The Roman Holidays

*The Roman Holidays*
The Roman Holidays
Genre	Animated sitcom
Voices of	Dom DeLuise; Daws Butler; Pamelyn Ferdin; Stanley Livingston; Shirley Mitchell; Hal Smith; Dave Willock
Composer	Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producers	William Hanna; Joseph Barbera
Production company	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 9 –; December 2, 1972

The Roman Holidays is a half-hour Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972.^[1] Reruns were later shown on the USA Cartoon Express during the 1980s, Cartoon Network during the 1990s and Boomerang during the 2000s.^[2]

The show was an attempt by Hanna-Barbera to replicate the success of their 1960-1966 show The Flintstones, with another modern family living in heavily fictionalized Roman times.^[3] Thirteen episodes were produced. An Ancient Roman setting was one of the ideas that Hanna-Barbera considered when creating The Flintstones.^[4]

Very similar in theme to both The Flintstones and The Jetsons, The Roman Holidays brought a look at the "marble age" life in Ancient Rome, as seen through the eyes of Augustus "Gus" Holiday and his family.^[5] The opening shows a chariot traffic jam and a TV, showing football on Channel "IV".

Plot

The Holidays, a Roman family living at the Venus DeMilo Arms Apartments in A.D. 63, deal with a variety of modern-day problems. Gus Holiday works at the Forum Construction Company for his demanding boss, Mr. Tycoonius, who is constantly threatening to fire Gus if an assignment he is given goes awry. He lives with his wife, Laurie, the children Precocia and Happius (Happy), and pet lion, Brutus. Their neighbors are good friends: Herman, Henrietta and their daughter, Groovia, Happy's girlfriend. Their lives are embittered by their exasperated landlord, Mr. Evictus, who: tries to find proof of Brutus living with the Holidays, has a daughter, named Snobbia, and excites Gus's tagline "Evictus will evict us !".^[6]

Cast

Dom DeLuise as Mr. Evictus
Daws Butler as Brutus the Lion
Pamelyn Ferdin as Precocia Holiday
Stanley Livingston as Happius Holiday
Shirley Mitchell as Laurie Holiday
Harold Peary as Herman
Hal Smith as Mr. Tycoonius
John Stephenson
Judy Strangis as Groovia
Janet Waldo as Henrietta
Dave Willock as Gus Holiday

Episodes

No.	Title	Original air date	Prod. code
1	"Double Date"	September 9, 1972 (1972-09-09)	58-1
Mr. Evictus threatens to evict the Holiday family if they fail to fix up his daughter Snobbia with a date for the big high school dance.
2	"The Lion's Share"	September 16, 1972 (1972-09-16)	58-2
After Mr. Evictus threatens to evict the family for violating the "no pets" policy, Brutus runs away to find his long-lost father.
3	"Star For A Day"	September 23, 1972 (1972-09-23)	58-3
Hap turns out to be a look-alike for rock star Davey Cassius, so the two trade places for the day.
4	"Hero-Sandwiched"	September 30, 1972 (1972-09-30)	58-4
Gus struggles with his conscience when he's mistakenly honored as the hero who foiled a robbery.
5	"The Big Split-Up"	October 7, 1972 (1972-10-07)	58-5
When Groovia overhears Precocia setting up Brutus on a date, she thinks it's for Hap and breaks up with him.
6	"Hectic Holiday"	October 14, 1972 (1972-10-14)	58-6
The family finds an offer to trade houses with another family in Venice for a free vacation.
7	"Switch Is Which?"	October 21, 1972 (1972-10-21)	58-7
After Gus stays up all night working on architectural plans for a big client under the orders of Mr. Tycoonius, Laurie dons a fake mustache to fool the client into believing she's Gus.
8	"That's Show Biz"	October 28, 1972 (1972-10-28)	58-8
When the circus comes to town, Gus gets tickets from his old school chum Hammus Terrificus.
9	"Double Dilemma"	November 4, 1972 (1972-11-04)	58-9
When Precocia's drum performance conflicts with his bowling team's big match, Gus must find a way to be in two places at once. Note: This episode is a re-working of The Flintstones episode "Fred Strikes Out", which originally aired on March 2, 1962. Also "The Jetsons" episode "Las Venus" aired on December 16. 1962.
10	"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Chariot Wash"	November 11, 1972 (1972-11-11)	58-10
Mr. Tycoonius orders Gus to get his prized racing chariot washed, but the chariot is destroyed before Gus can return it.
11	"Buried Treasure"	November 18, 1972 (1972-11-18)	58-11
Gus believes a treasure map he's found at the bottom of some junk leads to a fortune buried under the apartment building.
12	"Cyrano De Happius"	November 25, 1972 (1972-11-25)
Hap tries to fix up his friend with a beautiful cheerleader, but the cheerleader falls for Hap and Groovia starts dating Hap's friend.
13	"Father Of The Year"	December 2, 1972 (1972-12-02)	58-13
Gus and Mr. Evictus compete in Rome's most prestigious competition, the Father of the Year awards.

