Allow me to add my voice to those who consider this T.H.E. COOLEST TV show ever. It's amazing, judging by the comments here, how many 9- and 10-year-olds took to this show, which was supposed to be for grown-ups. It is still my dream, at age 50, to open a small night club with a flashing neon sign, and call it "Casa Del Gato." Beaded curtains, waitresses dressed 60's go-go style, live jazz seven nights a week...and I would be in the corner booth wearing a black turtleneck, talking to some guy with an eye-patch, or missing a hand. Oh, yes, it would be a nominally private club, so that smoking would be allowed (yup, I'm in one of THOSE states).
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JimSpy23 September 2006
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There were many great shows that pushed the envelope in the mid-1960s, but none were as pure film noir as T.H.E. Cat. Mr. Cat (the inimitable Robert Loggia)found himself in pitted against the strangest and most lethal array of killers to ever grace prime-time.Robert Duvall appeared twice as two different, but equally deadly adversaries in the series. Additionally, there is a beautifully lensed episode directed by Jacques Tourneur, who directed the Robert Mitchum classic film noir Out of the Past and the occult classics The Cat People and Curse of the Demon. Unfortunately, at this time there are no licensed versions of the series available, but reasonably viewable bootlegs show up at conventions regularly. Finally, while the jazz score of Peter Gunn (courtesy of Henry Mancini and sometimes Shelley Manne) is deservedly held in high regard, I would argue that Lalo Schifrin's theme and the jazz featured regularly on T.H.E. Cat is as good and like the series, more exotic and adventurous than any of its contemporaries. Hard to track down, but worth the effort.
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This series intrigued me before the first episode, when NBC started advertising its fall shows in the summer of '66. The Friday line-up was Tarzan at 7:30, the 3rd (and campiest) season of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. at 8:30, oater The High Chapparal at 10; following U.N.C.L.E. was a new entry-T.H.E. Cat. The ad showed a black-clad man pitching a grappling hook and scaling a wall into action. The clip promised adventure "you can sink your teeth into."
The opener delivered. From the economical exposition of the priest's peril, through Cat's breathtaking demonstration of the padre's vulnerability and his own special skill, the powerful, jazzy theme, the conversation with cafe' owner Pepe which succinctly and cleverly recaps Cat's career, to the violent climax, I was hooked.
Cat appealed to this adolescent and many others--fearless, stealthy, acrobatic, independent, a bodyguard who saved lives, but who was capable of sudden violence against would-be killers. The noir mood, the Frisco setting, and the hero's curious code of ethics didn't hurt, either. I saw every episode, took to donning gloves and scaling buildings in emulation, and was shocked when the series was cancelled after one season.
Forty years later I could still remember Lalo Schifrin's cool theme, a cafe' motif, and the flute-and-bongo accompaniment to Cat's nocturnal climbs. When I saw the DVD offer, I got myself a birthday present. Some of the discs have an annoying skip; that aside, I was delighted to be reunited with this series after so long.
Many elements are ahead of their time--the hero who uses agility and cunning more than firepower, the flavor of exotic cultures, the nocturnal scenes and shadowy interiors, the jazz score. The music holds up very well; Schifrin's Latin sounds are timelessly hip, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the chanteuse at Casa del Gato crooning a couple of Jobim classics in the series opener.
Happy 80th Birthday to Robert Loggia, and thanks for the memories. -
powersroc1 April 2005In 1966 on Friday nights I had two brand new series to look forward to as a 13 year old.The Green Hornet & T.H.E.Cat were unique among the standard TV offerings of cop shows,lawyer shows,doctor shows & sitcoms.Cat was a former circus acrobat & jewel thief who did his prison time & now was on the side of law.But instead of the standard cliché of his becoming a p.i.,he sold his services as a bodyguard & security expert.This propelled him into many exciting adventures.He generally was clad in black pants & a turtleneck.His weapons were his "Cat's Claws" knives that were hidden up each shirt sleeve.He was athletic & fast and could easily scale over high fences,up the side of any building,& over rooftops with a lithe skill.The Lalo Schifrin musical score is superb,the writing excellent as were the actors,and the show had a dark & gritty look to it.It remains a favorite of mine today even though it only lasted one season.Like The Green Hornet it deserved a long run,but both series managed to become cult classics for many fans even with their short runs.
