Let's Watch This: An Episode of "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space"

NOTE: Please do not take any of the little nitpicks in this review (or any of my other reviews, for that matter) seriously. I write these reviews in the hopes of making people laugh. Those nitpicks are really just dumb little observations that I'm attempting to make jokes out of, not complaints that add to whether or not I like something.

NOTE #2: No disrespect is meant towards anyone who worked on the show I am reviewing today. I'm sure they are all very nice and talented people.

NOTE #3: If you like this show, that is great. Go ahead and like it. I'm not judging you.

Yes, we're looking at another Hanna-Barbera cartoon. I can't help it if they made a lot of now really obscure shows that I can review for my blog. I like Hanna-Barbera, so sue me.

Anyway, let's talk about Josie and the Pussycats.

These characters actually got their start as a comic book series published by Archie Comics and created by Dan DeCarlo. I've never read any of the comics, but somebody at Hanna-Barbera must have liked them enough to do an adaptation of them... or maybe the higher-ups at CBS demanded another Scooby-Doo clone, because this is another one of THOSE shows. It first premiered on September 12th, 1970 and received sixteen episodes.

The show's main characters were an all-female band consisting of guitarist Josie McCoy (voiced by Janet Waldo), tambourine-player Valerie Brown (Barbara Pariot), and drumming Melody Valentine (Jackie Joseph). They are accompanied on tour by roadie Alan Mayberry (Jerry Dexter); who is literally just Fred from Scooby-Doo with bigger muscles (there was even a Cartoon Network bumper that pointed this out), their cowardly manager Alexander Cabot III (Casey Kasem using the exact same voice he used for Shaggy), his jerky sister Alexandra (Sherry Alberoni), and her constantly-snickering cat Sebastian (Don Messick). Each episode has the band traveling to their most recent gig or recording session, only to stumble upon somebody doing something EEEEEEEEE-VIL and foil their plot.

They were Furries back before it was a thing.

In 1972, a sequel series called Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space premiered. As its title suggested, it focused on Josie and her friends... IIIIIIIIIIIIIN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

How did they get into space? Well, they were doing a photo shoot in front of a spaceship, and Alexandra, in yet another attempt at stealing the spotlight from Josie, winds up knocking them all inside the spaceship and they all get sent into orbit. The gang spent the whole series trying to find Earth and instead stumbling upon some weird new planet that had some sort of problem. They'd solve the problem, and then set a course for Earth, only for Alexandra to mess everything up for them again. The series was cancelled after sixteen episodes (just like the original show), which means that we never saw the characters actually get back to Earth. However, Josie and the Pussycats did appear in a 1973 episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, so at least we know they made it back to Earth at SOME point.

I was originally going to review an episode of the original Josie and the Pussycats show, but I decided that Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space would probably give me more to work with. I mean, it's such a ludicrous premise... who looks at a show about an all-girl band dressed in leopard costumes and says, "Hey, let's send them into SPACE. We can get a few seasons out of that!"? Plus, I think this one is a bit more obscure than the original show, which makes it slightly more fitting for me to do a review of. We'll be watching the sixth episode, "The Sun Haters", and seeing if there's anything of substance in this gimmick of a series.

The episode begins with the band, of course, flying through space in their oddly-designed rocket ship...

Seriously, what's up with the weird sphere-shaped thing on the nose cone? It looks
so strange...

…and doing a little practicing. So they're ROCKING OUT in a ROCKET SHIP. Ha ha… yeah, that's the height of wit you're going to see in my reviews.

Ah yes, and did I forget to mention their alien sidekick created just for this series? Say hello to Bleep (Don Messick). He's what happens when you don't clean out the lint trap in your dryer.

I feel like this character was designed with the intent of selling plush toys, but I think
he more likely gave children of the 1970s nightmares instead.

Alexandra demonstrates that her main personality trait is being a jerk by complaining about how stupid it is for Josie, Valerie, and Melody to practice when they don't know when, if ever, their next gig will be. Suddenly, they're in a meteorite storm that sends them flying towards a planetoid... somehow. Maybe the meteorites that hit the rocket are knocking it downward? I don't know how meteorite storms work...

"Hey, Alan, what happened to your ascot?"
"I ditched it. I was hoping it would make me look like less of a Fred Jones clone."
"...it really doesn't."

But, miraculously, the rocket doesn't crash land on the planet's surface. Everybody peeks out the window to see what saved them...

"Zoinks!"
"Ruh-roh!"
"Jeepers!"
"Jinkies!"
"Uh... what was Fred's catchphrase again?"

And what saved them turns out to be... this thing. A giant, pale-skinned E.T. knockoff in the Great Gazoo's duds. Um, okay then...

What exactly does the alien plan on doing to them? Eating them? I wouldn't blame him if he tried, he's clearly in need of a little more to eat... look at him. He's practically all skin and bones. On the other hand, considering how much smaller Josie and the gang are than him, they probably wouldn't make for much of a meal.

The alien shakes the rocket and dumps all the teeny-weeny meddling kids into the palm of his hand. Alexandra demands that he put her down. So he does. And then he squashes her like a bug. Nothing of value is lost.

