February 6, 2025 • 23 mins
Animation enthusiasts and fans of television history are in for a treat as we unpack the animated sitcom "Wait Till Your Father Gets Home," which aired from 1972 to 1974, and is now available on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive. Joined by animation historian Jerry Beck and George Feltenstein from the Warner Archive, we promise a journey through the series' daring exploration of social issues, reminiscent of the era's cultural shifts. Discover how Hanna-Barbera's foray into adult-oriented animation paralleled the success of "All in the Family," breaking new ground in programming strategy. With creative input from Harvey Bullock and R.S. Allen, this lesser-known gem offers a fascinating lens into the evolution of animated sitcoms.
The episode doesn't stop at history; we also celebrate the show's unique aesthetic and lasting relevance. Playboy cartoonist Marty Murphy’s distinct artistic style brought an adult edge that set the series apart from typical Hanna-Barbera fare. Hear how the sharp writing and humor—highlighted by talents like Tom Bosley and Jack Burns—crafted a show with timeless appeal. Now restored on Blu-ray, "Wait Till Your Father Gets Home" is being rediscovered by new audiences, sparking conversations about its significance and resonance in today's world. Join us in appreciating this animated classic that boldly addressed societal themes through its clever narrative and design.
Note: George also details the disc 6 replacement plan and the quality issues some viewers have noticed in season 2 episodes. The email to request a replacement Disk 6 is not yet available.
Purchase your copy:
WAIT TILL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME (1972-74) The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray
Also available:
TOM AND JERRY: The Complete CinemaScope Collection (1954-1958) Blu-ray
FRANKENSTEIN JR. AND THE IMPOSSIBLES-The Complete Animated Series (1966-67) Blu-ray
DAFFY DUCK’S QUACKBUSTERS (1988) Blu-ray
REVIEW - THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE with Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tim Millard (00:06):
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andjoining me today are animation
historian Jerry Beck and, ofcourse, George Feltenstein of
the Warner Archive.
Hi guys.
George Feltenstein (00:15):
Hello gentlemen, great to be with you.
Tim Millard (00:18):
Yep.
Well, just to let everybodyknow who was a little worried
about all the fires in LA, we'rehere, we're safe, so that,
hopefully, is behind us.
And we're here to talk aboutsome wonderful animation.
And I thought, george, jerry,that we'd start off talking
about the highly anticipatedrelease of Wait Till your Father
Gets Home, the completeanimated series which aired
(00:40):
between 1972 and 74.
This is a very funny sitcomseries which aired between 1972
and 74.
This is a very funny sitcom andeven though the topics are from
the seventies the generationgap, conflict and many of the
social issues I thought actuallyare pretty relevant still when
you're watching it and it'sreally deftly handled by the
(01:01):
writers.
I thought the writing wasfantastic, george, did they
actually hire sitcom writers forthis?
George Feltenstein (01:09):
Well, the genesis of this.
Jerry.
You'll correct me if I'm wrong,because I may be, but my
understanding was that thesecharacters first appeared in a
semi-pilot as a segment on theABC broadcast.
Paramount television producedseries Love American Style,
(01:31):
which was a series of anthologycomedy pieces, and my
understanding was they filmed itlive action and animated and
the animated one was the onethat went on the air and I think
I've read that there might haveeven been a second one intended
.
But Harvey Bullock and RS Allen, I believe, were the creators
(01:56):
of Love American Style and theywere behind this series.
I think they had more inputinto this series than Bill Hanna
or Joe Barbera did.
That's just a guesstimate.
I have no.
I need to defer to the trueanimation historian, jerry, to
tell me if I'm off base.
Jerry Beck (02:18):
Well, I don't know all of the intricacies of the
origins of it.
I do know that you're rightthat it was on Love American
Style.
Hanna-barbera did two animatedpilots technically that were
shown on that show.
I'm actually a fan of that show.
It's very strange, it's verydated, it's a little corny, but
they did a lot of interestingstuff.
(02:38):
In fact, famously, happy Dayscame out of that.
That was also a segment of LoveAmerican Style.
