Voice in "Pecos Pest"

[dougc]

I was watching a few episodes of the 1960's TV comedy series "The Beverly Hillbillies" on TV Land a few weeks ago (when they had a weekend marathon) and there was a character called "Shorty" in them. The actor who played "Shorty" sounded a lot like the voice of Jerry's Uncle Pecos in the Tom and Jerry cartoon "Pecos Pest". Who was the voice of Uncle Pecos and was it the same man who played "Shorty?"
dougc

[Matt Yorston]

The voice of Uncle Pecos was George "Shug" Fisher. Whether he appeared in "The Beverly Hillbillies" or not, I don't know but it may very well have been him.

[Joe Tully]

According to imdb, yup, Shug played Shorty Kellems in the Hillbillies series. Too bad I don't watch the show, so I have no idea what I am talking about.:p

[J Lee]

Shorty's was on the final season of "The Beverly Hillbillies" playing basically a hillbilly con-man who appeared in several episodesset back in the Ozarks, and then came out to Beverly Hills to try and scam the Clampetts and others. The show was running pretty dry of ideas by 1970...

[Sogturtle]

Originally posted by J Lee
Shorty's was on the final season of "The Beverly Hillbillies" playing basically a hillbilly con-man who appeared in several episodesset back in the Ozarks, and then came out to Beverly Hills to try and scam the Clampetts and others. The show was running pretty dry of ideas by 1970...

The introduction of Shorty was indeed a low note on the show. Buuuuuut it got much worse when they decided to make it "hip" and "relevant". This was accomplished with an obnoxious Women's Lib storyline with Elly Mae (and then Granny) moving in with Miss Jane while going to work for newly hateful and "chauvinistic" Mr. Drysdale! These final episodes vie for the title of "most weird" alongside the "Shorty (Uncle Pesos) Kellems" episodes... Oh for the days of "Double Nought" Spy Jethro, or those with Alan Reed Jr. as dope-smoking beatnik/hippy "Buddy", or when old Alan Reed (aka Fred Flintstone) appeared as a classic slimy pro-wrestler manager. Annnnnd there is at least one more tie between "The Beverly Hillbillies" and classic toons...

[DR. BELCH]

--Bea Benaderet was the voice of Betty Rubble and Ma Bear (in Chuck Jones' shorts), as well as Pearl Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies and Kate Bradley on Petticoat Junction. Never realized Fisher did a voice in one of my fav T&J's...then again, a name like "Shug" is pretty memorable.
Oh...and Mel Blanc appeared in one ep of BH, as well as on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which featured Bob "Gilligan" Denver...and if I don't cut this short it'll turn into an all-fired seven degrees thing!

[J Lee]

Ah, yes, Alan Reed and "The Boston Strong-girl" in the wrestling scam shows. It was weird growing up to hear Fred's voice coming out of a real human being (I felt the same way watching the movie "Five Star Final" when George Jetson's voice came out of George O'Hanollan's mouth)

The best seasons of "The Beverly Hillbillies" were the B&W episodes and the first two to three seasons in color, but during the 1970s and 1980s syndicators like Viacom and Columbia felt the same way Warnersand Tedd Turner felt about their B&W cartoons -- nobody will watch them if they're not in color, so the B&W episodes of the "Hillbillies," "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeanie," and others were seperated from the color package and almost never shown for about 15 years. "The Andy Griffin Show" lucked out, because Don Knotts was only a regular in the black and white episodes -- any station airing that package had to show the B&Ws or they wouldn't get any ratings at all (Don Knottsd only color appearance during his run on the Griffin show was, of course, in "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," which was the last thing the WB animation studio worked on before closing)

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by J Lee
"The Andy Griffin Show" lucked out, because Don Knotts was only a regular in the black and white episodes -- any station airing that package had to show the B&Ws or they wouldn't get any ratings at all (Don Knottsd only color appearance during his run on the Griffin show was, of course, in "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," which was the last thing the WB animation studio worked on before closing)


Actually, there were a few (five, I believe) color episodes of The Andy Griffith Show where Barney Fife comes back to Mayberry for a visit.


