''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television series hosted by

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

that is mainly composed of theatrical ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' and ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'' cartoons released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

between 1948 and 1969. The show originally debuted as a primetime half-hour program on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in 1960, featuring three theatrical ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons with new linking sequences produced by the

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

staff. After two seasons, ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' moved to Saturday mornings, where it aired in various formats for nearly four decades. The show's title and length changed regularly over the years, as did the network: both ABC and CBS broadcast versions of ''The Bugs Bunny Show''. In 2000, the series, by then known as ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'', was canceled after the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' libraries became the exclusive property of the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

family of cable TV networks in the United States. In Canada, reruns of ''The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show'' were aired on the channels

Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...

and Teletoon's sister channel,

Teletoon Retro Teletoon Retro was a Canadian specialty channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment that was based on the Teletoon programming block. The service was dedicated to broadcasting classic animated television programs such as ''The Raccoons'' as w ...

(until 2015 when Teletoon Retro signed off). Prior to Teletoon and Teletoon Retro,

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

(1960–1975) and

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language terrestrial television, terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's se ...

(1978–1982, 1990–2000) aired the show. In Australia, episodes of the show were divided between three networks, with most episodes aired on

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, and some episodes divided between

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

, and

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

since its debut. In Poland, the show aired on

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Telewizja Polska 1'', ''Program Pierwszy Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of Telewizja Polska, TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Po ...

from 1979 till 1980 and again from 1991 till 1992. In Asia, the program was aired in Japan and South Korea in the early 1960s and also aired on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

and RPN in the Philippines, it was also aired on TPI (now

MNCTV PT MNC Televisi IndonesiaRCTI RCTI (abbreviated from ''Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia'') is an Indonesian free-to-air television broadcaster. It is best known for its soap operas, celebrity bulletins, news, and sports programmes. It was first launched in 1989, origi ...

during 2000s in Indonesia as well.

Broadcast and format history

''The Bugs Bunny Show'' in prime time, 1960–1962

The original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' debuted on ABC prime time in the United States on October 11, 1960, airing on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM ET, under the sponsorship of

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by C. W. Post, Charles William (C. W.) Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, a ...

(

Post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

cereals, Tang, etc.). Newly-produced linking segments were done for each episode by the Warner Bros. animation staff.

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

and

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

produced, directed and created the

storyboards A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process ...

for the earliest of these, with

Robert McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePa ...

later taking over the direction while Jones and Freleng continued producing and writing. The wraparounds were produced in color, although the original broadcasts of the show were in black-and-white. A total of 52 episodes were made. Rather than display the full Warner Bros. logo and opening title/credits sequence of each cartoon shown in each episode (as shown in the original theatrical versions and could take up to 20 seconds), new title cards were created to begin each cartoon and displayed for only about five seconds over a newly composed musical cue; the card omitted the Warner Bros. logo and any detailed credits of the animators, simply featuring the title of the cartoon in bold letters on a plain background, the main character of the cartoon standing off to one side and the copyright notice of the cartoon rendered in a smaller font at the bottom, before cutting directly to the opening scene of the cartoon. These cuts were sometimes awkward depending on how the original opening sequence was animated. A general credits line was shown at the end of each full episode: "Stories, Animation, layouts, and backgrounds: Members of Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Local 839." (The ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons syndicated to local stations as a package, beginning in the 1950s, generally retained the original opening title sequences as shown in theaters. The current revival of the show on MeTV also uses the original theatrical title cards.) The show's

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

was "This Is It", written by

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

and

Jerry Livingston Jerry Livingston (born Jerry Levinson; March 25, 1909 – July 1, 1987) was an American songwriter and dance orchestra pianist. Life and career Born in Denver, Colorado to Sam and Dora (Lazarus) Levinson, Jerry Livingston studied music at the ...

(''"Overture/curtain, lights/this is it/the night of nights..."''). The opening title sequence, animated by Freleng unit animator

Gerry Chiniquy Germain Adolph Chiniquy (pronounced "chin-a-KEE"; June 23, 1912 – November 22, 1989) was an American animator known for his work with Friz Freleng at both Warner Bros. Cartoons and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Chiniquy joined Freleng's ani ...

,McCorry, Kevin (2007).
The Bugs Bunny Show Page
" features Bugs and

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

performing the song in unison. For the final chorus, a lineup of ''Looney Tunes'' characters joins Bugs and Daffy onstage (Porky Pig, however, is absent from the procession, although Porky had a spin-off show based on the original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' 4 years later titled ''

The Porky Pig Show ''The Porky Pig Show'' is an American animated television anthology series hosted by Porky Pig, that was composed of ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' theatrical cartoons made between 1948 and 1964. The series aired on American Broadcastin ...

