Regardless of how many negative posts, criticisms, rants and insults of it that come out of the woodwork, Hanna-Barbera's 1975 version of Tom & Jerry shall always hold dear to me! To each his own...
I've been a fan of it ever since 1979, when they first aired locally in my hometown, N'Awlins, every Monday-Friday afternoon @ 3:30 on ABC (now Fox) affiliate WVUE-TV Channel 8, on The Tom & Jerry Hour. It was a mixed bag of T&J cartoons, theatrical (1940 to 1967) and TV (1975 to 1977). This was how I first learned of these made-for-TV T&Js from H-B. The theatricals were great, but I (being a child of the 1970s and a connoisseur of Hanna-Barbera's mid-to-late 1970s work) somehow grew more attached to the 1970s version. Sometimes WVUE aired the main title sequence from The Tom & Jerry Show separately from the 48 7-minute T&J stories, sometimes they aired the end credits.
I later read in Stuart Fischer's book Kids' TV: The First 25 Years that they originally aired in 1975 on The (New) Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show. I remember thinking, "Ah! So that's where they came from!" This is also how I learned of The New T&J's originally pairing with The Great Grape Ape, which I only discovered via repeats on ABC Sunday Mornings! (Yep, I missed out on the original run on ABC, and I had just come into it.)
I decided that the 1970s T&J was my sole favorite, and faithfully followed its exploits from its first local airing on WVUE to its re-airing in the 1980s on WNOL-TV Channel 38 (now a WB affiliate) and Superstation WTBS, which, on Tom & Jerry And Friends, showed 7-minute 1975 T&J cartoons framed in-between main and end title sequences! I also realize that a huge number of serious animation fans have and continue to liken New Tom & Jerry to New Coke, calling it a cheap imitation of the originals, and thus giving them a bad rep over the years. I don't think it's all the 1975 version of T&J so much; I think a great many 'toon fans have prided themselves on being hooked on the originals and declaring any version out of that scope as inferior.
Hence my web presence, The New Tom & Jerry Info Site @ http://www.1975tomjerry.50megs.com/ , which I launched in March 1997, to show all and sundry that there was someone out there who took interest in them and, to a degree at least, put an end to all the bad press they've been getting. Until January 2004 (so far), Boomerang from Catoon Network has done the 1975 T&J's justice by showing them periodically on Boomerang Saturdays (1976, 1977 and 1978). They neglected to show them in April 2004 during the weekly Friday T&J marathons; they seem to be limited to the 1940-67 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatricals, Filmation's 1980-82 version (The Tom & Jerry Comedy Show) and that 1990-93 Fox revival Tom & Jerry Kids (that gray stripe between Tom's eyes was not his best feature, IMHO!). But CN more than made up for this with the addition of the 1975 T&Js to their rotation in May 2005.
Like I said, to each his own. Everyone here has his/her favorite version of Tom & Jerry; mine is and shall forever remain H-B's "black sheep" 1975 made-for-TV version. Just because a Tom & Jerry cartoon, be it old or new, is nonviolent does not mean it cannot be watched and enjoyed. (I mean, check out the sports-themed New T&Js! And Spike! And Hoyt Curtin's jazzy underscore!)
So, if you will, sing along!!!
Set your dial for a while! Have a laugh, wear a smile! It's The Tom & Jerry Show! You'll begin with a grin When you first tune us in On The Tom & Jerry Show!
Introducing that world-famous cat...Tom! And that magnificent mouse...Jerry!
(instrumental solo)
Lots of zing, lots to sing! Everything's gonna swing! So, get ready - here we go! Big or small, short or tall, You will all have a ball On The Tom & Jerry Show!
I've been a fan of it ever since 1979, when they first aired locally in my hometown, N'Awlins, every Monday-Friday afternoon @ 3:30 on ABC (now Fox) affiliate WVUE-TV Channel 8, on The Tom & Jerry Hour. It was a mixed bag of T&J cartoons, theatrical (1940 to 1967) and TV (1975 to 1977). This was how I first learned of these made-for-TV T&Js from H-B. The theatricals were great, but I (being a child of the 1970s and a connoisseur of Hanna-Barbera's mid-to-late 1970s work) somehow grew more attached to the 1970s version. Sometimes WVUE aired the main title sequence from The Tom & Jerry Show separately from the 48 7-minute T&J stories, sometimes they aired the end credits.
I later read in Stuart Fischer's book Kids' TV: The First 25 Years that they originally aired in 1975 on The (New) Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show. I remember thinking, "Ah! So that's where they came from!" This is also how I learned of The New T&J's originally pairing with The Great Grape Ape, which I only discovered via repeats on ABC Sunday Mornings! (Yep, I missed out on the original run on ABC, and I had just come into it.)
I decided that the 1970s T&J was my sole favorite, and faithfully followed its exploits from its first local airing on WVUE to its re-airing in the 1980s on WNOL-TV Channel 38 (now a WB affiliate) and Superstation WTBS, which, on Tom & Jerry And Friends, showed 7-minute 1975 T&J cartoons framed in-between main and end title sequences! I also realize that a huge number of serious animation fans have and continue to liken New Tom & Jerry to New Coke, calling it a cheap imitation of the originals, and thus giving them a bad rep over the years. I don't think it's all the 1975 version of T&J so much; I think a great many 'toon fans have prided themselves on being hooked on the originals and declaring any version out of that scope as inferior.
Hence my web presence, The New Tom & Jerry Info Site @ http://www.1975tomjerry.50megs.com/ , which I launched in March 1997, to show all and sundry that there was someone out there who took interest in them and, to a degree at least, put an end to all the bad press they've been getting. Until January 2004 (so far), Boomerang from Catoon Network has done the 1975 T&J's justice by showing them periodically on Boomerang Saturdays (1976, 1977 and 1978). They neglected to show them in April 2004 during the weekly Friday T&J marathons; they seem to be limited to the 1940-67 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatricals, Filmation's 1980-82 version (The Tom & Jerry Comedy Show) and that 1990-93 Fox revival Tom & Jerry Kids (that gray stripe between Tom's eyes was not his best feature, IMHO!). But CN more than made up for this with the addition of the 1975 T&Js to their rotation in May 2005.
Like I said, to each his own. Everyone here has his/her favorite version of Tom & Jerry; mine is and shall forever remain H-B's "black sheep" 1975 made-for-TV version. Just because a Tom & Jerry cartoon, be it old or new, is nonviolent does not mean it cannot be watched and enjoyed. (I mean, check out the sports-themed New T&Js! And Spike! And Hoyt Curtin's jazzy underscore!)
So, if you will, sing along!!!
Set your dial for a while! Have a laugh, wear a smile! It's The Tom & Jerry Show! You'll begin with a grin When you first tune us in On The Tom & Jerry Show!
Introducing that world-famous cat...Tom! And that magnificent mouse...Jerry!
(instrumental solo)
Lots of zing, lots to sing! Everything's gonna swing! So, get ready - here we go! Big or small, short or tall, You will all have a ball On The Tom & Jerry Show!