The Houndcats is an American Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises.
[2] Loosely based on the CBS adventure series Mission: Impossible and the short-lived 1971 series Bearcats!,[3] it was headed by a combined team of (three) dogs and (two) cats, hence the name, as they go on spy missions in 1914 America.
Each episode begins with the Houndcats receiving orders from their unseen "Chief", whose message is played on an old-fashioned gramophone, player-piano or other devices, parodying the tape recorder scene at the start of most episodes of Mission: Impossible.
However, the words "this message will self-destruct in five seconds", always takes the Houndcats by surprise, causing them to run away from the explosion.
An adult laugh track was added, as was common practice for cartoon series at the time.