Oh, I wish I could've been hiding in the opium smoke that afternoon Hanna and Barbera dreamed up Hong Kong Phooey, the idiot janitor dog who leads a double life.
The noted Chinese actor Scatman Crothers played the kung fu fighting Shih-tzu with a lot of pep, swirling around in more racist Asian stereotypes than a contemporary Chinese laundry soap commercial (let me refresh your memory: 'my husband , some hotshot!' And the unforgettable: 'ancient Chinese secret, huh?!').
But at least the acting was superb. Undoubtedly, Crothers is best remembered for this challenging role as Phooey. When Jack Nicholson rested his axeblade in Crothers' spine in 'the Shining,' who among us didn't spit out popcorn and sputter 'my god, he just killed Hong Kong Phooey!'
Some things about this show touched viewers very deeply. How many times have you been caught humming the catchy theme song - 'Hong Kong Phooey, Number One Super Guy' - as you waited for your laundry to finish? Or considered changing into more comfortable clothes in the office filing cabinet? Or wondered if enough tassels and Chinatown detailing would turn your own Honda Civic into a Phooeymobile? Didn't you also want to date Rosemary, the police switchboard operator? Don't you wish you had someone like Spot in your life - someone to do all your work, solve all your problems and let you take all the credit?
Hong Kong Phooey was, by all measures, a real jerk. Really vain and pretty clueless. I never had a lot of respect for him. He was not the sort of guy I would be friends with. He was the sort of person into whose drink you'd put your cigarette ashes when he wasn't looking. He wasn't from Hong Kong, solved no crimes and really didn't know Kung Fu. He was a real fraud. I guess he had dreams and hopes for himself, but so did Jabberjaw. And Jabberjaw, let's not forget it, could at least play the drums.
The noted Chinese actor Scatman Crothers played the kung fu fighting Shih-tzu with a lot of pep, swirling around in more racist Asian stereotypes than a contemporary Chinese laundry soap commercial (let me refresh your memory: 'my husband , some hotshot!' And the unforgettable: 'ancient Chinese secret, huh?!').
But at least the acting was superb. Undoubtedly, Crothers is best remembered for this challenging role as Phooey. When Jack Nicholson rested his axeblade in Crothers' spine in 'the Shining,' who among us didn't spit out popcorn and sputter 'my god, he just killed Hong Kong Phooey!'
Some things about this show touched viewers very deeply. How many times have you been caught humming the catchy theme song - 'Hong Kong Phooey, Number One Super Guy' - as you waited for your laundry to finish? Or considered changing into more comfortable clothes in the office filing cabinet? Or wondered if enough tassels and Chinatown detailing would turn your own Honda Civic into a Phooeymobile? Didn't you also want to date Rosemary, the police switchboard operator? Don't you wish you had someone like Spot in your life - someone to do all your work, solve all your problems and let you take all the credit?
Hong Kong Phooey was, by all measures, a real jerk. Really vain and pretty clueless. I never had a lot of respect for him. He was not the sort of guy I would be friends with. He was the sort of person into whose drink you'd put your cigarette ashes when he wasn't looking. He wasn't from Hong Kong, solved no crimes and really didn't know Kung Fu. He was a real fraud. I guess he had dreams and hopes for himself, but so did Jabberjaw. And Jabberjaw, let's not forget it, could at least play the drums.