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silvaworks18 October 2006this is the series that introduced me to the concepts of "jazz" and "cool"! i, too, was surprised that the series didn't become a greater success! was it too sophisticated for middle America? perhaps the intellect needed to appreciate the smoky complexities of jazz were hard to appreciate for a culture that was having an affair with Pat Boone!
the nightclub scenes! talk about sultry lighting! wow! it delivered the environment of the late night/last set jazz club that one is lucky to experience in real life! to say the very least, it influenced my journey of life & what to look for/seek along the way. cool jazz & the world it lives in, is there anything better? i've never seen anything remotely like this on TV since! it stands alone! "It Takes A Thief" cannot touch it! its like comparing exotic oranges to apples.
does anyone know where it's available for sale on DVD? i can be reached at: silvaworks@yahoo.com thank you. -
lleopldnll16 March 2009I was hooked on this show from the first episode. Robert Loggia's cool athleticism,the sinuous jazz theme, the film noir look of the exteriors and interiors, the secondary characters. Currently, there is an excellent video on YouTube which is the opening of what I believe was the first episode. Cat is intent on proving to a priest who was the witness to a crime that he is in grave danger. The priest is within the walls of his church with a few bodyguards stationed in various places inside and out. Cat sets out to get through these defenses in order to make his point. He vaults over a wall, scales to the roof and walks across a tight rope, then dispatches the guards with swift brutality. I actually owned a comic book which I certainly miss now. It had a terrific cover photo from this episode.
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rwinestock11 July 2006I was about 9 when I watched this. I don't think I missed many episodes, but would love to see this sleeper series return to DVD. The skill of direction, delivery, and music were superbly prepared for that time, and would still hold my interest today! I agree with the earlier poster that it captivated me. I can still see images of T.H.E. Cat entering a structure in his cat burglar ninja-sleek outfit. I imagine my heart skipped a few beats too. I think the program aired on Friday nights. I can remember sitting in front of the living room television eating dinner instead of having to come to the table. I would love to know how many episodes were created and how many aired.
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rijim200119 August 2009"Out of the night comes a man who saves lives at the risk of his own: Once a circus performer, an aerialist who refused the net... Once a cat burglar, a master among jewel thieves... And now, a professional bodyguard - primitive, savage, in love with danger - T.H.E CAT!"
The episode list can be found at http://epguides.com/THECat/guide.shtml and the music can be found at this Sound America site link http://soundamerica.com/sounds/themes/Television/T-Z/ under thecat66.wav I believe the announcer is George Fennemen best known as the announcer in You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx (79 episodes, 1950-1961) , Dragnet (276 episodes, 1951-1959), Dragnet 1967 (33 episodes, 1967-1969) -
Jakemcclake24 October 2012I remember, how much NBC advertised it, in the months prior to first airing. So when I was 11, on Friday night September 16, 1966, after watching a forgettable "Man From Uncle" I kept the TV on NBC for the 9:30 start of T.H.E. Cat.
I was very impressed, enthralled and excited by the action and the nature of the show. I recall that the action sequences looked like they were filmed with a hand held camera, putting the viewer right in the middle of it. I recall the action was so fast, it was sometimes hard to discern right away. All of this made the show seem more exciting. I remember that the initial episode had a climatic sequence of T.H.E. Cat taking on unbeatable opposition and tremendous obstacles and overcoming them all while they amped up T.H.E. Cat's theme song.
The next day, I told everyone I knew about this gem. But, no one saw it. No one seemed to want to watch it, no matter how much I liked it. Across America people missed this hidden gem. The show was cancelled after one season.
