The Bugs Bunny Show
From The TV IV
| The Bugs Bunny Show | |
| Premiere | October 11, 1960 |
| Finale | March 1, 2000 |
| Airs | |
| Creator | |
| Network | ABC
CBS |
| Style | 30 to 120 minute animated anthology |
| Company | Warner Bros. |
| Origin | USA |
The Bugs Bunny Show is a long-running anthology program that ran animated shorts from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies library, all created between 1948 and 1963.
Upon first debuting on network television in 1960, The Bugs Bunny Show took place on a show-biz stage as Bugs and Daffy's signature song, "This Is It," is performed. At that point, the host segments all took the form of bridges to connect each cartoon. The host segments were as meticulously animated as the short subjects, all under the aegis of the three senior directors, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson.
Prior to this, Warner Bros. cartoons had been screened in syndication, mainly the 1932-1948 cartoons. The Merrie Melodies and color Looney Tunes films were packaged by Associated Artists Productions (with the "a.a.p." beginnings) while the black-and-white Looney Tunes (1931-1943) were distributed by Sunset Films. The post-1948 cartoons that weren't shown by ABC were syndicated directly by Warner Bros.
The show aired two years on ABC prime time and then migrated to Saturday morning. It ran for six years on ABC and as it moved to CBS, it became The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour (the Road Runner series having begun on CBS two years earlier). As time went on, the original bridges were eliminated, but viewers still tuned in as Bugs and his pals were still a top draw on Saturday mornings. In the 1980s, watchdog groups forced many cartoons to be edited of inherent violence. Bugs and company would end their broadcast network run in 2000 and find new diggings at Cartoon Network, which was (and still is) owned by Warner Bros. parent company, Time-Warner.
| Title | Network | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| The Bugs Bunny Show | ABC | 1960 - 1968 |
| The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour | CBS | 1968 - 1971 |
| The Bugs Bunny Show | CBS | 1971 - 1973 |
| The Bugs Bunny Show | ABC | 1973 - 1975 |
| The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour | CBS | 1975 - 1978 |
| The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show | CBS | 1978 - 1985 |
| The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour | ABC | 1985 - 1986 |
| The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show | ABC | 1986 - 2000 |
[edit] Seasons
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Categories: Program | ABC | CBS | Animated | Anthology | Comedy | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 1960 Premieres | 2000 Finales | IVy Leagues Hall of Fame | The Bugs Bunny Show


