The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show

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[edit] Animated series

The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show
Format	Animated, Puppet show
Created by	Barry Mills
Voices of	Barry Mills Gus Jordan Jack Pendarvis Bill Taft Sally Timms Jon Langford
Country of origin	USA
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	TNT
Original run	July 8, 1995 – 1997
External links
IMDb profile

The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show was a programming block of animated cartoons for Turner Network Television (TNT) during the 1990s. Hosted by Rowdy Rudy (a puppet of a young boy, who looked a little like Howdy Doody), and his pet goat Gogo (actually derived from black and white footage of Violet the Goat from the MGM-era Our Gang comedies), the show featured a variety of cartoon short subjects from Turner Entertainment's library, including Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, MGM cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Droopy, and Fleischer/Famous' Popeye the Sailor. Between each cartoon, Rudy would usually tell jokes or make other such comments about the next cartoon in the lineup. Rudy was voiced by show producer Barry Mills.

Later episodes of the show featured a third character, "Jumpin' J.B.", an African American puppet-boy, who joined Rudy and Gogo in hosting the cartoons. J.B. was voiced by show contributor Gus Jordan. Also prominently featured was the skeleton bon vivant and raconteur Boney Bonerton, voiced by show co-producer Jack Pendarvis, and minor characters Cowboy Sally and pirate Olde Salty Sea Biscuit, respectively played by Sally Timms and Jon Langford of The Mekons.

During the 1996 US presidential election, TNT aired special commercials that featured Gogo running for the presidency as an independent candidate. Her theme song was the Spanish language tune Gogo Para Presidente. In 1996 the Minneapolis rock trio John Updyke's Lick Pussy (later renamed JULP) recorded a version of the song for a 7" vinyl b-side for the Earmark Records label. In 1997 they debuted a music video, directed by Mike "Suade" Newell, at First Avenue Nightclub. This low budget, sepia-toned short featured the band putting up "snipe" posters that read "Vote Goat" on walls and phone poles. It was later included on Newell's DVD entitled "Michael C. Newell - History: 1991-2004."

The program was a favorite in college dorms and had a particularly devoted following in New York University’s Hayden Hall. During the 1995-96 school year, several Freshmen students wrote to the program and were rewarded by having their names appear on screen as friends of the show.

Rudy and Gogo ended its broadcast run in 1997, and TNT stopped showing cartoons the following year.