''Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp'' is an American

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extr ...

comedy series Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television ...

that originally aired Saturday mornings on ABC from September 12, 1970 to January 2, 1971 and rebroadcast the following season. The live-action film series featured a cast of chimpanzees given apparent speaking roles by overdubbing with human voices.

Production

''Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp'' had a "seven-figure budget" with location filming, props and costumes, and the laborious staging and training of the animals. The filmmakers made the most of the budget, staging multiple episodes with the same settings and wardrobe, occasionally reusing the more elaborate chase footage. Lance Link drove a 1970

Datsun Datsun (, ) was an automobile brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunch ...

Sports 2000 while villain Baron Von Butcher (and his chauffeur Creto) used a late-'50s

Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud The Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud is a luxury automobile produced by Rolls-Royce Limited from April 1955 to March 1966. It was the core model of the Rolls-Royce range during that period. The Silver Cloud replaced the Silver Dawn and was, in turn, ...

. The primates themselves rode

Kawasaki Kawasaki ( ja, 川崎, Kawasaki, river peninsula, links=no) may refer to: Places *Kawasaki, Kanagawa, a Japanese city **Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, a ward in Kawasaki, Kanagawa **Kawasaki City Todoroki Arena **Kawasaki Stadium, a multi-sport stadium *K ...

MB-1 Coyote minibikes in a number of episodes. Two of the three producers/creators were Stan Burns and Mike Marmer, former writers for ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the '' James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, ...

!'' Both resigned from their jobs as head writers on ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Ha ...

'' to work on ''Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp.''Lancelot Link
from the September 2003 issues of ''

The Believer Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Beli ...

'' According to ''

,'' "to make the dialogue fit the chimps’ lip action, Burns and Marmer went to ridiculous lengths. Voiceovers were ad-libbed on the set, giving birth to beautifully absurd moments of the chimps breaking into songs at the end of sentences or spontaneously reciting

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howev ...

rhymes just so it would look right." Co-producer Allan Sandler explained that the writers studied the silent film footage of the chimps, and counted the syllables as the chimps' mouths moved. The writers would then shorten or lengthen the scripted lines according to the syllable count.

Plot construction

Owing considerable lineage to ''

'', the plot was always played for laughs and featured Lancelot Link and his female colleague, "Mata Hairi," whose own name in turn was a play on

Mata Hari Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari (), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed ...

, in secret agent and spy satires. Link and Hairi worked for A.P.E., the Agency to Prevent Evil, in an ongoing conflict with the evil organization C.H.U.M.P., the Criminal Headquarters for Underworld Master Plan (sic). APE's chief Darwin gave Link and Hairi their orders after explaining his "theory" about each crime-in-progress, a play on the Darwin theory of ape-to-human evolution. CHUMP's

monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...

d chief Baron von Butcher inevitably hatched the latest plan to endanger the world. The Baron's network of international bad guys included his shifty chauffeur Creto, mad scientist Dr. Strangemind, imperious Dragon Woman, drowsy Wang Fu, singing sheikh Ali Assa Seen, and the cultured Duchess. One or more of these bad guys would appear in each episode. A regular weekly feature, during the intermission between spy stories, was chimpanzee TV host "Ed Simian" (styled as an impersonation of

Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...

of the popular ''

Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night ...

'') introducing a musical number by an all-chimpanzee band, "The Evolution Revolution." The second intermission feature was "Chimpies", a short series of comedy blackouts similar to the "Crazy Shots" gags that writers Stan Burns and Mike Marmer had created for

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

's TV show. The Chimpies repertoire: ''Freddie and Joe'', two chimps in loud suits as

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

comedians, telling riddles; ''Monk the Magician'', a chimp producing streams of handkerchiefs and other objects from his coat; ''Herman and Sherman'', a chimp and a miniature-chimp

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

dummy; and ''Sneezes'', showing a chimp sneezing and other chimps reacting to it.

The characters

A.P.E.

