The Alvin Show
| The Alvin Show | |
|---|---|
Title card from The Alvin Show.
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| Created by | Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. |
| Based on | Alvin and the Chipmunks By Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. |
| Written by | Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. |
| Directed by | Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. |
| Voices of | Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. Shepard Menken June Foray Lee Patrick Bill Lee Johnny Mann Don Messick Joe Besser |
| Theme music composer | Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. Neil Hefti Carl Stalling |
| Composer(s) | Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 26 The Alvin Show episodes, 26 Clyde Crashcup episodes, and 52 musical segments |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Herbert Klynn |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode (7½ per segment) |
| Production company(s) | Bagdasarian Film Corporation Format Films |
| Distributor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS (1961-1962) |
| Picture format | Color (originally telecast in Black-and-white) |
| Original release | October 4, 1961 – September 12, 1962 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by |
Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983–1990) ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks (2015–) |
The Alvin Show is an American animated television series. It was the first to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks, although a series with a similar concept The Nutty Squirrels Present had aired a year earlier. "The Alvin Show" lasted for one season in prime time (October 4, 1961 – September 12, 1962) on CBS (Wednesdays, 7:30-8pm Eastern), originally sponsored by General Foods (Jell-O, Post cereals), and initially telecast in black and white (color prints of the episodes were not seen until the series entered syndication in the fall of 1965).
The series rode the momentum of creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s original hit musical gimmick and developed the singing Chipmunk trio as rambunctious kids–particularly the show's namesake star–whose mischief contrasted to his tall, brainy brother Simon and his chubby, gluttonous brother Theodore, as well as their long-suffering, perpetually put-upon manager-father figure, David Seville. The animation was produced by Herbert Klynn's Format Films.
The Pilot, an early version of "Good Neighbor", was written and produced to sell the show for CBS. The actual show featured a re-worked version, which aired as part of the 5th episode.
Aside from the seven-minute Chipmunk segments, in which David Seville was portrayed as a hapless bachelor who managed and mentored the three singing rodents, the show also had segments featuring a character called Clyde Crashcup (voiced by Shepard Menken impersonating Richard Haydn's Edwin Carp character), a scientist/inventor. Each segment was introduced by Alvin, who was told he was introducing a great inventor and was dumbfounded when he hears of Clyde Crashcup.
Clyde's "inventions" were really items that had already been invented, but with his own personal touches. His "creations" often backfired on him until his silent, level-headed lab assistant, Leonardo (diminutive, balding, and perpetually whispering in Crashcup's ear) saved him from any further self-destruction.
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