Mr. Scientist: But in case you do, scream for help. It never comes. Heheheh!
Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist is an early and minor but meaningful Hanna-Barbera series initiated by Michael Maltese. The stars are a monster family consisting of Boris/J. Evil, the Lorre Lookalike husband; Goonda, the Vampira-like wife; and Junior, their Frankenstein's Monster-like son. The plots revolve around their affinity for the eerie. Following the characters' debut in the Snooper and Blabber episode "The Big Diaper Caper" (October 17, 1959), Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist was set to become a new animated show, but all attempts at materializing one fell through. The series did, however, get a comic book incarnation by Gold Key Comics and the Scientists did make further animated appearances in "Snap Happy Saps", "Surprised Party", and "Chilly Chiller", as well as the Snagglepuss episode "Fraidy Cat Lion".
The likely inspiration to the series is the The Addams Family–The Honeymooners–themed episode of The Red Skelton Show (January 18, 1955), in which Peter Lorre stars as a tongue-in-cheek version of his monstrous stage alter ego. In the sketch, he's married to Vultura, a Vampira Captain Ersatz played by Mary Beth Hughes, who performs the role more stiffly than Maila Nurmi. There is no child, but among the other creatures present in the household is a Frankenstein's Monster. Furthermore, the creation of Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist coincides with the start of the 1960s Horror Boom.
The shorts starring the Scientists premiered from 1959 to 1961, while their annual comic book run started in 1963. Behind-the-scenes material made public since then has revealed some of the ideas floating around for the unproduced animated show. Foremost, the monster family was to be renamed the Gruesomes or a homonym thereof. Another idea of note is that the Gruesomes would have opposition in the form of a normal family, in one version called the Twosomes and in another the Beasleys. Whether the monster family or the normal family were to be the protagonists was also a point of consideration.
Although Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist barely left the drawing board, its material was well-recycled. As far as the characters are concerned, the Scientists were retooled into the Gruesomes, who in 1964 joined the cast of The Flintstones. This also makes the Scientists the predecessors to the 1977 Creepleys on Laff-A-Lympics and the 1979 Frankenstones on The Flintstones. The final version of the family are the Morgansons of the 1988 A Pup Named Scooby-Doo episode "Snow Place Like Home". In regards to the series' concepts, Junior's sole vocalization of "whah-whah" resurfaced in Bamm-Bamm Rubble's sole vocalization of "bamm-bamm"; both characters were voiced by Don Messick. Boris/J. Evil and Goonda may have influenced the inclusion of Toad and Vampira to the 1980 cast of Drak Pack and paved the way for J.P. Ghastly's and Blanche's presence in the 1990 cast of Gravedale High. The property's final bow is that the malcommunication between a monster family and a normal family is a key element of the 1992 animated take on The Addams Family.
This series provides examples of:
- Always Someone Better: "Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist and the Looner Gooners" starts with Goonda asking a magic mirror if her family are the strangest people of all. The mirror bluntly replies they'll soon meet the strangest people of all, which worries the Scientists. These strangest people turn out to be a giggling and shapeshifting alien family known as the Looner Gooners. The Scientists host them during their stay on Earth, but are continuously unnerved by them and glad when they're gone.
- Ambiguously Human: In the shorts, the only reason to believe that the scientists are not human is their green skin. In "Chilly Chiller" and "Not a Ghost of a Chance", they are identified as humans by ghosts, but in the comics Junior is at least 400 years old, J. Evil and Junior can walk through fire unbothered, and the family is part of an all-monster friend group and neighborhood.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: In a world in which dragons, invisible people, vampires, mermaids, werewolves, Frankenstein's monsters, ghosts, and witches are real, "Genie with the Light Brown Eye" draws the line at genies. Or rather, while Goonda and Junior believe in them, J. Evil is certain they don't exist. He can science one up, though.
- Arch-Enemy: "Genie with the Light Brown Eye" introduces Igor, the evil ego-maniac, whom the entire Scientist Family can't stand but who is specifically J. Evil's enemy.
- Berate and Switch: A good percentage of the humor is about the Scientists and their peers describing something in a way that seems a negative, but which they mean as a positive. For instance, in "A Scream in Time", J. Evil ruins the family picnic and when Goonda demands to return home, he notes that the car is wrecked and that they'll have to walk. She tells him not to try and cheer her up.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: By Gold Key Comics, as shown in the page image.
- Creepy Family: The Scientists are a family unit of three consisting of a Peter Lorre-like husband, a Vampira-like wife, and their Frankenstein's Monster-like son. They delight in anything creepy, eerie, or spooky and dabble in magic and mad science.
- Cutting Corners: For all the fanciness their clothes and demeanor suggest, the Scientists are jobless squatting cheapskates. In "The Big Diaper Caper", they lure Snooper and Blabber into the role of babysitter with the promise of a 1000 dollar as payment. They never intended to pay, nor did they pay many babysitters before the duo, because Junior is sure to scare them off before payment is to be settled. In "The Butler Didn't Do It", they have a butler whom they don't pay and go through a lot of trouble to prevent him from talking to them when they think he's going to ask for a wage. And in "Chilly Chiller" and "Haunted-House Hunting", it's revealed that they don't own the mansion they live in. It just so happened to be abandoned, so they moved in.
