Samson & Goliath

Samson & Goliath
Also known as	'Young Samson'
Genre	Animated television series
Created by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Written by	Tony Benedict Walter Black Dalton Sandifer
Directed by	Joseph Barbera William Hanna
Voices of	Tim Matheson Mel Blanc Don Messick John Stephenson
Narrated by	Don Messick
Theme music composer	Ted Nichols
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	13 (26 segments)
Production
Producer(s)	Joseph Barbera William Hanna Art Scott (associate producer)
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor	Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (1967–73) The Program Exchange (1973–2016) Warner Bros. Television Distribution (1996-present)
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 9, 1967 – August 31, 1968

Samson & Goliath (also known as Young Samson) is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for NBC, where it debuted on September 9, 1967. Primarily sponsored by General Mills, who controlled the distribution rights through its agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, Samson & Goliath was retitled Young Samson in April 1968 to avoid confusion with the stop-motion Christian television series Davey and Goliath.

Twenty-six 12-minute episodes of the series were produced (six of which no longer exist);Samson & Goliath cartoons were paired with other General Mills-sponsored shows such as Tennessee Tuxedo and Go Go Gophers to form a full half-hour for their original network broadcasts.Young Samson was later shown in syndication with The Space Kidettes as The Space Kidettes and Young Samson, distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution (current rights owner through Hanna-Barbara) and The Program Exchange.

The series was the only Dancer Fitzgerald Sample-sponsored cartoon to be outsourced to Hanna-Barbera; the agency's in-house studio, Gamma Productions, had closed shortly before the series began. (It was also the only cartoon in the DFS portfolio not to be created by Jay Ward Productions or Total Television).

The show follows the adventures of a teenager named Samson and his dog, Goliath as they ride around the country on a motorbike. Whenever trouble arises, usually in the form of a menacing mega villain or evil scientist, Samson transforms himself into a superhero version of the biblical Samson by hitting his golden wristbands together. A second slam transforms Goliath into a super-powered lion. He can also direct shock waves from his wristbands, and by twisting his bracelets, can increase his and Goliath's powers to far greater levels. The pair's reverse transformation is never depicted.