Cartoon
Mister T (TV series)
The story
Mister T is an American animated series that aired on NBC on Saturday morning from 1983 to 1985. It mainly featured the popular A-Team actor Mr. T. A total of 30 episodes were produced during all three seasons, with the thirteen episodes for Season 1, eleven for Season 2, and six episodes for the third and last season. The series was produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises.
Reruns were later seen on the USA Cartoon Express in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim late-night programming block and spin-off network, Boomerang, which airs classic cartoons from Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears (pre-1991 era), Turner, and classic Warner's animation libraries in the early 2000's and more recently on MeTV Toons.
The series was the first voice-acting role for both Cathy Cavadini and Phil LaMarr.
Plot
The animated show stars Mr. T as a coach to a gymnastics team (with a specific emphasis on young-aged members: Jeff, Woody, Robin, and Kim), travelling across the world while becoming involved in and solving many different mysteries.
At the beginning of each episode, a live-action introduction featuring Mr. T himself is shown to explain what is going on. At the end of each episode, Mr. T narrates a moral lesson for all of the viewers.
Characters
Mr. T (voiced by himself) – He is the coach of the gymnastics team.
Ms. Priscilla Bisby (voiced by Takayo Fischer) – The team's well-mannered bus driver, a middle-aged woman who loves mystery novels. Her catchphrase is "Oh my stars and garters". She has a stuntman nephew named Ronny "Showbiz" Bisby who aids Mr. T and the team in clearing Skye's grandfather's name in the "Mystery of the Ancient Ancestor".
Jeff Harris (voiced by Shawn Lieber) – An American gymnast boy who's the wise guy of the team with a big ego.
Woody Daniels (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – An African-American gymnast boy and Jeff's friendly rival. He hopes to become a lawyer when he retires from gymnastics.
Robin O'Neill (voiced by Amy Linker) – A beautiful, green-eyed redhead gymnast girl with freckles who's eager to jump into any situation. She also acts as Mr. T's second-in-command. She bears a strong resemblance to her late older sister Cathy (see "Secret of the Spectral Sister"). Her catchphrase is "What the hairy heck?"
Kim Nakamura (voiced by Siu Ming Carson) – A Japanese gymnast girl who is the daughter of a computer scientist. She has a photographic memory that comes in handy as she can remember several magazine articles and book passages, including the issue or volume and the page where she read it.
Spike O'Neill (voiced by Teddy Field III) – Robin's younger brother who worships Mr. T to the point where he dresses and talks like him. (Note: In Episode 9: "Secret Of The Spectral Sister", it is revealed that "Spike" is just a nickname; his real first name is not revealed.)
Skye Redfern (voiced by Cathy Cavadini – A Native American gymnast girl whose late grandfather was wrongfully accused of a crime he didn't commit (and was later posthumously exonerated).
Garcia Lopez (voiced by an unknown actor) – A Latin American gymnast boy whose big brother Miguel is an archaeologist. He is a keen photographer.
Vince D'Amato (voiced by an unknown actor) – An Italian American gymnast boy who has dreams of being a movie star.
Courtney Howard (voiced by an unknown actor) – An African-American gymnast girl whose father is a major in the military. Her uncle Ross is a magician who was previously a burglar and now performs under the stage name Cadabra the Great.
Grant Kline (voiced by an unknown actor) – A juvenile boy who was once an ex-gang member of the Chain Gang who turned his life around and joined Mr. T's gymnastics team, thanks to Jeff.
Bulldozer – Mr. T's pet bulldog with a similar mohawk. He is also called "Dozer" for short.
An unnamed blonde girl who was seen on the bus during the season 1 opening intro, but neither spoke nor had her own focus episode.
A few other non-speaking boy and girl gymnasts who also appear on the show, but neither of them spoke nor had their own focus episode (Note: In Episode 4: "Mystery on the Rocky Mountain Express", it is confirmed by Kim that one of the unnamed gymnast boys is named Lee).
Home media and rights
On October 29, 1991, the rights to the library of Ruby-Spears Enterprises, including Mister T, were acquired by Turner Broadcasting System, and the show subsequently aired on Turner-owned cable TV channels such as Boomerang and Cartoon Network. Turner Broadcasting System later merged with Time Warner in 1996, and the rights to the series are currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
The first season was released DVD on May 10, 2011, via the Warner Archive Collection, as part of the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection.