Mop and Smiff

Last updated

Mop and Smiff
Genre animation/Children's
Created byMike Amatt
Written byMike Amatt
Directed bySid Waddell
Voices of Timothy West (Mop), Prunella Scales (Smiff)
Theme music composerMike Amatt
Opening theme"Two of a kind"
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerDavid Brown
Running time15 minutes (Series)
Production company BBC Manchester
Release
Original network BBC1
Original release1985 (1985) 
1986 (1986)

Mop and Smiff is a children's pre-school television programme, the first episode "The Hang Glider" was broadcast on 4 April 1985 on BBC1, the final episode "The Snow" aired on 1 January 1986. Repeats of the programme were shown on BBC2 until 1988. The show creator Mike Amatt also stars as himself with his dog Mop and cat Smiff.

Contents

Characters

Mop is a shaggy-haired sheepdog.

Smiff is a bright-eyed tabby cat.

Mike, their owner, is an artist and storyteller.

Setting

The show used a Portmanteau Format with a small cartoon show embedded inside a narrative. The show starts with detailing a day of Mike, Mop or Smiff in real camera recording format. When they return home later, Mike would use the day's events for artistic inspiration to draw a cartoon. The show cuts into Mike's imagined animated sub-story with Mop and Smiff as talking friends who care for each other and go on their own adventure.

Mike, Mop and the Moke

A spin-off series, Mike, Mop and the Moke, was produced in 1985, and featured Amatt and Mop driving to various seaside towns in an Austin Champ. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Top Cat</i> American animated sitcom

Top Cat is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1961, to April 18, 1962, for a single season of 30 episodes. The show was a ratings failure in prime time, but became successful upon its time on Saturday morning television. The show also became very popular in Latin American countries, and the United Kingdom.

<i>ThunderCats</i> (1985 TV series) American animated television series

ThunderCats is an American science fantasy animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment and Leisure Concepts debuting in 1985, based on the characters created by Ted "Tobin" Wolf. The series, for which Leonard Starr was the head writer, follows the adventures of a group of catlike humanoid aliens. The animation for the episodes was provided by the Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation, with Masaki Iizuka as production manager. The studio was acquired in 1989 to form Walt Disney Animation Japan. Season 1 of the show aired in 1985, consisting of 65 episodes, followed by a TV movie entitled ThunderCats – Ho! in 1986. Seasons 2, 3, and 4 each contained twenty episodes, starting with a five-part story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon Planet</span> Programming block on Cartoon Network

Cartoon Planet is an American television programming block that originally ran from 1995 to 1998 and 2012 to 2014 on Cartoon Network. A spin-off of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the series centered on Space Ghost recruiting his imprisoned evil nemesis Zorak and his loud and dimwitted archenemy Brak to assist him in hosting a variety show.

<i>The Itchy & Scratchy Show</i> Fictional TV show on The Simpsons

The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show featured on The Simpsons. The show depicts a blue mouse named Itchy, who repeatedly maims or kills a black cat named Scratchy, and is typically presented as 15- to 60-second-long cartoons that are a part of The Krusty the Clown Show. The show is filled with graphic violence that almost invariably prompts laughter from The Simpsons characters, especially Bart and Lisa.

<i>Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse</i> American 1960s childrens animated TV series

Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, is a 1960 children's cartoon television show, that was produced by Trans-Artists Productions, and syndicated by Tele Features Inc. The characters were originated and created by authors Bob Kane and Gerald J. Rappoport as a spoof of Kane's earlier creations, Batman and Robin. In many ways, Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse presages the camp aspects of the later Batman live action series, which William Dozier and Howie Horwitz produced as a villain-driven action-comedy lampoon. Storyboard design was by Kane's assistant/ghost Sheldon Moldoff.

<i>Cattanooga Cats</i> American animated television series

Cattanooga Cats is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on ABC from September 6, 1969, to September 4, 1971.

<i>SMTV Live</i> Saturday Morning Kids Programme

SMTV Live was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, produced by Blaze Television for ITV. Operating on a similar format to other Saturday morning programmes for children, such as BBC's Live & Kicking, the programme premiered on 29 August 1998 and ran for over 270 episodes across five years, before its conclusion on 27 December 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rai 2</span> Italian TV channel

Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting TG2 news bulletins, talk shows, reality television, drama series, sitcoms, cartoons and infotainment. In the 1980s it was known for its political affiliation to the Italian Socialist Party, it has shifted recently its focus towards the youth, including in its schedule reality shows, entertainment, TV series, news, knowledge and sports.

<i>The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show</i> 1980 American animated television program

The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show is an American animated television series produced by Filmation for MGM Television featuring the popular cartoon duo Tom and Jerry. The show first aired on September 6, 1980 on CBS and continued until December 13 the same year. Its episodes were eventually added to syndicated Tom and Jerry packages in 1983. Episodes of the show also occasionally appeared on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

<i>C.A.T.S. Eyes</i> British television series

C.A.T.S. Eyes is a British television series made by TVS for ITV between 1985 and 1987. The series was a spin-off from The Gentle Touch, and saw Jill Gascoine reprise her role as Maggie Forbes, portrayed as having left the police force to join an all-female private detective agency called "Eyes", based in Kent, that is a front for a Home Office team called C.A.T.S.. C.A.T.S. Eyes was shown on Friday nights during the first series, before moving to a Saturday night slot for the second and third series. The series was a ratings success, regularly in the top twenty most-watched programmes each week of broadcast.

<i>ToonHeads</i> American animation anthology series

ToonHeads is an American animation anthology series consisting of Hanna-Barbera, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., and Popeye cartoon shorts, with background information and trivia, prominently about animators and voice actors of the shorts. ToonHeads was originally broadcast on Cartoon Network from October 2, 1992, until November 23, 2003.

<i>Charlie Brookers Screenwipe</i> Television series

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review comedy programme created and presented by Charlie Brooker and broadcast on BBC Four. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MTV2 Pop</span> Defunct German television station

MTV2 Pop was a German music channel. It launched on 1 May 2001, taking over the transponder left by the analogue service of MTV UK and Ireland when it closed down. It replaced VH-1 Germany. The channel mainly focused on Europop and eurodance music.

The Harveytoons Show is a television series presenting theatrical animated cartoons produced by Famous Studios from 1950 until 1964, which were acquired by Harvey Entertainment.

The DJ Kat Show was a children's television programme presented by the puppet DJ Kat and his friend Linda de Mol, the sister of Endemol founder John de Mol, which ran from 1 September 1986 to 31 December 1995. The show was first broadcast to Europe on satellite and cable channel Sky Channel and later on Sky One and Sky Europe. The show was aired every weekday morning and afternoon, and throughout its life was home to a particularly large number of imported animated series. A separate version of The DJ Kat Show was later created for the United States where it was aired on stations affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, including WNYW, Fox's flagship station. This article focuses primarily on the original European version.

<i>Heathcliff</i> (1984 TV series) 1984 children’s animated television series

Heathcliff is a children's animated television series that debuted on September 3, 1984. Produced by DIC Audiovisuel, it was the second animated series based on the Heathcliff comic strip. 65 half-hour episodes aired in first-run syndication in the fall of 1984, followed by a second season of 21 episodes in 1985 ran in syndication until it ended in 1988. The Catillac Cats characters were created by Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi.

<i>The Tom and Jerry Show</i> (1975 TV series) 1975 American animated television series

The Tom & Jerry Show is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with MGM Television. Based on the Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoon series, which was created by H-B co-founders and former MGM cartoon studio staff William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the show originally aired on ABC from September 6 to December 13, 1975 as the first half of The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show, with The Great Grape Ape Show representing the series' second half and The Mumbly Cartoon Show representing the series' third half. This series marked the first time that Tom and Jerry appeared in animated installments produced specifically for television.

<i>Mad</i> (TV series) American animated sketch comedy television series

Mad is an American animated sketch comedy television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The series was based on Mad magazine, where each episode is a collection of short animated parodies of television shows, films, video games, celebrities, and other media, using various types of animation instead of the usual animation style that Warner Bros. Animation is known for. The series premiered on the evening of September 6, 2010 on Cartoon Network at 8:30 P.M. right after the series premiere of Regular Show. The series ended its three-year run on December 2, 2013.

Forget Me Not Farm is a BBC children's television series that was originally aired on BBC1 from 13 November 1990 to 18 February 1991. Set on the eponymous Forget Me Not Farm, the show featured a scarecrow who was played by the show's creator Mike Amatt, a pair of crows named Dandelion and Burdock, a tractor named Trundle, a pig named Portly, a cow named Gracie, a sheep named Merthyr, a tanker named Topper, an unnamed non-speaking hat wearing horse and a non-speaking mouse named Mrs. Mouse.

Copy Cats was a British television comedy impressions sketch programme produced by LWT for ITV from 30 November 1985 to 5 December 1987. It was a revival of the quickfire sketch format of 1970s show Who Do You Do? and featured Aiden J. Harvey and Johnny More who were stars of the earlier show.

References