Television series

Josie and the Pussycats

Name: Josie and the Pussycats
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1970
Cast: Janet Waldo, Barbara Pariot, Jackie Joseph, Jerry Dexter, Casey Kasem

Other titles called Josie and the Pussycats: the 2001 film.

Comedy
Light-hearted

A bubblegum cartoon about an all-girl rock band solving mysteries and outsmarting would-be supervillains across the globe. It's pure Saturday morning escapism: zippy, colorful, ridiculous, and deeply unconcerned with logic. Built for kids who wanted adventure without darkness, and for anyone nostalgic about when TV knew exactly what it was.

TVMaze rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love Saturday-morning cartoon silliness with real bounce, a bubblegum pop soundtrack, and a villain-of-the-week structure that rewards you for not taking any of it seriously.

Skip it if you want a show that builds on itself, since each sixteen-episode run is mostly standalone capers, and the plots can feel repetitive and thin once the novelty of the premise wears off.

What it asks of you: Half an hour a week of easygoing attention; it moves briskly, stays light throughout, and rewards you for going along with its cheerfully ridiculous logic.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Archie Show1968

Contemporary rival from the same animation studio, same era of primetime cartoon ambition. A rock band solving problems through friendship and luck, drawn with that distinctive Saturday-morning energy.

But Even more dated in its humor and gender politics. The animation is stiff and the jokes land with a thud.

Grease1978

Musical high school wish-fulfillment, same generation's fever dream. Josie's optimism and color palette, but in live action with a real budget and that irresistible summer-night energy.

But It's syrupy, the plot is thin, and the gender messaging is actively weird. Fun, but you have to surrender to the musical-theater aesthetic entirely.

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour1968

Sketch comedy meets adventure, live-action hosts with cartoon segments. The same scrambled energy—no internal logic, just whatever's fun, delivered at ramming speed.

But Tonally scattered and deeply strange in ways that don't quite work. The live-action bits feel unsettling next to the cartoons.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Josie and the Pussycats

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Kiki's Delivery Service1989

Both center on resourceful young women solving problems through skill and friendship. Both believe in the pleasure of doing things well and the romance of independence. But where Josie bulldozes through chaos, Kiki builds something real.

A young woman leaves home to make it on her own, making a life through her talents and her friends. Same DNA as Josie—optimism, competence, genuine joy in work and adventure. But it's a real film, animated with care, pitched at all ages.

But It's quiet and contemplative. There's no plot in the conventional sense; it's about atmosphere and character. If you want non-stop adventure, this is too gentle.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast1994

Another Hanna-Barbera adventure with absurdist charm. Colorful, weird, confident in its own strangeness. That era's approach to Saturday morning: plot is second to personality.

But It's really just reused animation sequences. The voice acting is thin and the stories are thinner. Easier to appreciate than to actually watch.

The Brady Bunch1969

Peak optimism about young people solving problems together. Same era's faith in team-ups and friendship. Live-action wholesome chaos instead of cartoons, but the mood is cousins.

But Relentlessly saccharine and the problems are trivial. It's harder to laugh with than to laugh at, and only nostalgia carries you through.

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters1973

Live-action Saturday morning adventure with a misunderstood monster. That same '70s optimism, the same faith that problems can be solved with friendship and luck.

But Deeply cheap-looking, incoherent plotting, and the humor lands nowhere. Even for its time, it was a program filling air.

Daria1997

Both are cartoons about capable young women moving through a world of absurdity. But Josie solved problems; Daria observes them. One is Saturday morning, the other is grown-up television wearing cartoon clothes.

Smart cartoon about a girl with a band of actual friends, spinning through a world of nonsense. Same format energy as Josie—episodic, colorful, anchored by a protagonist too smart for the stupidity around her. But it's written for actual adults.

But The humor is dry and the pace is deliberately slow. If you want zippy and colorful, Daria is its opposite—flat animation, deadpan delivery, jokes that require patience.

Phantom of the Paradise1974

Both are wildly enthusiastic about rock and roll as a life force. Both believe in the visual language of the music business and in style as substance. Phantom just believes rock and roll can also destroy you.

A rock opera about ambition, theft, and murder in the music industry. It has Josie's color, costume design, and belief in rock and roll as pure joy—but it's genuinely dark, genuinely strange, genuinely about something. De Palma's fever dream.

But It's a horror film dressed as a musical. The tone is grotesque and the story is genuinely upsetting. If you want light entertainment, this will confuse and disturb you.