Hong Kong Phooey immediately after a costume change, and Spot.
Hanna-Barbera produced this Animated Series for ABC in 1974 as a response to the martial arts fad of that time, especially the Adventure Series .The Hero, Hong Kong Phooey "number one super guy" posed as mild-mannered police janitor Penrod Pooch, and listened in on dispatcher Rosemary's responses to crime reports. It wasn't until Sgt. Flint took off after the criminal that "Penry", as he was called, engaged his Transformation Sequence. As his super-hero alter ego, Hong Kong pursued crooks in his shape-shifting Phooeymobile, accompanied by Spot the cat.Despite HKP's impressive displays of martial arts, it was Spot who did most of the work and got none of the credit. Neither Sgt. Flint nor Rosemary ever suspected that Penry led a double life.Benjamin "Scatman" Crothers (no, not
that Scatman) voiced the title character and performed the show's theme song. Later in the decade, Hong Kong Phooey joined Scooby-Doo's team on .
Comic Book Adaptation: Nine issues by Charlton. Whatever wasn't simple model sheet poses were simply poorly drawn. Phooey also made appearances in Marvel's take on .
Cool Car: The Phooeymobile.
Epic Fail: A number of Penry's screw-ups in his janitor job qualify. One time he got some important papers wet and when he tried to dry them with a hair dryer, the letters blew off.
Face Palm: Spot notably does this quite a bit, even during the "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune, mostly when Hong Kong Phooey does something stupid.
Fake Ultimate Hero: As mentioned, Spot always does the work, and Hong Kong Phooey takes all of the credit. It shows just how brainless he really is. He's not doing this maliciously, mind you; he actually believes he won all on his own and never notices Spot's help. Moreover,
neither does anyone else watching the fight, including the criminals he defeats. Luckily, Spot doesn't seem to mind much that Phooey gets all the credit, which makes sense, given his established reputation as the city's "hero" and that he wouldn't want to ruin that (even though he obviously isn't too thrilled about it).
Fanservice: Rosemary's incredibly short uniform. Surprising, given that the Animation Age Ghetto was taking television by force at the time.
The Fool: Hong Kong Phooey; his crazed attacks always get him in danger, during the time of which Spot effectively thwarts the Big Bad of the episode, which Hong Kong Phooey never notices, and when the enemy has his bum handed to him on a silver platter he replies with something like, "I moved so fast, I didn't even see myself catch him!"
Getting Crap Past the Radar: Just one example from "Storm Watch": "Hello, Hello! Police Headquarters! This is Rosemary, the lovely lassie with the classy chassis!"
Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Hong Kong's kung fu costume includes an orange gi jacket, a gold belt and a mask over his eyes.
His alter ego, Penry, sports a long-sleeved shirt and red cap.
Hero Insurance: Hong Kong Phooey is worshipped by so many that the citizens who suffer damage from his actions are actually flattered by this.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Penry/Hong Kong Phooey appears to be the only anthropomorphic dog [or anthropomorphic animal in general] in the town where the show takes place, but this doesn't arouse any suspicion from anyone who knows both.
Poorly Disguised Pilot: The double-length last episode functioned as a pilot for several TV shows; only one, Posse Impossible, took off, as a segment of
CB Bears.
Shout-Out: Penry is described as "mild-mannered".
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: The final episode has Hong Kong Phooey in jail after being framed while the Poorly Disguised Pilot heroes save the day.
To the Batpole!: In this case, a filing cabinet whose drawers have a distressing habit of getting stuck, requiring a quick bit of Percussive Maintenance from Spot.
That's right—the "hero" can't even change into his costume without help.
In one episode, the help was from a termite, who gnawed a tunnel and led Penry out of it, becoming HKP upon exit.
In another, the help was him bouncing the cabinet into a wall in an attempt to escape (after Spot was cat-napped).