But you know, the reality is, ofcourse, that that was the era
of all in the family and, ofcourse, the whole change in
culture with the youth cultureand anti-war sentiments and you
(03:02):
know the generation gap.
That was that period and youknow, I think that Hanna-Barbera
saw the opportunity, as theyhad 10, 12 years earlier to you
knowstones, which was basicallyan animated take on the sitcoms
(03:26):
of that time.
Wait till your father gets home.
The sitcom has now changed.
It wasn't what it was and itwas bold of them to do this.
Clearly this is a more adultseries and, george, you can tell
us I'll throw it back to youabout the.
What was that?
There was this new rule wherethey gave local channels back a
(03:49):
half hour.
Why don't you tell this showwas shown not network prime time
, but local prime time.
George tell.
George Feltenstein (04:01):
FCC decided that they would take away the
7.30 to 8 o'clock networkprogramming time.
Take it away from the networks,give it back to the local
stations their owncommunity-related programming,
(04:25):
and not something that wasnationally directed but
something that would be for thatspecific area of 200 stations
with 200 different programs.
Of course that didn't happen atall because what the stations
ended up doing was buying whatwas called first-run syndication
(04:46):
.
Syndicators saw this as anopportunity to create
programming that they could sellinto that time slot and that
was much more preferential tothe local stations than having
to make something themselvesRight, make something themselves
Right.
So I remember that there was aCanadian made Dr Kildare show.
(05:10):
Oh, gary, merrill is DrGillespie.
I forgot about that, and forone season.
You know that was sold to theCBS owned and operated stations.
The end NBC owned and operatedstations bought wait till your
father gets home.
And that even reflects.
(05:31):
There were actually governmentrestrictions.
There was like the fair usedoctrine which meant that you
couldn't warp your broadcastingto one view or another.
You had to give equal time.
One of our past presidents gotrid of that, who used to be the
president of the Screen ActorsGuild.
You could figure out who I'mtalking about.
(05:55):
So the FCC was really trying todo something good for local
programming local programmingand it ended up just being an
opportunity to create new kindsof programming that was shown
nationally, just not on anetwork, and at that time
networks were limited to onlyowning stations in five markets.
(06:17):
That's another rule that gotthrown out the window as
deregulation set in.
But the NBC owned and operatedstations New York, los Angeles,
chicago, so forth.
They were the home for WaitTill your Father Gets Home, and
depending what market you livedin, it was on either a local,
(06:37):
independent station or on anetwork affiliate.
Yeah, and so this ran.
Technically it's really only atwo season show, but it ran
technically for three seasonsbecause there were four episodes
in the second season that theybumped into a third season with
reruns, right.
(06:58):
It was very popular and it is toall in the family, but the
Flintstones is to honeymoonerswhat Top Cat is to Sergeant
Bilko.
Right, it was very much of itstime and Hanna-Barbera did have
their ear to the ground in termsof what was going on in the
(07:18):
world and I think it was verybold of them to do that.
Yeah, what's really interestingabout this is we here at Warner
Brothers, at Warner Home Videouh, this was released on DVD for
season one only by our liveaction television team, not by
(07:39):
our animation family team.
This was looked upon as asitcom, not as kids animation,
which was very, I think, a veryintelligent decision, unlike
years later when the kids teamwas handling the first seasons
of South Park.
South Park rights went toparamount shortly thereafter
(08:02):
when we sold our half interestin Comedy Central as a byproduct
of the lovely AOL years.
You know this is very muchadult oriented.
The animation is very limited,it's almost barely there.
It was the most modestanimation that they could come
(08:22):
up with and the budgetsobviously reflected that.
But the emphasis was on thewriting, the comedy and the
voice acting.
I think the show really, reallyholds up and a lot of fans.
When we started Warner Archive.
People were very hopeful thatwe would put out the rest of
Wait Till your Father Gets Homeon DVD.
(08:43):
That never happened, but therewere some clearances and various
other issues that had to besorted out.
So now we're able to do thewhole series on Blu-ray.
And I do want to bring upsomething specific to the
Blu-ray release.
