The Alvin Show Totally Explained

Everything about The Alvin Show totally explained

The Alvin Show was the first American animated television series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks, although a series with a similar concept The Nutty Squirrels Present had aired a year earlier. It lasted for just one season in prime time (October 4, 1961 – September 12, 1962). The series rode the momentum of creator Ross Bagdasarian's original hit musical gimmick and developed the singing Chipmunk trio as rambunctious kids–particularly the show's namesake star–whose mischief contrasted to (and usually exasperated) his tall, brainy brother Simon and his chubby, gluttonous brother Theodore, as well as their long-suffering, perpetually put-upon manager-father figure, Dave Seville.

The Hit That Might Have Been

The series was short-lived during its original primetime broadcast. It was up against NBC's formidable hit western Wagon Train. It was also beset by production delays which were caused mostly by disagreements among Format Films and Bagdasarian Film Corporation on acceptable character designs for The Chipmunks. One of a small number of animated series to be shown in prime time on CBS, The Alvin Show was originally broadcast in black and white, even though it was produced and later re-run in color (CBS didn't switch to full, across-the-board color television until 1964).
In addition, Bagdasarian insisted that The Alvin Show skip the addition of a laugh track, which was common among animated series at the time.

The Great Inventor

Aside from the seven-minute Chipmunk segments, in which Bagdasarian's David Seville was portrayed as a hapless bachelor who managed and mentored the three singing rodents, the show also had segments featuring a character called Clyde Crashcup. Voiced by Shepard Menken (who lent the character his classic Edwin Carp-like liquid voice), Clyde was an inventor who essentially re-invented the wheel (and practically everything else) and took credit for dreaming it up in the first place. His "creations" often backfired on him until his silent, level-headed lab assistant, Leonardo (diminutive, balding, and perpetually whispering in Crashcup's ear) saved him from any further self-immolation.

Afterlife

CBS reran the series on Saturday mornings for a few years after the show's prime time run ended, and segments from the show were syndicated in the late 1960s under the package title Alvin and the Chipmunks (this first syndicated package consisted of the individual show segments only, including the Alvin and Clyde Crashcup cartoons, and Chipmunk musical segments, not in the form of half-hour shows). The series later was revived on NBC-TV, again promoted under the title Alvin and the Chipmunks (with the introductory Alvin Show title card cut off the beginning of the show opening) Saturday mornings between March 10, 1979 and September 1, 1979. In the fall of 1983, coinciding with the launch of Ruby-Spears' newly-produced Alvin and the Chipmunks series on NBC, The Alvin Show was again syndicated, airing on WGN-TV in Chicago and WTBS in Atlanta. Ross Bagdasarian had died of a heart attack on January 16, 1972 at age 52, 11 days before his 53rd birthday, precluding any future Chipmunk activity. Years later, his son Ross, Jr. picked up on a disc jockey's joke and produced the hit Chipmunk Punk album from 1980, which spurred new interest for a brand new animated series with an updated look to The Chipmunks and David Seville (now voiced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.). As a result, both the Ruby-Spears-produced Alvin and The Chipmunks (1983-1991) as well as the original Alvin Show could be seen at any given time throughout the 1980s. The Alvin Show was last seen in the United States on Nickelodeon around 1994, and aired there until 1995.

Voice cast

Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. - Alvin, Simon, Theodore, David Seville
Shepard Menken - Clyde Crashcup
June Foray - Mrs. Frumpington and other female voices

Episodes

26 episodes each were produced for the Alvin and the Chipmunks and Clyde Crashcup segments, along with 52 musical segments.

#	Alvin & the Chipmunks	Musical Segment 1	Clyde Crashcup	Musical Segment 2
2	Ostrich	Mexico-the Brave Chipmunks	Invents Self-Presentation	Yankee Doodle
4	Sam Valiant, Private Nose	August Dear	Invents the Chair	Working on the Railroad
6	Alvin's Curse	Old MacDonald-Cha, Cha, Cha	Invents the Baseball	Switzerland-the Magic Mountain
8	Stanley the Eagle	Stuck in Arabia	Invents the Wife	I Wish I Had A Horse
10	Sam Valiant: Real Estate	Alvin for President	Invents the Baby	Home on the Range
12	Camping Trip	Spain	Invents Music	Row, Row, Row Your Boat
14	The Whistler	Coming Around the Mountain	Invents Electricity	Pop Goes the Weasel
16	Jungle Rhythm	Alvin's Orchestra	Invents the Bed	The Little Dog
18	Hillbilly Son	Three Blind Mice	Invents Do-it-Yourself	Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
20	Eagle in Love	Daisy	Invents the Shoe	On Top of Old Smokey
22	Haunted House	My Wild Irish Rose	Invents the Ship	The Band Played On
24	Good Manners	Git Along, Little Doggies	Invents the Birthday Party	The Man on the Flying Trapeze
26	Disc Jockey	The Alvin Twist	Invents Crashcupland	While Strolling Through the Park?

General Foods was the show's main sponsor; as such, Dave Seville and The Chipmunks appeared in several humorous half-minute commercials for Jell-O and Post Cereals.

Stations

Further Information

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