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Pole Position (TV series)

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6.7/10
TV

Country of origin
  
FranceUnited States

No. of seasons
  
1

Final episode date
  
8 December 1984

Number of episodes
  
13

6.8/10
IMDb

Created by
  
Original language(s)
  
English

First episode date
  
15 September 1984

Network
  
Number of seasons
  
1

Pole Position (TV series) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen55bPol

Genre
  
Animated television series

Voices of
  
David CoburnLisa LindgrenMelvin FranklinDarryl Hickman

Cast
  
Similar
  
The First Easter Rabbit, Ring Raiders, The Kid Super Power Ho, Blackstar, The Stingiest Man in To

Pole Position is an animated cartoon series produced by DIC Entertainment.

Contents

The name Pole Position was used under license from Namco, who held the rights to the name due to the video game Pole Position. The show sought to capitalize on the popularity of the video game. However, there is very little in common between the game and the show other than the car designated "Wheels" being colored red as in Pole Position and the car designated "Roadie" being colored blue as in Pole Position II.

Pole Position (TV series) I liked the Pole Position TVshow better than the video game from

Pole position opening


Overview

Pole Position (TV series) Classic Geek Cartoons Revisited Pole Position Den of Geek

Pole Position ran for 13 episodes on CBS in 1984 as part of its Saturday morning children's programming line-up. The show later returned in reruns for a few months in 1986, followed by a run on The Family Channel (now ABC Family) in the late 1980s through the early 1990s. It was shown in the United Kingdom during the 1980s in the CBBC strand and repeated in the early 1990s on Saturday mornings as part of Going Live on BBC1.

The show features the Darretts, a family of stunt-driving crime fighters, who investigated and thwarted wrongdoing while operating under the front of a traveling show known as "Pole Position Stunt Show", which was sponsored by the United States government in order to give cover for their investigative activity and provide maintenance for the high-demand vehicles. The Darretts had two adult children and a third child who was much younger in age. A road accident ended the life of the parents, and the father's younger brother, known as Uncle Zack, took charge of the stunt show. He said that now that the patriarch and his wife were dead, it was incumbent upon the two adult children, Tess and Dan, to continue their parents' dangerous and proud work.

The vehicles feature numerous hidden gadgets like water skis and hover jets. The vehicles' computers themselves are portable and can be removed from the dashboards and carried around using handles—thus they are often referred to as "the modules". The modules are characters appearing as talking computer-drawn faces displayed on video screens.

Characters

  • Tess Darrett – Tess is the older sister and "de facto" leader of the group who drives Wheels. Tess is voiced by Lisa Lindgren.
  • Dan Darrett – Tess' hot-headed brother who drives Roadie. Dan is voiced by David Coburn.
  • Daisy Darrett – The younger pre-teen sister of Dan and Tess. Daisy is voiced by Kaleena Kiff.
  • Dr. Zachary Darrett – A wheelchair-using engineer and uncle of the Darrett kids. He runs the Pole Position operation and is responsible for the development of the vehicles. He is voiced by Jack Angel.
  • Kuma – Daisy's pet, Kuma is a genetic creation and is a strange cross between a raccoon and a monkey. Kuma is voiced by Marilyn Schreffler.
  • Wheels – a red and black 1965 Ford Mustang driven by Tess. Wheels' AI computer is more careful than his counterpart Roadie and frequently says he's "getting too old for this" when part of a mission becomes most pivotal. Wheels is voiced by Melvin Franklin (who was a member of the singing group The Temptations).
  • Roadie – a more futuristic-looking light-blue coupe driven by Dan. Roadie's AI computer is very smart and typically tries to keep Dan out of trouble. Roadie is voiced by Darryl Hickman.
  • Principal cast

  • Lisa Lindgren – Tess Darrett
  • Kaleena Kiff – Daisy Darrett
  • David Coburn – Dan Darrett
  • Jack Angel – Dr. Zachary Darrett
  • Marilyn Scheffler – Kuma
  • Mel Franklin – Wheels
  • Darryl Hickman – Roadie
  • Additional voices

  • Neilson Ross -
  • Paul Kirby -
  • Phillip Clark -
  • Jered Barclay -
  • Brian Cummings -
  • Irv Immerman -
  • Steve Schatzberg -
  • Barry Gordon -
  • Derek McGrath -
  • Tony Pope -
  • Hal Smith -
  • Bob Towers -
  • DVD release

    On April 21, 2008, Brightspark Productions released a 4-disc box set containing all 13 complete episodes of the series on DVD in the UK.

    Mill Creek Entertainment released 10 of the 13 episodes of the series in a combo pack with 10 episodes of C.O.P.S. and 10 episodes of Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors on January 10, 2012. On October 16, 2012, Mill Creek released TV Toons To Go, a 10-disc compilation of various cartoons owned by Cookie Jar, now by DHX Media, and the 10th disc of that set contains the remaining 3 episodes of Pole Position that weren't included on the combo pack DVD set.

    References

    Pole Position (TV series) Wikipedia