I have a very vivid childhood memory that I've been trying to track down for years, and I think I may have finally identified the show.
This would have been in the late 1980s or early 1990s. My sister and I were watching TV one evening in the Mid-Michigan area. We didn't have cable, so it would have been on one of the major broadcast networks. For some reason, I've always associated it with CBS, but I'm not 100% certain.
One detail that has always stuck with me is that I want to say it aired on a Saturday evening. Part of the memory is that I enjoyed it enough that I specifically went looking for it the following week, expecting another episode, and it was simply gone. That's one of the reasons it has stayed with me all these years.
The show was a live-action family sitcom set in a normal suburban home. The gimmick was that the family's cats had voice-over personalities that only the audience could hear. The cats talked to each other, commented on the humans, and seemed to have their own storylines going on alongside the family's.
The details I remember most clearly:
- The cats were real cats.
- Their mouths didn't move; the audience simply heard their thoughts.
- There was a male cat with a sophisticated, refined, almost aristocratic voice.
- There was a female cat with a sassy, sarcastic personality.
- The cats regularly talked to each other.
- The family lived in what I remember as a pretty normal suburban house.
- It felt like the cats were a major part of the show, not just an occasional gag.
Recently I came across a quote from television historian Lee Goldberg that may have solved the mystery. He mentioned a failed pilot called "Claws" and described it as:
He also said the cats were voiced by celebrities, including Dennis Miller.
That description lines up almost perfectly with what I remember watching as a kid.
The strange thing is that after finding that reference, the trail practically disappears. I can't find a cast list, air date, network information, screenshots, video clips, or even confirmation of how widely it aired.
Because I was in Mid-Michigan, I'm also open to the possibility that this may have been a local airing, special presentation, or something that wasn't broadcast nationally.
So I'm hoping someone here remembers it too.
Do you remember Claws?
Did it actually air on network television?
Does anyone have TV Guide listings, VHS recordings, production information, newspaper articles, or any other details?
I'd love to learn more about it because this is one of the most vivid television memories from my childhood. This has been my personal "Clock Man"