WE DO RECALL catching some of the episodes of this short lived HANNA BARBERA Catoon series. There seemed to be some similarities to others in their stable, done up in combination.IN MUCH THE same mode as H & B's MOBY DICK, the action and adventure takes place in "Davy Jones' Locker" (that's underwater, Schultz!). From the highly successful SCOOBY DOO Franchise, we get the idea of an intelligent animal getting in on the action and dialog.INSTEAD OF MAKING use of "Man's Best Friend", the series opted for exploiting all of the hysteria and publicity generated by JAWS (Universal, 1975), we got JABBERJAW, a Great White Shark with the voice and mannerisms of THE 3 STOOGES' Curly Howard! AS GREAT OF a stretch as this is, we thought it to be an extremely, outrageously funny concept. Why in addition to the voice and various 'screams' and 'nyuks', Jabberjaw would use his front fins in the same manner as would Curly do his arms.BUT EVEN THOUGH JJ had the facial appearance and rotund physique of the admittedly funniest of the Stooges, the series bit the dust and had a short life.

The short-lived animated mystery/musical/adventure series "Jabberjaw" was a prime example of a lowpoint in Saturday Morning cartoons during the mid-1970's. This particular series lumped together several concepts into a mess of a show that became one of the "worst" of the Scooby and Josie clones that were all over the place that clogged up Saturday Mornings. Produced by William Hanna and Joesph Barbera(who also served as executive producers of this show),under the direction of legendary animator Charles A. Nichols and under the creation of Joesph Ruby and Kenneth Spears(who also served as some of the writers of this show...Ruby and Spears were the head writers for a lot of Hanna-Barbera shows including "Scooby Doo,Where Are You?",and "Josie and the Pussycats" to name a few),"Jabberjaw" was nothing more than a train-wreck that happened with the quickness. Each episode had the same exact formula.For one,"Jabberjaw"(capitalize on the popularity of the 1975 blockbuster hit "Jaws")was a whimpering talking great white shark who sounds like Curly Howard,(another one when it was the inspiration of "The Three Stooges" and some of its cartoons too including "The Three Robotic Stooges" that premiered some two years later),and mutters "I Don't Get No Respect"(a nod from comedian Rodney Dangerfield)whenever he gets in trouble and is sometimes very lame and clumsy. He travels with a band called The Neptunes(since the show is set under the sea)in a futuristic undersea realm that various on the same exact format.....stumbled into a mystery,with the lead character in tow while taking on various villains with sinister schemes. It was no wonder it lasted more than one season."Jabberjaw" originally ran on ABC-TV from September 11, 1976 until September 3, 1977. The series produced 16 episodes. However,ABC repeated these episodes when they moved the show to the Sunday Morning timeslot from September 11, 1977 until September 3, 1978,the last time this show was ever shown on network television. And for good reasons. "Jabberjaw",was one of the worst of the "Scooby" clones and its right up there with "Captain Caveman","The New Shmoo",and "Fangface" as the worst of that genre that featured moronic no brainer characters.

An example of a low point in Saturday morning cartoons, this particular series lumped together several concepts into a mess of show. Jabberjaw (capitalizing on the popularity of the movie "Jaws") is a talking shark who sounds like Curly Howard (leading the way for other insipid Three Stooges-inspired cartoons, including "The Three Robotic Stooges") and who mutters "I get no respect" (a nod to Rodney Dangerfield?). He travels with a band "The Neptunes" (like "Josie and the Pussycats" and countless other H-B cartoons) in a futuristic undersea realm (Sealab 2020) taking on various villains' nefarious schemes ("Scooby Doo, Where Are You", etc.).Thanks to Turner's Boomerang channel for reminding me how much I hated this cartoon as a kid. It was around this time that I realized that my favorite cartoons were "Looney Tunes" and "Rocky and Bullwinkle" - cartoons that were made in previous decades aimed at general audiences and not patronizing to kids.

Throughout the mid to late 1970's,producers William Hanna and Joesph Barbera were the forefront of children's programming and had some of most successful shows ever devised for Saturday Mornings. Unlike their counterparts over at Filmation,they were ahead of the competition bringing a variety of shows that were especially designed for children as well as adults to enjoy. There were some that were very interesting to watch and for one "Jabberjaw" is one of them. On the same premise as another Hanna-Barbera cartoon about a talking car like "Speed Buggy", this premise consisted of a talking great white shark who could walk upright and was always getting into mischief. If you listen to the voice of Jabber it sounds just like Curly of "The Three Stooges",but it was really Frank Welker who did numerous voiceovers for various characters including Dino,and Scooby Doo. He always protected a bunch of kids called "The Neptunes" who were the equals of Scooby Doo but had a rock and roll band under the sea. I watch this show tremendously and the reruns can be seen on Cartoon Network. I really love the person who did the voice of Shelly,but if you looked closely,it does looked like Seinfeld's Julia-Louis Dreyfuss(as a teenager) in an animated cartoon.