This one may be new to most readers, but this may be the first cartoon series I can recall watching. The words to sing along are below the video, so scroll down before playing the theme song to Ruff and Reddy.
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Get set, get ready,
Here come Ruff and Reddy.
They’re tough, but steady,
Always rough and ready.
They sometimes have their little spats,
Even fight like dogs and cats,
But when they need each other,
That’s when, they’re rough and ready.
Characters
Ruff, a straight and smart cat; Reddy, a dumb and stupid dog
Villains: “Scary” Harry Safari, Captain Greedy and Salt Water Daffy; and Killer and Diller
Ruff and Reddy, plus Professor Gizmo meeting aliens from Muni-Mula (a strange planet of metal) is their most memorable episode
Muni-Mula is (“aluminum” spelled backward)
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The Show
Created by Hanna-Barbera, and their first production
Ruff, voiced by Don Messick with a similar voice he would later use for Pixie the mouse
Reddy, voiced by Daws Butler with this southern draw later becoming the voice of Huckleberry Hound
The show featured a live action host/emcee (Jimmy Blaine), and the episodes had a narrator (Don Messick)
In the show (but between cartoon episodes), Puppeteers Rufus Rose and Bobby Nicholson provided comedic relief as Rhubarb the Parrot and Jose the Toucan.
For those needing more Muni-Mula
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Production
NBC originally broadcasted Ruff and Reddy in black and white in December 1957 on NBC
3 seasons, 156 episodes
First: Planet Pirates (Dec 14 1957)
Last: Have Blop Will Travel (Feb 4, 1960)
The episodes were not much longer than four minutes, including an opening song and much repetition of preceding events.
There were 13 episodes in each of the 12 stories of the serials
The show’s episodes borrowed from the serialized storytelling format of such shows as Crusader Rabbit that used episodes with cliffhanger storylines
Although NBC cancelled the show after 1959-1960, they revived the show the spring of 1962 with Captain Bob Cottle as the host
NBC cancelled the series in September 1964
Additional FYI
Ruff and Reddy was translated into other languages: Jambo & Ruivão (Brazilian Portuguese), Pouf & Riqui (French), Ruff e Reddy (Italian), Жолтко и Лутко (Zoltko i Lutko) (Macedonian), Ruff y Reddy (Spanish), Ruff och Reddy (Swedish), つよいぞラフティ (Japanese), Ralofo le Rali (Tswana)
Dell Comics published 12 issues of Ruff & Reddy (1958-1962)
Here’s another episode, but without Muni-Mula, enjoy The Long Gone Leprechaun
A Frank Angle 