Okay, obviously he doesn't do that. He just puts them all down on the ground because Alexandra said so. "He's not very green OR jolly," Melody points out. But he's also carrying the ship away with him. They run after him, only to run into something that scares the pants off of Alexander.

Alexander is beginning to regret letting Josie, Melody, and Valerie sign that contract
by now, isn't he?

Specifically, it's the Butt-Ugly Martians. I guess Alexander really hated that show too.

Oddly, I find these guys much scarier than the giant E.T. knockoff.

One of the Megamind clones introduces himself as Rayo, an "Adrick", and explains that the alien who stole their spaceship is a "Hugeo". In fact, there are many "Hugeos" running around this planet. "They are known as Sun-Haters," Rayo explains.

For centuries, the Hugeos have been trying to devise a way to extinguish the sun. I like how Valerie's reaction to this is to say, "Extinguish the sun? That's dumb!" Like, "That's dumb!" is the reaction one has to learning that, say, somebody tried to jump the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle or tried to steal a port-a-potty or something. NOT the reaction one has to learning that a race of aliens is planning to EXTINGUISH THE SUN, which would result in...

- The Earth being plunged into a new Ice Age.

- Nobody knowing when it was daytime and when it was nighttime.

- Plants and trees going kaput.

- Us not being able to breathe because trees create oxygen.

- Sundials being useless.

- Raisin Bran having to create a new mascot.

"If you help us get our ship back, maybe we can be of some help to you," Josie suggests. So Rayo takes them to the city of the Hugeos, which consists of gigantic skyscrapers... which as their name suggests are already pretty much gigantic, so perhaps "atmospherescrapers" would be a more accurate way to describe them.

Also, this is admittedly a small thing, but why is the sky red? They're in outer space.
Shouldn't it be black and dotted with stars?

Rayo suggests that the Hugeo might have taken the rocket to their laboratory. "Of course! If they're experimenting, they'd take the ship there to see what makes it tick," Valerie adds. So they head there. By the way, I should mention that Melody's shtick is that she makes dopey comments and then giggles. She does this after EVERY SINGLE LINE that comes out of her mouth, even when what she's saying isn't a joke. It gets really annoying.

And yet, she's still not nearly as obnoxious as Alexandra.

Alexandra suggests that they split up and look around. Because she really wants to make out with Alan, she says that she'll go with him. But Josie says that she'll go with them too, foiling Alexandra's plans to have Alan fall in love with her. Not that she had a chance, to be honest. I mean, Alan hangs around with three other girls who are far, far less unpleasant than Alexandra.

Eventually, Bleep locates the rocket and tells Melody, Valerie, Alexander, and Rayo. Well, he tells Melody, anyway... for whatever reason, she's the only one who can understand him.

Still a better love story than Bee Movie.

Then they run into Josie, Alan and Alexandra and fill them in. Alexandra gives Sebastian a hard time for "letting that blinking Bleep out-hero you". Maybe she's just miffed that the rejected Muppet is a more fundamental part of the team than she is. Seriously, why do they even keep Alexandra around? What does she add to the team?

"Sufferin' succotash!"

By the way, I remember there were two more "Adricks" back where they first met Rayo. I like to think that they're still just standing there not moving a muscle while Rayo is helping the good guys (and Alexandra) out.

They get the door to the room where the rocket is out... and promptly get stepped on, killing them instantly. The end.

"It's... Monty Python's a-Flying Circusssssssssssssssss!"

Just kidding. They survive getting stepped on by an alien the size of King Kong. Apparently Josie and her friends have very strong bones. They spot two of the Hugeos tinkering with the ship. They rig it up to a control panel and start flying it around. My guess is that they plan on flying it into the sun... but wait, wouldn't that just result in the ship being burned on impact as opposed to the sun being blacked out?

Also, I'm just now noticing that Rayo looks like a blue Elmer Fudd.

"Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting Hugeos. Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhhuh..."

One of the Hugeos mentions something about an "extinguishing agent", and then he and the other Hugeos leave the room. While Valerie, Bleep, and Alexander check out the remote control, the rest of the crew follow the Hugeos into a room where they test the "extinguishing agent" on a model of the sun. One of the Hugeos has a really derpy expression.

"Herp-a-derp!"

The good news is, since the control panel doesn't use any fancy sci-fi alien technology - just a "simple remote radio control" - Valerie can operate it, with a few modifications. Meanwhile, the Hugeos give some exposition about the "extinguishing agent" - it's highly concentrated, and when it's exposed to heat it expands many million times its original size. They fill a model of the spaceship with the extinguishing agent. Still not one hundred percent sure what their plan is here...

As for Valerie, Bleep, and Alexander, they've rewired the control panel so now they know more about it than the Hugeos do. Then we cut back to the others, who watch as the Hugeos fly the model of the ship at the model of the sun. Upon impact, it covers the sun model with white foam.

"YES! We have created the world's largest ball of marshmallow fluff! Truly this was
a day well-spent!"

