Josie and the Pussycats (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The opening titles format the show's name as Josie and the Pussy Cats.
• The original series was broadcast with a laugh track, later omitted from home video releases.

Characters

Josephine "Josie" McCoy, voiced by Janet Waldo with singing by Kathleen Dougherty, is the red-headed lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, and band leader who shares an attraction with road manager Alan. Valerie Brown, voiced by Barbara Pariot with singing by Patrice Holloway, plays bass and tambourine, serving as the intelligent voice of reason and a mechanical wizard. Melody Valentine, voiced by Jackie Joseph with singing by Cheryl Ladd as "Cherie Moor", is the drummer and a stereotypical dumb blonde whose ears wiggle when danger is near. Alan M. Mayberry, voiced by Jerry Dexter, is the tall, blond, muscular roadie and Josie's love interest. Alexander "Alex" Cabot III, voiced by Casey Kasem, is the cowardly but good-hearted band manager in mod wardrobe and sunglasses, who has a slight attraction to Valerie and sometimes to Melody. Alex physically resembles Shaggy Rogers from Scooby-Doo, and Kasem voiced both characters in a crossover episode.

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

In September 1972, the sequel spin-off Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space debuted on CBS. The opening credits show the group taking a promotional photo at a spaceship launch site; it is unclear whether they were the assigned crew or publicity guests. Alexandra, elbowing to steal the spotlight, causes a domino effect that jerks everyone inside and accidentally triggers the launch, sending them into deep space. Valerie knows how to pilot the vessel. Each episode centers on the Pussycats encountering a strange new world, being captured by aliens-of-the-week, escaping, and attempting to return to Earth. Alexandra remains determined to stop Josie from getting close to Alan. Episodes often end with a wise being reprogramming the ship for Earth, only for a clumsy action by Alexandra, Melody, or Alex to send them off course again. Musical numbers and chase sequences were set to 10 new songs by Richard Moyers, produced by Hoyt Curtin, and recorded by studio professionals known as The Wrecking Crew at Whitney Recording Studios. The series added Bleep, a pet-sized fluffy alien adopted by Melody, who only says "Bleep" and is understood only by her. Don Messick provided the non-verbal chattering of both Bleep and Sebastian.

Spin-offs and spoofs

In 2001, Cartoon Network aired a short called "Musical Evolution" featuring the Pussycats performing their theme song in various music eras with different animation styles. That same year, a live-action film starred Rachael Leigh Cook as Josie, Tara Reid as Melody, and Rosario Dawson as Valerie. DIC Entertainment planned a cartoon based on the band after the film, but it was scrapped. The ship from Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space appears as space debris in the Futurama episode "Mobius Dick". In 2016, the comic was rebooted with a new origin story. The 2017 live-action series Riverdale featured Josie and the Pussycats as African-American students, with Ashleigh Murray as Josie, Hayley Law as Valerie, and Asha Bromfield as Melody; Murray later co-starred in the spin-off Katy Keene. Bleep appears in Jellystone! voiced by Jim Conroy, visiting Jellystone in two episodes.