
Top Cat
1961–1962 · ABC · 30 min · 1 season
S01E30 · Dibble's Double
Thu, 19 Apr, 3:00 am
A thief named Al the Actor (Don Messick), disguises as Officer Dibble to steal a fortune from an art gallery. After seeing how much can be paid for artworks, Top Cat has also taken up painting, but discovers his own artwork was also stolen. The gang, together with Dibble, team up to catch the thief.
About
Top Cat, known as T.C. to his alley cat friends, is a mischievous prankster who lives in a trash can in the alley ways of New York City. He and his alley-cat cohorts think of get rich schemes and assorted pranks which are mostly involving and aimed at Officer Dibble, their nemesis and friend. T.C. manages to get out of his tight situations with hilarity and charm and even helps Dibble on occasion.
Episodes
- E01
Hawaii, Here We Come
Thu, 28 Sept· 30 minBenny wins a trip to Hawaii, leading to Top Cat (and the rest of the gang) joining him on his trip by stowing away. Things take a drastic turn as Officer Dibble also ends up aboard the ship, and the discovery of a suitcase containing counterfeit money leads to Top Cat and the gang being thrown into the brig as suspect counterfeiters. However, with Top Cat's assistance, Officer Dibble is able to catch the actual counterfeiter and verify the gang's innocence.
- E02
The Maharajah of Pookajee
Thu, 5 Oct· 30 minTop Cat impersonates the Maharajah of Pookajee and lives the good life at a swank hotel with his cronies… until a pair of gangsters show up. John Stephenson provides the voices of The Maharajah, crime boss, and the hotel clerk.
- E03
All That Jazz
Thu, 12 Oct· 30 minJazz, the new cat in town (known as "A.T." – All That), takes over the pool hall, steals Top Cat's girlfriend, sways the gang and cleans up the alley. This sparks a contest between the pair. However, when both Jazz and Top Cat are offered a part in a Hollywood film, they assume that it is another trick. The offer turns out to be legitimate, and Benny is cast in the starring role in The Thing from the Alley. He leaves for Hollywood in a limo, accompanied by Top Cat and the gang in the guise of Benny's manager, valet, vocal coach, tailor and chauffeur. After that, Officer Dibble catches Jazz using the police phone, now declaring that Jazz "is just as bad as Top Cat". Jazz and his buddy Beau are forced to keep the alley clean for 30 days.
- E04
The $1,000,000 Derby
Thu, 19 Oct· 30 minBenny gets a new pet, a devoted camera-loving nag. Top Cat tries everything to get rid of the horse, but changes his mind when he sees the horse's shock-induced superior racing abilities.
- E05
The Violin Player
Thu, 26 Oct· 30 minMr. Gutenberg, the musical director of Carnegie Hall (voiced by John Stephenson), mistakes a recording of violin virtuoso Laszlo Laszlo for the playing of Benny the Ball, who has just taken up the instrument. He approaches Benny with an offer to perform and Top Cat negotiates a deal for $50,000 for a Saturday night performance at the Hall—an offer that is withdrawn when Carnegie's Board of Directors really hear Benny play. When Gutenberg offers a $10,000 reward to find the true violinist, the gang discovers that it's their neighborhood street cleaner, Laszlo Laszlo (voiced by Leo De Lyon). John Stephenson provides the voices of Mr. Gutenberg, paramedic, his assistant Ralph, and the record store owner, while Leo De Lyon does the voice of Lazlo Lazlo.
- E06
The Missing Heir
Thu, 2 Nov· 30 minBenny is a double for the missing heir to a millionaire's fortune; Top Cat and the gang get Benny to the mansion in time to claim the money, but this is bad news to the scheming butler Chutney (voice by Paul Frees) and dog Griswald (voiced by Don Messick) who hoped to claim the fortune for themselves. John Stephenson provides the voice of the Old Man, while Jean Vander Pyl does the voice of the girl cat, however, it isn't known who does the voice of the Taxi Cab Driver. This episode marks the first appearance of Griswald.
- E07
Top Cat Falls in Love