Alan, Josie, Melody, Rayo, and Alexandra (I don't know where Sebastian is) head back to the room where Valerie, Bleep, and Alexander are and fill them in as to what the Hugeos are planning. Problem is, the Hugeos show up and spot them. Everyone scatters, except Valerie who pulls a lever that sends their rocket into motion while the Hugeos just stand there making dumbfounded expressions.

The face that one in blue is making is just begging to become a meme.

Regardless of the confusion, the Hugeos manage to snatch up the good guys and trap them under cups. Except for Alexander, who was hiding in a drawer. But since Valerie rewired the controls, they can't control the rocket. And Alexandra, believe it or not, is perfectly fine with being stuck under a cup because now she has Alan all to herself. Nice to see she has her priorities in check.

"So what if I'm being held prisoner by a group of humongous aliens who want to black
out the sun? LET'S GET IT ON, ALAN!"

Alexander frees Valerie, Alan, and Alexandra with the help of a gigantic screwdriver, then the four of them free Josie, Melody, Rayo, and Bleep. In the process, they knock over a burner. "Now we're in for a hot time!" Alexander groans as the whole room is set aflame.

Oh, and Sebastian just suddenly reappears. Where did he go?

Josie and the others really didn't WANT to throw Alexandra into the flames, but they
had no choice. The Fire Gods demanded a sacrifice.

Melody says that all they need to put out the fire is that foam the Hugeos used to extinguish the model of the sun with. "Hey, Melody has a point there!" Josie remarks. "Are you sure it's not her HEAD?" Alexandra asks. Jeez, Alexandra, that was needlessly mean. I know Melody's a dimwit, but she wasn't even being stupid there. That stuff WOULD put out the fire.

Fortunately, there just so happens to be a tank full of what they assume is the extinguishing agent. It honestly looks more like water to me, but hey, water will put out the fire too, so either way...

I can't think of a funny comment to make here, so instead I'll just point out that
Sebastian has been completely useless throughout this entire episode.

They turn on the faucet, and the fire is put out by the foam (so apparently that WAS foam in the tank, even though it looked a lot more like water to me). But they forgot about that pesky "expands when exposed to heat" side effect. So they sail out of the building in a giant teacup.

When Alan asked the others if they'd like to join him in a cup of tea, this wasn't exactly
what they had in mind...

After getting out of the suds, Valerie mentions that she flew their rocket to "the shady side of the planet". And as luck would have it, Rayo just so happens to have a UFO they can ride to the shady side of the planet. But the Hugeos get to it first.

Also, at one point Valerie and Alexander speak in unison, but you only hear Alexander's voice. Very odd.

"I don't mean to criticize your fashion statement, fellas, but you really can't pull off
those short skirts..."

Josie tries to reason with the Hugeos, pointing out to them that if they extinguish the sun, all life on every single planet - including theirs - will go extinct. One of the Hugeos explains that they have very sensitive eyes and can't stand the rays of the sun. And apparently it never occured to them to just live underground like moles do. Or, as Melody suggests, put on sunglasses.

So instead of putting out the sun, the Hugeos decide to just wear gigantic sunglasses. To celebrate, Josie and the Pussycats perform for them. Problem solved!

Just when I thought these guys couldn't get any more unintentionally hilarious...

And one of the Hugeos, named Orko, is going to use the control panel to fly the gang home. They blast off, and it seems as though they're finally going to get back to Earth. Oh, wait, never mind. Alexandra stole the guidance system's control knob and has it with them in the rocket because she thinks it'll make a nice coffee table. As a result, Orko won't be able to steer the gang anywhere because it has all the programmed information. Alexandra is really lucky Josie and her friends are too nice to abandon her on Jupiter or something.

What's the Verdict?

Honestly, considering that the show is about Josie and the Pussycats of all characters in OUTER SPACE, I was expecting something far more ridiculous. What we got was really just kind of mediocre... and, honestly, I think that mainly stems from the fact that Josie and her friends aren't particularly interesting characters. Valerie's a nice role model, I'll say that, but Alexandra is unlikable and I just wound up wondering why they even keep her around, Melody is kind of annoying, Josie herself is really dull, and Alan and Alexander are just knockoffs of Fred and Shaggy. Even the non-human sidekicks, Sebastian and Bleep, are really boring. The Neptunes were boring too, but at least they had a goofy talking shark to keep things interesting.

Aside from that, the show has meh animation, some unfunny jokes, and a general sense of "Why does this exist?". Were ANY fans of Josie and the Pussycats demanding that the characters go into space? I could see that working for, like, one episode, but a whole series? I do like that the conflict had such a mundane solution ("We want to destroy the sun!" "Why?" "Because it hurts our eyes!" "Why not just put on sunglasses?" "Okay, we can do that."), but as a whole I can see why it's now nothing more than a footnote in Hanna-Barbera's history. I haven't watched an episode of the original Josie and the Pussycats in years, maybe it's better than this, but with this show, there's really not much that other Hanna-Barbera shows like Jabberjaw and Speed Buggy didn't already accomplish.

I don't want to end this post on a negative note, so here's a blast from the past for you all that also involves Josie and the Pussycats: