THE GREAT GRAPE APE SHOW EPISODE GUIDE!

EPISODE 1

BROADCAST NUMBER:TJGA-1 ORIGINAL ABC AIRDATE:September 6, 1975

79-2 "That Was No Idol, That Was My Ape"

During a quiet drive in the rain, Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle decide to take a vacation -- and a billboard they encounter boasts the place they plan to go: Hawaii! When Grape Ape's weight proves to be too much for a jet, Grape and Beegle decide to go the whole mile on foot. Once at Hawaii, they encounter a group of natives worshipping a 40-foot purple idol named Mo-Mo; the two decide to get the natives on their side by replacing Mo-Mo with Grape Ape, and are successful. "It is as the prophecy says!" exclaims the native chief. "When Moo-Moo becomes angry, Mo-Mo will appear!" Unbeknownst to Grape and Beegle, the chief is referring to a volcano!

79-1 "The All-American Ape"

Ho-boy. 340-lb. Beefy McGurk has blown yet another simple victory for The Pigeons football team, and the coach, who's in danger of losing his job to Shifty Schulz, coach of The Boston Buzzards, if he's not successful in defeating them, sends his aide Crazy Toes into action to find McGurk's replacement. Beegle Beagle and Grape Ape shows up, and C.T. feels he's found his man -- er, ape! The coach plans to hold secret practice sessions, so they can spring it on The Buzzards in the initial game--unaware that Shifty is already in the stadium witnessing the whole thing. Eager to steal the next game and get the job for Pigeons' coach, Shifty manages to kidnap Grape Ape, and keep him in hiding until after the game!

TRIVIA & NOTES:

The first installment of Grape Ape to be produced, but the second to air first-run on ABC.

EPISODE 2

BROADCAST NUMBER:TJGA-2 ORIGINAL ABC AIRDATE:September 13, 1975

79-3 "Movie Madness"

Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle become involved in the hectic production of a giant-monster motion picture. The filmmakers are attempting to create their own spectacular ape movie, complete with a 40-foot mechanical ape intended to serve as the film's star in a production obviously modeled on King Kong. Unfortunately, the elaborate mechanical ape repeatedly malfunctions, turning what is supposed to be a dramatic movie shoot into a succession of comic disasters. The desperate director eventually realizes that there is a genuine 40-foot ape who could solve his problem and recruits Grape Ape to replace the unreliable mechanical star. Grape Ape enthusiastically takes over the role, and his enormous size and natural ape behavior make him an unexpectedly effective substitute, even though his movements and reactions create plenty of complications for the production. The situation becomes considerably more dangerous, however, when the disgruntled inventor responsible for constructing the mechanical ape becomes furious about having his creation replaced. Rather than accept the director's decision, the inventor sets out to sabotage the picture, using his mechanical ape as a weapon against the production. Grape Ape consequently finds himself caught in a battle between the filmmakers and the vengeful inventor, with the movie set becoming a playground for enormous mechanical and biological mayhem. Grape Ape's tremendous strength and good-natured enthusiasm help him overcome the mechanical menace and thwart the inventor's scheme. The robot’s malfunctioning and destructive behavior ultimately work against its creator, while Grape Ape’s sheer size and strength allow him to overcome the machine. The mechanical ape is finally defeated, ending the threat to the production and enabling the director to finish the picture with Grape Ape as the genuine star. But Grape Ape lets out such a powerful sneeze, it blows the film right out of the can, overexposing and ruining it. The director then decides on a chase movie…starring him and “THAT PURPLE PEST!!!!”

79-4 "Trouble At Bad Rock"

Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle are shifted into the setting of an old-fashioned Western, where the pair arrive in the troubled town of Bad Rock and become involved in the local law-and-order crisis. Beegle winds up being appointed sheriff, while Grape Ape becomes his enormous new deputy, giving the tiny canine lawman an imposing partner whose 40-foot height and extraordinary strength make him an almost unbeatable deterrent to criminals. Their principal target is Mean Marvin, a notorious outlaw whose activities have made Bad Rock an unsafe place for its citizens. Beegle approaches the job with the determination of a traditional Western sheriff, but his diminutive size contrasts hilariously with the gigantic Grape Ape standing beside him. Grape Ape, meanwhile, is less interested in conventional law enforcement than in helping his friend and enthusiastically plunges into the pursuit of the outlaw. Mean Marvin attempts to use the familiar tricks of the Western bad guy—trying to evade, outwit and overpower the new lawmen—but he has failed to account for the extraordinary physical advantage represented by Grape Ape. The resulting chase and confrontations turn the familiar Western setup into broad Hanna-Barbera slapstick, with Beegle trying to perform the duties of sheriff while Grape Ape's sheer bulk repeatedly changes the balance of power. Eventually the two friends manage to corner and capture Mean Marvin, restoring order to Bad Rock and proving that the unlikely sheriff-and-deputy team is more than capable of handling the town's criminal problem.

