Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

Infobox Television
show_name = Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels


caption = "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" title card
genre = Animation
camera =
picture_format =
audio_format =
runtime = 10 minutes per episode
creator = Joe Ruby
Ken Spears
director = Charles A. Nichols
executive_producer = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
starring =
voices = Mel Blanc
Laurel Page
Marilyn Schrefler
Vernee Watson
narrated =
theme_music_composer =
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = flagcountry|USA
location =
language = English
network = ABC
first_aired = September 10, 1977
last_aired = June 21, 1980
num_series =
num_episodes = 40
list_episodes =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
related =
website =
imdb_id = 0284712
tv_com_id = 9769

"Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" is an animated series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 10, 1977 to June 21, 1980 on ABC.

It was originally broadcast as a segment on the package shows "Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics" (1977-78) and "Scooby's All-Stars" (1978-79).

ummary

"Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" centers on the mystery-solving adventures of the Teen Angels — Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy — and their friend Captain Caveman (or Cavey for short), a prehistoric caveman whom the girls discovered and thawed from a block of ice. The concept and general plot for the show was seen as a parody of "Charlie's Angels" (which also aired on ABC). It also borrowed heavily from other Hanna-Barbera shows such as "Scooby-Doo" and "Josie and the Pussycats", among others.

Captain Caveman's powers include super-strength, a variety of useful objects hidden inside his fur, and a club that allows him to fly and from which pops out different tools he uses to fight crime. His trademark is his battle cry of "Captain CAAAAAAAVEMAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!" Captain Caveman's voice was provided by Mel Blanc.

The first and second seasons of the show remained part of "Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics" / "Scooby's All-Stars" through 1979 (Cavey and the girls also participated in sporting competitions as part of "The Scooby Doobies" team on the half-hour "Laff-A-Lympics" segment).

In March 1980, "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" were given their own half-hour show with 16 new episodes combined with reruns from 1977-79. A total of 40 ten-minute episodes were produced (16 in 1977-78, 8 in 1978-79 and 16 in 1980).

Main characters

*Captain Caveman (voiced by Mel Blanc) is the main character, a caveman who is thousands of years old (his exact age is never disclosed). He can pull various objects from his body hair. He can also fly, but his flying power always seems to conk out on him at the worst possible moment. Sometimes he would attribute this mishap to an energy shortage ("Uh oh! Bad time for power failure." "CRASH!"), which was a pun on the oil embargo of the 1970s. He speaks in stereotypical "caveman-talk", replacing subjective pronouns with their objective equivalents and dropping articles such as "the" (for example, "Me know where bad guys are hiding."), and often mumbles the nonsense phrase "unga bunga". He also has a bad habit of occasionally eating non-food objects (i.e. bicycles, TV sets, table lamps), and the Teen Angels occasionally have to stop him for eating potential clues that will help them to solve the mystery.

*Brenda (voiced by Marilyn Schrefler) is a cowardly brunette who is always scared of the demons, monsters and phantoms that she encounters. She usually wears a pale pink top and a hot pink flared trousers with a white belt.

*Dee Dee (voiced by Vernee Watson) is a brainy African-American who finds all the clues and solves the mysteries. She has black hair which she has in an afro and usually wears a red turtleneck sweater with a blue skirt and red knee high boots.

*Taffy (voiced by Laurel Page) is the blonde member of the group, renowned for her cry of "Zowie!" whenever she comes up with a plan (or "Another Daffy Taffy Plan" as Brenda and Cavey would call it) to catch the culprits. She has the ability to sweet-talk Cavey into acting as bait for her plans to capture the culprit. She usually wears a green dress with matching shoes.

Dee Dee and Taffy, unlike Brenda, can get into a fight with crooks and rogues.

Opening credits

The opening credits for each episode was narration by Gary Owens:

"Set free by the Teen Angels from his prehistoric block of glacier ice comes the world's first superhero, Captain Caveman! Now the constant companion to the Teen Angels: Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy, in their hilarious, and sometimes scary mystery missions. Get ready for Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels!"

In the ending credits, "The CB Bears" theme is heard.