Thu, 9 Nov· 30 minWhile visiting tonsillectomy patient Benny in the hospital, Top Cat falls for the pretty cat nurse, Miss LaRue. T.C. decides to attract her attention by pretending to come down with a rare illness, which will need a lot of nursing care. Don Messick provides the voice of Dr. Dawson, while Jean Vander Pyl provides the voices of Nurse LaRue, and the regular nurse, and John Stephenson, Don Messick & Leo De Lyon also provides the voices of the patients.
- E08
A Visit from Mother
Thu, 16 Nov· 30 minBenny has written to his mother that he's the Mayor of New York. Now Benny's mother is coming for a visit, and Top Cat and the gang must do everything they can to convince Mrs. Ball (voiced by Bea Benaderet) that her son really is the Mayor.
- E09
Naked Town
Thu, 23 Nov· 30 min"Naked Town", a TV crime show, will be shooting a warehouse robbery scene in Top Cat's alley. Officer Dibble offers his cooperation, but is unaware that some crooks will be using the TV filming as a cover for a real robbery.
- E10
Sergeant Top Cat
Thu, 30 Nov· 30 minAfter overhearing Officer Dibble suggesting ways to improve conditions for the police force, Top Cat passes off Dibble's ideas to the Chief of Police as T.C.'s own. This leads to Top Cat's being made an honorary police sergeant and Dibble's boss in the alley.
- E11
Choo Choo's Romance
Thu, 7 Dec· 30 minChoo-Choo has fallen in love with a beautiful French cat, Goldie (Jean Vander Pyl); Top Cat and the gang help Choo-Choo to court her, but they've reckoned without Goldie's jealous boyfriend, Pierre (John Stephenson).
- E12
The Unscratchables
Thu, 14 Dec· 30 minWhen a stolen diamond ends up in Benny the Ball's stomach, it's up to Top Cat and the gang to find a way to retrieve him from Big Gus and his band of gangsters, who've kidnapped him and are attempting to retrieve the diamond the hard way.
- E13
Rafeefleas
Thu, 21 Dec· 30 minAfter Benny spends the night sleeping inside a museum, T.C. discovers a scarab attached to his back. The jewel is later found to be an expensive antique, and the gang attempts to return it. Once the scarab is returned, a jewel thief arrives and takes a number of jewels. Dibble arrives and mistakes T.C. as the thief, however the thief is caught when he runs into the rest of the gang.
- E14
The Tycoon
Thu, 28 Dec· 30 minA tycoon (voiced by Don Messick) decides to give away $1,000,000 to the most unfortunate person he finds, which ends up being Top Cat. He gives the check to Benny, who tries to show it to Top Cat (who ignores him), so he tries to cash it himself. A merchant overhears him and tells all his associates. Everybody gives things to Top Cat thinking he is a millionaire, and that he'll pay them back.
- E15
The Long Hot Winter
Thu, 4 Jan· 30 minDuring the cold winter in the alley, Top Cat and the gang scheme to find a way into Officer Dibble's house in an attempt to keep warm. Once inside the house, Dibble struggles to live with the gang. In the end, the gang stay for several months until spring and the warmer weather arrives.
- E16
The Case of the Absent Anteater
Thu, 11 Jan· 30 minBenny gets a new pet; a hungry, brown giant anteater which followed him into the alley. Top Cat attempts to get rid of the animal until it is revealed that the anteater has escaped from the zoo and a large reward is on offer for its return.
- E17
T.C. Minds the Baby
Thu, 18 Jan· 30 minAn abandoned baby (Jean Vander Pyl) is found by Top Cat and the gang who intend on looking after it. However, they find parenthood much more difficult than they thought it to be. When Officer Dibble catches onto them, he is shown the note left with the baby and takes it into police custody. In the end, Officer Dibble tells Top Cat's group that the mother is found and the baby is safely returned.
- E18
Farwell, Mr. Dibble
Thu, 25 Jan· 30 minOfficer Dibble is replaced by a new recruit named Ernest Prowler (Don Messick). Prowler intends to be more forceful in his duty than Dibble and intends to stop the trouble that Top Cat and the gang cause. Due to the new regime, the gang hatch a plan to have Dibble return to his old beat in the alley.
- E19
The Grand Tour
Thu, 1 Feb· 30 minTop Cat and the gang are struggling to make money. However, T.C. comes up with a new get-rich-quick scheme which involves creating a fake "historical" tour of New York. Choo-Choo begins selling "phony" maps. However, it is later found that the maps point to a real treasure in a dilapidated house.