TRIVIA & NOTES:

Title is based upon the 1955 MGM crime thriller Bad Day at Black Rock.

EPISODE 3

BROADCAST NUMBER:TJGA-3 ORIGINAL ABC AIRDATE:September 20, 1975

79-5 "Flying Saucery"

Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle are enjoying another uneventful journey when they become the targets of a band of extraterrestrial scouts who have come to Earth in search of specimens for scientific study. The aliens, who are looking for representative examples of Earth life, mistake the enormous purple Grape Ape and the considerably smaller Beegle for an ordinary man and his pet and promptly abduct them in their flying saucer. Once aboard the spacecraft, the pair are taken to the aliens' distant planet, where their captors subject them to a succession of bizarre scientific examinations and tests. Rather than being impressed by the supposed superiority of Earth's creatures, the aliens become increasingly amused—and encouraged—by what they regard as the primitive intelligence of their specimens. Their observations convince them that Earth is inhabited by inferior life-forms, and they consequently begin contemplating an invasion of the planet. Grape and Beegle therefore find themselves in the unusual position of being both prisoners and unwitting evidence in an extraterrestrial plan for conquest. Their escape depends largely upon Beegle's unlikely musical talent: his hurdy-gurdy produces music that has a strange effect on Grape Ape. When Beegle plays it, Grape becomes extraordinarily aggressive and powerful, transforming from his normally good-natured, childlike self into an intimidating powerhouse. The aliens misinterpret this transformation as evidence that Grape Ape is some kind of formidable gladiator, and their confidence in the proposed invasion rapidly evaporates.

79-6 "Thar's No Feud Like An Old Feud"

While traveling through the countryside, Grape Ape and Beegle arrive in Ruckus Ridge, where they encounter two families locked in a long-running feud: The Ratfields and The McGoons (Magoons). The two clans are preparing for their annual family picnic, but the gathering is anything but peaceful, since the families have turned their traditional picnic into another opportunity to outdo one another. Seeing the intensity of the rivalry, Beegle becomes caught up in the proceedings, and the pair eventually pose as cousins so that they can participate in the Annual Picnic Contest. What should be a friendly country celebration consequently becomes a ridiculous contest between the two hostile families, with the Ratfields and McGoons determined to prove their superiority. Grape Ape's enormous size and Beegle's attempts to help make them particularly conspicuous participants, and their involvement repeatedly threatens to upset the carefully maintained balance between the feuding clans. The humor comes from the fact that Grape and Beegle are outsiders who become entangled in a quarrel whose origins have effectively been forgotten, yet whose participants remain determined to keep the feud alive.

EPISODE 4

BROADCAST NUMBER:TJGA-4 ORIGINAL ABC AIRDATE:September 27, 1975

79-7 "The Grape Race"

Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle become involved in the Really Grand Prix, a major automobile race with a $50,000 prize, when they enter a highly advanced racing car. Although Grape has virtually no experience as a race-car driver, his enormous size and tremendous strength make him a formidable—and highly unpredictable—competitor. As the race gets underway, two unscrupulous drivers attempt to eliminate their competition through cheating and sabotage, repeatedly putting Grape and Beegle in peril. Grape's innocent enthusiasm and unconventional driving repeatedly create chaos on the track, but his enormous physical power enables him to overcome one obstacle after another. Beegle does his best to keep their entry on course while Grape blithely treats the dangerous competition as an exciting game. The crooked racers' schemes ultimately backfire, and Grape Ape's accidental heroics allow him and Beegle to emerge victorious, turning what should have been a straightforward auto race into another wild adventure for the lovable giant ape. Unfortunately, though they win the race, Grape Ape and Beegle are forced to surrender their $50K prize to pay for damages to their racing car!

TRIVIA & NOTES:

An instrumental backing track of the Grape Ape main title can be heard at the beginning.

79-8 "The Big Parade"

Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle arrive in a city preparing for its spectacular big parade, which is also being used as the setting for a jewel thief's elaborate escape plan. The criminal Duke has stolen the valuable Pink Palamazoo diamond and decides to conceal it inside a huge baby-blue gorilla balloon that will be carried in the parade. Unfortunately for Duke, Grape Ape becomes fascinated by the giant balloon and develops an innocent affection for it, apparently regarding the inflatable gorilla as a real female companion. Grape follows the balloon through the parade, repeatedly interfering with Duke's attempts to control it and retrieve his stolen treasure. Beegle struggles to keep his enormous friend from causing even more trouble, while Duke becomes increasingly frantic as his supposedly foolproof hiding place turns into a source of chaos. Grape's enormous size and persistent fascination with the balloon eventually ruin Duke's plans, exposing the thief's scheme and leading to the recovery of the Pink Palamazoo diamond. Once again, Grape Ape manages to defeat a criminal almost entirely by accident, with his innocent attachment to the parade balloon proving to be the undoing of an otherwise carefully planned robbery.

