EPISODE 1

Broadcast Number:TJGA-1

Original ABC Airdate:September 6, 1975

80-03"NO WAY, STOWAWAYS"

On the high seas, Weirdbeard The Pirate displays his new invention: a boomerang cannonball, as a way to cut down on using new cannonballs, but it turns out to be a bust when, true to boomerang form, it comes right back and blasts into the ship, foundering it. During lunch, Weirdbeard discovers Thomas Cat & Gerald Mouse have stowed away on his ship! The captain threatens to make them walk the plank, but then he remembers he needs a cabin boy; the one who does the best job stays aboard, with a deep-6 for the other! Tom and Jerry are sent into feverish competition with each other for the job, starting a chain reaction of blunders and misadventures, with Tom usually sabotaging Jerry's efforts as they lower the anchor, swab the deck, paint the cabin, and stack cannonballs in a neat pile next to the cannon. After many mishaps and plenty of damage done to the ship (it sinks 5 times!), Tom finally wins the job, but when the captain orders him to make little Jerry walk the plank, Tom protects his friend by hiding him under his new pirate hat...and faking Weirdbeard out with a cannonball!

TRIVIA & NOTES:

• The third New Tom & Jerry cartoon to be produced but the first to air on ABC, "No Way, Stowaways" had its origins in the 1954 MGM T&J classic Pet Peeve, in which the owner declares to Spike and Tom that the one who catches Jerry can stay, sending the cat and dog into a fierce battle against each other for their quarry.
• Weirdbeard knows Tom's name, despite never having heard it.
• Henry Corden (as Weirdbeard) speaks the only lines of dialogue throughout the entire cartoon.
• Numerous musical stings first heard in these first 3 New Tom & Jerry cartoons would be repeated throughout future episodes of the entire series. They were also used in episodes of later Hanna-Barbera series The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (ABC, 1976), Clue Club (CBS, 1976), and Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (ABC, 1977).
• These first 3 New Tom & Jerry shorts were shown during this first telecast in the exact reverse order of production.
• The animation of Tom swinging on a rope from this cartoon is also used in the show's syndicated opening titles.
• Throughout most of "No Way, Stowaways," Weirdbeard has only one precious tooth, yet towards the end, where he makes his decision on who should be his cabin boy, he has a full mouth of teeth!
• Weirdbeard The Pirate is named after The Weird Beard, a very popular nightttime disc jockey (real name: Carl Burton Markert [1945-95]) on WAKY (790 AM) in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the most influential and highly-respected secondary market Top 40 stations in America, where he served from November 1966 to September 1971.

ORIGINAL ANIMATION:

• Jerry snapping his shoepolishing rag
• Tom riding the mop on the deck

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80-02"THE SKI BUNNY"

In the Swiss Alps, Tom, Jerry and Spike enjoy a leisure day of skiing. Tom is executing his lates moves on his skis when suddenly he catches glimpse of Jerry with a sexy female feline ski buff...causing him to fall head over heels in love! Tom then competes with Jerry for her affections, but proves to be very unsuccessful in these endeavours; oftentimes running into and getting in trouble with Spike. When Tom and Jerry both find the ski bunny has hooked up with Spike, they combine forces and attempt to fell the bulldog with a snowball...which unfortunately backfires.

TRIVIA & NOTES:

• A scene from this episode featuring Tom & Jerry, in snow gear, being dumped on by a blanket of snow (falling from the roof of the lodge they're standing in front of) is seen in the show's syndicated opening credits.
• Tom's penchant for falling head over heels in love with the ladies is no surprise. You devout classic T&J buffs will notice he's done it many times before in several classic T&J theatricals as Puss 'N' Toots (1942), Casanova Cat (1951), and Blue Cat Blues (1956).
• The gimmick of Tom opening the door on Jerry and inhaling deeply of the fresh air is borrowed from Salt Water Tabby (1947).
• The "ski bunny" seen here closely resembles that of Tom's kitten girlfriend in 1956's Muscle Beach Tom. Voiced by Janet Waldo, she speaks the only lines of dialogue throughout this entire cartoon.
• Spike (in his first appearance on the show) was originally not to be a featured participant in "The Ski Bunny".
• John Stephenson provides the huffing and puffing Spike makes when he skis. He is the first of 3 voice actors to voice the bulldog, the other two are Don Messick and Joe E. Ross.
• Some of the "love" underscore first heard here was later recycled for the syndicated October 1985 special Pound Puppies (a.k.a. City Pound), which of course gave rise to Hanna-Barbera's 1986-88 ABC Saturday Morning series of the same name.

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80-01"STAY AWAKE OR ELSE..."

On the circus grounds, the ringmaster searches for circus roustabout Tom, who at the same time is being driven by milk truck from an all-night party which has left him exhausted. The ringmaster catches Tom asleep and shouts for him to wake up, sending him bouncing off the roof of the circus tent! The ringmaster promises Tom he will lose his job should he fall asleep on the job. So, it's up to co-roustabout Jerry to wake him up. When applying loud alarm clock headsets to his ears, filling him up with piping hot coffee until it comes out of his ears, and jacking him up and tickling him with his party streamer all bomb out, Jerry decides the best he can do is make his sleepy pal seem awake with a pair of eyeglasses painted white. First Jer ties strings to Tom's arms and legs and manipulates him in the manner of a marionette, making him appear to dust the carnie wagons. When the ringmaster arrives and orders him to sweep the ring, Jerry puts him on roller skates with a broom in his paws and pushes him to the center ring to help him do his job...and loses control of him! The somnolent Tom unwittingly goes on to delight the crowd and the ringmaster with his stunts. The show is an instant success, and the ringmaster then presents Tom (still asleep!) with a contract stipulating he repeat his "act" every night, and he "signs" it...courtesy of Jerry, who manipulates his paw with a pen tied to his finger!

TRIVIA & NOTES:

• "Stay Awake Or Else..." was the first New Tom & Jerry cartoon to be produced, as well as the first Tom & Jerry cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera in 17 years.
• The basis for this cartoon was Sleepy-Time Tom (1951).
• The circus seal and elephants which appear during Tom's sleepskating act reference those in Little Runaway (1952) and Jerry And Jumbo (1953), respectively.
• The scenes in this episode of Tom streaking through the air and continuously bouncing off the roof of the circus tent and bouncing off a trampoline can be seen in the show's syndicated opening credit sequence. The opening credits also boast a scene of Jerry stopping in front of fast-asleep Tom and opens his left eye to read a "Do Not Disturb" sign, also from "Stay Awake Or Else...". (The only difference is that Tom roller skates up a teeter-totter in the cartoon, whereas in the opening titles, he merely runs up one.)
• A deleted scene finds Tom gliding out of the tent and down the freeway with a policeman in pursuit, then back to the circus, where he inadvertently performs a series of tricks. The cartoon originally ended with the same policeman arriving with a speeding ticket and T&J skate out of the circus as fast as they can!
• The scene of Jerry manipulating Tom with strings making him appear to dust the carnie wagons was incorporated into the original New Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show main titles.