Top Cat: Dibble's Double

Top Cat: Dibble's Double
ABC
April 18, 1962
Cartoon, Sitcom
DVD
C+

A crook named Al the Actor (voiced by Don Messick) is a master of disguise, so, yes, he becomes Dibble's double.  There's some mild parody of modern art in this final episode, including the censor-bait line about "paint hitting the fan," and a reference to air raid drills, although "Ground Zero" in New York City obviously meant something different almost a half-century before 9/11.

Top Cat in its only season ranges from C- to B-, but almost half of the episodes (14 out of 30) are C+s, and the average is C+.  It's a mildly entertaining show and a bit of a time capsule, although I would've liked even more topical references.  A couple things I haven't mentioned that I want to bring up here: one, the soundtrack has a nice early '60s jazzy quality to it (the era that the movie Down with Love replicates); and two, I think the show would be stronger if all of the gang was fleshed out more.  I know that Brain is ironically named, Fancy Fancy is a Cary-Grantesque lady's cat, and Spook is a beatnik, but they should've got their own episodes, as Benny and Choo Choo did, so we could get to know them better.  I realize that Top Cat is the star and the title character, but sometimes the other cats, even Benny and Chooch, are just background.  Maybe if there had been a second season, they all would've gotten more attention.  But I think, unlike The Flintstones, this didn't have a clear appeal to either kids or adults, and I can see why it is perhaps better liked than in its first run.  Plus now we can dig the crazy fur colors.