The Alvin Show

The Alvin Show

Title card from The Alvin Show.
Created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Based on Alvin and the Chipmunks By Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Directed by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Voices of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Shepard Menken
June Foray
Lee Patrick
Bill Lee
Johnny Mann
Don Messick
Joe Besser
Theme music composer Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Neil Hefti
Carl Stalling
Composer(s) Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 26 The Alvin Show episodes,
26 Clyde Crashcup episodes,
and 52 musical segments
Production
Executive producer(s) Herbert Klynn
Running time 30 minutes per episode (7½ per segment)
Production company(s) Bagdasarian Film Corporation
Format Films
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network CBS (1961-1962)
Picture format Color (originally telecast in Black-and-white)
Original release October 4, 1961 (1961-10-04) – September 12, 1962 (1962-09-12)
Chronology
Followed by Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983–1990)
ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks (2015–)

The Alvin Show is an American animated television series. It was the first to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks, although a series with a similar concept The Nutty Squirrels Present had aired a year earlier. "The Alvin Show" lasted for one season in prime time (October 4, 1961 – September 12, 1962) on CBS (Wednesdays, 7:30-8pm Eastern), originally sponsored by General Foods (Jell-O, Post cereals), and initially telecast in black and white (color prints of the episodes were not seen until the series entered syndication in the fall of 1965).

The series rode the momentum of creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s original hit musical gimmick and developed the singing Chipmunk trio as rambunctious kids–particularly the show's namesake star–whose mischief contrasted to his tall, brainy brother Simon and his chubby, gluttonous brother Theodore, as well as their long-suffering, perpetually put-upon manager-father figure, David Seville. The animation was produced by Herbert Klynn's Format Films.

The Pilot, an early version of "Good Neighbor", was written and produced to sell the show for CBS.[1] The actual show featured a re-worked version, which aired as part of the 5th episode.

Characters

Clyde Crashcup

Aside from the seven-minute Chipmunk segments, in which David Seville was portrayed as a hapless bachelor who managed and mentored the three singing rodents, the show also had segments featuring a character called Clyde Crashcup (voiced by Shepard Menken impersonating Richard Haydn's Edwin Carp character), a scientist/inventor. Each segment was introduced by Alvin, who was told he was introducing a great inventor and was dumbfounded when he hears of Clyde Crashcup.

Clyde's "inventions" were really items that had already been invented, but with his own personal touches. His "creations" often backfired on him until his silent, level-headed lab assistant, Leonardo (diminutive, balding, and perpetually whispering in Crashcup's ear) saved him from any further self-destruction.

Afterlife

CBS reran the series on Saturday mornings for a few years after the show's prime time run ended, and segments from the show were syndicated in the mid and late 1960s under the package title Alvin and the Chipmunks (this first syndicated package consisted of the individual show segments only, including the Alvin and Clyde Crashcup cartoons, and Chipmunk musical segments, not in the form of half-hour shows). The series later was revived on NBC-TV, again promoted under the title Alvin and the Chipmunks (with the introductory Alvin Show title card cut off the beginning of the show opening) Saturday mornings between March 10, 1979 and September 1, 1979. TBS also reran the show sometime in the 1980s as well.

Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. had died of a heart attack in January 1972. Years later, his son, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., picked up on a disc jockey's joke and produced the Chipmunk Punk album in 1980. The success of Chipmunk Punk spurred renewed interest a new animated series, which launched in fall 1983 on NBC and was titled Alvin and the Chipmunks, with Ross, Jr. taking over for his father as the voice of the Alvin and Simon, and Dave Seville. His wife, Janice Karman, voiced Theodore, as well as The Chipettes, who are the Chipmunks' female counterparts. To coincide with the new series, Viacom Enterprises distributed reruns of The Alvin Show to local stations.

In 1981 Clyde Crashcup made an appearance during a dream sequence in A Chipmunk Christmas. During recent network airings of the special, the sequence has been cut out, due to network time constraints concerning commercial ad time.

In 1990, The Alvin Show versions of the Chipmunks and Clyde Crashcup reappeared in an episode of The Chipmunks Go To the Movies entitled "Back to Our Future" (a spoof of the 1985 movie, Back to the Future).