The Blu-ray release wassupposed to contain on it two
(09:06):
legacy special features that hadbeen on the DVD and it was
missed in QC that they weren'tincluded.
So a replacement disk six isalready in production.
I think it should be ready inabout a week and we will be
providing through variouschannels, an email address where
(09:31):
people will be able tobasically order that disk six at
no cost to them and it will besent as a replacement.
So I just wanted to get thatout there.
We were made aware of theproblem right away and initial
product had been built that wasshipped out.
(09:53):
It was already two monthsdelayed because we had said it
was going to be a Novemberrelease, and I've spoken ad
nauseum on the extras here aboutthe problems we faced,
certainly in the last year, withreplication delays and our
schedule not really being ableto be adhered to as often as
(10:17):
we'd like.
We're still working very hardto try to make changes in that
regard so the consumer can getwhat they want when they expect
it.
So keep your eyes open.
Check your favorite discenthusiast website forum for
updates on where to request areplacement disc six on this set
(10:39):
.
I also wanted to talk about thequality.
These are all new 4K mastersfrom the original negatives but
there is a very distinctdifference in quality,
especially in season two.
Distinct difference in quality,especially in season two.
Most of the animation forseason one not all most was done
(11:06):
by Hanna-Barbera's Australianbrand new Australian affiliate.
Some of the animation for seasontwo was outsourced to a
Canadian animation company andthose original negatives were
not 35 millimeter, they were 16millimeter and there is a
noticeable difference increasein grain and a decrease in
(11:28):
sharpness.
That could not be helped.
We did the best we could do.
That was the original negative.
It just happened to be in 16millimeter.
You just don't have the qualityand the resolution.
But ultimately the visuals herearen't as integral as the
writing and the performances ofthe voice actors and I think
(11:52):
everybody can take the series asa whole and it looks light
years better than it had beenlooking from one inch videotapes
made off 16 millimeter prints,which is what was shown on
Cartoon Network and Boomerangand so forth and so on in recent
years even get those additionalseasons right before this.
Tim Millard (12:19):
So I mean, you know you have to have a little less
quality there from the 16millimeter masters, but to get
the full series is a real treat.
So, and to those listeners ofthe extras, we'll provide that
information also for that discsix so that you can get that
here in our podcast show noteswhen it becomes available.
But back to the look, jerry.
Was there a reason for thataesthetic that they chose other
(12:43):
than just cost, or was itprimarily cost?
Jerry Beck (12:46):
Well, it seems like you'd think it would be cost,
but I think it wasn't.
I think they A didn't want tobe you know what's the right
word here.
I think they A didn't want tobe you know what's the right
word here.
They didn't really want it tofeel like the regular house
design of Hanna-Barbera.
So what they did was theyactually went to a Playboy
cartoonist named Marty Murphy,and it was a completely
(13:10):
different design aesthetic and Ithink he worked on some of the
later Hanna-Barbera shows.
He might have worked on HongKong Fooey, I think, but he
mainly this was his baby andactually so it has a different
feel to it.
It's in quote unquote a moreadult feel to it.
The, as you said before, thewriting is sharp.
(13:32):
It's aimed at, totally aimed at, adults.
It's not a Saturday morningshow, something that I was
telling George that when it wasfirst on in that syndication
most of the channels ran theirlocal programming in 16
millimeter.
We in york had some channelsthat ran 35 in syndication, but
(13:55):
not this one 11, yeah, but theuh, but most of the other
channels.
If it was local, it was uh, itwas uh.
The quality wasn't that goodand I remember as a kid being
both excited to see this showand disappointed in that sparse
look that.
That, that's that millimeter,not primetime look.
(14:18):
It really turned me off,actually, and I always gave this
show kind of a lukewarm, youknow five on a scale of 10.
Now I'm saying that, but nowthat I've seen oh, my God, my
opinion has completely changed.
Seeing this Blu-ray, the onesthat were done in 35, seeing
them today, with fresh eyes,decades later, and as you
(14:41):
mentioned, tim, that therelevancy of the writing is, I
mean I feel like I'm watching abrand new show.