* Lancelot Link (played by Tonga, voiced by Dayton Allen imitating Humphrey Bogart). His surname is a play on ' The Missing Link' * Mata Hairi (played by Debbie, voiced by

Joan Gerber Joan Gerber (July 29, 1935 – August 22, 2011) was an American voice actress who provided voices for a variety of cartoons. Her most challenging voice role was "all the children in a Japanese train wreck" for a ''Godzilla'' television episode. ...

. Mata spoke in a high, whiny voice reminiscent of the Dumb Dora comediennes of the 1920s and '30s. Her name was a take-off on

. * Commander Darwin (voiced by Dayton Allen) - Named after

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

. * Bruce - Official A.P.E. courier.

C.H.U.M.P.

* Baron von Butcher (voiced by Bernie Kopell) - Modeled on Kopell's character of "Siegfried" in the television show '' Get Smart!'' Kopell is believed to have approached his voicings of the Baron as if Siegfried were the head of

KAOS KaOS is a desktop Linux distribution A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain th ...

. * The Dragon Woman (voiced by

) in a precise dialect) - Her name was a take-off on the Dragon Lady, a villainess in the Terry and the Pirates comic-strip series. * Creto (voiced by Bernie Kopell) - His name was basically a play on the word " cretin." Also a play on Kato, the

Green Hornet The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of me ...

's chauffeur and crime-fighting "sidekick". * Wang Fu (voiced by Bernie Kopell) - His name was a play on

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

. * The Duchess (voiced by

with cultured diction). * Ali Assa Seen (voiced and sung by Dayton Allen) - His last name was meant to sound like "

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

." * Dr. Strangemind (voiced by Dayton Allen impersonating Béla Lugosi) - Name inspired by

Dr. Strangelove ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...

Additional characters

* Marty

Mandrill The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males ...

III - Former songwriter for The Evolution Revolution turned C.H.U.M.P. spy. * Unnamed

Orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the gen ...

- Appeared in cameos as a picturesque extra. Often referred to by Lance as "that weirdo." * Ernest Finster - English writer who was captured by C.H.U.M.P. * Blackie - The drummer in The Evolution Revolution. * Parnelli Smith (voice: Dayton Allen) An auto-racing champion and supplier of cars to A.P.E., his name was a take-off on former Indy 500 champion

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became t ...

. * Bart Sparks (voice: Bernie Kopell) Emcee of the Miss Globe beauty contest (parody of Miss America host

Bert Parks Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson; December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979. Early life Parks was bor ...

). * Raquel Wench (voice: Joan Gerber, imitating

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

) Screen star making an appearance at the road races. Parody of

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer ...

. * Herman - C.H.U.M.P. henchman.

The Evolution Revolution

This all-chimp band, dressed in colorful hippie-style wigs and wardrobe, featured Lancelot Link (played by Tonga) on guitar and Mata Hairi (played by Debbie) on tambourine, with Blackie as "Bananas Marmoset""Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution" Original Album Liner Notes on the drums. "SweetWater Gibbons" (in fringed vest and granny glasses) was credited for playing Farfisa organ, although the organ usually pictured in the clips was a Vox Continental organ. In the episode "The Evolution Revolution", it was established that the band's music was used to communicate coded messages for A.P.E. agents. The songs were usually co-written and performed by Steve Hoffman, in the

Bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States ...

style then in vogue; Hoffman received "voices" credit along with the various character actors. A Lancelot Link record album was released on ABC/Dunhill, as well as a single titled "Sha-La Love You", a song originally intended for The Grass Roots; the music shared some of its style with the music of The Grass Roots, who used the same recording facilities and studio musicians. Some songs contained heavy

guitar riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s, reflecting the growth of hard rock. An Evolution Revolution song, "Wild Dreams, Jelly Beans", was later covered by the Spanish alternative rock band ''Hello Lilliput''.

