Hot Wheels (TV series)

Hot Wheels is an American animated television series broadcast on ABC from 1969 to 1971, under the primary sponsorship of Mattel Toys. The show took pains to stress that it was "pro-safety", contrasting the safe and responsible behavior of the series' racing-club protagonists with the reckless behavior of their rivals.

The show was criticized by the Federal Communications Commission, which considered it a half-hour commercial for toy cars. ABC contested the charge, saying that there was no prior commitment to Mattel, and that Hot Wheels cars were never advertised during the program. The network was backed up by the National Association of Broadcasters, and the show remained on the ABC schedule for two seasons.

Synopsis

The series mainly focused on the racing exploits of a high school student, Jack "Rabbit" Wheeler, who led the Hot Wheels Racing Club.

Voice cast

Bob Arbogast as Doc Warren
Melinda Casey as Janet Martin
Albert Brooks as Kip Chogi
Susan Davis as Ardeth Pratt
Casey Kasem as Dexter Carter
Nora Marlowe as Mother O'Hare
Michael Rye as Jack "Rabbit" Wheeler

Episodes

Big Race
The Family Car
Fire Fighters
The Jewel
Fake Out - Stake Out
The Buggy Ride
Four Wheel Time Bomb
Hit and Run
It Takes a Team
Ardeth the Demon (Ardeth the Highwayman)
Like Father, Like Son
Avalanche Country
Danger Around the Clock
Tough Cop
Hotter Than the Devils
Underground
Rough Ride (The Test)
Race to Space
Monkey a-Okay
Diamonds Are a Girls Worst Friend
Big Heart, Little Hearts
Get Back on That Horse
Hitchhike to Danger
Dragon's Tooth Peak
The Doc Warren Trophy Race
Show-Off
Drag Strip
Mata Hari Ardeth
Slicker-Slicks

FCC action

Some time during the show's broadcast, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received complaints from toy companies who argued that it was actually a thirty-minute commercial for the toys; one of them was Topper Toys, a rival to Mattel. The FCC obliged by ordering stations to log part of the airings as advertising time.