The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour
The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour | |
---|---|
Genre |
Comedy Variety show |
Directed by |
Jim Washburn Joe Layton Bob Mackie |
Voices of |
Udana Power Wendy McKenzie Daws Butler Don Messick |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 5 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Joseph Barbera |
Producer(s) |
Ken Welch Mitzi Welch Joe Layton |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
Distributor | Warner Bros. Television |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | April 13 – May 11, 1978 |
The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour is an American television comedy-variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions which aired for five consecutive weeks on NBC from April 13 to May 11, 1978.
Overview
The show was hosted by two life-size female puppets named Honey and Sis: Honey (voiced by Udana Power) is a 19-year-old willowy tall blond who thinks of herself as a gifted performer, while her 17-year-old red-headed sister Sis (voiced by Wendy McKenzie) is actually the talented one. On each episode, Honey and Sis sang, danced and participated in comedy sketches as "The Disco of Life" where they interacted with people at a disco club and "The Truth Tub" where they relaxed in a hot tub and parodied TV shows such as Laverne & Shirley and Three's Company.
The guest stars during the five-week period included Melissa Sue Anderson, Tom Bosley, Gary Burghoff, Charo, Leif Garrett, Melissa Gilbert, Dan Haggerty, Linda Lavin, Peter Lupus, Gavin MacLeod, Tony Randall, Connie Stevens, The Sylvers, Twiggy, Abe Vigoda, Betty White and Anson Williams. The stars introduced themselves rather than by an announcer. Costumed actors impersonating Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters such as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and Snagglepuss (all voiced by Daws Butler) made cameo appearances.
Honey and Sis were designed by Hanna-Barbera animator Iwao Takamoto and their costumes created by fashion designer Bob Mackie. They were manipulated by a team of six puppeteers who would wear full-body blue leotards in front of a blue screen, so that the two characters would be chroma-keyed on a different background.
Production credits
- Executive Producer: Joseph Barbera
- Directors: Jim Washburn, Joe Layton
- Producers: Ken Welch, Mitzi Welch, Joe Layton
- Music Director: Billy Barnes
- Music Material: Ken Welch, Mitzi Welch
- Puppeteers: Jerry Vogel, Paul Higgins, Greg Dandler
- Choreographer: Joe Layton
- Animation Director: Iwao Takamoto
- Segment Director (Honey and Sis): Bob Mackie
Reception
Although only scheduled for a five-week test run, The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour failed in the ratings as it competed with ABC's Welcome Back, Kotter and What's Happening!! and was replaced in its timeslot with reruns of CHiPs.
Home Media releases
The show has never been officially released yet on DVD by Warner Home Video or Warner Archive.
References
- Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
External links
- The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour at the Internet Movie Database
- The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour at Hollywood.com