Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from September 10, 1977 to June 21, 1980. All 40 episodes are available on the Boomerang subscription app.
Summary
The series follows the mystery-solving adventures of the Teen Angels—Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy—and their friend Captain Caveman, a prehistoric caveman and superhero 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. The show also borrowed heavily from other Hanna-Barbera shows such as Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones, among others.Captain Caveman's powers include super-strength, a variety of useful objects hidden inside his hair, and a club that allows him to fly and from which pop out different tools he uses to fight crime. His trademark is his battle cry of "Captain CAAAAAVEMAAAAAAANNNN!" Captain Caveman's voice was provided by Mel Blanc.
A total of forty 11-minute episodes ran for three seasons from 1977 to 1980: sixteen episodes were produced as segments of Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics in 1977, eight episodes were produced as segments of Scooby's All-Stars in 1978 and sixteen episodes were produced in 1980 when Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels were given their own half-hour show which combined new episodes and reruns from 1977–79. Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels also participated in sporting competitions as part of "The Scooby Doobies" team on the half-hour Laff-A-Lympics segment. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track, one of the last Hanna-Barbera productions to do so.
Characters
The series features the following four main characters throughout its run:- Captain Caveman, or "Cavey" for short, is the protagonist of the show, billed as "the world's first superhero." He is a caveman who is millennia old. He can pull various objects from his long body hair that covers his body except for his nose, arms, and legs. He can also fly, but his flying power always seems to fail him at the worst possible moment. Sometimes he would attribute this mishap to an energy shortage, which was a reference to the gasoline rationing shortages of the late 1970s. He speaks in stereotypical "caveman-talk", replacing subject pronouns with their object equivalents and dropping articles such as "the", and often mumbles the nonsense phrase "unga bunga". He also has a bad habit of occasionally eating large non-food objects in one gulp, and the Teen Angels occasionally have to stop him from eating potential clues that will help them to solve the mystery.
- Dee Dee Skyes is the brains of the Teen Angels and acts as their unofficial leader. Dee Dee and the rest of the Teen Angels found the frozen Captain Caveman and defrosted him. She wears her hair in an afro and usually wears a red turtleneck sweater with a blue skirt and red knee high boots. Both her dress style and her knack for solving mysteries make her similar to Velma Dinkley of Scooby-Doo fame, while she also bears a resemblance to Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats. She is misidentified as Brenda in the opening credits. Though some sources give the family name of both Dee Dee and her uncle Frank as "Sykes", their name is given as "Skyes" in the episode "The Fur Freight Fright", which featured Frank and his company "Skye's Furs". Her adaptation in the 2020 film Scoob! as Blue Falcon's assistant also introduced herself as Dee Dee Skyes, and she is listed as such in the closing credits.
- Brenda Chance is a nervous brunette who is always scared of the demons, monsters and phantoms that she encounters and always tries to back out of a scary mystery similar to that of Shaggy Rogers, but always ends up getting captured or the short end of the stick. She wears a purple striped tank top and a pair of hot pink flared trousers with a white belt. She also acts as Dee Dee's sergeant of the Teen Angels. She is misidentified as Dee Dee in the opening credits.
- Taffy Dare is the blonde member of the group, renowned for her cry of "Zowie!" whenever she comes up with a plan to catch the culprits, has a distinct, flirtatious, childlike persona and a New York-influenced/Southern accent. In spite of her usually zany plans and ditziness, Taffy is actually very capable and clever. She has the ability to seduce Caveman into acting as bait for her plans to capture the culprit. She wears a green dress with matching shoes. She also acts as Dee Dee's second-in-command of the Teen Angels. It is revealed that Captain Caveman has a crush on her and vice versa.
Opening and closing credits
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!
The music heard in the closing credits is the CB Bears theme. After the first three screens, the end credit roll is from the original two-hour version of Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics.
Broadcast history
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels was broadcast in these following formats on ABC:- Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics
- Scooby's All-Stars
- Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
- September 10, 1977 – July 1978, ABC Saturday 9:00-11:00 a.m.
- July 1978 – September 2, 1978, ABC Saturday 9:30-11:30 a.m.
- September 9, 1978 – November 1978, ABC Saturday 10:00-11:30 a.m.
- November 1978 – May 1979, ABC Saturday 8:00-9:30 a.m.
- May 1979 – September 8, 1979, ABC Saturday 8:30-10:00 a.m.
- March 8, 1980 – June 21, 1980, ABC Saturday 11:30-12:00 noon
Episodes
Season 1 (1977)
Season 2 (1978)
Season 3 (1980)
Cast
- Mel Blanc as Captain Caveman
- Laurel Page as Taffy Dare
- Marilyn Schreffler as Brenda Chance
- Vernee Watson-Johnson as Dee Dee Skyes
- Gary Owens as Narrator
Later appearances
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 Flintstone and Betty Rubble. 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.. 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 show would involve a lesson the Flintstone kids were trying to learn in the prologue. The whole "secret identity" idea was also ignored or forgotten.Other appearances
- A very similar pair of characters, the Slag Brothers, made appearances in the earlier Hanna-Barbera series, Wacky Races. They served as the inspiration for Captain Caveman.
- 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.
- Captain Caveman appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun", voiced by Breckin Meyer. In a segment that parodies Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the Munich massacre, Captain Caveman and Shaggy Rogers confront Daisy Mayhem and the former blows her up with the "wrong club".