But that never swayed me from believing it was one of the best shows ever. -
wayne_reno_minar10 April 2008I was 6 or 7 when this series was running. I loved it too. I was too young to understand why TV shows like this stopped showing, I just knew one day it was gone. Somehow I remembered the title years later. I am now closer to 50. After reading some of the comments, I now know that this show can be obtained on DVD. Like a dream come true. For information sake, I also remembered another hero-type series similar to 'Cat'. It was produced in 1964 to 1965. It was "Honey West", starring Anne Francis; 'Altera' in "Forbidden Planet". It also lasted only one season. Comments said that it was canceled because "The Avengers" was being brought to American TV. I would love to own both of these shows. The 1960's produced so many great spy, secret agent, and intrigue shows. Anyone remember "The Green Hornet"? Google has really made it easy to find these websites for these long-forgotten TV series. I am so happy that there are other people who remember these unique and odd shows. They made TV really worth watching back then. Permit me to be off of this subject for a moment? Does anyone know where to find the 1960's cartoon version of "Spiderman"? Long live these forgotten favorites. Others are on commercially advertised DVD. Why not these?
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angelfleurs-11 October 2006Dear Sirs-- October 1st, 2006 I also remember seeing the television series T.H.E. CAT. I am almost in exact concurrence with the "commentator" Ephraim's daughter. What is even move coincidental, my father's Hebrew name is "Ephraim". We pronounce it E-Froy-I'm. So, i guess i am Epraim's Son. What a coincidence! I also remember the original credits, and the way the song was done. And how the film faded into obscurity. The sculpting of the main character's personality--for the series--his adaptability/versatility with people--reflective of his adaptability/versatility with difficult situations. Camera work, innovative for it's time. The series greatness, to some degree, comes from its ability to separate itself from standardized formats. --------------------------------------------Ephraim's Son
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Alas, I was about 9 years old when this show aired. So I was hardly ever allowed to watch it because it was a) too 'adult' in nature and b) way past my bedtime. So my memories of it are somewhat skimpy. But I vividly remember the way Loggia would introduce himself as 'T. Hewitt Edward Cat', and the way he would scale walls and make impossible leaps. He also seemed to play for keeps. He was sleek, dangerous, and cooler than hell. But he wasn't invincible - I remember shows where things went wrong and a client or friend would get hurt or killed, and Cat would be seriously angry or stressed or worried. That added to the suspense and believability considerably.
There was a later TV series with a similar theme, featuring Robert Wagner, 'It Takes A Thief'. Nothing against Wagner, but his show couldn't hold a candle to 'T.H.E. Cat', at least the way I remember it.
I too, would love to have a chance to see (or buy) some of those old episodes. -
jklktnak6 April 2019As Sam says, in the tradition of Peter Gunn, the definition of "Cool" TV in the 60's.I have followed Robert Loggia's varied career over the years. A very talented actor with a incredible range of characterizations.Who can ever forget his threatening presence in "Shane" .The almost comical Godfather role in the Pink Panther. I really would love to see this TV series released as a restored version on DVD or Blu-Ray, finally, remember his outstanding stint as host of the TV show "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" and his one hand pushups at the awards show while in his senior years.A real gem of an actor who deserved more credit than he ever received.
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sambiagio14 January 2016T.H.E. Cat is the lineal descendant of Peter Gunn as the King of Cool...no gadgets, no love drama, just a job well done each time. Both had background support, but ultimately came through on there own. I think Dave Grusin did the music, but cant find anything to support that, although Grusin and Lalo Shifrin were the two main sounders back in the day.... There were some of the usual themes, Bad Guy, not really a Bad Guy, gone Good...Peter Gunn had his continual spark Edie, but I cannot recall if Cat had one, but surely he did... they both had police nemeses/allies with RG Armstrong for CAT, and Herschel Bernardi for Gunn...
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1966 was golden, and Friday night TV was a bonanza: Man From Uncle, The Green Hornet, The Time Tunnel, freakin' LAREDO (what a great show), Hogan's Heroes, The Wild, Wild West...and if you were allowed to stay up late, Twelve O'Clock High (A Quinn Martin Production). And smack dab in the middle of it all was T.H.E. Cat, starring Robert Loggia.
