[5] The series stars the voice of Don Adams as the titular character, and it first premiered on December 4, 1982, as an exclusive pilot.

[6] Since 2012, the rights to Inspector Gadget have been owned by WildBrain (formerly DHX Media) through its in-name-only unit, Cookie Jar Entertainment.

In reality, the investigations are often conducted by Inspector Gadget's niece Penny, who has a gifted sleuthing mind despite her young age and secretly operates behind the scenes to thwart M.A.D.

's plot and ensure that her uncle remains out of harm's way, as Dr. Claw frequently instructs his agents to get rid of Inspector Gadget before he can stop them, in denial that she is his real enemy.

Dr. Claw always vows revenge on Inspector Gadget for thwarting his schemes, and flees the scene on most occasions having been on site to oversee his plans.

Like many cartoons made in the 1980s, Inspector Gadget always ended each episode with a public service announcement advising how to handle a situation, such as the danger of dealing with strangers.

In 1981, Inspector Gadget creator Andy Heyward left Hanna-Barbera and traveled to Paris to work with DIC Audiovisuel after being proposed by the company to do so.

[10] As the company wanted entertainment for the United States, Heyward combined ideas to originate Inspector Gadget.

"[10] Chalopin, who at the time owned the DIC Audiovisuel studio, helped develop the format and concept for the rest of the episodes together with Bruno Bianchi, who designed the main characters and served as supervising director.

It was removed after DIC received a letter from MGM (which already acquired United Artists) that he looked too similar to Inspector Clouseau from Pink Panther.

[11][better source needed] As Nelvana was no longer part of the production by season 2, the show was written by the DIC studio employees Eleanor Burian-Mohr, Mike O'Mahoney, Glen Egbert, and Jack Hanrahan.

[citation needed] Nelvana was not involved with the show's 21-episode second season, for which pre-production was moved to DiC's own Los Angeles-based headquarters.

[citation needed] The role of Inspector Gadget went through two different voice actors before Don Adams was cast.

[16] Eventually, producers decided to cast actor Don Adams in the role, re-recording all of Inspector Gadget's dialogue in the pilot from Jesse White and Gary Owens.

Chief Quimby was voiced by John Stephenson in the original pilot, and later by Dan Hennessey for the remainder of the first season.

[citation needed] When production of Inspector Gadget moved from Nelvana in Toronto to DiC's headquarters in Los Angeles for the second season, all of the Canadian-based voice artists were replaced.

[citation needed] The theme music was inspired by Edvard Grieg's movement "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and was composed by Shuki Levy.

[21][22][19] An English-language soundtrack LP, entitled Inspector Gadget – The Music, was released in Australia in 1986 through ABC Records.

[citation needed] Various stations, such as Global Television Network, and The Family Channel aired Inspector Gadget until the late-1990s.

The release contains the show's pilot Winter Olympics alongside the first two episodes of the series, which are "Monster Lake" and "Down on the Farm".

The DVD version contains "Gadget at the Circus" and "The Amazon" as bonus episodes, alongside an interview with Andy Heyward answering 10 questions voted upon by fans.

[41] New Video Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in four volume sets on October 8, 2013.

[43][44][45] Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the series four stars out of five, writing, "Bumbling bionic detective offers worry-free laughs for kids.

[47] On May 7, 1984, an advertisement revealed that Inspector Gadget appeared in 16 of the Top 20 markets and increased its Nielsen rating by 37% from October 1983 to February 1984.

[28] According to Henry Siegel, chairman of Lexington Broadcast Services, the series' success led to produce the 1984 animated adaptation of Heathcliff.

[52] Inspector Gadget was adapted into a 1999 live action film by Disney starring Matthew Broderick as the titular character, Dabney Coleman as Chief Quimby, Michelle Trachtenberg as Penny, and Rupert Everett as Dr. Claw, with Gadget's original voice actor, Don Adams, as Brain in a post-credits scene.

Despite being a moderate box office success, the film was panned by both critics and fans, earning a 21% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Elaine Hendrix was the lead female character as G2, and Caitlin Wachs portrayed Penny replacing Trachtenberg.

Written by Dale Mettam and illustrated by José Cobá, the style of the book is based on the original 1983 television show.

"[55] In September 2012, Cookie Jar issued a short press release about the upcoming series, as part of the advertising for it during the MIPCOM market that October, stating: "Cookie Jar Entertainment is celebrating Inspector Gadget's 30th anniversary with the launch of a brand-new series with its Canadian broadcast partner Teletoon.