Griswald

Police dog Griswald is assigned by Dibble to prevent Top Cat from using the alley precinct phone. After trying unsuccessfully to get rid of the dog, Top Cat contrives to have the police commissioner use the phone. When the over-protective Griswaid bites the commissioner, the pooch is relieved of his duties.

Teaser Sequence: Top Cat, Choo-Choo and Benny are around a corner waiting for what's about to happen. Top Cat says "Men, this is it, Act 1: Scene 1." Sergeant Murphy is on the P.D. telephone calling for Dibble to see if he called in. Griswald is around a corner and he comes out running and growling seeing that Sergeant Murphy is on the telephone and Sergeant Murphy says to "Griswald! Griswald! Wait, It's okay, It's me, Sergeant Murphy." Griswald chomps his rear end as Sergeant Murphy yells "YOW." He runs away yelling "Help! Get that crazy, mixed-up mutt off of me. Help!"

Top Cat, Spook, Benny the Ball, Choo Choo, The Brain, Spook, Fancy-Fancy, Officer Charlie Dibble, Griswald, Sarge, Commissioner, Commissioner's Wife, Little Boy, Tony

Griswald's second and last appearance. He was white and had black ears in "The Missing Heir," but in this episode, he's brown.

Top Cat has the distinction of being one of the few animated series to debut in prime time. After one season, it was moved to Saturday mornings, and was met with huge success.

Essentially, Hanna-Barbera took Phil Silvers' popular character from the hit prime-time sitcom Sgt. Bilko and turned him into a cat. T.C. and the gang (Benny, Choo Choo, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, and The Brain) lived on the streets of Manhattan and were always in search of a free lunch, figuratively and literally. Their main obstacle was Officer Dibble, who had an extreme dislike for the crafty cat and his schemes, especially when they involved using the police phone for personal calls. The Sgt. Bilko connection was strengthened by the fact that Maurice Gosfield, who played Doberman on the sitcom, voiced Benny, T.C's right hand cat.

Like The Flintstones, Top Cat was written for adults and children alike, since it was initially shown during the family hour on a weeknight. This particular programming effort made the scripts stronger than your average cartoon, relying less on overused cartoon cliches and more on character. Unfortunately, T.C. didn't do well in prime time, but when he and the gang moved to Saturday mornings, the show found a loyal audience, who still remember it fondly.

The name of this show became "Boss Cat" when it ran in the United Kindgom to avoid confusion with a British cat food called Top Cat.