I feel like I'm watchingsomething that was made recently
.
It feels like I don't want tosay family guy, but it feels
like a contemporary show aboutcontemporary issues.
The artwork is great,especially if you see it
(15:04):
restored.
It somehow looks cheap whenit's two generations later in
16mm, two generations later in16 millimeter, but when it's uh,
when it's uh, you know, in 35,uh, you know, on blu-ray, it
just it just looks new, it looksbrand new and contemporary and
I, I, I'm, I've done a complete180 on this show.
I love it now.
I always liked it.
(15:25):
I love it now it's.
I think it's a classic.
I think it's an overlookedhanna-Barbera classic and, you
know, I highly recommend it toeverybody.
It's one that's really, in myopinion, been overlooked
throughout the years, and I'mraving about it, so I'll let it
go with that.
Tim Millard (15:45):
Yeah, I mean, I felt exactly the same way,
except for I knew nothing aboutthis show, but when I watched it
, that minimalistic style Ithought actually was really in
its favor, because you justreally focus on the voice and
the writing and the topic andit's very, very humorous.
And having the laugh track, ofcourse, makes it feel more like
(16:08):
a sitcom.
George Feltenstein (16:10):
They were absolutely going for an adult
audience.
This was not a show meant forkids.
The fact that some kids likeJerry and myself watched it
might be attributable to thefact that we were focused on
things that might have been forolder people, but I always
thought it was very funny.
(16:31):
It was like appointmenttelevision for me.
I loved it, just as I loved asa little kid all in the family,
and I liked the fact that theshow took on social issues.
And I am of the opinion that ifthere was a re-release of this,
let's say If there was are-release of this, let's say 20
(16:53):
years ago, of the full series,it wouldn't have felt as topical
as it does now.
Yeah, given the state of theworld at the moment, it just
feels very prescient.
Yeah, and good writing doesn'tdate.
Tim Millard (17:16):
And this show is very well written and talented
voice artists.
Yeah, we should mention a fewof those artists.
George Feltenstein (17:19):
Voice artists George he became the dad
on Happy Days, which is howmost people know of him.
But prior to all of this, whatreally made him famous was
(17:41):
starring in the Broadway showFiorello, playing Fiorello
LaGuardia I think that was like1959.
And that's kind of what madehim from a nobody to a known
quantity.
And he did a lot of televisionand a lot of supporting roles in
movies and small things.
But his career really took offwith Happy Days and of course
(18:04):
it's ironic that Happy Days hadits roots in being an episode of
Love, American Style.
Tim Millard (18:12):
Bosley, I thought I mean he is in many ways the
show.
I mean he just carries, hecarries the point of view.
He's the dad who I mean it's,it's a lot.
He's.
You know it's dealing withthese teenagers, the son that
doesn't go to work, I mean it'sjust hilarious, all the issues.
I mean I love the 70sreferences too, the hippies and
(18:37):
the nudist sunbathing and the,you know, the commie, his
neighbor who's always lookingfor the commie infiltrators and
all of these things.
It sets it in its time and yetit's still to your point, george
.
It still has a lot of relevanceto today and I love that,
absolutely the neighbor, whichis Jack Burns.
Jerry Beck (18:58):
you know the comedian who was.
I think he was on one of theMayberry shows.
George Feltenstein (19:04):
He took over the deputy role on Andy
Griffith for one season afterDon Knotts left, but he was part
of the comedy team Burns andSchreiber with Avery Schreiber
of my Mother the Car fame.
Jerry Beck (19:19):
Yeah, he's got the role where you know he's pretty
much a bigot, you know and thethings, and he's a gun owner and
he I mean everything you know.
It's all relevant today.
That's all I'll say.
Tim Millard (19:31):
Yeah, yeah it's all relevant today, that's all.
Yeah, yeah, it's really good.
So well, just, I think we'reall repeating that now to have
this all in one set is fantastic, and I don't think anybody's
going to go wrong getting this.
You're going to really, really,really enjoy it, so it was
worth the wait.
George, thank you so much forbringing this to the fans.
We're delighted this to the fans.
(19:58):
We're delighted Well, it'salways great to hear from George
and Jerry and get theirperspective on these releases.
Lots of good stuff here withWait Till your Father Gets Home,
and there is the replacement ofdisc six.
We don't yet have theinformation on where to get that
, so if you already ordered yourcopy and received it and you're
going to need a replacementdisc, look for that here or on
our Facebook page.
We'll post that when it is madeavailable For animation fans.
(20:20):
We have a few other podcastswith George and Jerry that will
be coming out very soon.
One will be on Frankenstein Jrand the Impossibles and Daffy
Duck's Quackbusters, and thenwe'll have a separate podcast
for the release of the Tom andJerry CinemaScope collection.
So keep a lookout for those.
They will be coming very soon,as we did record them all at
once, but they are being postedas separate episodes Until next
(20:44):
time.
You've been listening to TimMillard.
Stay slightly obsessed aboutanimation.
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andjoining me today are animation
historian Jerry Beck and, ofcourse, George Feltenstein of
the Warner Archive.
Hi guys.
George Feltenstein (00:15):
Hello gentlemen, great to be with you.
Tim Millard (00:18):
Yep.
Well, just to let everybodyknow who was a little worried
about all the fires in LA, we'rehere, we're safe, so that,
hopefully, is behind us.
And we're here to talk aboutsome wonderful animation.
And I thought, george, jerry,that we'd start off talking
about the highly anticipatedrelease of Wait Till your Father
Gets Home, the completeanimated series which aired
(00:40):
between 1972 and 74.
This is a very funny sitcomseries which aired between 1972
and 74.
This is a very funny sitcom andeven though the topics are from
the seventies the generationgap, conflict and many of the
social issues I thought actuallyare pretty relevant still when
you're watching it and it'sreally deftly handled by the
(01:01):
writers.
I thought the writing wasfantastic, george, did they
actually hire sitcom writers forthis?
George Feltenstein (01:09):
Well, the genesis of this.
Jerry.
You'll correct me if I'm wrong,because I may be, but my
understanding was that thesecharacters first appeared in a
semi-pilot as a segment on theABC broadcast.
Paramount television producedseries Love American Style,
(01:31):
which was a series of anthologycomedy pieces, and my
understanding was they filmed itlive action and animated and
the animated one was the onethat went on the air and I think
I've read that there might haveeven been a second one intended
.
But Harvey Bullock and RS Allen, I believe, were the creators
(01:56):
of Love American Style and theywere behind this series.
I think they had more inputinto this series than Bill Hanna
or Joe Barbera did.
That's just a guesstimate.
I have no.
I need to defer to the trueanimation historian, jerry, to
tell me if I'm off base.
Jerry Beck (02:18):
Well, I don't know all of the intricacies of the
origins of it.
I do know that you're rightthat it was on Love American
Style.
Hanna-barbera did two animatedpilots technically that were
shown on that show.
I'm actually a fan of that show.
It's very strange, it's verydated, it's a little corny, but
they did a lot of interestingstuff.
(02:38):
In fact, famously, happy Dayscame out of that.
That was also a segment of LoveAmerican Style.
But you know, the reality is, ofcourse, that that was the era
of all in the family and, ofcourse, the whole change in
culture with the youth cultureand anti-war sentiments and you
(03:02):
know the generation gap.
That was that period and youknow, I think that Hanna-Barbera
saw the opportunity, as theyhad 10, 12 years earlier to you
knowstones, which was basicallyan animated take on the sitcoms
(03:26):
of that time.
Wait till your father gets home.
The sitcom has now changed.
It wasn't what it was and itwas bold of them to do this.
Clearly this is a more adultseries and, george, you can tell
us I'll throw it back to youabout the.
What was that?
There was this new rule wherethey gave local channels back a
(03:49):
half hour.
Why don't you tell this showwas shown not network prime time
, but local prime time.
George tell.
George Feltenstein (04:01):
FCC decided that they would take away the
7.30 to 8 o'clock networkprogramming time.
