ms. Bisby is either unavailable or has run out of driving hours. * Ms. Priscilla Bisby (voiced by

Takayo Fischer Takayo Fischer (née Tsubouchi; born November 25, 1932) is an American stage, film and television actress, as well as voice-over actress. Personal life Fischer was born in Hardwick, California, the youngest of four daughters of ''Issei'' (Japane ...

) – The team's well-mannered

bus driver A bus driver, bus operator, or bus captain is a person who drives buses for a living. Description Bus drivers must have a special license above and beyond a regular driver's licence. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus sta ...

who loves

mystery novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

and is a mother figure to the kids. Her catchphrase is "My stars and garters!" She also knows how to steer a boat and pilot a helicopter. * Jeff Harris (voiced by Shawn Lieber) – The wise guy of the team with a big

ego Ego or EGO may refer to: Social sciences * Ego (Freudian), one of the three constructs in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche * Egoism, an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality * Egotism, the drive to ...

. * Woody Daniels (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – An

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

gymnast and Jeff's friendly rival. He hopes to become a lawyer when he retires from gymnastics. * Robin O'Neill (voiced by

Amy Linker Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''"Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886–19 ...

) – A beautiful, green-eyed redhead with freckles who's eager to jump into any situation. She also acts as Mr. T's second-in-command. She bears a strong resemblance to her late older sister Cathy (see "Secret of the Spectral Sister"). Her catchphrase is "What the hairy heck?" * Kim Nakamura (voiced by Siu Ming Carson) – A

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

girl who is the daughter of a

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

. She has a photographic memory that comes in handy as she can remember various magazine articles and book passages — including the issue or volume, and the page she read it on. * Spike O'Neill (voiced by Teddy Field III) – Robin's little brother, who worships Mr. T, sometimes talks like him; and dresses in a similar manner to his idol. In "Secret of the Spectral Sister", it's revealed that Spike is just a nickname. However, his actual first name is never revealed. * Skye Redfern (voiced by Cathy Cavadini) – A Native American gymnast, whose grandfather was accused of a crime. * Garcia Lopez (voice artist unknown) – A

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

gymnast whose big brother Miguel is an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

. He is a keen photographer. * Vince D'Amato (voice artist unknown) – An

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

who has dreams of being a movie star. * Courtney Howard (voice artist unknown) – An African-American girl gymnast whose father is a major in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. Her uncle is a magician who was previously a burglar. * Grant Kline (voice artist unknown) – An ex- gang member who turned his life around thanks to Jeff. * Bulldozer – Mr. T's bulldog, who sports a similar

mohawk hairstyle The mohawk (also referred to as a Mohican) is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. It is today worn as an emblem of non-conformity. The m ...

to his owner. He is also called Dozer for short. He usually accompanies Spike. * An un-named blonde girl, who was seen on the bus, but neither spoke nor had her own focus episode. There are also a few other non-speaking girl gymnasts.

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (1983)

Season 2 (1984)

Season 3 (1985)

Home media

The first season was released DVD on May 10, 2011, via the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

. The ''Mister T'' DVD set is branded as part of the

Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

References

External links

*
''Mister T''
at the Big Cartoon Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Mister T (Tv Series) 1983 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings 1980s American black cartoons American children's animated action television series American children's animated mystery television series American television series with live action and animation Animation based on real people NBC original programming Television series by Ruby-Spears English-language television shows Works by Jack Kirby Cultural depictions of Mr. T Television series created by Steve Gerber