An extremely bizarre set-up that worked more often than not. Eliot Shag, a Muppet, was the sole animator (and, one would assume, did all the voices?) for an animated noir series starring Ace Hart, Private Eye Dog. Ace functioned as Eliot's alter ego - suave where Eliot was unsure - and would occasionally stop the action of the cartoon to argue plot points with his creator. This provided the show with its best moments: Ace wanting to use a .45 despite Eliot's steadfast rule against guns, Ace's refusal to do anything "science-fiction-y", and of course Ace's frustration of never getting together with police-dog Rosie.
Some excellent characters in this show. I for one hate the ubiquitous "cutesy" kids that these shows always have, but Artie (and his animated counterpart Eddie) managed to be fun and endearing rather than annoying. Replacing the rather innocuous Colleen with the more headstrong Terri was a good move. The writers apparently tried to "up the hip quotient" on Eliot in the second season, ditching his sweater and giving him a Hawaiian shirt. I actually preferred him more as the awkward loner, but that was fine. Like many shows of its ilk, it did run out of steam at the end, padding itself out with pointless bits like "Madog's Poetry Corner" and "Terri & Dot". Still, a definite cut above most of the other animated/children's programs of the day. Cool-as-heck theme song, too.
Some excellent characters in this show. I for one hate the ubiquitous "cutesy" kids that these shows always have, but Artie (and his animated counterpart Eddie) managed to be fun and endearing rather than annoying. Replacing the rather innocuous Colleen with the more headstrong Terri was a good move. The writers apparently tried to "up the hip quotient" on Eliot in the second season, ditching his sweater and giving him a Hawaiian shirt. I actually preferred him more as the awkward loner, but that was fine. Like many shows of its ilk, it did run out of steam at the end, padding itself out with pointless bits like "Madog's Poetry Corner" and "Terri & Dot". Still, a definite cut above most of the other animated/children's programs of the day. Cool-as-heck theme song, too.