The Barkleys | |
---|---|
Genre | Animation |
Created by |
David H. DePatie Friz Freleng Joe Ruby |
Written by |
Heywood Kling Dennis Marks David Evans |
Voices of |
Henry Corden Joan Gerber Julie McWhirter Steve Lewis |
Composer(s) | Doug Goodwin |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Friz Freleng |
Editor(s) | Roger Donley Allan R. Potter Joe Siracusa Rick Steward |
Production company(s) | DePatie-Freleng Enterprises |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original release | September 9, 1972 | – September 1, 1973
The Barkleys is an American animated television series that ran from 1972 to 1973 on NBC and was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.
The cartoon - inspired by the CBS sitcom All in the Family - featured an anthropomorphic dog family consisting of Arnie, a bus driver (voiced by Henry Corden) and his wife Agnes (voiced by Joan Gerber). They had two teenagers, Terry and Roger (voiced by Julie McWhirter and Steve Lewis respectively) and one younger child, Chester (voiced by Gene Andrusco).
The theme song's lyrics ended with the advice "Just remember Arnie Barkley's bark is worse than his bite." This meant that Arnie's grouchy, unsociable front concealed a softer heart which he rarely allowed to show. Doug Goodwin's theme song used part of "(Be It Ever So Humble) There's No Place Like Home".
The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972. NBC continued to air reruns until September 1, 1973. Only 13 episodes were produced.
The series resurfaced in 2016, airing on the classic TV network Retro TV on Saturday mornings.
(The Barkleys is presumably in the public domain because production company DePatie-Freleng Enterprises folded into Marvel Productions in 1981, and the Marvel empire was purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 2009. Most likely, Marvel failed to renew the copyrights on The Barkleys when they expired in 2000, and Disney - very likely unaware this show was now a part of their vast library - failed to take any further action to renew the copyrights.)
On October 20, 2015, Film Chest Media Group released The Barkleys and The Houndcats - 2 DVD Classic Animation Set on DVD in Region 1. This collection features all 13 episodes of the series on DVD for the very first time.