The Brown Hornet

The Brown Hornet
Created by Bill Cosby
Voices of Bill Cosby
Country of origin United States
Production
Executive producer(s) Bill Cosby
Production company(s) Filmation
Distributor Group W Productions (syndicated)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS (1972-1984)
First-Run Syndication (1984-1985)

The Brown Hornet was a show-within-a-show (or more accurately, a cartoon-within-a-cartoon) on the Filmation animated series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids from 1979 to approximately 1984. The Brown Hornet was a show that Fat Albert's gang watched on a barely-working television in their clubhouse. Originally the Brown Hornet was presented on a radio program by Cosby as an African-American version of the Green Hornet. During the cartoon the character was rewritten as a space superhero.

The Brown Hornet was a bumbling superhero who always seemed to thwart the evil-doers and teach viewers a valuable lesson in the process. In each opening, The Brown Hornet and his sidekicks Stinger and Tweeterbell the Robot were facing certain doom until the Brown Hornet used his superpowers to save them all. Their victory would be fleeting, however, as the episode would often end with a new threat emerging.

In one episode of "Fat Albert", Weird Harold is seen playing a Brown Hornet arcade cabinet at a video arcade. In another episode, Fat Albert and his friends make their own Brown Hornet movie to submit to a film festival. The Brown Hornet also features prominently in the Fat Albert Easter special, where the Brown Hornet teaches Fat Albert and his friends the spirit of giving and rejuvenation the springtime holiday provides.

Contents

Inspiration

The Brown Hornet's name is a play on the name of the old time radio hero The Green Hornet; in fact, Bill Cosby had done a syndicated radio Brown Hornet series around 1970 that directly parodied the old program. However, this Brown Hornet is closer to a parody of Space Ghost - a space-faring, caped superhero.

Fictional theatrical film

The fictional film The Brown Hornet: The Great Galaxy World Adventure Movie was featured in Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids: The Movie.

A feature film is rumored to be in the works.

Voice cast

The Brown Hornet - Bill Cosby

Stinger - Lou Scheimer

Tweeterbell - Erika Scheimer

Announcer - Norm Prescott/Lou Scheimer

Other media

The Brown Hornet appeared in the South Park episode "Imaginationland."

Black Thought of the hip hop band The Roots mentions the Brown Hornet in the lyrics to Thought @ Work.

The Artists

External links