My mom worked on Friday nights, so I stayed with a couple near us in Northeastern Ohio, just outside Cleveland. Often it would just be me and the husband, Bob, because his wife Carol was a nurse and often worked late shifts. Bob was a "puer aeternis", a man who would always be a boy, an eternal adolescent. We would eat Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Manner's Big Boys while watching TV, taking occasional breaks to shoot BB guns or light M80s. I treasure those Friday nights.
Anyhow, T.H.E. Cat was awesome. It lacked the gratuitous violence of "Man From U.N.C.L.E, but featured lots of cool acrobatic shenanigans: rappelling down buildings, vaulting over fences and walls, , and young Robert Loggia being cool and sexy and bad-ass in a manner that made Napoleon Solo look like Tim Conway. and, he drove a wicked-looking corvette...super-cool.
I can't remember if Lalo Schifrin did the soundtrack, but I recall the music was pretty hip. Regrettably, the only people watching were me & Bob and the other people leaving reviews here...great time to be a kid, but it sucked if you were draft age. -
jeffkooistra9 February 2019I was only 7 during this show's run and I liked it. Haven't seen it since but will have to look for it now.
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WoehrStephen29 August 2020I was scarcely old enough to remember things when the series came out, so I can't say I watched it as a kid. (My parents were a bit protective about the amount and the age-appropriateness of my television viewing.) But now, as a 50-something, I just ran across the name and a little blurb about the series. So I watched an episode that happened to be on YouTube (Ep. 6), and it was fantastic! I can see how the character and the series could intrigue the 12-to-20-year-old section of the mid-1960s. T.H.E. Cat himself was a mix between Sam Spade and The Shadow.
As an actor-enthusiast, I remembered the name Robert Loggia, but I had forgotten where. Looking him up, I found that, besides being a major character in "Independence Day," he was one of the few actors -- if not the only one -- on both the original "Hawaii 5-0" and "Magnum PI." -
crouchjeff7 February 2023I wrote two fan letters in the season of T. H. E. Cat. One to Leonard Nimoy on a show called...Star Trek? And one to Robert Loggia on T. H. E. Cat ! It is odd what 6th graders loved and watched back then.
Amongst our other favorites were 'I Spy' . That did not hold up as well with time as T. H. E. Cat. Sadly I lost both Leonard Nimoy, and Robert Loggia's fan photo I got in the return mail from them.
I still have my copy of T. H. E. Cat comic though. We used to dress in black and climb our school on the weekend nights. Tiny school, but the biggest building in 'Tunnel Hill'.
My kids liked Robert Loggia but were not familiar with his coolest role. I hooked them up last week with some YouTube episodes. I too wish they could get released on dvd! I hope they are all still out there somewhere! -
pkwsbw10 September 2004I can't add much, but I want to echo the comments of the person below. I thought this was the coolest show ever when I was 12, and was disappointed when it was canceled. There was a drum rhythm that was played during each tense scene that I still play in my mind nearly 40 years later. And like the person below, I can't find anybody who remembers it! I liked the way the star answered when anybody asked his name: "Cat, T. Hewitt Edward Cat." That's all I can remember, other than how cool he was with his black turtleneck sliding down wires from one building to the next. How come I never see this on late night cable? I'm getting sick of the Munsters and Leave it to Beaver.
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ephraims_daughter31 October 2005I remember this series when I was a child. It had a cool opening. Also as I recall, a theme by Dave Grusin, which I've never seen included in any compilation of his musical works. IMDb, however, credits Lalo Schifrin, which I don't remember. (May be because it hit the scene about the same time as "The Name of the Game.") This series predated Robert Wagner's series "It Takes A Thief." I always thought T.H.E. Cat was by far the cooler. It was more working class than "Thief." Rather than the quasi spy genre set up of "Thief," "Cat" was blue collar (excuse the allusion to pet collars), and Cat had a gypsy blood brother. Contrary to what I've seen otherwise, seem to remember the initials standing for Thomas Huard (not Hewitt) Edward Cat. This series did not last long and wish they'd rerun it somewhere or make it available on VHS or DVD. Definitely one of the more interesting, though obscure shows to come out of the 60's.
