Where's Huddles? is an American adult animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions which premiered on CBS on July 1, 1970 and ran for ten episodes as a summer replacement show for The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour until September 2. Repeats were shown on the network's Sunday afternoon schedule in the summer of 1971. It was similar in style to the studio's considerably more successful The Flintstones, and used several of the same essential voice actors and plots. Also, like The Flintstones, Where's Huddles? aired in the evening during prime time, had a laugh track, and had somewhat adult themes. All ten episodes were produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The summer replacement was intended be a trial run for a full prime-time series, but only lasted for ten episodes. The episodes were repeated again in summer 1971.
Overview
The show's premise involved a professional football quarterback named Ed Huddles and his neighbor, the team's center Bubba McCoy. They played for a team called the Rhinos. Other characters included Ed's wife Marge Huddles, the Huddles' daughter Pom-Pom, and their black teammate Freight Train. Bubba's wife Penny McCoy was played by comedic actress Marie Wilson in her final role before her death from cancer in 1972. The regular foil was Claude Pertwee, who lived alone with his cat Beverley and could tolerate the wives, but considered the men to be "savages." His look and temperamental behavior are similar to Mr. Peevly from Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch. The Rhinos' football announcer was voiced by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who at the time was the voice of the Los Angeles Rams. Alan Reed had a recurring role as Mad Dog Maloney, the Rhinos' coach. The Huddles had a dog named Fumbles, voiced by Don Messick. Fumbles, much like Muttley, would often laugh at someone's misfortune, but whereas Muttley's laugh was wheezy in nature, Fumbles' laugh was more guttural. Most of the in-game action consisted of recycled animation. Paul Lynde was credited for his role in this series as Claude Pertwee; this was unusual for Lynde, as he generally went uncredited in his other work for Hanna-Barbera at the time, which consisted mostly of Saturday morning cartoons. In addition to the Huddles television series, there was also a comic book which ran for three issues from Gold Key/Whitman Comics in 1971.
