Will The Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down? (partially found animated series; 1970-1972)

Will The Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down? was a 1970-1972 animated series created by Filmation (the first to feature the 'Scheimer circle' logo), broadcast on ABC Television and shown on Saturday mornings. It featured the animated adventures of the famous slapstick comedian as he took on a series of odd jobs, with each one being 'staffed' by different characters Lewis would become, based on who he thought would best suit the task at hand, like in his movies to comic results. These characters would often resemble the ones from his many films. Though Lewis himself was involved with the series, either time or financial constraints had his character voiced by future Laverne & Shirley star David L. Lander. The series lasted a total of 18 episodes over two seasons.

The series' life after its network run is in question. It has not been released on home video, nor does it seem to be one of the offerings on the many nostalgia cable channels in operation as of 2016. Web videos seem to have only the show's intro, outro and commercial bumpers. Animation cells are available for online purchase, but no episodes in any form can currently be found.

Several factors might be in play for keeping this series out of the public eye. One is that, like his feature film The Day The Clown Cried, Jerry Lewis has personal reasons for not allowing it to be seen. Another possibility is that, like the early 1960's Dick Tracy cartoon, ethnic stereotypes depicted on the show make a current release difficult, although episodes of the Tracy series and others with such depictions have seen home video release, as have shows with fewer episodes. Finally, since the rights to the series are held by at least two entities (Lewis' personal holdings and the purchasers of Filmation's libraries), it could be that, like Batman 1966 (Which recently has seen home video release), the effort to release it is considered unprofitable.

Speculation aside, there is good reason to hope for this series to one day resurface in its entirety. It involves a classic comedian who sees a periodic resurgence, was broadcast by a major US television network, and was produced by an animation powerhouse of the time. The only constraint might be a posthumously-placed desire by Mister Lewis to not see this surface, though again, his feelings on the subject are not known.

David L Lander's character of Andrew 'Squiggy' Squigmann broadly evoked many of Lewis' tropes, and in one episode of Laverne & Shirley, created a 'lost' work that sadly does not exist, when he and cohort Lenny use Laverne & Shirley's TV to watch 'the only cartoon that has both Bugs Bunny and Woody Woodpecker'. Except for a brief scene at the end of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', no such cartoon exists.

Update
Several stills have popped up online and at least some episodes are apparently now on DVD for purchase at toonarific