Episodes

eason 1 (1977, as segments on "Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics")

*1. The Kooky Case of the Cryptic Keys (September 10, 1977)
*2. The Mixed Up Mystery of Deadman's Reef (September 17, 1977)
*3. What a Flight for a Fright (September 24, 1977)
*4. The Creepy Case of the Creaky Charter Boat (October 1, 1977)
*5. Big Scare in the Big Top (October 8, 1977)
*6. Double Dribble Riddle (October 15, 1977)
*7. The Crazy Case of the Tell-Tale Tape (October 22, 1977)
*8. The Creepy Claw Caper (October 29, 1977)
*9. Cavey and the Kabuta Clue (November 5, 1977)
*10. Cavey and the Weirdo Wolfman (November 12, 1977)
*11. The Disappearing Elephant Mystery (November 19, 1977)
*12. The Fur Freight Fright (November 26, 1977)
*13. Ride 'em Caveman (December 3, 1977)
*14. The Strange Case of the Creature from Space (December 10, 1977)
*15. The Mystery Mansion Mix-Up (December 17, 1977)
*16. Playing Footsie with Bigfoot (December 24, 1977)

eason 2 (1978, as segments on "Scooby's All-Stars")

*17. Disco Cavey (September 9, 1978)
*18. Muscle-Bound Cavey (September 16, 1978)
*19. Cavey's Crazy Car Caper (September 23, 1978)
*20. Cavey's Mexicali 500 (September 30, 1978)
*21. Wild West Cavey (October 7, 1978)
*22. Cavey's Winter Carnival Caper (October 14, 1978)
*23. Cavey's Fashion Fiasco (October 21, 1978)
*24. Cavey's Missing Missile Miss-tery (October 28, 1978)

eason 3 (1980, as "Captain Captain and the Teen Angels")

*25. The Scarifying Seaweed Secret (March 8, 1980)
*26. The Dummy (March 15, 1980)
*27. Cavey and the Volcanic Villain (March 22, 1980)
*28. Prehistoric Panic (March 29, 1980)
*29. Cavey and the Baffling Buffalo Man (April 5, 1980)
*30. Dragonhead (April 12, 1980)
*31. Cavey and the Murky Mississippi Mystery (April 19, 1980)
*32. Old Cavey in New York (April 26, 1980)
*33. The Albino Rhino (May 3, 1980)
*34. Kentucky Cavey (May 10, 1980)
*35. Cavey Goes to College (May 17, 1980)
*36. The Haunting of Hog's Hollow (May 24, 1980)
*37. The Legend of Devil's Run (May 31, 1980)
*38. The Mystery of the Meandering Mummy (June 7, 1980)
*39. The Old Caveman and the Sea (June 14, 1980)
*40. Lights, Camera... Cavey! (June 21, 1980)