A majority of the songs and clips from The Alvin Show were featured in the Alvin and the Chipmunks Sing Along Songs VHS's that were released in the mid 1990s. The songs, however, were slightly remastered.

Nickelodeon picked up US broadcast rights to The Alvin Show sometime in 1994 and ran the episodes daily until late 1995. During this time, as well as for sometime after the full episodes stopped airing, the individual cartoons and musical segments were inserted into episodes of Weinerville. In 1996, Nickelodeon stopped showing The Alvin Show segments altogether, and no television station has aired them since then.

Voice cast

Episodes

26 episodes each were produced for the Alvin and the Chipmunks and Clyde Crashcup segments, along with 52 musical segments.

# The Chipmunks Musical Segment 1 Clyde Crashcup Musical Segment 2
1Stanley The EagleOh GondalieroInvents BaseballI Wish I Could Speak French
2Sam Valiant, Private NoseAugust DearInvents the BathtubAlvin's Orchestra
3SquaresSwanee RiverInvents the WifeThe Magic Mountain
4OstrichThe Brave ChipmunksInvents the BabyYankee Doodle Dandy
5Good NeighborThe Little DogInvents ElectricityOld MacDonald (Cha Cha Cha)
6FancyJapanese BananaInvents MusicWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home
7Alvin’s Alter EgoThe Pidgin English HulaInvents the WestChipmunk Fun
8Sam Valiant, Real EstateWorking on the RailroadInvents the StoveStuck in Arabia
9Camping TripGood Morning SongInvents JokesI Wish I Had a Horse
10Overworked AlvinWitch DoctorInvents FlightThe Chipmunk Song
11Dude RanchHome on the RangeInvents First AidAlvin for President
12Jungle RhythmLily of LagunaInvents EgyptRow Your Boat
13Bentley Van RollsSwing Low Sweet ChariotInvents Self-PreservationComin' Thru the Rye
14Good MannersBicycle Built for TwoInvents Physical FitnessRagtime Cowboy Joe
15Little LeagueBuffalo GalsInvents the ChairWhile Strolling in the Park One Day
16Hillbilly SonSpainInvents the BedPop Goes the Weasel
17Alvin’s CruiseAlvin's HarmonicaInvents the TelephoneIf You Love Me (Alouette)
18Lovesick DaveComing 'Round the MountainInvents the Time MachineThe Blind-Folded Mice
19Eagle In LoveSing a Goofy SongInvents Do it YourselfTwinkle Twinkle Little Star
20Theodore’s DogClementineInvents the ShoeMaria from Madrid
21Haunted HouseWhistle While You WorkInvents GlassMy Wild Irish Rose
22Alvin's StudioJeannie with the Light Brown HairThis is Your Life, Clyde Crashcup!The Band Played On
23The WhistlerThe Alvin TwistInvents the BoatThe Man on the Flying Trapeze
24Sir AlvinGit Along Little DoggiesInvents CrashcuplandDown in the Valley
25Disc JockeyFuniculi, FuniculaInvents BirthdaysPolly Wolly Doodle
26Eagle MusicOn Top of Old SmokeyInvents Self-DefenseAmerica the Beautiful

General Foods was the show's main sponsor; as such, Dave Seville and The Chipmunks appeared in several humorous half-minute commercials for Jell-O and Post Cereals.

Home Media Releases

Other than the two VHS releases from Buena Vista Home Video, both of which featured 11 songs from The Alvin Show, up until recently, the show has never been released on DVD. However, on September 8, 2009, Paramount Home Entertainment released the first episode of the show, along with two "modern" specials. Future "Complete Series" DVD sets of the series are not yet planned. In 2014, "The Brave Chipmunks" musical sequence was released as a bonus feature on The Chipmunk Adventure Blu-ray and DVD combo pack. In 2015, three complete episodes (#01, #04, and #10) were released together as The Alvin Show on Blu-ray and DVD.[2]

International Broadcast

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://animationresources.org/story-alvin-show-pilot-board/
  2. ↑ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Alvin-DVD-Update/20668

External links

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