The Looney Tunes Show


The Looney Tunes Show is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation, developed by Sam Register, Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, and broadcast on Cartoon Network for two seasons from May 3, 2011, to August 27, 2013. The series featured characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon shorts in a sitcom format with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, who live a suburban life together within a neighborhood of fellow cartoon neighbors, dealing with various issues in their own way. Many episodes also include a musical short under the Merrie Melodies name, and the first season also includes computer-animated shorts involving new antics between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
The series received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visual style and voice acting, but criticized its deviations from the source material. In later years, the series has gained a cult following.

Premise

The Looney Tunes Show revolves around the lives of Bugs Bunny, who owns a suburban home after inventing carrot peelers that pay him royalties, and Daffy Duck, who is Bugs' roommate, as they deal with different issues and problems that they encounter, some of the time caused by Daffy's rather bad lifestyle. The pair reside within a neighborhood inhabited by a number of notable Looney Tunes characters including Yosemite Sam, Granny, Gossamer, and Speedy Gonzales, with both Bugs and Daffy having girlfriends in the form of Lola Bunny and Tina Russo, and a regular friendship with Porky Pig. Other Looney Tunes characters, like Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, and Sylvester and Tweety, have less prominent roles but still partake in stories in their own way.
Unlike other Looney Tunes productions, the series focused less on slapstick and fewer visual gags, in favor of sitcom elements including love triangles, employment and rooming. Episodes often contained at least two stories featuring Bugs and Daffy, and sometimes led by others in the show.
Alongside the main plots of the episode, the story would often include Merrie Melodies – two-to-four-minute music videos showcasing classic characters singing brand new original songs. For the first season only, the show also included new computer-animated shorts involving Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, and a new spate of antics between them.

Episodes

Characters

Main

  • Bugs Bunny lives a life of upper-middle-class suburban leisure, based on income from a popular Carrot Peeler that he invented; instead of an underground borrow from the theatrical shorts, Bugs lives in a well-appointed house, drives a compact car, and provides room and board for Daffy Duck. Bugs spends his time watching sports or sitcoms on TV, hanging out with his friends and neighbors, and dating Lola Bunny.
  • Daffy Duck is the best friend of Bugs Bunny. Unlike Bugs, who is calm and optimistic, Daffy is an incompetent, loudmouthed, unproductive moocher and an ungrateful user that has no way of earning money and relies on Bugs for food and shelter. He also has a high maintenance streak, as he demands far more from his friends than he deserves and takes high advantage of gullible Porky, his other "best friend". With that said, he does have a kinder side.
  • Porky Pig is Bugs and Daffy's second best friend. Despite being bright and bookish, Porky has an innocent, naïve quality that Daffy frequently uses to his advantage, tricking Porky into parting with large sums of money or accompanying him in bizarre schemes. Porky originally worked a boring office job as an accountant, but got fired following Bugs' example. Porky started his own catering company afterwards. In "Dear John", Porky was shown to have served on the city council. Towards the end of the series, Porky starts a relationship with Petunia in the end of the Season 2 episode "Here Comes the Pig". In "Best Friends Redux", Daffy meets Porky's young self and ensures that Porky becomes good friends with Bugs and Rodney in their cabin, finally showing Porky an act of kindness.
  • Speedy Gonzales is an extremely fast Mexican mouse who lives with Bugs and Daffy as their "mouse in the wall" and runs a pizza parlor called Pizzarriba. Speedy is one of the brighter, more level-headed characters as he is not afraid to speak his mind and has occasionally shown to act as Daffy's conscience.
  • Samuel "Yosemite Sam" Rosenbaum is a quick-tempered cowboy who is one of Bugs and Daffy's neighbors. Sam claims to be a liar, a thief and a cheat, amongst other things, like in the original cartoons, albeit the show portrays him as far less ruthless and more moral and mild-mannered with a heart of gold.
  • Lola Bunny is Bugs Bunny's obsessive girlfriend, who has a habit of speaking rapidly, whether anyone else is listening or not. When they first meet, Bugs falls in love with her, but after learning how crazy and ditsy Lola is, Bugs loses interest and often tries to escape her company. Lola develops a huge obsession with Bugs Bunny that Daffy initially finds creepy, but in later episodes Daffy and Lola become friends as neither one is very bright.
  • Tina Russo is a new character original to the show. She is a yellow duck and Daffy's girlfriend. Tina works at a copy store called "Copy Place". Tina is another straight character of the show, with a no-nonsense personality. The character was originally called Marisol Mallard in the Laff Riot pilot.

