Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp

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Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp
Format	Action/Adventure/Family/Comedy
Created by	Stan Burns and Michael Marmer
Starring	Tongo (chimpanzee) / Dayton Allen
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	60 min (1970–1971) 30 min (1971–1972)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 12, 1970 – September 2, 1972
External links
IMDb profile

Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp was an American television show on ABC from September 12, 1970, to September 2, 1972. The Saturday morning live-action film series featured a cast of chimpanzees given apparent speaking roles by overdubbing with human voices. The first season aired hour-long shows that included recent Warner Brothers cartoons. The second season consisted of repeats from the first season with the cartoons removed. The network episodes added a laugh track; later syndicated and video versions do not.

The plot, always played for laughs, featured Lancelot Link and his female colleague Mata Hairi in secret agent and spy satires. Link worked for APE (Agency to Prevent Evil), engaged in an ongoing conflict with the evil organization CHUMP (Criminal Headquarters for Underworld Master Plan). CHUMP's monocled chief, Baron von Butcher, inevitably hatched the latest plan to endanger the world. The Baron's network of international fiends included his shifty chauffeur Creto, mad scientist Dr. Strangemind (with an exaggerated Bela Lugosi dialect), imperious Dragon Woman, drowsy Wang Fu, singing sheik Ali Assa Seen and the cultured Duchess. One or more would appear in each episode.

A regular weekly feature was chimp TV host "Ed Simian" introducing a musical number by an all-chimp band, "The Evolution Revolution." An album of these songs was released on the ABC/Dunhill record label. There were also Lancelot Link comic books and other merchandise, including Halloween costumes.

Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp was the most expensive Saturday morning children's' show to that time, with location filming, props and costumes, and the laborious staging and training of the animals. The filmmakers made the most of the budget, staging multiple episodes with the same settings and wardrobe, occasionally reusing the more elaborate chase footage that sometimes included BMWs.^{[citation needed]}

The show later appeared on the Nickelodeon cable television channel during the 1980s as well as infrequent syndication.

In June 2006, most of the episodes were released on a 2-DVD set by Image Entertainment.

1 The characters
2 The Evolution Revolution
3 Episodes of the program
4 References
5 External links

[edit] The characters

The characters of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp included these.

Heroes (Agents to Prevent Evil):

Lancelot Link (played by Tonga, voiced by Dayton Allen; his name was most likely inspired by the term "missing link")
Mata Hairi (played by Debbie, voiced by Joan Gerber; her name was a take-off on Mata Hari)
Commander Darwin (voiced by Dayton Allen; named after Charles Darwin)
Bruce (no voice; official APE courier)

Villains (Criminals Headquartered and Underworld Master Planners):

Baron von Butcher (voiced by Bernie Kopell, formerly Siegfried in Get Smart!)
Dragon Lady (voiced by Joan Gerber)
Creto
Wang Fu
The Duchess (voiced by Joan Gerber)
Ali Assa Seen (voiced and sung by Dayton Allen; his name was meant to sound like "assassin")
Dr. Strangemind (voiced by Dayton Allen; name inspired by Dr. Strangelove)

Additional Characters:

Marty Mandrill (former songwriter for The Evolution Revolution, turned CHUMP spy)
An unnamed orangutan (appeared in cameos as a picturesque extra; often referred to by Lance as "that weirdo")
Blackie (the drummer in The Evolution Revolution)
Ed Simian (a television MC, and a parody of Ed Sullivan)

The episodes were all narrated, in a mock-sober delivery, by Malachi Throne.

[edit] The Evolution Revolution

This all-chimp band, dressed in extreme, colorful flower-child wigs and wardrobe, featured Lance Link (played by Tonga) on guitar and Mata Hairi (played by Debbie) on tambourine, with Blackie on the drums. The name of the chimpanzee on keyboards was never mentioned and none of the chimps' actual names was disclosed in the credits.

In one episode (appropriately entitled "The Evolution Revolution"), it was established that the band's music was used to communicate coded messages for APE agents.

The songs were usually co-written and always performed by Steve Hoffman, in the "bubblegum" style then in vogue. (Hoffman received "voices" credit along with the various character actors.) A Lancelot Link record album was released on ABC/Dunhill, as well as a single titled 'Sha-La Love You'. The musical sound was almost interchangeable with the music of The Grass Roots, who used the same recording facilities and the identical studio musicians. ("Sha-La Love You" had actually been intended as a Grass Roots record.) Some songs contained heavy guitar riffs, reflecting the growth of hard rock and heavy metal.