The Perils of Penelope Pitstop follows Penelope Pitstop (Janet Waldo) a rich woman who travels the world only to be chase and place in danger by The Hooded Claw (Paul Winchell). This show was a spin off of Wacky Races another cartoon by Hanna- Barbera. HB always makes interesting and classic cartoons and this is one of their more interesting ones.It has a female protagonist with a villain who laugh always can make you shake.Now that's rare for villains these days and even in the day.The Perils of Penelope Pitstop had some good animation as HB is known for along with some good voice acting and music to boot.The Narrator (Gary Owens) always makes the show interesting as he tells the story of each episode.Some people may have different opinions on the show but I find it to be interesting if you are a fan of Hannah Barbera cartoons then give this one a try.I'll get you Penelope Pitstop

I like it. I think it is funny. My favorite character is The Hooded Claw. Paul Lynde played The Hooded Claw. Paul Lynde was never seen in the credits. I wish Paul Lyde got more credit. He really is a funny actor. Some times I wish The Hooded Claw's plans worked. I have a question I bet all The Perils of Penelope Pitstop fans would ask. How come when The Hooded Claw and The Ain't Hill Mob get in The Hooded Claw's traps for Penelope Pitstop it does not hurt? Then why does The Hooded Claw think it will hurt Penelope Pitstop. If any of you The perils of Penelope Pitstop fans want to watch it it comes on Boomerang at 7:30 AM central time. I never could stand it when Penelope Pitstop yelled "Help!". Could Penelope Pitstop fight? The Hooded claw always grabbed her. Why didn't she kick him or punch him. She always was a damsel in distress. There's one good thing. She aways could get out of The Hooded Claw's traps.

The mark of a good show is always how much the technical staff and actors enjoy doing it. The DVD commentaries for this show prove it, as Janet Waldo (Penelope), Gary Owens (narrator) and Iwao Takamoto (designer) spend the whole time regaling us with wonderful anecdotes about Paul Lynde, Mel Blanc, Joe Barbera, and just how much fun was had during the production - fun they're still having just as much of from watching the episodes again over 35 years later.The Wacky Races / Dastardly & Muttley / Penelope Pitstop triumvirate were also supremely blessed by the scripting elegance of Micheal Maltese, who years earlier had created the Road Runner and Coyote with Chuck Jones (and it shows in this series in particular with the Hooded Claw's ridiculously over-complicated Rude Goldberg traps).This is the real joy of 'golden age' Hanna-Barbera (1968-1969 were the very best years, IMO); where the emphasis was in appealing character designs and the quality of the writing and voice-work, rather than what would look most sophisticated on the screen (although by 1960s TV animation standards, this is actually pretty good).Still a classic so many years later, and a show that could really teach today's more turgid cartoons about giving your animators free reign to enjoy themselves so that everyone benefits in the end.

As Fred Silverman shed his CBS Saturday morning lineup of violent cartoons in the late 60s, he struck gold with several successes. They were The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour, The Archie Show, Scooby Doo, Where Are You? and one of the few network cartoon spinoffs, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. The show was a spoof of movie melodramas of the 20s and 30s and emphasized comedy rather than violence. Two things I really enjoyed about Penelope Pitstop were Paul Lynde's portrayal of the evil Hooded Claw and the outstanding narration of Gary Owens. If you watch the closing credits carefully, you'll notice that in the voices section Paul Lynde doesn't receive any screen credit. Let's not overlook The Ant Hill Mob and their car Chugaboom. They were an intrical part of the storylines as they saved Penelope from The Hooded Claw's evil plans.