T.H.E. CAT

 

I always thought one of the coolest “lost” shows of the late 60’s was T.H.E. CAT. It was the story of Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat, a former circus performer/cat burglar who started working as a “bodyguard” for hire. It starred Robert Loggia, who went on to star in Independence Day, Big, Jagged Edge and countless other movie and TV roles. I’m always a sucker for these types of shows/movies, especially heist plots from the 60’s, and this series was no exception. I also liked the fact it was a 30 minute drama (which was a little more common for the time, which you almost NEVER see these days.) so it really “cuts to the chase” in terms of action, plot and moving the story along. Another thing I found interesting is it’s rarity. Sadly, it lasted only one season on NBC and It’s never been officially released on DVD, VHS or even widely rerun on television (a local station in Canada, CKVR is the ONLY station that I know of that ever re-ran the series in the early 80’s). I’ve seen it many times under people’s “want” section of their video lists and has quite a cult following. I was shocked watching an interview with Robert Loggia on The Tonight Show when he brought up the series, impressed it has such a ”cult” following with fans exchanging episodes video tape. However the BEST thing about the series was the opening title sequence. I’ve mentioned the series to several people including SHAG, who I was CERTAIN was, at least partially influenced by it, only to be shocked that they had never seen it before! (SHAG thought it was the COOLEST after I showed it to him on the iphone;-) Recently I discovered the artist El Gato Gomez who again, has a similar style but has never seen the series before! I always thought it would be GREAT to find a painting of the opening titles (fat chance of that) however after showing the title sequence to El Gato, I’m having her do one! Anyways here is the title sequence: