“SAVAGES!”
Howdy. sports TV fans! I'm Andrew Pollard here inside Maroonia Stadium,
welcoming you back to 1 Season Wonder.
It’s a big interesting year on the field as the home team Marauders face off against the visiting Writersville Blockers. Today they must win to keep the season up and running and keep the faith and popularity alive. Let’s go to the 50 for the kickoff.
22-71-92-70-54-86-1803! HUT, HUT, HUT! HIIIIIKE!
It’s Where’s Huddles?
The Show:
If the intro didn’t tell you everything right away...
Meet Ed Huddles -- professional quarterback for the fictional Rhinos football team and headstrong breadwinner of his family -- his loving, sensible wife Marge; adorable baby daughter Pom-Pom and pet dog Fumbles… living in a house shaped like a football arena (talk about driving the point… home). Also on his team (both on the field and his life) are center next-door neighbor Bubba McCoy - along with his wife, the beautiful but very dim Penny - and cool black teammate Freight Train. But complicating their lives and good gridiron vibes is Claude Pertwee, the Huddles’ limp-wristed, temperamental other next door neighbor who -- while enjoying the company of the footballers’ wives -- hates the footballers themselves, snarking their way for any and every thing they do (whether good or bad) and calls them the brutal, biting, boorish taunt “savages”, while living alone and being the (sometimes all too) loving master of his pet cat Beverly. Ed and co. must keep the wives at bay (from scoping their antics), the pets away (from mauling each other), and Pertwee from the fray (with his attempts to financially ruin them) just in time for the gridiron grudge-match.
Where’s Huddles? aired for ten episodes on CBS from July 1 to September 2, 1970, as a summer replacement for popular variety show The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. It was The Eye network’s attempt to replicate the success of ABC’s The Flintstones, which ended its six-season run four years earlier. Obviously, it didn’t succeed. And from watching it after, you can tell straight away it’s a carbon copy of the iconic prehistoric cartoon. Well, …
Ed is just as temperamental and prone to schemes as Fred
Bubba is as cheerful and goofy yet an unwilling accomplice as Barney Rubble (even sharing a voice actor in the one and only legend Mel Blanc)
Marge is as loving, devoted and wise as Wilma - although not as bitchy, petty and abusive (even sharing a VA in Jean Van Der Pyl)
Penny is just as pretty, basic and uninteresting as (but even dumber than) Betty Rubble
Claude is The Great Gazoo, but he exists, isn’t a short green magical alien, and the other characters can see him. But just as wispy and verbally abusive to the other men.
Fumbles is as cartoony of a house pet as Dino. But he's an actual dog.
Mad Dog Maloney is as angry & loud as Fred (and they too share a voice actor - Alan Reed).
The Characters:
All these characters make the show entertaining in their own ways.
Ed for being the stubborn but still loving and caring all-around good guy to the cast
Bubba as the joking, fun-loving, loyal bosom buddy
Marge as Ed’s loving, sensible, no nonsense wife
Penny as Bubba’s sweet but scatterbrained wife
Freight Train as the cool, smart, gentle giant of the former two’s teammate
Fumbles and Beverly are funny very aware pets who love being the other’s foil
and (especially) Claude for his campy tone, wisecracks and karmic goof-ups. Also, because he’s voiced by the one and only Paul Lynde.
The Plots:
As said earlier, Ed Huddles is a professional football player with a wonderful family, great loyal teammates and friends, a super snarky and somewhat manic neighbor. It’s pretty much The Flintstones in a contemporary (at the time) setting with (slightly) more adult themes (although with family-friendly undertones.
In fact, the only reason this cartoon aired in primetime and not on Saturday mornings is because the entire cast (except Pom-Pom [and maybe even Fumbles]) are full-grown adults. Yes, the goofiness, cheesiness and full physics-breaking cartoony-ness are there in full force -- remember, this is Hanna-Barbera. But the characters and plots are more mature in tone. Plots like conflict over property before building a pool, weight loss (A Weighty Problem), helping the homeless (Hot Dog Hannah) [even though she's not], fixing a sports car while the owner’s out of town (The Ramblin' Wreck), moonlighting for more moolah (The Offensives), and faking a theft to conceal you stealing your partner's cash (To Catch a Thief) aren’t exactly plots you’d see in non-superhero SatMorrn-toons like Scooby-Doo, The Archie Show, George of the Jungle, and the like.
Here's one for proof - a pilot film featuring the aforementioned Ramblin' Wreck.
Why It’s A Wonder:
It aired during the summer replacing the popular variety show entitled The Glen Cambell Goodtime Hour. If anything, it’s something of a burnoff. But it did make it to television at a time the primetime cartoon is still a bit of a hot commodity (at least to the networks), so there’s that.
The Conclusion:
Where’s Huddles? may have some basic set-ups and some predictable punchlines... and is The Flintstones in the modern day. It has plenty of fun moments with very likable characters (yes, even Penny… with her dumb ass). The animation is one of the best and most expressive examples (of many) from the H-B ink and paint staff, a very talented cast with chemistry and strong performances that fit the personalities of their characters. It’s available on DVD (and here), and it’s a very simple and brief binge-watch that's fun for you, or the whole family.
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