Meatballs and Spaghetti was an early-eighties cartoon produced in colour by Intermedia Entertainment, distributed by Marvel Productions, and broadcast in the US by CBS.
Many of us recall Saturday mornings in the 80s with some fondness. Some six hours of half-hour animation treats, brought to us by the likes of Hanna-Barbera, Warner Brothers and various Japanese production companies. When prodded, we remember shows such as The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, The Bugs Bunny Show, Masters of the Universe, and Transformers.
Not many of us remember Meatballs and Spaghetti. Those of us who do, wonder if we actually remember it. So little corroborative evidence exists, and so few people remember it. The cartoon was so short-lived, and resultantly so obscure, that most people who remember it tend to conclude that they imagined it.
Meatballs and Spaghetti lasted for only one season, every Saturday from September 18, 1982 until March 5, 1983. There were 25 episodes, each of which ran for half an hour.
The premise was simple: Meatballs (voiced by Ron Masak) is an overweight rock star (based on Meat Loaf, obviously) who, from the base of his mobile home, gets into all manner of adventures with his skinny wife, Spaghetti (voiced by Sally Julian), who also happens to be a singer. They are accompanied by their dog, Woofer (voiced by Frank Welker), and Meatballs’ personal assistant, Clyde. Naturally, they would perform an original song at some point during each episode. Other than that, I'm afraid I can remember nothing more than a few fleeting, fragmented images.
Incidentally, Frank Welker was one of those cartoon voice artists who left his mark all over the field. Some of his notable performances include Fred (and sometimes Scooby-Doo) in Scooby-Doo, Megatron in Transformers, and Mr. Mxyzptlk in Superfriends.
I am almost certain (but have been unable to verify) that the theme song began thus:
Hey, Freddy!
Are you ready
For Meatballs
And Spaghetti?
Episodes:
- Woofer The Wonder Dog
- Mixed Up Medical Reports
- Once Upon A Farm
- Spaghetti's Old Boyfriend
- Space Aliens
- Come Back Little Woofer
- Monkey Doodle Dandies
- Going To The Dogs
- Piracy On The High C's
- The Kid Sitters
- Foreign Legion Air-Heads
- Woofer Meets Tweeter
- A Christmas Tale
- Jazz Meets Jaws
- The Werewolf Story
- The Big Shrink
- Watch The Birdie
- Sunken Treasure Cruise
- Throwing The Bull
- The Caveman Story
- Robot Roadie
- Double Or Nothing
- Magical Moments
- Flying Carpet Caper
- Beach Peaches