Take it away from the networks,give it back to the local
stations their owncommunity-related programming,
(04:25):
and not something that wasnationally directed but
something that would be for thatspecific area of 200 stations
with 200 different programs.
Of course that didn't happen atall because what the stations
ended up doing was buying whatwas called first-run syndication
(04:46):
.
Syndicators saw this as anopportunity to create
programming that they could sellinto that time slot and that
was much more preferential tothe local stations than having
to make something themselvesRight, make something themselves
Right.
So I remember that there was aCanadian made Dr Kildare show.
(05:10):
Oh, gary, merrill is DrGillespie.
I forgot about that, and forone season.
You know that was sold to theCBS owned and operated stations.
The end NBC owned and operatedstations bought wait till your
father gets home.
And that even reflects.
(05:31):
There were actually governmentrestrictions.
There was like the fair usedoctrine which meant that you
couldn't warp your broadcastingto one view or another.
You had to give equal time.
One of our past presidents gotrid of that, who used to be the
president of the Screen ActorsGuild.
You could figure out who I'mtalking about.
(05:55):
So the FCC was really trying todo something good for local
programming local programmingand it ended up just being an
opportunity to create new kindsof programming that was shown
nationally, just not on anetwork, and at that time
networks were limited to onlyowning stations in five markets.
(06:17):
That's another rule that gotthrown out the window as
deregulation set in.
But the NBC owned and operatedstations New York, los Angeles,
chicago, so forth.
They were the home for WaitTill your Father Gets Home, and
depending what market you livedin, it was on either a local,
(06:37):
independent station or on anetwork affiliate.
Yeah, and so this ran.
Technically it's really only atwo season show, but it ran
technically for three seasonsbecause there were four episodes
in the second season that theybumped into a third season with
reruns, right.
(06:58):
It was very popular and it is toall in the family, but the
Flintstones is to honeymoonerswhat Top Cat is to Sergeant
Bilko.
Right, it was very much of itstime and Hanna-Barbera did have
their ear to the ground in termsof what was going on in the
(07:18):
world and I think it was verybold of them to do that.
Yeah, what's really interestingabout this is we here at Warner
Brothers, at Warner Home Videouh, this was released on DVD for
season one only by our liveaction television team, not by
(07:39):
our animation family team.
This was looked upon as asitcom, not as kids animation,
which was very, I think, a veryintelligent decision, unlike
years later when the kids teamwas handling the first seasons
of South Park.
South Park rights went toparamount shortly thereafter
(08:02):
when we sold our half interestin Comedy Central as a byproduct
of the lovely AOL years.
You know this is very muchadult oriented.
The animation is very limited,it's almost barely there.
It was the most modestanimation that they could come
(08:22):
up with and the budgetsobviously reflected that.
But the emphasis was on thewriting, the comedy and the
voice acting.
I think the show really, reallyholds up and a lot of fans.
When we started Warner Archive.
People were very hopeful thatwe would put out the rest of
Wait Till your Father Gets Homeon DVD.
(08:43):
That never happened, but therewere some clearances and various
other issues that had to besorted out.
So now we're able to do thewhole series on Blu-ray.
And I do want to bring upsomething specific to the
Blu-ray release.
The Blu-ray release wassupposed to contain on it two
(09:06):
legacy special features that hadbeen on the DVD and it was
missed in QC that they weren'tincluded.
So a replacement disk six isalready in production.
I think it should be ready inabout a week and we will be
providing through variouschannels, an email address where
(09:31):
people will be able tobasically order that disk six at
no cost to them and it will besent as a replacement.
So I just wanted to get thatout there.
We were made aware of theproblem right away and initial
product had been built that wasshipped out.
(09:53):
It was already two monthsdelayed because we had said it
was going to be a Novemberrelease, and I've spoken ad
nauseum on the extras here aboutthe problems we faced,
certainly in the last year, withreplication delays and our
schedule not really being ableto be adhered to as often as
(10:17):
we'd like.
We're still working very hardto try to make changes in that
regard so the consumer can getwhat they want when they expect
it.
So keep your eyes open.
