The Super 6

The Super 6 is an animated cartoon series which was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in 1966, and shown on the NBC television network from 1966 to 1969. This was DePatie-Freleng's first vehicle for Saturday morning.

The Super 6 theme song was performed by Gary Lewis & the Playboys.[1]

Plot

The show was a superhero spoof which featured half a dozen diverse characters under the supervision of a cranky dispatcher. Each show consisted of three 5-6 minute segments, with the introductory segment featuring Super Bwoing, and the latter featuring one of the other five heroes. The middle segment featured the totally unrelated The Brothers Matzoriley.

The Super Six Membership

The Super 6 consisted of the following:

Captain Whammo vs. Captain Zammo

This character appeared in the smallest number of segments of any of the other members of the Six. After the first appearance, however, his name was changed from "Whammo" to "Zammo". According to Friz Freleng in a [1982] interview, the name change occurred when Wham-O, creators of such wonders as the Super Ball, filed a legal grievance against DePatie-Freleng over trademark infringement. Reportedly, the first commercial to air after the first televised “Captain Whammo” segment was ironically for the Super Ball.

The Brothers Matzoriley

This third segment was unrelated to the Super Six, and starred a bizarre, three-headed character known collectively as "The Brothers Matzoriley". They were conjoined "Siamese triplets" who were Three Stooges-style bumblers, always looking for a new job. Their names (Weft, Wight and Wong) were a play on "left", "right" and "wrong". Although occupying one body, each head had its own distinct personality. One head (Weft) being that of a tough guy or ruffian with an Irish Broque. another (Wight) being a wimpy coward with a very nervous British Accent, and the middle head (Wong) being a smart alecky Chinese, who dispensed absurd parodies of Confucius proverbs beginning with "Confusion say...". All three personalities were of a broad, stereotypical nature.

A prototype version of the Brothers Matzoriley (never named on-screen, but referred to as the "Matz-O'Reillys" on the animation model sheets) appeared as a 3-headed spy in "The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation," the first short in The Inspector series. In the cartoon, the brothers steal a precious diamond in the oddest ways from the Inspector. In a comic plot twist ending, they wind up winning the day after the Inspector accidentally drinks a glass of water with the diamond in it. The brothers (disguised as a nurse) steal it after a surgeon removes it during an emergency operation. This version of the character was quite different from its later incarnation, however. The first head was a sauve British-type (Pat Harrington Jr. was the original voice for the left side spy) and the third head had a Soviet-Russian accent (Paul Frees was the voice of the right head as well as the middle Chinese head). They had different voices but similar personalities - although the middle Chinese head bore some resemblance to the version that would later appear in The Super 6.

Data

The series was broadcast by NBC from September 10, 1966 to January 21, 1967. NBC continued to air reruns until August 31, 1969.

20 episodes (each containing three cartoons) were made.

TGG Direct (under license from MGM Home Entertainment) has released the entire series on DVD.

Voices

Staff

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gary Lewis (I)

External links