The Roman Holidays in other languages

Brazilian Portuguese: Os Mussarelas ("The Mozzarellas")
Galician: Festas de Roma ("Roma's Parties")
German: Die verrückten Holidays ("The Crazy Holidays")
Spanish: Roma me da risa ("Rome makes me laugh")
Italian: S.P.Q.R. – Sembrano Proprio Quasi Romani ("They really seem almost Roman"), a play on the Latin initialism

Comics

Gold Key produced a comic book based on the series from November 1972 to August 1973. Only four issues were published. Pete Alvarado drew the first three; Jack Manning drew the final issue.^[7]

Home media

The first episode, "Double Date", is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Volume 1. On April 23, 2013, Warner Archive released The Roman Holidays: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.^[8]

Appearances in other media

Manatee versions of the characters Laurie and Precocia Holiday and Mr. Tycoonius appear as sirens in the Jellystone! episode "Balloon Kids". The rap song in the episode features a reference to the year the series was originally released (1972).

References

^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946–1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 687–688. ISBN 978-1476665993.
^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 517–518. ISBN 978-1538103739.
^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 336. ISBN 978-1476665993.
^ Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 178. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 363–364. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
^ The Roman Holidays at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015.
^ "The Roman Holidays".

External links

[Woolery-1] Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946–1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.

[2] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 687–688. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[Perlmutter-3] Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 517–518. ISBN 978-1538103739.

[4] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 336. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[5] Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 178. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.

[Daytime-6] Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 363–364. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.

[7] The Roman Holidays at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015.

[8] "The Roman Holidays".

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v t e Children's programming on NBC in the 1970s
First-run animated series	Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales Here Comes the Grump (1969-1970) The Pink Panther Show (1969–1978) The Underdog Show The Further Adventures of Dr. Dolittle (1970-1971) The Houndcats The Roman Holidays The Barkleys Sealab 2020 Around the World in Eighty Days Inch High, Private Eye The Addams Family (1973) Emergency +4 (1973-1974) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids (1973) Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1975) Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch (1974) The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty (1975) Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975–76) CB Bears (1977) The Young Sentinels (1977) The New Archie and Sabrina Hour (1977) I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali (1977) Baggy Pants and the Nitwits Yogi's Space Race Galaxy Goof-Ups Buford and the Galloping Ghost The Godzilla Power Hour Fantastic Four The New Fred and Barney Show Casper and the Angels (1979–80) Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979-80) The New Shmoo (1979-80) The Super Globetrotters The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979–80)
First-run live-action series	H.R. Pufnstuf The Banana Splits Adventure Hour Barrier Reef The Bugaloos (1970–1972) Mr. Wizard Runaround Sigmund and the Sea Monsters Go Run, Joe, Run Land of the Lost (1974–1977) Westwind McDuff, the Talking Dog Monster Squad Big John, Little John (1976–77) The Kids From C.A.P.E.R. Muggsy Thunder Search and Rescue The Red Hand Gang The Krofft Superstar Hour
Rebroadcasts	The Heckle and Jeckle Show The Flintstones (1966-70) The Woody Woodpecker Show Deputy Dawg The Jetsons (1977-81) Josie and the Pussycats (1973-76) Hong Kong Phooey (1978-81) Speed Buggy (1977-80) Space Ghost and Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles (1977-80) The Go-Go Globetrotters The Alvin Show (1979) The Daffy Duck Show Jonny Quest (1979-81)
Related	Animation in the United States in the television era