Check your favorite discenthusiast website forum for
updates on where to request areplacement disc six on this set
(10:39):
.
I also wanted to talk about thequality.
These are all new 4K mastersfrom the original negatives but
there is a very distinctdifference in quality,
especially in season two.
Distinct difference in quality,especially in season two.
Most of the animation forseason one not all most was done
(11:06):
by Hanna-Barbera's Australianbrand new Australian affiliate.
Some of the animation for seasontwo was outsourced to a
Canadian animation company andthose original negatives were
not 35 millimeter, they were 16millimeter and there is a
noticeable difference increasein grain and a decrease in
(11:28):
sharpness.
That could not be helped.
We did the best we could do.
That was the original negative.
It just happened to be in 16millimeter.
You just don't have the qualityand the resolution.
But ultimately the visuals herearen't as integral as the
writing and the performances ofthe voice actors and I think
(11:52):
everybody can take the series asa whole and it looks light
years better than it had beenlooking from one inch videotapes
made off 16 millimeter prints,which is what was shown on
Cartoon Network and Boomerangand so forth and so on in recent
years even get those additionalseasons right before this.
Tim Millard (12:19):
So I mean, you know you have to have a little less
quality there from the 16millimeter masters, but to get
the full series is a real treat.
So, and to those listeners ofthe extras, we'll provide that
information also for that discsix so that you can get that
here in our podcast show noteswhen it becomes available.
But back to the look, jerry.
Was there a reason for thataesthetic that they chose other
(12:43):
than just cost, or was itprimarily cost?
Jerry Beck (12:46):
Well, it seems like you'd think it would be cost,
but I think it wasn't.
I think they A didn't want tobe you know what's the right
word here.
I think they A didn't want tobe you know what's the right
word here.
They didn't really want it tofeel like the regular house
design of Hanna-Barbera.
So what they did was theyactually went to a Playboy
cartoonist named Marty Murphy,and it was a completely
(13:10):
different design aesthetic and Ithink he worked on some of the
later Hanna-Barbera shows.
He might have worked on HongKong Fooey, I think, but he
mainly this was his baby andactually so it has a different
feel to it.
It's in quote unquote a moreadult feel to it.
The, as you said before, thewriting is sharp.
(13:32):
It's aimed at, totally aimed at, adults.
It's not a Saturday morningshow, something that I was
telling George that when it wasfirst on in that syndication
most of the channels ran theirlocal programming in 16
millimeter.
We in york had some channelsthat ran 35 in syndication, but
(13:55):
not this one 11, yeah, but theuh, but most of the other
channels.
If it was local, it was uh, itwas uh.
The quality wasn't that goodand I remember as a kid being
both excited to see this showand disappointed in that sparse
look that.
That, that's that millimeter,not primetime look.
(14:18):
It really turned me off,actually, and I always gave this
show kind of a lukewarm, youknow five on a scale of 10.
Now I'm saying that, but nowthat I've seen oh, my God, my
opinion has completely changed.
Seeing this Blu-ray, the onesthat were done in 35, seeing
them today, with fresh eyes,decades later, and as you
(14:41):
mentioned, tim, that therelevancy of the writing is, I
mean I feel like I'm watching abrand new show.
I feel like I'm watchingsomething that was made recently
.
It feels like I don't want tosay family guy, but it feels
like a contemporary show aboutcontemporary issues.
The artwork is great,especially if you see it
(15:04):
restored.
It somehow looks cheap whenit's two generations later in
16mm, two generations later in16 millimeter, but when it's uh,
when it's uh, you know, in 35,uh, you know, on blu-ray, it
just it just looks new, it looksbrand new and contemporary and
I, I, I'm, I've done a complete180 on this show.
I love it now.
I always liked it.
(15:25):
I love it now it's.
I think it's a classic.
I think it's an overlookedhanna-Barbera classic and, you
know, I highly recommend it toeverybody.
It's one that's really, in myopinion, been overlooked
throughout the years, and I'mraving about it, so I'll let it
go with that.
