Laff-A-Lympics | |
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Laff-A-Lympics title screen.
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Also known as | 'Scooby's All-Star Laff-A Lympics' |
Genre |
Comedy Sports |
Created by |
Joe Ruby Ken Spears |
Written by | Neal Barbera Haskell Barkin |
Directed by |
Charles August Nichols Ray Patterson (1978) Carl Urbano (1978) |
Voices of |
Julie Bennett Joe Besser Mel Blanc Daws Butler Casey Kasem Don Messick John Stephenson Laurel Page Marilyn Schreffler Vernee Watson Gary Owens |
Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
Opening theme | "Laff-A-Lympics" (Main Title) by Hoyt Curtin |
Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin |
Country of origin | USA |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 24 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Producer(s) | Don Jurwich (1978) Alex Lovy (1978) Art Scott (1978) |
Editor(s) | Larry C. Cowan Dick Elliot Gil Iverson |
Camera setup | George Epperson Jerry Smith Reba Bement Tom Epperson Chuck Flekal Curt Hall Ron Jackson Larry Smith Terry Smith Brandy Whittington Jerry Whittington |
Running time | 30 mins. |
Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
Distributor |
Worldvision Enterprises (1977–91)
Turner Program Services (1992–96)
Warner Bros. Television Distribution (1996–present)
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Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | September 10, 1977 | – July 31, 1979
Laff-A-Lympics is the co-headlining segment, with Scooby-Doo, of the package Saturday morning cartoon series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions beginning in 1977. The show was a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC television series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one year earlier. It featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters organized into the teams (the Scooby Doobies, the Yogi Yahooeys, and the Really Rottens) which would compete each week for gold, silver, and bronze medals. One season of 16 episodes was produced in 1977–78, and eight new episodes combined with reruns for the 1978–79 season as Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike most cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not contain a laugh track.
The sporting competitions that the characters would be called upon to perform in would often be comical and offbeat versions of Olympic sports, races, and scavenger hunts. Each segment took place in a different location around the world.
Each episode was presented in a format similar to an Olympic television broadcast, with announcing/voice-over duties handled by an unnamed/unseen Announcer character. Hosting duties and commentary were provided by Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf from the It's the Wolf! segments of Cattanooga Cats (though unlike It's the Wolf!, Mildew was no longer voiced by Paul Lynde; he is now voiced by John Stephenson). Since the show was airing on ABC, Snagglepuss and Mildew wore the then-traditional yellow jackets of ABC Sports announcers. Non-competing Hanna-Barbera characters such as Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Jabberjaw and Peter Potamus made appearances as guest announcers and judges. Other non-competing characters included parents of contestants (who were interviewed by Mildew before events) and various monsters and creatures that would serve as antagonists during events.