Episodes

The show's first-season episodes were an hour long, and also included Warner Bros. cartoon shorts from that animation studio's final years. The second season consisted of repeats from the first season with the cartoons removed. The original network broadcast included a laugh track; this was later removed for the syndicated and video releases. The series consisted of 17 episodes (standard practice at the time for the ABC network, allowing for each episode to be broadcast three times per year). Each episode featured two Lance Link stories, plus a band number and Chimpies sketches. #There's No Business Like Snow Business (parts one and two) #The Lone A.P.E. / Missile Beach Party #The Mysterious Motorcycle Menace / The Great Beauty Contest #C.H.U.M.P. Takes A Holiday / To Tell The Tooth #The Great Brain Drain / The Great Double Double Cross #Lance Of Arabia / The Doctor Goes A.P.E. #The Surfin' Spy / The Missing Link #Bonana / The Greatest Chase In The World #The Reluctant Robot / The Royal Foil #The Great Great Race / The Great Plane Plot #Landlubber Lance / The Temporary Thanksgiving Turkey Truce #The Dreaded Hong Kong Sneeze / The Great Bank Robbery #The Sour Taste Of Success / The Baron's Birthday Ball #The Golden Swwword / The Chilling C.H.U.M.P. Chase #The Spy Who Went Out In The Cold / Too Many C.H.U.M.P.s #The C.H.U.M.P. Code Caper / Weather Or Not #The Evolution Revolution / The Great Water Robbery All titles were shown in the Roberta typeface in Scanimation form (except The Great Bank Robbery, where the word "bank" was eventually

smash cut A smash cut is a technique in film and other moving picture media where one scene abruptly cuts to another for aesthetic, narrative, or emotional purpose. To this end, the smash cut usually occurs at a crucial moment in a scene where a cut would ...

out).

Reception

''Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp'' was an immediate success, spawning a wave of related merchandise including a record album, comic books, lunchboxes, and Halloween costumes. ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

'' featured the series in a photo spread.

Syndication

Reruns aired for one season on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. ET/ PT, Friday nights fr ...

during the late 1980s; the program was also shown on Nick at Nite’s TV Land for a brief time in 1999 as part of their "Super Retrovision Saturdaze" Saturday morning-oriented overnight prime programming block. The Comedy Channel (now

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy program ...

) aired reruns of this as well as

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

stop-motion series ''

Dick Spanner, P.I. ''Dick Spanner, P.I.'' is a 1986 British stop-motion animated comedy series which parodied Chandleresque detective shows. The title character and protagonist was Dick Spanner, voiced by Shane Rimmer, a robotic private detective who works ca ...

'' in a block hosted by detective-themed stand-up comedian Tommy Sledge. It aired internationally in such countries as

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

Home media

In June 2006, most of the episodes were released on a 2-

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

set by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

. On May 29, 2012, SBM Productions and Film Chest released the complete series on a 3-disc collector's edition. The Chimpies skits and Evolution Revolution music videos were included as separate items as well as inside the various episodes. The documentary ''I Created Lancelot Link'' was included in the bonus features, along with an interview with the original producer Allan Sandler, an interview with music composer Bob Emenegger, and a visit with Tonga, the chimp who played Lancelot in the series.

Documentary

A 1999 documentary short, ''I Created Lancelot Link'', was made by

Diane Bernard Diane may refer to: People *Diane (given name) Film * ''Diane'' (1929 film), a German silent film * ''Diane'' (1956 film), a historical drama film starring Lana Turner * ''Diane'' (2017 film), a mystery film directed by Michael Mongillo * ''D ...

and Jeff Krulik; it includes a reunion between the show's two creators and was "shot in shlocky Hi-8 video, and eaturingan entertaining juxtaposition of anecdotes from Burns and Marmer and some of the show's finest moments."

Print media

The fanzine Lancelot Link Fan World was published in 1975 by Cornell Kimbal

Additional subjects included

Sealab 2020 ''Sealab 2020'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, on Saturday mornings. The series was created by Alex Toth, who also created such other Han ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0065309, title=Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
TvParty page

Copy provided by producer Bob Emenegger
Lancelot Link
at

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

Lancelot Link comic books
Lancelot Link on Amazon
1970 American television series debuts 1971 American television series endings 1970s American children's comedy television series American Broadcasting Company original programming American children's action television series American children's adventure television series American television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows Espionage television series Television shows about chimpanzees Link Lancelot Television series by CBS Studios Television shows adapted into comics