Tim Millard (15:45):
Yeah, I mean, I felt exactly the same way,
except for I knew nothing aboutthis show, but when I watched it
, that minimalistic style Ithought actually was really in
its favor, because you justreally focus on the voice and
the writing and the topic andit's very, very humorous.
And having the laugh track, ofcourse, makes it feel more like
(16:08):
a sitcom.
George Feltenstein (16:10):
They were absolutely going for an adult
audience.
This was not a show meant forkids.
The fact that some kids likeJerry and myself watched it
might be attributable to thefact that we were focused on
things that might have been forolder people, but I always
thought it was very funny.
(16:31):
It was like appointmenttelevision for me.
I loved it, just as I loved asa little kid all in the family,
and I liked the fact that theshow took on social issues.
And I am of the opinion that ifthere was a re-release of this,
let's say If there was are-release of this, let's say 20
(16:53):
years ago, of the full series,it wouldn't have felt as topical
as it does now.
Yeah, given the state of theworld at the moment, it just
feels very prescient.
Yeah, and good writing doesn'tdate.
Tim Millard (17:16):
And this show is very well written and talented
voice artists.
Yeah, we should mention a fewof those artists.
George Feltenstein (17:19):
Voice artists George he became the dad
on Happy Days, which is howmost people know of him.
But prior to all of this, whatreally made him famous was
(17:41):
starring in the Broadway showFiorello, playing Fiorello
LaGuardia I think that was like1959.
And that's kind of what madehim from a nobody to a known
quantity.
And he did a lot of televisionand a lot of supporting roles in
movies and small things.
But his career really took offwith Happy Days and of course
(18:04):
it's ironic that Happy Days hadits roots in being an episode of
Love, American Style.
Tim Millard (18:12):
Bosley, I thought I mean he is in many ways the
show.
I mean he just carries, hecarries the point of view.
He's the dad who I mean it's,it's a lot.
He's.
You know it's dealing withthese teenagers, the son that
doesn't go to work, I mean it'sjust hilarious, all the issues.
I mean I love the 70sreferences too, the hippies and
(18:37):
the nudist sunbathing and the,you know, the commie, his
neighbor who's always lookingfor the commie infiltrators and
all of these things.
It sets it in its time and yetit's still to your point, george
.
It still has a lot of relevanceto today and I love that,
absolutely the neighbor, whichis Jack Burns.
Jerry Beck (18:58):
you know the comedian who was.
I think he was on one of theMayberry shows.
George Feltenstein (19:04):
He took over the deputy role on Andy
Griffith for one season afterDon Knotts left, but he was part
of the comedy team Burns andSchreiber with Avery Schreiber
of my Mother the Car fame.
Jerry Beck (19:19):
Yeah, he's got the role where you know he's pretty
much a bigot, you know and thethings, and he's a gun owner and
he I mean everything you know.
It's all relevant today.
That's all I'll say.
Tim Millard (19:31):
Yeah, yeah it's all relevant today, that's all.
Yeah, yeah, it's really good.
So well, just, I think we'reall repeating that now to have
this all in one set is fantastic, and I don't think anybody's
going to go wrong getting this.
You're going to really, really,really enjoy it, so it was
worth the wait.
George, thank you so much forbringing this to the fans.
We're delighted this to the fans.
(19:58):
We're delighted Well, it'salways great to hear from George
and Jerry and get theirperspective on these releases.
Lots of good stuff here withWait Till your Father Gets Home,
and there is the replacement ofdisc six.
We don't yet have theinformation on where to get that
, so if you already ordered yourcopy and received it and you're
going to need a replacementdisc, look for that here or on
our Facebook page.
We'll post that when it is madeavailable For animation fans.
(20:20):
We have a few other podcastswith George and Jerry that will
be coming out very soon.
One will be on Frankenstein Jrand the Impossibles and Daffy
Duck's Quackbusters, and thenwe'll have a separate podcast
for the release of the Tom andJerry CinemaScope collection.
So keep a lookout for those.
They will be coming very soon,as we did record them all at
once, but they are being postedas separate episodes Until next
(20:44):
time.
You've been listening to TimMillard.
Stay slightly obsessed aboutanimation.
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