'' which aired on ABC from 1964 to 1967). ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' proved beneficial to the Warner Bros. cartoon staff, as it allowed the studio to remain open despite the shrinking market for theatrical animated shorts. Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age''. New York: Oxford University Press. Pg. 562. . The final first-run episode of the original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' aired on August 7, 1962, and the Warner Bros. animation studio closed the following spring.

The move to Saturday mornings, 1962–1985

ABC began re-running ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' on Saturday mornings in August 1962 until September 1967, when it was moved to Sunday mornings for the remainder of its run. The series was rerun in color beginning in 1965 and remained on ABC until September 1968. At this point, the series switched to CBS, where it was combined with ''

The Road Runner Show ''The Road Runner Show'' is an American Saturday morning animated anthology series which compiled theatrical Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'', which were produced by Warner Bros. Cartoo ...

'' (which had aired on CBS since 1966) to create ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour''.McCorry, Kevin (2007).
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour Page
" The standard ''Bugs Bunny Show'' opening and the announcer's introduction of Bugs Bunny ("that

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning rabbit!") were directly followed by the rabbit's saying, "...and also starring my fast feathered friend, the Road Runner", after which ''The Road Runner Show's'' theme was played. ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'' combined re-edited bridging sequences from both shows to link the seven cartoons featured in each episode. The bridging sequences would be edited further in later versions of the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour''. In 1971, ''The Road Runner Show'' moved to ABC and a reconstituted half-hour ''Bugs Bunny Show'' aired on CBS, featuring re-edited versions of the bridging sequences and a different grouping of cartoons. In 1973, ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' returned to ABC for two seasons, only for CBS to re-acquire both shows and bring back ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'' in 1975. In 1976,

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

and

Tweety Tweety is an animated character, a yellow canary bird in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid". He appeared in ...

were featured in their own ''Sylvester and Tweety Show'' for one year, necessitating the removal of most of the Tweety and/or Sylvester cartoons on ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner'' that season. Also that year, a weekly half-hour prime-time edition of ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'' briefly aired on CBS' Tuesday night schedule, from April through June. ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'' became ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'' in November 1977, after CBS added another half-hour to the runtime. In 1981, a companion ''Sylvester & Tweety, Daffy and Speedy Show'' was added to the CBS schedule, which included a number of later cartoons produced by a reestablished Warner Bros. Cartoons studio from 1967 to 1969. The following year, this new companion series was canceled and its cartoons were incorporated into ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'', which was broadcast as two separate hour-long programs on Saturday mornings (for the second program, the show's opening titles were re-animated). In 1983, CBS returned the show to 90 minutes and the bridging sequences were dropped. The following year, the "This Is It" opening was jettisoned altogether; a new title sequence (created from clips of the cartoons) and new theme song ("It's Cartoon Gold"), composed by

Steve Zuckerman Stephen Edward "Steve" Zuckerman is an American television and theater director. He began his career in the theater. After being trained at the University of Michigan and the Yale School of Drama, he went on to be the Associate Artistic Director ...

with lyrics by John Klawitter, introduced the show.

Final Saturday morning years, 1985–2000

CBS gave up the rights to broadcast the Warner Bros. cartoons following the 1984–1985 season, and as a result, the show moved back to ABC, where it became ''The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour''. Cartoons featuring Tweety or

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...

were not broadcast on ABC during the 1985–86 season, the latter presumably due to objections toward Mexican stereotypes. The following year, however, Tweety cartoons were added to the program, which was reduced to a half-hour and renamed ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show''.McCorry, Kevin (2007).
The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show Page
" Beginning with its third season, ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'' was expanded to a full hour and the original "This Is It" theme was reintroduced with similar animation as the original, accompanied by the introductory sequence introduced in 1982. Another version of the "This Is It" opening sequence was done in 1992, with different character animations. Though the program did not qualify for the

educational/informational The broadcast of educational children's programming by terrestrial television stations in the United States is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under regulations colloquially referred to as the Children's Television Act ...

designation, it nonetheless remained on Saturday mornings after the new designation debuted in 1996, one of the few non-E/I programs to survive the rules changes. The previous year, ABC was bought by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

, and ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'' was the only non-Disney cartoon to remain on the lineup, due to their contract not being up yet, and was in the first few years of the

Disney's One Saturday Morning ABC Kids (originally known as Disney's One Saturday Morning until 2002) was an American Saturday morning children's programming block that aired on ABC from September 13, 1997 to August 27, 2011. It featured a mixture of animated and live-ac ...

block starting in 1997 (with the Disney logo omitted from the blocks bumpers during the show). The program was often paired with ABC's in-house ''

Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, music videos) which aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network AB ...

