Centered on a girl band with a knack for ending up in the middle of a mystery, Josie and the Pussycats is a 1970 Saturday Hanna-Barbera television cartoon series featuring Josie, a character conceived and drawn by "Archie" Comic legend Dan DeCarlo, his complete 16-episode series features band members Josie, Melody, and Valerie and their entourage Alan, Alexander, Alexandra, and cat Sebastian as they travel the world from one gig to another. Like the Scooby-Doo gang, Josie and her friends invariably find themselves involved in some kind of mystery at every stop. Whether it's saving a fleet of ships from a captain set on avenging his great grandfather, investigating alien invaders with an insatiable hunger for diamonds, or stopping a crazed scientist from controlling the world's weather with a nuclear powered weather machine, lead singer Josie, clever Valerie, and ditzy Melody can be counted upon to combine forces with Josie's boyfriend Alan, the cowardly Alexander, the self-absorbed and scheming Alexandra, and the snickering cat Sebastian to investigate and solve the mystery just in time to don their leopard leotards and deliver a great show. Josie and the Pussycats features the groovy music of a brief-lived 1970 girl pop band of the same name throughout the chase scenes of each show and has the honor of being the first cartoon series to regularly feature a black character (though it beat The Harlem Globetrotters by only half an hour). An interesting 22-minute bonus profile of Dan DeCarlo features extensive interviews with great Marvel cartoonist Stan Lee (Spiderman, Fantastic Four), writer Mark Evanier, cartoonist Scott Shaw, "Archie" chairman and publisher Michael Silberkleit, writer and producer Paul Dini, and a host of others who touch upon everything from this master cartoonist's real-life inspiration for Josie to his influence on future cartoonists and animators, sense of humor, and very distinctive style. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi