The Great Lost Doobie Brothers Cartoons

A Grip Fantasy in 4/4 time

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A future ampitheatre reunion tour from those fabulous Doobie Brothers could coincide with the discovery of six lost episodes of the Doobie Brothers animated cartoon show that ran on NBC from September 1975 to November 1976. In Grip Monthly's alternative music television in another dimension.

It could happen. Think about it. The video tape storage cases of Hanna-Barbara might've been alphabetized haphazardly by a temp at Warner Home Video back in the early '80's. When she left off one of the "o's" in "Doobie," the cartoons could've been inadvertently misfiled and stored in the "Dobie Gillis" vault.

The lost tapes might've included one of two different pilot cartoons that the band made for Hanna-Barbera when the company was searching for an animated rock 'n' roll show to provide punch to their faltering Saturday morning lineup; a show designed to give the likes of the Bugaloos and Banana Splits-- acts with little chops and no street cred-- a bit of a commercial scare.

"Frankly, we wanted something to put us on the cutting-edge of cartoon animation," remembers Hanna-Barbera's director of rock cartoon development at the time, Danny Goldberg in our elaborate, beer-fueled fantasy world. "The Jetsons were on their last legs, Josie had quit the Pussycats and signed a solo deal with Buddha and we had just lost about $3 million on Help, It's the Hair Bear Bunch." We can hear Goldberg saying it.

The first of the Doobie pilots might've been called "The Captain and Me." Featuring mostly tunes from the band's classic third LP of the same name, the six musicians were far more scraggly than they would appear on later installments.

Indeed, had NBC opted to use the "Captain" episode, guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter would have become the first animated cartoon character with severe acne. But the producers' promotional tie-in with Stridex might not have panned out and Baxter's face would no doubt have been as smooth as silk by the next episode. Bigwigs might've nixed the cartoon Michael McDonald's habit of chain smoking cigarettes and definitely eliminated the controversial character, Skanky-- the white girlfriend of bassist Tiran Porter, the Doobs' only black member.

No matter. When the "Takin' It to the Streets" episode debuted on Sept. 9, 1975, critics might've even thought they were seeing something unique. "This is the TV of the future," Cleveland Emory of TV Guide might've written. "After witnessing just one show, I can't help but believe that this is what Saturday mornings will look like for decades."

In one lost episode, "Jesus Is Just Alright with Skunk," jive-spewing bassist Jeff Baxter would've been lost in time as he stepped off a railroad station platform onto a train. With his spirit wandering through Katmandu and his physical presence still at an Amtrak station in Marin County, the chunk-a-chunk-a guitars that begin "China Grove" accompany him. "I definitely liked that part," a young Tom Shales would've written in the Washington Post. "And it'll be even better when the little kids get high."

Alas, when our fictitious Doobie Brothers cartoon show kicked in for the fall 1976 season, the Bros had moved to a more upscale "pad" in La Jolla, complete with animated hot tubs, black-light posters and cartoon copies of High Times on the cartoon coffee table. Trappings of the era.

By late September (so our fantasy goes), the network might've just pressured Hanna-Barbara to move the Doobies even closer to the mainstream. Perhaps the animated Harlem Globetrotters team-- who had perked up the Scooby Doo ratings months before-- were written into two scripts.

In one of them, say, the five Doobies could've casually challenged Meadowlark and the 'Trotters to a best-of-7 series and won-- in six!

Hey, it's our fantasy. Who knows what lies in the vaults.

--- D.H. / D.H.