View source for I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali

{{short description|1977 American animated TV series}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox television
| image                =
| caption              = 
| genre                = Animation
| creator              = Fred Calvert<br>Kimie Calvert<br>[[John Paxton]]
| developer            = 
| writer               = 
| director             = 
| creative_director    = 
| presenter            = 
| starring             = 
| judges               = 
| voices               = [[Muhammad Ali]]<br>Frank Bannister<br>Casey Carmichael<br>Patrice Carmichael
| narrated             = 
| theme_music_composer = 
| opentheme            = 
| endtheme             = 
| composer             = 
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = 1
| num_episodes         = 13
| list_episodes        = 
| executive_producer   = 
| producer             = 
| editor               = 
| location             = 
| cinematography       = 
| camera               = 
| runtime              = 22 minutes
| company              = Farmhouse Films
| channel              = [[NBC]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1977|9|10}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1977|12|3}}
| related              =  
}}
'''''I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali''''' is an [[animated series]] featuring boxer [[Muhammad Ali]], who performed his own voice.<ref name=Woolery>{{cite book |last=Woolery |first=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 |volume=Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series |date=1983 |publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]] |location=[[Metuchen, New Jersey]] |isbn=0-8108-1557-5  |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/146/mode/2up |access-date=14 March 2020 |pages=146–147 |url-access=limited |via=[[Internet Archive#Text collection|Internet Archive Book Reader]]}}</ref> The series was broadcast Saturday mornings on [[NBC]] and produced by Fred Calvert's independent production company, Farmhouse Films, in the fall of 1977, but was cancelled after 13 episodes due to its low ratings.<ref>{{cite book |last=Erickson |first=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 1993 |date=1995 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]] |isbn=0-7864-0029-3 |pages=262–263 |url=https://archive.org/details/televisioncartoo0000eric/page/262/mode/2up?view=theater&q=Bannister |access-date=2023-03-31 |url-access=limited |via=[[Internet Archive#Text collection|Internet Archive Book Reader]]}}</ref>

In the show, Muhammad Ali and his [[public relations]] manager, Frank Bannister, both provided their own voices, as Ali went on adventures with his (fictional) niece Nicky and nephew Damon, voiced by Casey Carmichael and Patrice Carmichael.<ref name=Daytime>{{cite book |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wesley |title=The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television |date=1997 |publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications |isbn=978-0823083152 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat|url-access=registration |access-date=19 March 2020|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat/page/225 225]}}</ref>

==Crew==
* Directed by Fred Calvert
* Written by John Bates, Carole Beers, [[Booker Bradshaw]], Ellen and David Christianson, Joseph R. Henderson, Bryan Joseph, Gene Moss

==Cast==
* [[Muhammad Ali]] as Muhammad Ali
* Frank Bannister as Frank Bannister
* Casey Carmichael as Nicky
* Patrice Carmichael as Damon

==Episodes==
{{No plot|section|date=May 2022}}
{{Episode table |background=#EE7411 |overall=6 |title=30 |airdate=20 |episodes=

{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1
| Title = The Great Alligator
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|9|10}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 2
| Title = The Air Fair Affair
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|9|17}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 3
| Title = The Littlest Runner
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|9|24}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 4
| Title = Ali's African Adventure
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|10|1}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 5
| Title = Superstar
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|10|8}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 6
| Title = The Haunted Park
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|10|15}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 7
| Title = Caught in the Wild
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|10|22}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 8
| Title = Volcano Island
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|10|29}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 9
| Title = Oasis of the Moon
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|11|5}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 10
| Title = The Great Bluegrass Mountain Race
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|11|12}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 11
| Title = The Werewolf of Devil's Creek
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|11|19}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 12
| Title = Sissy's Climb
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|11|26}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 13
| Title = Terror in the Deep
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1977|12|3}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = EE7411
}}
}}

==Reception==
The series received generally negative reviews. In ''The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows'', David Perlmutter writes: "… perhaps the most clumsily animated, written, and acted series in television animation history, with little of value presented."<ref name=Perlmutter>{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |page=295}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Mike Tyson Mysteries]]''

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*{{IMDb title}}
{{Muhammad Ali}}
{{Children's programming on NBC in the 1970s}}

[[Category:1977 American animated television series debuts]]
[[Category:1977 American television series endings]]
[[Category:1970s American animated television series]]
[[Category:1970s American black cartoons]]
[[Category:1970s American children's television series]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Muhammad Ali]]
[[Category:American children's animated adventure television series]]
[[Category:American television series with live action and animation]]
[[Category:Boxing animation]]
[[Category:Television series by 20th Century Fox Television]]
[[Category:Animation based on real people]]
[[Category:NBC animated television series]]


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