-Jon

[Argus Sventon]

Originally posted by Sogturtle


The introduction of Shorty was indeed a low note on the show. Buuuuuut it got much worse when they decided to make it "hip" and "relevant". This was accomplished with an obnoxious Women's Lib storyline with Elly Mae (and then Granny) moving in with Miss Jane while going to work for newly hateful and "chauvinistic" Mr. Drysdale! These final episodes vie for the title of "most weird" alongside the "Shorty (Uncle Pesos) Kellems" episodes... Oh for the days of "Double Nought" Spy Jethro, or those with Alan Reed Jr. as dope-smoking beatnik/hippy "Buddy", or when old Alan Reed (aka Fred Flintstone) appeared as a classic slimy pro-wrestler manager. Annnnnd there is at least one more tie between "The Beverly Hillbillies" and classic toons...

One of the funniest episodes of the show during that period was the episode in which this black female secretary stays at the Clampett mansion. Of course, she's living it out, but what her brothers see is her being a slave, and in one of the funniest moments, the brothers visit Mr. Drysdale.

Mr. Drysdale: Did you see the mansion?

Brother: Right!

Mr. Drysdale: Did you see your sister having a good time?

Brother: WRONG!!

Of course, the episode in which Shorty and Jethro have the ladies over at the mansion, and try to hide the fact that the ladies are staying there. Jed sent Shorty home, after Shorty told him that he and Jethro were wearing, let's just say, I'm not going to mention what Shorty claims he and Jethro were wearing.

[SJC]

Bea Benadaret also did Granny, Daisy lou (both mouse in Arthur Davis's "A Hick, A Slick, and a Chick" and Friz Freleng's rabbity in "Jare Splitter"), wasd the original Witch Hazel, and every housewife in WB shorts.

George Fisher did soime WB voices, probaly the dog in "Weasel Stop",unless that was entirely by Daws Butler

[Sogturtle]

Y'all~

As for the Andy Griffith show, Don Knotts return (in a color episode) netted Knotts ANOTHER Emmy award! The only other classic b &w shows that went on being widely distributed were "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and of course "I Love Lucy.

Yep it was indeed a trifle strange seeing Fred Flintstone as a real-live human being, Alan Reed. (Almost as peculiar was seeing how homely he was compared to his son!!) For me it was always even more alien to see the marvelous Mel Blanc launch into Bugs or Daffy on talk shows. 'Course the Beverly Hillbillies episode with Blanc as a cab-driver (NOT doing cartoon voices) is unusual to see also, since he thinks the mansion is an "insane-asylum" and the hillbillies its escapee-inmates!!

And yeah Bea Benadaret (as well as Mel Blanc and Shug Fisher/"Shorty Kellems") are two BH links to great classic cartoons. But there is still at least one more...

[Rob]

Hey Soggy,

I'm not sure about that other WB link, buuuuuuut, you forgot another widely syndicated B/W TV show. Something about a beaver, and how we should leave it to him?

[Sogturtle]

Originally posted by Rob
Hey Soggy,

I'm not sure about that other WB link, buuuuuuut, you forgot another widely syndicated B/W TV show. Something about a beaver, and how we should leave it to him?

Rob~

Ahhhh yes "Leave It To Boozer":D. Strange... I NEVER wanted to leave anything to a large fur-bearing, water-dwelling rodent:). Or as Larry Mondello's mother (and the principal) always called him "Theodore". Darned infectious theme. Also the only childhood series to be successfully recreated 20 plus years later with the entire original cast (sans dad Ward). Now how could I forget that??? Shame on me ;) 'Course the sight of Wally finally punching Eddie Haskell in the gut at the beginning of the reunion TV movie was something we'd all been waiting for. Call it a vicarious thrill (like Wile E. catching the Roadrunner). Maybe it can be classed as cathartic...;)

And for more ties to cartoon-dom, the original "Bewitched" and "I Dream Of Jeannie" had those ummm bewitching (sorry) animated titles.

And there is still that other Beverly Hillbillies link to classic WB animation...

[dougc]

Sogturtle:

I'm very curious so I have to ask -- what IS the other link from the Beverly Hillbillies to WB classic animation?

dougc