- Enfant Terrible: Junior is a little monster that makes short work of any babysitter foolish enough to look after him.
- Fantastic Science: The Scientists mix science with magic of the spells and magic objects variety. Goonda is more magic-oriented and Junior more science-oriented, while J. Evil hangs out in the middle.
- Giggling Villain: In the shorts, J. Evil is prone to a creepy "heheheh" whenever something unsettling is said or occurs.
- Halloween Episode: "The Big Diaper Caper", "Surprised Party", "Chilly Chiller", as well as each of the four Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist comic issues premiered in September to October of their respective years.
- Handing Over the Crap Sack: J. Evil has a minor habit of gifting Goonda things she won't appreciate as a means of revenge for whatever she did. In "The Tooth of the Matter", he gives her numerous bouquets of snapdragons knowing full well that she's allergic. And in "Genie with the Light Brown Eye", he gifts her sickeningly sweet perfume she can't stand the smell of.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: According to "Snap Happy Saps", the Scientists' home is located near the corner of Banshee Boulevard and Scary Square. In "Gloom for Rent", their address is given as 1313 Dead End Road.
- Lighter and Softer: Design-wise, "Snap Happy Saps" stands out for its brighter colors, the Scientists not having green skin, and Goonda having a complete redesign that makes her look more approachable. Content-wise, this is the only entry in which the Scientists are amicable people who don't explicitly take delight in the macabre and who protect Snooper and Blabber from Junior. It's also the only short in which they actually pay anyone for their services.
- Lorre Lookalike: As mentioned above, J. Evil's appearance and voice are both influenced by Peter Lorre.
- Old, Dark House: In the shorts, the Scientists live in a rundown mansion with a fair share of secret passages. The mansion is located on top of a tall hill and takes a while to drive up or down. As per "Chilly Chiller" and "Haunted-House Hunting", the Scientists don't actually own the mansion and in the latter story are forced out when a wrecking crew tears down the supposedly abandoned building.
- One-Letter Name: The "J." of "J. Evil", the name of the husband. It is not revealed what it stands for.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: As per "Seafaring Scaring", one of Goonda's old school pals is Creep Suzette, a witch with a fish tail who gets identified as a fishwitch. Rather than a broom, she rides a board of driftwood.
- Performance Anxiety: In "The Spook Trio", the Scientists find that they are well-liked as a family band. Although the money sounds great to them, the thought alone of being seen by millions of people is enough to make them abandon this possible career.
- Plot Allergy: Goonda is allergic to snapdragons in "The Tooth of the Matter". Feigning ignorance, J. Evil buys a whole lot of them for her as a birthday gift to get back at her for a slight.
- Schmuck Bait: One friend's house J. Evil visits in "Dr. Evil and Mr. Good" has a sign on top that reads "Vera Vampire–Plump People Welcome".
- Smoking Is Glamorous: Goonda is regularly depicted with a cigarette holder to go with her evening wear attire. All the same, she's only once depicted taking a drag, that being in "Snap Happy Saps".
- Spell My Name With An S: In "The Big Diaper Caper", the family's mailbox reads "Mr. & Mrs. Evil Scientist", though Blabber reads it as "Mr. & Mrs. Evil Scientists". Come "Surprised Party", and the family's mailbox reads "Mr. & Mrs. Evil Scientists". In "Snap Happy Saps" and, more importantly, the comic books it's "Mr. & Mrs. Evil Scientist". One might also assume the family name is "Evil Scientist", but according to the comics it's "Scientist", while "J. Evil" is the husband's given name.
- Sudden Name Change: In "The Big Diaper Caper", which precedes the couple being named Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist, the wife calls her husband "Boris". In the Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist comics, the husband's name is "J. Evil", which he is called in full.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In Snagglepuss in Bandwagon #2, Junior doesn't exist. Instead, the Scientists have their nephew Nitric over. Nitric's design resembles Junior's monster form in "The Big Diaper Caper" and he's said to be three years old, which would roughly be Junior's age too.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Goonda is twice the height of J. Evil. J. Evil himself is just a little shorter than Snooper.
- The Unintelligible: In his animated appearances and the comic stories "Gloom for Rent" and "A Visit from Granny", Junior rarely communicates with anything but a croaked "whah-whah" (rendered as "croak" in the comics).
- Whole-Plot Reference: "Surprised Party" and to a lesser extent "Snap Happy Saps" are copies of "The Big Diaper Caper". The lead-up of how Snooper and Blabber come to look after Junior and the ending circumstances as to why they don't get paid (enough) are beat for beat the same.
- Wicked Witch: In the comics, Goonda is an experienced witch who likes to try out new recipes with nasty results in her spare time. Every time an old friend of hers is named or shows up, that's a witch too.
- You Don't Look Like You: Goonda has a completely different design in "Snap Happy Saps". Her nasolabial folds are gone, her hair is worn in a ponytail and slightly longer, her face is higher on her head (made possible by shortening her eyes), she wears long golden earrings, and her usual strapless dress with gloves is replaced with a full dress with a plunging neckline. Additionally, the entire family's green skin is here changed to a regular human color.
