The Magilla Gorilla Show premiered in syndication on 14 January 1964. A Saturday morning version of the show premiered on ABC on 1 January 1966 and ran until 2 September 1967.
The Hanna Barbera-produced show was one of the first to be created in conjunction with a toy company in order to market character toys immediately.
The main segment of the show featured Magilla, a loveable but clumsy gorilla, who lives in Mr Peebles’ Pet Shop.
Mr Peebles repeatedly tries to sell or give away the gorilla with no success.
Magilla was only ever purchased for a short time, typically by some thieves who needed the gorilla to break into a bank or by an advertising agency looking for a mascot for their new product.
The customers inevitably ended up returning Magilla, forcing Mr Peebles to return their money. The only customer who was truly interested in obtaining the trouble-prone simian for good was a little girl named Ogee (“Oh Gee!”) who lamentably never had enough money.
Backing segments included Punkin Puss And Mush Mouse, which featured the never-ending feud of a pair of hillbilly animals, and Ricochet Rabbit, a scrappy lawman who fights desperados with the aid of his slowpoke coyote deputy, Droop-A-Long (voiced by Mel Blanc).
In September 1966 Breezly & Sneezly replaced Ricochet, who was moved to The Peter Potamus Show.
Breezly & Sneezly featured the Arctic adventures of a polar bear and a seal who continually tried to sneak into Camp Frostbite, a military installation led by the frustrated Colonel Busby.
Magilla Gorilla Allan Melvin
Mr Peebles
Howard Morris
Ogee
Jean Van der Pyl
Punkin Puss
Allan Melvin
Mush Mouse
Howard Morris
Richochet Rabbit
Don Messick
Deputy Droop-A-Long Coyote
Mel Blanc
Breezly
Howard Morris
Sneezly
Mel Blanc
Colonel Fusby
John Stephenson
