Series Description

Alvin and the Chipmunks was a 30 minute Kids TV Show on NBC about three school-aged animated chipmunk brothers who lived with their adopted father Dave and had their own band with dad as their manager. Somehow, Alvin, Simon and Theodore managed to get themselves into some jam during every episode and then spend the rest of the show trying to find a way out. Oh yeah ... dad usually found himself drug into each mess too!

Alvin and the Chipmunks Characters

(Voices)

Ross Bagdasarian Jr. .... Alvin Seville / Simon Seville / Dave Seville
Ross Bagdasarian Jr. .... Grandpa Seville #2 / Many Other Male Voices

Janice Karman .... Theodore Seville / Brittany / Jeanette
Janice Karman .... Eleanor / Many Other Female Voices

Frank Welker .... Miscellaneous Voices
Dody Goodman .... Miss Beatrice "Rebecca" Miller (1986-1990)
Thomas H. Watkins .... Uncle "Adventure" Willy / Lilly the Dog / Other Voices (1988-1990)
Tress MacNeille .... Miscellaneous Voices (1983-1987)
Alan Young .... Grandpa Seville #1 (1983-1987)

Theme Song

Written and Performed By: "Ross Bagdasarian Jr."

Watch out cause here we come
It's been a while but we're back with style
So get set to have some fun
We'll bring you action and satisfaction

We're the chipmunks
C-H-I-P-M-U-N-K
We're the chipmunks
Guaranteed to brighten your day

When you feel like a laugh
Give us a call we'll give you a roll
And if you feel like a song
Tune in to us and sing right along

We're the chipmunks
Coming on stronger than ever before
We're the chipmunks
Alvin, Simon, Theodore

Trivia:

The first "appearance" of Alvin and the Chipmunks was in 1958 when Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. recorded a series of LP records of songs sung with voices that sounded as if they were done by chipmunks, presuming that such a thing was possible. It was a unique idea that became very popular with children and adults alike. Ross did all three voices himself and did them using an interesting method. He sang each part in slow motion and then sped up the recording until the words flowed at normal speed. That resulted in the "chipmunk voices" that we've all come to love!

The lyrics of the theme song above ("It's been a while but we're back with style") refer to the fact that there was a previous Chipmunks TV series that aired during the 1961-1962 season and was titled, "The Alvin Show".

Even though the first TV series only lasted one season, the episodes became ever more popular in re-runs.

That popularity that just wouldn't go away resulted in a 1981 TV special titled, "A Chipmunk Christmas". The ratings were great and reinforced the idea that the Chipmunks should return in a more enduring manner. Less than two year later this TV series premiered and ran for eight delightful seasons. It was updated to include songs of the '80s by popular artists like Michael Jackson and Elton John. Numerous stars of the day and movies and TV shows of the '80s were spoofed and fans loved it!

All of the episodes during the eighth and final season were parodies of blockbuster Hollywood movies. (See episode titles below)

This series was titled, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" for its first five seasons. For seasons six and seven the title was changed to "The Chipmunks". The name was changed again for the eighth and final season to "The Chipmunks Go To The Movies" to reflect the fact that all of the season 8 episodes were spoofs of Hollywood movies.

You may notice that the air dates during the sixth season appear a bit strange. Instead of airing just one day per week, some weeks had several episodes. There was a writer's strike that season and some of the regular episodes were delayed. At the same time, other episodes had been produced for future syndication and in order to fill in they were aired on NBC instead.

The Chipettes were introduced on this series. Their musical group provided a rivalry for the boys and the fact that their rivals were girls made things even worse! The Chipettes voices were done by Janice Karman who was the wife of the series' creator Ross Bagdasarian Jr. who was the son of the Chipmunks original creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr. Talk about keeping it in the family!