Shirts with words and sayings on them, a venerable medium of written communication, formed the basis for a line of Hallmark greeting cards and then, inevitably, for a Saturday morning animated series. The shirts were worn by adorable animal characters, hence Shirt Tales.

Hanna-Barbera brought the premise to the small screen and populated the series with furry critters who ran around wearing t-shirts that broadcasted the wearer's thoughts and mood in bright letters. Unburdened by the notions of privacy, intellectual property and thoughtcrimes, the animals flashed the world with phrases like "Hug Me," "Cool!" and " You all die tonight."

The Shirt Tales crew consisted of Tyg Tiger, Pammy Panda, Digger Mole, Rick Raccoon and Bogey Orangutan--thusly named became he sounded like Humphrey Bogart. The gang lived in Mid City's Oak Tree Park and spent a lot of their time playing tricks on Mr. Dinkle, the hapless park ranger. But it wasn't all fun and games, no. The Shirt Tales were also an elite crimefighting force that battled evil wherever they found it. They traveled the world using the Shirt Tales' SuperSonic Transport (STSST for short, and for the sanity of all lispers out there) which could operate on land, at sea and in the air.

The series was popular enough to air for two seasons on NBC and on syndication and cable thereafter.