- E20
The Golden Fleecing
Thu, 8 Feb· 30 minBenny receives an insurance payment of $2,000, giving T.C. ideas about how to spend it. The first spend is made on visiting a local nightclub to visit Honeydew Mellon (voiced by Sally Jones), a showgirl who also happens to be part of a gang of poker-playing con-artists, who will do everything they can to separate Benny from his money.
- E21
Space Monkey
Thu, 15 Feb· 30 minOfficer Dibble takes a job at Cape Canaveral, and the gang discover about the luxurious treatment a chimpanzee(voiced by John Stephenson) receives while in the space program. The group decides to join up in attempt to access the same luxurious facilities, however wants out when they discover they will be going into space.
- E22
The Late T.C.
Thu, 22 Feb· 30 minTop Cat is injured when hit in the head by a baseball. From the resulting injury, a misunderstanding leads Officer Dibble to believe Top Cat only has a week left to live. T.C. and the gang take advantage of Dibble and his kindness during the week.
- E23
Dibble's Birthday
Thu, 1 Mar· 30 minOfficer Dibble's birthday is coming up and he begins to feel he is getting too old. To help cheer him up, the gang decide to throw him a birthday party, with gifts from everybody in the neighborhood.
- E24
Choo Choo Goes Ga-Ga
Thu, 8 Mar· 30 minChoo-Choo threatens to commit suicide unless he can get a date with a Hollywood movie star, named Lola Glamour (Jean Vander Pyl). Top Cat tries getting him that date by visiting her at her penthouse, but Officer Dibble is given complaints from other people who live there. Top Cat eventually escapes from Officer Dibble, but soon finds out Lola would only date rich men, so Choo Choo once again tries to commit suicide. This annoys Top Cat, so he tries to get Lola to think Choo Choo is a rich count named Count Chooch.
- E25
King for a Day
Thu, 15 Mar· 30 minAfter Top Cat upsets Officer Dibble one time too many, he and the gang decide to lie low for a while. After spending the night in a department store, the gang go on the "King for a Day" show which offers a number of prizes, after writing to the show's producers about the gang being a "poor family". Instead, Dibble wins the prizes and offers to take T.C. and the gang for a ride to show no hard feelings.
- E26
The Con Men
Thu, 22 Mar· 30 minA friendly hot dog vendor is swindled out of $1,000 by con men who pretended to have an oil well in Nova Scotia. Top Cat disguises himself as a wealthy Texan in an attempt to get the money back, by convincing the crooks that the oil well really does exist.
- E27
Dibble Breaks the Record
Thu, 29 Mar· 30 minDibble attempts to break a record as the longest serving police officer on the beat, which had been set years ago by his idol, policeman "Iron Man" Muldoon; if he beats the record, he wins a holiday which allows him to escape the gang for a while. With this information, Top Cat does everything he can to help Dibble win and have the gang watch over him so he doesn't have an accident.
- E28
Dibble Sings Again
Thu, 5 Apr· 30 minTop Cat owes money to loan shark Big Gus. After hearing Officer Dibble singing, he convinces him that under his management, he could become a big singing star.
- E29
Griswald
Thu, 12 Apr· 30 minDibble gets a new partner on the beat: the dog Griswald. Top Cat and the gang attempt to outwit him, but the dog always seems to be one step ahead. T.C. manages to get the dog removed from duty after he bites the police sergeant and the police commissioner (Don Messick).
- E30
Dibble's Double
Thu, 19 Apr· 30 minA thief named Al the Actor (Don Messick), disguises as Officer Dibble to steal a fortune from an art gallery. After seeing how much can be paid for artworks, Top Cat has also taken up painting, but discovers his own artwork was also stolen. The gang, together with Dibble, team up to catch the thief.
Cast

Leo DeLyon
Spook

Allen Jenkins
Officer Charlie Dibble

Arnold Stang
Top Cat

Maurice Gosfield
Benny the Ball

Marvin Kaplan
Choo Choo

John Stephenson
Fancy-Fancy

Leo DeLyon
Brain