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souluv6414 July 2000T.H.E. CAT was created for television by Harry Julian Fink, who a few years later was the creator of the DIRTY HARRY character and wrote the story for the 1st film that became a legendary series starring CLINT EASTWOOD. It's just too bad that T.H.E. CAT has become a forgotten gem due to it's one season run that never went into syndication. But due to surviving 16mm prints, practically every episode is in the hands of video collectors that enable fans of 60's TV to enjoy over and over this dark and brooding show that proves why late 60's television was the most exciting and best time to be growing up.
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marko14 May 2000In his role as Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat, Robert Loggia was undoubtedly the coolest hero of the television 60's. A retired second-story man, Cat undertook missions in which he used his acrobatic skills to their best advantage. NBC advertised the program as a "high tension adventure series you can really sink your claws into," and it was just that.
Probably drawing on his earlier portrayal of the cat-like Elfego Baca, an acrobatic western Disney character, the athletic Loggia apparently did a lot of his own stunts in the series. He was everything an adolescent boy of the time could aspire to: he wore a cool black outfit while on the prowl; he drove a cool black 'Vette; he carried a dagger-like knife referred to in one episode as "The Cat's Claw," which he could throw with unerring accuracy; he was, of course, irresistable to women; and he hung out between missions at the Casa del Gato (House of the Cat), a cafe owned by his gypsy friend Pepe, played to the suave hilt by Robert Carricart. The only other recurring character was the one-handed police Captain McAllister, played by the marvelous R.G. Armstrong.
The original jazz score by Lalo Schifrin (sort of a flute- accoustic bass-drum trio number) set just the right mood for this dark series -- and Shifrin went on to compose for Mission Impossible!
Television later picked up on the theme of using a reformed crook as a hero, notably with Robert Wagner in "It Takes a Thief" and "Switch." But Loggia was the original in this short-lived but lamented series. -
Sonofman0231 March 2001Please, if anyone has information on how to get copies of the Cat program, please contact me ASAP. This was my Favorite show. It took me YEARS just to find this site.(Just got computer) I have lost money betting that this program did exist,have been laughed at and finally told that it was just my childhood imagination. THANKS & God Bless
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itower23 December 2008I've thought about this show so often, and no one ever knows what I'm talking about when I mention it. I was 10 years old when this was on, and was so impressed with how cool it was. It Takes a Thief was a sad substitute. Would LOVE to see this on some classic television station some time. What I'm having trouble reconciling is the Robert Loggia I now see with the cool (dare I say, sexy) guy I remember being in this show! How funny. I'm afraid the brief run of the series - only 1 season - makes it commercially unattractive, both for reruns on television and for a DVD - not enough potential for profit. Too bad. So many of the shows from that era were really "white bread," and this was different and edgy, as I remember it.
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willmation-111 September 2005The main review hit it on head. I was a 9 or 10 kid in Portville California watching the cool Cat Loggia. He was more gutsy ( cat-gutsy?) than anything on TV. I stole my mom's black leotards and god-awful hot black sweater then rush out into the mid day heat to scale our walnut tree as if it was a high rise condo. I always imagined rescuing Annette Funicallo from her penthouse under siege from international thievies, some guys I did time with but those dorks turned on me. Yup, it was perfect fodder for a growing pre-teen tired of the unacrobatic honey thief Winnie the Pooh.
Whenever I see post-Cat Loggia performances, I remember his earlier invincible feline incarnation, expecting him to leap tall buildings with a single grappling hook, and I wonder if he longs for his old powers, too. I had power to rally a dark macho persona in me, ready to stalk the alleys of injustice to right the woeful wrongs, accompanied Lao jazz themes,...but alas, my bedtime in 1966 was 10 pm on THE nights.
Thanks Robert. Now I'm a mystery writer in SW Florida, created equally dark yet hopeful characters who defend the undefensible and get the girl eventually. It was great to see this IMDb listing to provide reference for my cherished times watching T.H.E. at the Gato Cafe.
Best regards, Will Lloyd willmation@comcast.net