    Recurring

  • Tasmanian Devil/Taz/Poochie is a Tasmanian devil who is Bugs' pet. In this show, Taz is portrayed as walking on four legs like a real Tasmanian devil and his eyes are bloodshot red. Initially, Bugs believed Taz to be a dog and kept him as a house pet named Poochie much to Daffy's discomfort. Eventually, Bugs learned the truth and tried to return him to his home in Tasmania only to find out that Taz would rather live with him. When Taz is not causing trouble for Daffy, Taz has occasionally tried to eat Sylvester. In the episode "Ridiculous Journey", Taz spoke for the first time in the series and bonded with Sylvester and Tweety while they evaded Blacque Jacques Shellacque.
  • Mac and Tosh are two goofy gophers who run an antique store. They are shown to hate being away from each other.
  • Pete Puma is a dimwitted puma who is one of Daffy Duck's friends and does various jobs around town.
  • Marvin the Martian is a Martian who is one of Daffy Duck's friends.
  • Witch Lezah is a witch who is Gossamer's mother and lives next door to Bugs Bunny. She is often annoyed by Daffy Duck's antics. Witch Lezah is also a hypnotherapist by trade. The character is based on Witch Hazel, with "Lezah" being "Hazel" spelled backwards. Promotional artwork by Jamie Nicholes featured Lezah and Hazel together, with the latter being planned to also appear in the series.
  • Gossamer is a large orange furry monster who is Witch Lezah's son. In stark contrast to previous characterizations, Gossamer is portrayed as a timid and kind-hearted young boy with a voice to match.
  • Emma "Granny" Webster is a practical and old fashioned 90-year-old lady who is one of Bugs Bunny's neighbors. Granny is revealed to have been a spy for the Allies in World War II. In "The Grand Old Duck of York", it is revealed that Granny also teaches piano lessons. This series marks the final time Foray provided the voice of Granny before her death in 2017.
  • Sylvester and Tweety are Granny's pets. Sylvester is a tuxedo cat who is always trying to devour Tweety, but always fails, either due to Tweety outwitting him or Granny catching him and spanking him hard enough to spit Tweety out. Tweety is a cute yellow canary who is frequently targeted by Sylvester. Tweety is revealed to have also been a spy for the Allies in World War II during Granny's youth.
  • Foghorn Leghorn is a rich and gullible rooster who has worked under various jobs. Foghorn and Daffy get on very well, and are often involved in various schemes. He is a successful entrepreneur who never gets angry with Daffy and forgives him immediately, as he considers Daffy a son to him.
  • Pepé Le Pew is a French striped skunk. He's the local casanova. In the episode "Members Only", he works as a wedding planner when he planned Bugs and Lola's wedding at the country club.
  • Elmer Fudd is a character whose role here isn't as prominent as it was in the Looney Tunes shorts, as he only makes occasional cameo appearances in this show.
  • Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are shown in short computer-animated segments in Season 1. They also make cameos throughout the show, most notably in "Here Comes the Pig", when Bugs gets lost in the desert, he witnesses the Road Runner and Wile E.'s chases, then asks Wile E. for directions to the highway once he fails. Bugs then decides to use Wile E.'s catapult to get back.

    Others

  • Dr. Weisberg is a physician who Bugs and the other characters often visit. His appearance resembles that of Dr. I.Q. Hi from Duck Dodgers.
  • Walter Bunny is Lola Bunny's father who idolizes Bugs. He then appears when they play in the father son tennis tournament. Like most of the characters, he dislikes Daffy.
  • Patricia Bunny is Lola Bunny's mother.
  • Carol is a beautiful blonde woman who is Foghorn Leghorn's assistant and limo chauffeur who tries to bring reason to Foghorn Leghorn, especially in regards to his respect and loyalty to Daffy whom she see as trouble and despises.
  • Henery Hawk is a chickenhawk that likes to target chickens.
  • Cecil Turtle is an antagonistic turtle who formerly worked as a customer service representative at the Trans-Visitron cable company until he got fired by Daffy. Cecil became a con artist but ended up getting defeated by Bugs and Porky.
  • Frank Russo is Tina Russo's dad.
  • Slowpoke Rodriguez is Speedy's cousin who is the sheriff of Tacapulco, Mexico.
  • Hugo the Abominable Snowman is a Yeti who lives in Alaska.
  • Blacque Jacque Shellacque is a tracker who is the Canadian cousin of Yosemite Sam.
  • The Three Bears are a family of bears consisting of Henry Bear, Mama Bear, and Junior Bear. They were based on the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
  • Beaky Buzzard is a buzzard that rescues anyone in the desert in a hot air balloon.
  • Petunia Pig is a pig that Porky develops a relationship with starting in "Here Comes the Pig".
  • Rodney Rabbit is a rabbit who is Bugs Bunny's old childhood best friend since summer camp.