- Characters that look very similar to Captain Caveman appear as enemies in the 8-bit computer game '.
- In a Halloween-themed episode of Homestar Runner, Homestar is dressed up in a Captain Caveman-like costume. During the episode, he exclaims "Daaa!! AaAah'm the Captain Caveman of the graveyard train!"
- In the Family Guy episode, "Perfect Castaway", Peter Griffin expresses how much he misses Captain Caveman, and vows that he will see him again once he gets off the deserted island he is trapped.
- Captain Caveman makes a cameo appearance in an episode of Adventure Time, where he is seen as a stuffed doll in Finn's room.
- Captain Caveman appeared in the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode, "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals," voiced by Jim Cummings. He and the Teen Angels appear alongside other Hanna-Barbera detective teams in a fever dream of Scooby-Doo's.
- In Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon, a person cosplaying as Captain Caveman makes an appearance in a Hanna-Barbera-themed convention.
- Captain Caveman is seen briefly in the background of '. He is seen amongst a plethora of other imaginary and cartoon characters as they are being attacked by terrorists.
- Captain Caveman appeared in the Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs episode "Caveman Begins", voiced by Tom Megalis.
- Captain Caveman will appear in Jellystone!
Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe
Captain Caveman voiced by Tracy Morgan and Dee Dee voiced by Kiersey Clemons. Dee Dee appears as the pilot of the Falcon Fury and assistant of the Blue Falcon while Captain Caveman is an inhabitant of a prehistoric ecosystem under Messick Mountain and part of a tribe with long body hair like him and is capable of speaking proper English.
Comic books
- Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels appeared in all 13 issues of Laff-A-Lympics as members of the Scooby Doobies.
- Cavey and the Angels appeared in the first issue of the short-lived Hanna-Barbera TV Stars.
- The Captain and the Angels team up with Mystery, Inc. in Scooby-Doo #9.
- In 2018, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels appeared in a backup story in the DC comic Aquaman/Jabberjaw Special #1. In this story, the wizard Shazam transports the powerful hominid from prehistoric times to the present to settle an argument with the Spectre about whether heroism is strictly a trait of modern man or early man.
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: Alex Lovy, Lew Marshall, Art Scott
- 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, 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, Micky 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 Pérez
- Graphics: Iraj Paran
- Musical Directors: Hoyt Curtin, Ted Nichols
- Musical Supervisors: Paul DeKorte, La-La Productions
- Character Designers: Steve Nakagawa, Lew Ott, Bob Singer, Alex Toth, Don Ung, Donna Zeller
- Layout: Pete Alvarado, Álvaro Arce, Dick Bickenbach, Al Budnick, Charlie Downs, Owen Fitzgerald, Jim Fletcher, Drew Gentle, Rick Gonzáles, Paul Gruwell, Kirk Henderson, Jack Huber, Alex Ignatiev, Ray Jacobs, Homer Jonas, Bill Lignante, Warren Marshall, Jim Mueller, Dan Noonan, Greg Reyna, Tom Roth, Glenn Schmitz, Terry Slade, Martin Taras, Mario Uribe, Wendell Washer
- Unit Director: Ray Patterson
- Animation Supervisors: Peter Aries, Bill Keil, Jay Sarbry
- Assistant Animation Supervisor: Bob Goe
- Animation Coordinator: John Boersema
- Animation: Ed Aardal, Carlos Alfonso, Ed Barge, Bob Bemiller, Oliver Callahan, George Cannata, Bob Carr, Steve Clark, Jesse Cosio, Marija Dail, Ed DeMattia, Izzy Ellis, Marcia Fertig, Kenneth Gaebler, John Garling, Mark Glamack, Fernando González, Alan Green, Terry Harrison, Bob Hathcock, Volus Jones, Ernesto López, Tony Love, Ken Muse, Margaret Nichols, Eduardo Olivares, Joan Orbison, Rod Parkes, Anna Ray, Morey Reden, George Rowley, Ed Soloman, Ivy Spence, Dave Tendlar, Richard Trueblood, Carlo Vinci, Russell Von Neida, James Wang
- Background Supervisor: Al Gmuer
- Backgrounds: Kathleen Alfaro, Daniela Bielecka, Dennis Durrell, Bob Gentle, David High, Richard Khim, Gary Niblett, Walter Peregoy, Andy Phillipson, Gary Selvecchio, Marilyn Shimokochi, Peter Van Elk
- Checking and Scene Planning: Evelyn Sherwood
- Xerography: Robert "Tiger" West, Star Wirth
- Ink and Paint Supervisors: Roberta Groutert, Billie Kerns
- Sound Direction: William Getty, Richard Olson
- Camera: John Aardal, George Epperson, Chuck Flekal, Ron Jackson, Ralph Migliori, Cliff Shirpser, Jerry Smith, Roy Wade
- Supervising Film Editors: Larry Cowan, Dick Elliott, Chip Yaras
- Dubbing Supervisor: Pat Foley
- Film Editors: Richard Allen, Earl Bennett, Milton Krear, Terry Moore, Joe Sandusky, Greg Watson
- Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
- Production Manager: Jayne Barbera
- Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton
- A HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTION. Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. ©MCMLXXVII-MCMLXXX All Rights Reserved.
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