Over three seasons — 1959, 1960 and 1961 — the then-new cartoon studio known as Hanna-Barbera produced 45 half-hours of what I think was their best series — The Quick Draw McGraw Show. If you feel that honor should go to The Jetsons, Top Cat, The Huckleberry Hound Show, the first few seasons of The Flintstones or a few others, I wouldn't waste time arguing but I think The Quick Draw McGraw Show was as good as it got at H-B and one of the best cartoon shows ever made for television.
You might not share that opinion because its episodes haven't been as available in recent years as some other shows. Certain legal matters relating to the musical underscores in those cartoons have prevented a home video release and a few other ways in which you might have seen them. But those problems have been overcome and a complete Blu-ray collection is coming soon. How soon? Amazon is saying September 29 and here's a link if you wanna pre-order.
What made the show so good? Well, all or almost all of the segments on it were written by Michael Maltese, one of the best writers of cartoons ever. You also had voice work by the great Daws Butler who played almost all the lead characters. And the H-B studio was filled with talented artists and the studio hadn't yet started overtaxing itself and spreading all that talent too thin. In due time, they'd be overtaxed.
I especially liked the segments of Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy with Daws playing Augie and Doug Young doing his great impression of Jimmy Durante as Augie's Dear Old Dad. Consistently funny stuff. If you're not familiar with the series, prepare for a delightful discovery.
