T.H.E. Cat

Alas, I was about 9 years old when this show aired. So I was hardly ever allowed to watch it because it was a) too 'adult' in nature and b) way past my bedtime. So my memories of it are somewhat skimpy. But I vividly remember the way Loggia would introduce himself as 'T. Hewitt Edward Cat', and the way he would scale walls and make impossible leaps. He also seemed to play for keeps. He was sleek, dangerous, and cooler than hell. But he wasn't invincible - I remember shows where things went wrong and a client or friend would get hurt or killed, and Cat would be seriously angry or stressed or worried. That added to the suspense and believability considerably.

There was a later TV series with a similar theme, featuring Robert Wagner, 'It Takes A Thief'. Nothing against Wagner, but his show couldn't hold a candle to 'T.H.E. Cat', at least the way I remember it.

I too, would love to have a chance to see (or buy) some of those old episodes.

In 1966 on Friday nights I had two brand new series to look forward to as a 13 year old.The Green Hornet & T.H.E.Cat were unique among the standard TV offerings of cop shows,lawyer shows,doctor shows & sitcoms.Cat was a former circus acrobat & jewel thief who did his prison time & now was on the side of law.But instead of the standard cliché of his becoming a p.i.,he sold his services as a bodyguard & security expert.This propelled him into many exciting adventures.He generally was clad in black pants & a turtleneck.His weapons were his "Cat's Claws" knives that were hidden up each shirt sleeve.He was athletic & fast and could easily scale over high fences,up the side of any building,& over rooftops with a lithe skill.The Lalo Schifrin musical score is superb,the writing excellent as were the actors,and the show had a dark & gritty look to it.It remains a favorite of mine today even though it only lasted one season.Like The Green Hornet it deserved a long run,but both series managed to become cult classics for many fans even with their short runs.

Allow me to add my voice to those who consider this T.H.E. COOLEST TV show ever. It's amazing, judging by the comments here, how many 9- and 10-year-olds took to this show, which was supposed to be for grown-ups. It is still my dream, at age 50, to open a small night club with a flashing neon sign, and call it "Casa Del Gato." Beaded curtains, waitresses dressed 60's go-go style, live jazz seven nights a week...and I would be in the corner booth wearing a black turtleneck, talking to some guy with an eye-patch, or missing a hand. Oh, yes, it would be a nominally private club, so that smoking would be allowed (yup, I'm in one of THOSE states).

In his role as Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat, Robert Loggia was undoubtedly the coolest hero of the television 60's. A retired second-story man, Cat undertook missions in which he used his acrobatic skills to their best advantage. NBC advertised the program as a "high tension adventure series you can really sink your claws into," and it was just that.

Probably drawing on his earlier portrayal of the cat-like Elfego Baca, an acrobatic western Disney character, the athletic Loggia apparently did a lot of his own stunts in the series. He was everything an adolescent boy of the time could aspire to: he wore a cool black outfit while on the prowl; he drove a cool black 'Vette; he carried a dagger-like knife referred to in one episode as "The Cat's Claw," which he could throw with unerring accuracy; he was, of course, irresistable to women; and he hung out between missions at the Casa del Gato (House of the Cat), a cafe owned by his gypsy friend Pepe, played to the suave hilt by Robert Carricart. The only other recurring character was the one-handed police Captain McAllister, played by the marvelous R.G. Armstrong.

The original jazz score by Lalo Schifrin (sort of a flute- accoustic bass-drum trio number) set just the right mood for this dark series -- and Shifrin went on to compose for Mission Impossible!

Television later picked up on the theme of using a reformed crook as a hero, notably with Robert Wagner in "It Takes a Thief" and "Switch." But Loggia was the original in this short-lived but lamented series.

Please, if anyone has information on how to get copies of the Cat program, please contact me ASAP. This was my Favorite show. It took me YEARS just to find this site.(Just got computer) I have lost money betting that this program did exist,have been laughed at and finally told that it was just my childhood imagination. THANKS & God Bless