The Barkleys

The Barkleys is an American animated television series that ran from 1972 to 1973 on NBC and was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

Premise

The cartoon - inspired by the CBS sitcom All in the Family - featured an anthropomorphic dog family consisting of Arnie, a bus driver (voiced by Henry Corden) and his wife Agnes (voiced by Joan Gerber). They had two teenagers, Terry and Roger (voiced by Julie McWhirter and Gene Andrusco respectively) and one younger child, Chester (voiced by Steve Lewis).

The theme song's lyrics ended with the advice "Just remember Arnie Barkley's bark is worse than his bite." This meant that Arnie's grouchy, unsociable front concealed a softer heart which he rarely allowed to show. Doug Goodwin's theme song used part of "(Be It Ever So Humble) There's No Place Like Home".

Airings

The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972. NBC continued to air reruns until September 1, 1973. Only 13 episodes were produced.

The series resurfaced in 2016, airing on the classic TV network Retro TV on Saturday mornings.