The Bugs Bunny Show
| The Bugs Bunny Show | |
|---|---|
 On-screen title card. | |
| Network | ABC (Season 1-2, re-airings) CBS (re-airings) |
| Production company | Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Animation |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television |
| Original release | October 11, 1960 - September 2, 2000 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc June Foray Stan Freberg Hal Smith |
| Executive producer(s) | David H. DePatie Friz Freleng William L. Hendricks |
| Producer(s) | Friz Freleng Chuck Jones |
| Music composed by | Mack David & Jerry Livingston (theme music, 1960–2000) Steve Zuckerman (theme music, 1984-85) |
| Director(s) | Chuck Jones Friz Freleng Robert McKimson |
| Series navigation | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Second title card | |
 As The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour. | |
| Third title card | |
 As The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show. | |
The Bugs Bunny Show is an American animated anthology television series originally produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons and Warner Bros. Television for ABC. It was mainly composed of theatrical Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, released between 1948 to 1969. It initially ran in a prime time slot from 1960 to 1962, running for two seasons and 52 episodes.
After its initial run, ABC moved the program to Saturday mornings from 1962 until 1967, during which it was switched to CBS and merged with The Road Runner Show to create The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour. It would later continue to air through various iterations while switching between the two networks sporadically, including as The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show from 1986 until the end of its run in 2000. Because of its four-decade run, it has become the longest-running cartoon program on broadcast television.
In its original 52-episode run, the show was hosted by Bugs Bunny and consisted of three theatrical cartoons with newly-created segments, featuring linking sequences of the characters interacting in a theatre setting. It was originally sponsored by General Mills, with animated commercials for products such as Tang and Post cereals.
Production
Development
Move to Saturday mornings
Aftermath
Music
The opening song, "This is It," was composed by Mac David and Jerry Livingston and was performed by Mel Blanc.
Opening Theme Lyrics
Overture, curtains, lights,
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, you'll hit the heights
And oh what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it!
Tonight what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it!
Episodes
The following is a list of episodes for the series' original prime-time run, which lasted for two seasons. In its second season, the episodes themselves are given proper title cards at the beginning.
| Title | Original air date |
|---|---|
| 1x01 | October 11, 1960 |
| 1x02 | October 18, 1960 |
| 1x03 | October 25, 1960 |
| 1x04 | November 1, 1960 |
| 1x05 | November 8, 1960 |
| 1x06 | November 15, 1960 |
| 1x07 | November 22, 1960 |
| 1x08 | November 29, 1960 |
| 1x09 | December 6, 1960 |
| 1x10 | December 13, 1960 |
| 1x11 | December 20, 1960 |
| 1x12 | December 27, 1960 |
| 1x13 | January 3, 1961 |
| 1x14 | January 10, 1961 |
| 1x15 | January 17, 1961 |
| 1x16 | January 24, 1961 |
| 1x17 | January 31, 1961 |
| 1x18 | February 7, 1961 |
| 1x19 | February 21, 1961 |
| 1x20 | Feburary 27, 2016 |
| 1x21 | February 28, 1961 |
| 1x22 | March 7, 1961 |
| 1x23 | March 14, 1961 |
| 1x24 | March 21, 1961 |
| 1x25 | March 28, 1961 |
| 1x26 | April 4, 1961 |
| 2x01 | October 10, 1961 |
| 2x02 | October 17, 1961 |
| 2x03 | October 24, 1961 |
| 2x04 | October 31, 1961 |
| 2x05 | November 7, 1961 |
| 2x06 | November 14, 1961 |
| 2x07 | November 21, 1961 |
| 2x08 | November 28, 1961 |
| 2x09 | December 5, 1961 |
| 2x10 | December 12, 1961 |
| 2x11 | December 19, 1961 |
| 2x12 | December 26, 1961 |
| 2x13 | January 16, 1961 |
| 2x14 | January 23, 1962 |
| 2x15 | February 13, 1962 |
| 2x16 | February 20, 1962 |
| 2x17 | March 13, 1962 |
| 2x18 | March 20, 1962 |
| 2x19 | June 19, 1962 |
| 2x20 | June 26, 1962 |
| 2x21 | July 3, 1962 |
| 2x22 | July 10, 1962 |
| 2x23 | July 17, 1962 |
| 2x24 | July 24, 1962 |
| 2x25 | July 31, 1962 |
| 2x26 | August 7, 1962 |
Cast
- Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny and various others
Release
Premiere dates are in order of release
- United States: October 11, 1960 on ABC
Promotion
Legacy
The show is credited for first introducing the Warner Bros. cartoons on television, and further exposed cartoons created during the Golden Age of animation a part of the American consciousness. In the four decades of its total run, it also helped inspiring animators, comedians, historians, and others who watched Saturday morning television.[1]
Following the popularity of the series' intial run, Warner Bros. Television went on to produce various television spin-offs with the Looney Tunes cast, all of which contain the same compilation format as The Bugs Bunny Show. The television series that followed include The Porky Pig Show, The Road Runner Show, The Merrie Melodies Show, The Daffy-Speedy Show, The Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy & Speedy Show, Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends, and Bugs 'n' Daffy.
Beginning in 2021, MeTV used the "This is It" opening sequence of the show as part of Bugs Bunny and Friends, part of their Saturday Morning Cartoons block.
In popular culture
- In the Seinfeld episode "The Opera," Jerry sings the "This is It" theme song while waiting for George and Kramer at the opera. Elain mockingly tells him it was sad that "all your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons."
