Go Go Gophers

Lore & Background

The series is set in the late 19th century, as well as the early 20th century, in the American West. There the coyote leaders of a local United States Army fort, one Colonel Kit Coyote (voiced by Kenny Delmar impersonating Theodore Roosevelt) whose name is an obvious parody of Kit Carson, and his right-hand man Sergeant Okey Homa (voiced by Sandy Becker impersonating John Wayne) who is rarely called by his name, which is a send-up of the State of Oklahoma. They make attempts to secure the town of Gopher Gulch by wiping out the last two surviving Gopher Indians (depicted as anthropomorphic gophers): Running Board (voiced by George S. Irving) and Ruffled Feather (also voiced by Sandy Becker). However, the Gophers prove to be very clever and always manage to foil the plans of Colonel Coyote and Sergeant Oakey Homa.

Whenever they came up with an idea to stop their adversaries, Ruffled Feather would break into gibberish (ostensibly the Gopher Indian native tongue) as he explained it and Running Board would understand, ask about some detail of the plan, then laugh and say 'Oopie doopie! We have fun!' and/or 'You-um genius!' They are also aided by Colonel Coyote's own incompetence and ineptitude and also by his constantly ignoring the advice of Sergeant Homa, who is much more perceptive. In one episode, 'Introducing General Nuisance,' they actually mention that they need Colonel Coyote to stay in charge so that they can continue living in Gopher Gulch, worrying that any other replacement will prove to be impossible to deal with and might succeed in his mission to remove them. Another catchphrase is when the Sergeant says, 'Begging the Colonel's pardon,' and a recurring gag is the Colonel ignoring the Sergeant and citing his book of army regulations (and paying the price for it). Most episodes end with the Sergeant telling the audience at home 'don't miss our next adventure,' suggesting that their plight will be solved by then.

Some episodes feature General Nuisance (voiced by George S. Irving) who is the commanding officer of the Colonel and Sergeant. General Nuisance would have the Colonel and Sergeant use the plans provided by Washington D.C. to deal with the Gopher Indians. These plans would often be thwarted by the Gopher Indians and these episodes often end with General Nuisance having the Colonel and the Sergeant thrown in the guard house. Some episodes also featured Corporal Crimp (voiced by Sandy Becker) who would sometimes try to strike a deal with the gophers for his own personal gain, such as buying root beer from the gophers (which the gophers spiked with Indian Hiccup Drops) for water. Some episodes would be multi-part stories. For example, in the episode 'The Raw Recruits,' the Colonel enlists Ruffled Feather and Running Board into the army. But despite his best efforts, the gophers turn out to be impossible to train. This story continues through the episodes 'Tenshun,' 'Cuckoo Combat' and wraps up in the episode 'Kitchen Capers,' in which the Colonel, finally tired of their antics, discharges the gophers from the army.

Reader's Guide

Go Go Gophers holds a unique place in American animation history as a series that inverted the typical Old West narrative by having Native American characters consistently defeat the cowboys. Produced by Total TeleVision Productions, the segments originally appeared within the Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo shows before being repackaged as a standalone CBS series. The show's humor relied on the bumbling Colonel Kit Coyote and Sergeant Okey Homa, whose incompetence and reliance on army regulations always backfired against the clever Gopher Indians, Running Board and Ruffled Feather. The series' catchphrases, such as 'Oopie doopie! We have fun!' and 'Begging the Colonel's pardon,' became memorable elements. The show also featured recurring characters like General Nuisance and Corporal Crimp, and occasionally multi-part story arcs. Its legacy lies in its subversion of Western tropes and its place in the Saturday morning cartoon landscape of the 1960s.

Did You Know?

• All 48 segments were produced between 1962 and 1963 but first aired in October 1964 as part of Tennessee Tuxedo and Underdog.
• The spin-off series on CBS aired from September 14, 1968, to September 6, 1969, but consisted only of repeats of the original 48 segments.
• Colonel Kit Coyote's name is a parody of Kit Carson, and Sergeant Okey Homa's name is a send-up of the State of Oklahoma.
• In one episode, the Gopher Indians mention they need Colonel Coyote to stay in charge so they can continue living in Gopher Gulch.

Production & Broadcast Timeline

Go Go Gophers was created by Total TeleVision Productions as a brief animated segment, with all forty-eight episodes produced during the 1962–1963 timeframe. Each segment ran roughly four to five minutes and was originally designed to slot into the broader Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales programming blocks, first reaching audiences in October 1964. The series enjoyed a second life on Saturday morning television in 1967, where it shared screen time with The Space Kidettes. In 1968, CBS gave the material what was marketed as a standalone spinoff, running from September 14, 1968, through September 6, 1969. In reality, this "new" series consisted entirely of rebroadcasts of the original forty-eight segments rather than any freshly produced content. The show thus never generated additional episodes beyond its initial run, and its entire body of work remained fixed at the point of its 1962–63 production window.

The Cast of Characters

The central conflict pits two anthropomorphic gopher characters against a small military garrison in the town of Gopher Gulch. On the gopher side, Running Board (voiced by George S. Irving) and Ruffled Feather (voiced by Sandy Becker) serve as the clever protagonists who consistently outwit their pursuers. Opposing them are Colonel Kit Coyote, voiced by Kenny Delmar in a clear Theodore Roosevelt impression, whose name parodies the legendary frontiersman Kit Carson, and his subordinate Sergeant Okey Homa, voiced by Sandy Becker in a John Wayne–style delivery, whose name is a playful nod to the state of Oklahoma. The Colonel is defined by his bluster and incompetence, frequently dismissing his Sergeant's more practical suggestions and consulting a book of army regulations to his own detriment. Higher up the chain, General Nuisance (also voiced by George S. Irving) periodically descends from Washington with ill-conceived directives, while Corporal Crimp (Sandy Becker) occasionally attempts self-serving side deals with the gophers, such as trading water for root beer that the gophers have laced with Indian Hiccup Drops.

Storytelling & Episode Structure

Most episodes follow a simple formula: the Colonel and Sergeant devise a scheme to expel the Gophers from Gopher Gulch, only to be thwarted by the gophers' ingenuity or the Colonel's own bumbling. A signature comedic beat involves Ruffled Feather explaining a plan in rapid gibberish—ostensibly the Gopher Indian native tongue—while Running Board translates, asks a clarifying question, and exclaims catchphrases like "Oopie doopie! We have fun!" or "You-um genius!" The Sergeant's recurring line, "Begging the Colonel's pardon," underscores the power dynamic, and the Colonel's habit of citing his regulation book while ignoring sound advice serves as a running gag. Episodes typically close with the Sergeant addressing the audience, promising that their predicament will be resolved in the next adventure. Some installments, however, stretch into multi-part narratives; the arc beginning with "The Raw Recruits" and continuing through "Tenshun," "Cuckoo Combat," and "Kitchen Capers" follows the Colonel's futile attempt to conscript and train the gophers before finally discharging them.

Subverting the Western Genre

Go Go Gophers occupies a distinctive niche among Old West–themed cartoons of its era. The series is explicitly noted for reversing the conventional power dynamic: the Native American characters, depicted here as anthropomorphic gophers, invariably triumph over the cowboy and military antagonists. Rather than portraying the gophers as obstacles to be overcome, the show frames them as the wits and heroes of Gopher Gulch, with the military figures serving as bumbling foils whose schemes collapse under their own weight. In one notable episode, "Introducing General Nuisance," the gophers openly acknowledge that they actually prefer the Colonel remain in command, reasoning that any competent replacement might finally succeed in driving them out. This self-aware meta-commentary, combined with the gophers' consistent victories through cleverness rather than force, gives the series a subversive edge that set it apart from other Western animation of the early 1960s. The show's brief runtime and segment format further distinguished it from feature-length Western cartoons of the period.

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