'' shorts during this time. The hour-long ''Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'' remained on the air until 1999, when it was again reduced to a half-hour. In 2000, Warner Bros. made the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies film library exclusive to

, which Time Warner owned as part of the purchase of

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its ass ...

in 1996. As a result, ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' ended its nearly four-decade-long network run, one of the longest runs in the history of United States network television. Outside of cartoons in the public domain, Warner Bros. cartoons would not return to American broadcast television until the 2021 debut of '' Toon In with Me'' on

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television progra ...

, along with a companion Saturday morning block.

Legacy

This show is credited for keeping the Warner Bros. cartoons made during the

Golden Age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period that began with the popularization of Sound film, sound synchronized cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the 1960s when theatrical animated shorts started to lose popularity to the newer medi ...

a part of the American consciousness. The show ran for almost four decades, helping inspire

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

s, comedians,

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and others who watched Saturday morning television. The "This Is It" song's fame is such that it has been used elsewhere, such as in the Canadian province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

where it was used in a

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

promoting the various

performing art The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Pe ...

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

s, where artists of various disciplines sing separate lines of the song. When Warner Bros. released their video series "Golden Jubilee" in 1985, featuring the classic cartoons, the opening sequence shows

Taz Taz or TAZ may refer to: Geography *Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia *Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia People * Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia ** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...

maniacally riding a motorcycle down a city street chased by a

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

car. He makes a sharp turn into a theater, where the rest of the Looney Tune Characters are performing to the ''Bugs Bunny Show'' tune. Beginning in January 2021, the original "This Is It" opening sequence was included in ''Bugs Bunny and Friends'', part of

's ''Saturday Morning Cartoons'' block. In the ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' episode " The Opera", as Jerry and Elaine are waiting outside the opera house, Jerry starts singing "This is it" to pass the time to which Elaine laments to him by saying, "You know, it is so sad that all of your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons."

Animated sequences produced for the show

A series of short animated scenes were produced for the show, featured "linking" moments during the main theater setting of the show. Some of these scenes included: * The opening teaser showed Bugs and

Daffy Daffy Duck is an animation, animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American black duck, black duck, he ha ...

performing a duet about the start of the cartoon show; as they sing it, in the background crossing the stage are some of co-stars' regulars:

;

Pepé Le Pew Pepé Le Pew is an animated character from the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons, introduced in 1945. Depicted as a French anthropomorphic striped skunk, Pepé is constantly on the quest for love and pursui ...

;

Sylvester the Cat Sylvester J. Pussycat Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic Bicolor cat, cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hop ...

; the Road Runner;

Hippety Hopper Hippety Hopper is a young kangaroo character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' series of cartoons. Robert McKimson introduced Hippety Hopper in '' Hop, Look and Listen'' (1948), which established the pattern for future Hippety Hopper cartoons. ...

;

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( ) is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park in California. His real name is ''Aloysius Bartholamew Sam''. ...

;

Elmer Fudd Elmer J. Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. Elmer Fudd's aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring himself and other antag ...

;

Wile E. Coyote Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each film, the cunning, d ...

;

Foghorn Leghorn Foghorn Leghorn is an anthropomorphic rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the gol ...

. * A frustrated Daffy bickering on stage with Bugs. Daffy declares, "''Last'' week you said you were going to introduce me ''next'' week!" Bugs replies, "Right...but this isn't next week, is it?" Daffy trips himself up and replies, "You're doggone tootin' is isn't! This is ''this'' week! And next week is uhhh...ummm...sheesh!" * A barking sheepdog wanders into the theater, saying "Which way did he go? Where's the little bunny I saw on TV last week?" Daffy, at this time, has dressed up in a rabbit costume and is on stage pretending to be Bugs. The sheepdog pounces upon Daffy and exclaims, "At last, at last! I have caught a bunny rabbit!" * Bugs entertains the audience by playing a guitar. An angry Yosemite Sam barges in the theater shouting, "Can't ya see I'm tryin' to sleep?!?", snatches the guitar from Bugs, and snaps all of its strings but one. * Bugs demonstrates some cartoon physics, including slow-motion, fast-speed and "vibrating to a stop." The show's title sequences and some of these linking material scenes from the original ''Bugs Bunny Show'' are included as bonus features on each volume of the ''

Looney Tunes Golden Collection The ''Looney Tunes Golden Collection'' is a series of six four-disc DVD sets from Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' animated shorts originally released from the 1930s to 1960s. The initial run of ...

'' DVD collection (with the exception of Volume 6). As the original color negatives were cut up by CBS and ABC to create later versions of the show, the linking sequences are presented on DVD using a combination of footage from both what's left of the color negatives (some of which were used in later incarnations, thus helping to preserve them) and the black-and-white ABC broadcast prints prepared in the early 1960s. On the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2'', the opening to the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'' (with the announcer calling it the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'') and two openings to the ''Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show'' (the 1988 opening and the 1992 opening) were released as special features. In 2009, an episode of the ''Bugs Bunny Show'' in color was released on the Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Volume 2 set. Saturday Morning Cartoons 1970s Volume 2 includes an episode of the ''Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show''. Historian George Feltenstein of

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

has confirmed in The Extras Podcast episode on March 20th, 2025 that ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is actively being restored and remastered by the Warner Bros. Preservation Department for a home media release in the future. Him and

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...

are overseeing the preservation amongst the Looney Tunes Collector's Vault releases. George describes the process as "starting with the black and white fine grains." which were already preserved. And then going over the camera negatives to "see what's missing" for the color negatives to preserve as much as possible despite being butchered years ago. While the cartoons have already been restored in the past, the bridging sequences are the main priority to recreate the half hour show. It would take at least two years depending on the conditions of the film negatives and "micro surgery" process.

List of original primetime episodes

Season 1 (1960–1961)

Season 2 (1961–1962)

Formats

Prime Time: * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', October 11, 1960 – August 7, 1962 (

) Saturday Mornings: * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', April 7, 1962 – September 8, 1968 (in color starting September 10, 1966) (

) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'', September 14, 1968 – September 4, 1971 (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

) * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', September 11, 1971 – September 1, 1973 (CBS) * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'', September 8, 1973 - August 30, 1975 (ABC) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour'', September 6, 1975 – November 12, 1977 (CBS) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show'', November 19, 1977 – September 7, 1985 (CBS) * ''The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour'', September 7, 1985 – September 6, 1986 (ABC) * ''The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show'', September 13, 1986 – September 2, 2000 (ABC) Cartoon Network: * ''The Bugs & Daffy Show'' (also known as simply ''Bugs & Daffy'')

Credits

* Senior Directors:

* Co-directors:

Hawley Pratt Hawley B. Pratt (June 9, 1911 – March 4, 1999) was an American film director, animator, designer and illustrator. He is best known for his work for Warner Bros. Cartoons and as the right-hand man of director Friz Freleng as a layout artist and ...

Art Davis Arthur Davis may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur Davis (animator) (1905–2000), American animator and director * Art Davis (actor) (1913–1987), American musician, singer, and actor * Art Davis (bassist) (1934–2007), American jazz bassist * A ...

Abe Levitow Abraham Levitow (July 2, 1922 – May 8, 1975) was an American animator who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and MGM Animation/Visual Arts. He is best known for his work under Chuck Jones' direction. Career Levitow was born in Los Angele ...

Maurice Noble Maurice James Noble (May 1, 1911 – May 18, 2001) was an American animation production designer, background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate and right-hand ma ...

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the car ...

, David Detiege,

Rudy Larriva Rudolph Larriva (February 12, 1916 – February 19, 2010) was an American animator and director from the 1940s to the 1980s. Early life Born in El Paso, Texas, which his parents moved out at the age of two, he attended several grammar school ...

, Tom Ray * Stories, Animation, layouts, and backgrounds: Members of Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Local 839 * Music:

Carl W. Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...

Milt Franklyn Milton J. Franklyn (born Milton Julius Frumkin; September 16, 1897 – April 24, 1962) was an American musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoons, working alongside and later succeeding Carl Sta ...

, John Seely,

William Lava William "Bill" Benjamin Lava (March 18, 1911 – February 20, 1971) was a composer and arranger who composed and conducted music for feature films as well as Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' animated cartoons from 1962 to ...

, William L. Hendricks,

Walter Greene Walter Greene (January 23, 1910 – December 23, 1983) was a film and television composer who worked on numerous productions for over 30 years. Career Born and raised in Tarkio, Missouri, Greene attended Tarkio College and the Horner Institut ...

, Eugene Poddany, Doug Goodwin, Rob Walsh, Quinn Amper, Fred Strittmatter, Dean Elliot * ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' Opening and Closing Theme: "This Is It" by

* Film Editors: Treg Brown, Hal Geer, Fred Farrell, Chuck McCann, Jim Champin, Lee Gunther * Producers:

, David H. DePatie * Executive Producers:

, David H. DePatie, William L. Hendricks *Cast:

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, puppeteer, radio personality and advertising creative director. His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

, Hal Smith, and Arthur Q. Bryan

References

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