"T.H.E. Cat" (1966) TV series 1966-1967

Creator:

Harry Julian Fink

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

16 September 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

T. Hewitt Edward Cat is a retired acrobat (also a retired thief) who has become a bodyguard. He works out of his friend's cafe...

Plot Keywords:

Acrobat

Cast

Robert Loggia	...	T. Hewitt Edward Cat (26 episodes, 1966-1967)
Robert Carricart	...	Pepe Cordoza (18 episodes, 1966-1967)
R.G. Armstrong	...	Police Capt. McAllister (12 episodes, 1966-1967)

Runtime:

30 min | USA:30 min (26 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Quotes:

[first lines of each episode]
Narrator: Along 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. The Cat.

The Coolest Hero of the 60's

In 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.