EPISODE 5

BROADCAST NUMBER:TJGA-5 ORIGINAL ABC AIRDATE:October 4, 1975

79-9 "A Knight To Remember"

While visiting the International Scientific Fair, Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle encounter a matter transporter, a futuristic device capable of sending people through time. When the machine is accidentally activated, the two friends are transported back to the year 1075 and find themselves in the days of King Arthur. Their arrival quickly becomes entangled with the troubles of Camelot, as the kingdom is being threatened by the wicked sorceress Evil Lynn and her formidable Black Knight. Grape Ape and Beegle are taken into the king's service and, despite having little understanding of medieval customs, are ultimately knighted and drawn into the fight against the villains. Grape's enormous size and strength prove particularly useful, although his usual clumsiness creates plenty of comic complications along the way. The adventure builds toward a jousting confrontation with the Black Knight, with Grape Ape becoming the unlikely hero of the contest and helping King Arthur overcome Evil Lynn's scheme. Once their heroic mission is accomplished, Grape and Beegle are finally able to return to their own time.

TRIVIA & NOTES:

An affectionate lampoon of Walt Disney's The Sword In The Stone (Buena Vista, 1963).

79-10 "S.P.L.A.T"*

When Fort Knocks is robbed of its gold, the authorities are baffled by the extraordinary method used by the criminal mastermind Dr. Dolottle, a villain with the ability to organize and command a highly trained assortment of animals to carry out his robberies. Realizing that ordinary police methods are no match for an animal army, the police chief proposes an equally unusual solution: creating the Special Police-Licensed Animal Team, or S.P.L.A.T., a crime-fighting unit composed of specially recruited animals. Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle are brought into the organization and quickly find themselves involved in the pursuit of Dolottle and his animal accomplices. Their enormous physical strength and Beegle's resourcefulness make them an unexpectedly effective team, even though Grape's tendency to cause accidental destruction repeatedly complicates their investigations. As the chase progresses, S.P.L.A.T. closes in on Dolottle and his operation, eventually thwarting his plans and recovering the stolen treasure.

TRIVIA & NOTES:

Fort Knocks is an obvious lampoon of the Kentucky-based military base Fort Knox.

Doctor Dolottle is patterned loosely after Hugh John Lofting's Doctor Dolittle. DePatie-Freleng Enterprises had previously produced an animated adaptation, The Further Adventures of Doctor Dolittle, which was loosely based on the ill-fated 1967 20th Century Fox motion picture starring Rex Harrison, and telecast on NBC Saturday Morning from September 12, 1970 to September 2, 1972. Interestingly, it was future Grape Ape voice Bob Holt who provided the voice of The Good Doctor!

Check out the 2-part sequel, "S.P.L.A.T.'s Back."

EPISODE 6

BROADCAST NUMBER:TJGA-6 ORIGINAL ABC AIRDATE:October 11, 1975

79-11 "G.I. Ape"

Beegle Beagle and his gigantic purple friend, Grape Ape, become involved in a military misadventure when they accidentally enlist in the United States Army, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to travel around the world. Their arrival at the military base immediately creates problems for the officers responsible for maintaining order, since Grape Ape’s enormous size, childlike innocence, and extraordinary strength make him an unpredictable recruit. The exasperated general and sergeant decide that the easiest solution is to get the troublesome pair discharged, devising a succession of difficult assignments and humiliating tests intended to prove that they are unsuitable for military service. Unfortunately for the officers, their schemes repeatedly backfire, and each failed attempt to get rid of the two visitors brings further embarrassment, particularly for the sergeant, who suffers repeated reductions in rank. Grape Ape’s well-meaning but clumsy behavior turns ordinary military procedures into comic disasters, while Beegle tries to make sense of their increasingly complicated predicament. Eventually, the authorities find success when Grape Ape fails the obstacle course, providing the excuse they need to remove the pair from the Army and bring their chaotic military adventure to an end.

79-12 "The Purple Avenger"

When Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle encounter the poverty-stricken town of Dumpnograd, they discover that its citizens are suffering under the oppressive rule of Baron Nogoodnik, a tyrant who exploits the townspeople through excessive taxation. Determined to help the unfortunate residents, Grape Ape takes on the identity of Zorroski, the Purple Avenger, a mysterious masked champion inspired by the tradition of costumed heroes who defend the helpless against injustice. Disguised as the town’s unlikely protector, Grape Ape sets out to challenge the baron’s authority and restore happiness to the oppressed population. Beegle accompanies his enormous companion, attempting to help him carry out his heroic mission while keeping the situation from becoming even more chaotic. Grape Ape’s immense physical power makes him a formidable opponent for the ruler’s forces, although his innocent nature and lack of conventional heroic sophistication give the adventure its humorous twists. As the Purple Avenger’s efforts undermine the baron’s control, the townspeople gain hope that their misery will finally end. The story combines a playful parody of masked-avenger adventures with the series’ familiar comedy, as Grape Ape uses his extraordinary size and strength in the service of an entirely good-hearted cause.

TRIVIA & NOTES:

Check out the sequel, "The Purple Avenger Strikes Again."