"The Looney Tunes Show" (Warner Bros./Cartoon Network)
For cartoon fans of a certain age, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies are sacred brand names and the news of a revival and 21st century makeover sounds like an emotional anvil dropping down on their collective heads and hearts. But here’s a funny twist — the people behind the show admit the idea didn’t sound so great to them, either.
“Come up with a sitcom out of Looney Tunes? It sounds kind of terrible,” says Tony Cervone, producer of of “The Looney Tunes Show,” which premieres tonight on Cartoon Network. His head writer, Hugh Davidson, didn’t sound much sunnier about the starting point of the project. “I don’t think anyone wanted to do it. If I was on the outside, I’d think it was a terrible idea. I think I would hate it. But since I was on the inside I only thought it was a half-terrible idea and I only half hate it.”
That wry bit of candor suggests that Davidson might actually be the right guy for the job when it comes to capturing the droll sarcasm of Bugs Bunny and the pessimism of Daffy Duck. The show that he and the rest of the team have come up with is an animated sitcom set in the contemporary world; Daffy is the seemingly permanent houseguest at the home of Bugs and, yes, Davidson mentioned both “The Odd Couple” and ”Seinfeld” as compass points for a series that will take the bickering buddies to the DMV, the grocery store, a cruise ship, a game show, etc. Daffy even gets a new no-nonsense girlfriend named Tina who could make George Costanza seize up with anxiety and longing even though she’s a, y’know, cartoon — not that’s there anything wrong that.
“We have something,” Davidson said, “that feels like it could work.”
"The Looney Tunes Show" (Warner Bros./Cartoon Network)
Davidson said the corporate push by Warner Bros. to put the two iconic properties back into action on television led to a writers brainstorming conference and some ideas that were dead on arrival. A variety show motif (think of Bugs as big-eared stand-in for Kermit the Frog and skits and the backstage hijinks of “The Muppet Show“) was considered and scrapped, for instance, as was any toon-town equivalent to “The Larry Sanders Show“ that would present them wandering the Warner lot in Burbank or dialing up their agents. Davidson said there was also no way to go with any after-school-special spirit without losing the sardonic, old-school edge: “These characters are not great for teaching lessons.”
The framing concept that finally clicked was a sitcom in which the characters might find some new kind of emotional traction and the creators could avoid competing directly with the past somewhat by steering away from seven-minute shorts format. The 30-minute episodes will break away from the sitcom setting for ”Merrie Melodies,” animated music videos of original songs with escapades of Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew and other characters, as well as “Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote,” who continue to be locked in their desert duels of mute, ballet-like mayhem.
For Cervone, the sitcom portion of the show recalls “The Flintstones” in a way because Bugs and Daffy “have men’s issues, they think adult thoughts” and he said there’s “some Hope-Crosby in there, some Jack Benny — you know, we have fresh new ideas, like Jack Benny and other things that were popular 60 years ago.”
The series will be peppered with appearances by the wide gallery of classic Warner Bros. characters — Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, etc. — but all of them look a bit different. As you might expect, just as Bugs, Daffy and the rest of the characters have evolved visually through the decades, this new iteration comes with a redesign that is intended to connect with the aesthetic of a new generation of viewers.
Cervone said the sleeker new visuals are only a few degrees different: ”We wanted to change the font. It’s the same alphabet but a different font.” Of course any change will risk the wrath of animation purists and old-school fans (as well as the groans of some reviewers) but the producer and his team know that’s par for the course with the brand names they have dared to take on. The first 26 episodes are locked in and Cervone is clearly proud of them, but he knows that the ambitions of the series will make for a loopy first date with some audience members. “It’s like any series, like any sitcom, it takes a little while to get used to and to find itself.”
– Geoff Boucher
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A primetime Bugs Bunny sitcom idea I'd give it a whirl because I miss the long extinct Merry Melodies/Looney Toons cartoons on TV. The animes, South Park, Family Guy and long time ago The Simpsons have gone dry in their humor.
no thanks
Pass. I'll take the Warner Bros. cartoons the same way I like Peanuts-stick with the originals. Something about updating them makes me cringe. Like on Glee when they give Rachel a Barbra Streisand song. It's desthpicable.
Wow. That's the clip they provided to get people to tune in? Scary. If that one minute is anything like the other 25 1/2 episodes, I think I'd rather watch a test pattern.
That was….. horrible. Absolutely horrible. I'll probably still give the show a peek (the commercials with Bugs and Daffy were admittedly somewhat amusing), but that new Elmer Fudd was just awful. He looks more like a hydro encephalitic Lex Luthor than the Elmer we all know and love. The voice they apparently got for Witch Hazel is a travesty, too.
You know what? I just watched the premiere, and I have to say I like this new take. This is coming from a purist that has scoffed at every crappy live-action/animation movie and every attempt at a revamp since the 80s. I had the same initial reaction to the news of the "revamp." but I tuned in because the clips I saw looked different from anything else on TV today. I like the metaphor the creators used of "changing the font." That's exactly how it should be viewed, and while the music videos are a little cheesy for my taste (not a pun of Elmer's grilled cheese song from tonight), the rest of the show has retained its edge, even while keeping the themes simple enough for children to relate to. Yes, it's different, but it is also so much the same. If this doesn't stick around, I will consider it a lost opportunity for people to learn how to re-imagine something while still retaining its essence. It's really something different- like Phineas and Ferb. I am instantly in love with this. God help me, I may lose my "purist" status, but I am.
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck they be the characters I love in the all world . temporary of rabbit, temporary of duck , Why bugs be purple and pink ? I love in grey and white color do you want to make my self confused, Bug
1. This preview clip was AWFUL.
2. They won't play the old originals in their entirety on Cartoon Network anymore. They EDIT them. So, no way I'm gonna watch this junk; at least not until they bring back the originals in their entirety!!!!
With over 100 sorts and plenty of DVD's I think I'll just stick with the original, actually looney stuff.
Updating a cartoons one thing but shriveling up its energy is another.
I am very relieved! I thought this might be a trainwreck. Thank God, and my still-intact childhood memories that this is a very worthy continuation of the Classic cartoons. I'm not entirely sure what the reviewers beef w/ the incarnation is: The 1st episode is a kind of updated remake of the "Million Box" cartoon from the '50s where Bugs and Daffy are "Buddies" competeing to win a million dollars. The culdesac thing is somewhat questionable, but, so far, it works. I liked/loved everything about the debut, even the Elmer Fudd music video about "Grilled Cheeessee!" Thank God they fixed the design/voice characterization problems that surfaced early in the process. It was worth the wait. I'm actually very excited to see the forthcoming episodes, every Tuesday night at 8pm…and I'm 37. And it'll even be more fun during the Summer to get some "June Bugs"; funny, since his brithday is officially July 27th. Bravo, Cartoon Network!
I loved the pilot episode. Much better than you'd expect. Bugs Bunny still has it after all these years.
Frankly, I was blown away by the new Bugs and Daffy. The new big head/big feet thing is pure genius. Thanks you, Hugh Davidson. I believe most, if not all, cartoon characters could be improved following this simple formula of inflating heads and feet. And I am really digging on the massive buck teeth on Bugs. They are so cool and big that they almost appear as some kind of monstrous physical deformity. Excellent. On top of all that, I love the idea that Bugs and Daffy are the new Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza, and am breathlessly awaiting the upcoming analogous 'Master of My Own Domain' episode.
On May 18, when I was channel surfing, When I looked at the program listing for Cartoon Network, I saw Looney Tunes on its TV schedule, but it is only on during the day. Looney Tunes is one of my favorite cartoons. To me that is an epiphany, I'm glad to see it back on TV once again. I remembered on a Saturday morning when I was a child saw it on TV. To me most parts of that cartoon is comical. I also remember that the Looney Tunes played some children's classic songs e.g., Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Farmer In the Dell and Mary Had a Little Lamb, as their background music. When Cartoon Network first came on the air 19 years ago (1992), it aired Looney Tunes, and later when the new cartoons came on Cartoon Network, they moved to its sister network, Boomerang.
I do glad to see Looney Tunes back on TV
I don't mind the updated character design, in fact I kind of like it. I do mind the premis of the show. Its just stupid. The side characters like the witch and the monster have also been completely ruined for me.
WB is revamping them because they want to rebrand them for today's kids. Well I have to say my 4 year old loves the original show. They just don't play them regularly on tv anymore. If the originals from the 1950's can be re-released in the 80's for my age group to enjoy (and we did!) I see no reason they can't do that again. The originals are timeless.
that's true but the big people ( tv bosses) dont want people to have good times any more,and its because they don't want to show real truths of life.
The humour seems alright and the animation is decent enough, but why, WHY on god's Green earth would they try to smash a beloved TNT-In-The-Face classic cartoon series with a sitcom, which let's face it, have basicaly sucked and continue to ever since The Fresh Prince of Belair ended. You try to shut your eyes and hope when you open them the ghastly appiration will be gone, but it isn't, and you are left with a deep pit in your stomach and the thought "well, that's it then, I guess I have to wait for this seriest to end before a decent one will come along, if ever again", and you even start to question whether cartoons will ever not suck ever again. Duck Dodgers was probably my favorite series of the genre because it kept true to the older series, (bombs and beaks exploding) with a witty saracastic new age twist (no pun intended…. get it? cus hes in the future….) But this is the kind of crap Disney would resort to! Blasphamey!