Production credits

*Executive Producers: Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
*Director: Charles A. Nichols
*Creative Producer: Iwao Takamoto
*Created by: Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
*Associate Producers: Art Scott, Alex Lovy, Lew Marshall
*Story Editors: Andy Heyward, Norman Maurer, Ray Parker, Duane Poole, Dick Robbins, Joe Ruby, Ken Spears
*Story: Neal Barbera, Larz Bourne, Bill Butler, Tom Dagenais, Earl Doud, Fred Freiberger, Donald Glut, Dave Ketchum, Larry Markes, Jack Mendelsohn, Duane Poole, Dalton Sandifer, John Strong, Paul West
*Story Direction: Bill Ackerman, Ron Campbell, Carl Fallberg, David Hanan, M. Mike Kawaguchi, Michael O'Connor, George Singer, Paul Sommer, Howard Swift, Kay Wright
*Recording Directors: Wally Burr, Alex Lovy, Art Scott
*Voices: John Astin, Julie Bennett, Mel Blanc, Ted Cassidy, Henry Corden, Stefanianna Christopherson, Mickey Dolenz, Joan Gerber, Florence Halop, Pat Harrington, Hettie Lynn Hurtes, Nicole Jaffe, Ann Jillian, Casey Kasem, Jim MacGeorge, Julie McWhirter, Don Messick, Heather North, Gary Owens, Vic Perrin, Alan Reed, Mike Road, Ronnie Schell, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, Susan Steward, Jean Vander Pyl, Janet Waldo, Frank Welker, Bill Woodson
*Title Design: Bill Perez
*Graphics: Iraj Paran
*Musical Direction: Hoyt Curtin, Ted Nichols
*Musical Supervision: Paul DeKorte, La La Productions
*Character Design: Bob Singer, Dick Ung, Alex Toth, Lew Ott, Steve Nakagawa, Donna Zeller
*Layout Supervision: John Ahern
*Layout: Pete Alvarado, Alvaro Arce, Dick Bickenbach, Al Budnick, Charles Downs, Owen Fitzgerald, Jim Fletcher, Drew Gentle, Rick Gonzales, Paul Gruwell, Kirk Henderson, Jack Huber, Alex Ignatiev, Ray Jacobs, Homer Jonas, Bill Lignante, Warren Marshall, Jim Mueller, Dan Noonan, Greg Reyna, Tom Roth, Glen Schmitz, Terry Slade, Martin Taras, Mario Uribe, Wendell Washer
*Unit Direction: Ray Patterson
*Animation Supervision: Bill Keil, Jay Sarbry, Peter Aries
*Assistant Animation Supervision: Bob Goe
*Animation Coordination: John Boersema
*Animation: Ed Aardal, Carlos Alfonso, Ed Barge, Bob Bemiller, O.E. Callahan, George Cannata, Bob Carr, Steve Clark, Jesse Cosio, Maria Dail, Edward De Mattia, Izzy Ellis, Marcia Fertig, Kenneth Gaebler, John Garling, Mark Glamack, Fernando Gonzalez, Alan Green, Bob Hathcock, Terry Harrison, Volus Jones, Ernesto Lopez, Tony Love, Ken Muse, Margaret Nichols, Eduardo Olivares, Joan Orbison, Rod Parkes, Anna Lois Ray, Morey Reden, George Rowley, Ed Soloman, Irv Spence, Dave Tendlar, Rich Trueblood, Carlo Vinci, Russ Von Neida, James Wang
*Background Supervision: Al Gmuer
*Backgrounds: Cathleen Alfaro, Daniela Bielecka, Dennis Durrell, Bob Gentle, David High, Richard Khim, Gary Niblett, Walt Peregoy, Andy Phillipson, Gary Selvecchio, Marilyn Shimokochi, Peter Van Elk
*Checking and Scene Planning: Evelyn Sherwood
*Xerography: Star Wirth, Robert "Tiger" West
*Ink and Paint Supervision: Billie Kerns, Roberta Greutert
*Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
*Camera: George Epperson, Jerry Smith, John Aardal, Charles Flekal, Ron Jackson, Ralph Migliori, Cliff Shirpser, Roy Wade
*Supervising Film Editors: Dick Elliott, Larry Cowan, Chip Yaras
*Film Editors: Richard Allen, Earl Bennett, Milton Krear, Terry Moore, Joe Sandusky, Greg Watson
*Dubbing Supervision: Pat Foley
*Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
*Production Manager: Jayne Barbera
*Post Production Supervision: Joed Eaton
*A HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTION:© 1977 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.

The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980-82)

In November 1980, Captain Caveman began to star in segments of his own on "The Flintstone Comedy Show", one of many spin-offs of Hanna-Barbera's popular prime-time show "The Flintstones", often in a role similar to that of Superman. Captain Caveman worked at The Daily Granite newspaper with Wilma and Betty His "secret identity" was Chester, the office boy. To disguise himself as Chester, Captain Caveman wore a pair of glasses and a tie. Despite the simplicity of his disguise, he required a coat rack and an elaborate transformation sequence to become Captain Caveman.

The Flintstone Kids (1986-88)

In 1986, Captain Caveman appeared in a backup segment of "The Flintstone Kids" called "Captain Caveman and Son" with his son, Cavey Jr. (voiced by Charles Adler). In this case he appeared on a show-within-a-show that the younger versions of Fred, Barney, Wilma, and Betty enjoyed watching; the Captain's mumbled "unga bunga" became a catchphrase that the kids would shout before watching each "episode" of the show. The whole "secret identity" idea was also ignored or forgotten.

Other appearances

* Captain Caveman later appeared in the "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" episode "The Evolutionary War" with Captain Caveman voiced by Chris Edgerly and Cavey Jr. voiced by Maurice LaMarche. His son Cavey Jr. was teased at school because his existence proved the Theory of Evolution.

* Captain Caveman appeared in the "Robot Chicken" episode "Ban on the Fun" voiced by Breckin Meyer. In a segment that parodies the Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the Munich massacre, Captain Caveman and Shaggy Rogers confront Daisy Mayhem and Captain Caveman blows her up with the wrong club.

VHS release

In 1997, a PAL videocassette of "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" containing 13 episodes was released only in Europe. The series has not yet been released on DVD.

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/corvenpage_miami2/Scripts/TeenAngels.html Freddy Corven's Captain Caveman Page]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/caveman.htm Don Markstein's Toonopedia]
* [http://www.pureimagination.co.uk/captaincaveman/ Cartoon Legends' Captain Caveman]
*imdb title|0284712
*tv.com show|9769