Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop (1988–1993)
Katts and Dog?
5 October 2002
This was one of several excellent family-oriented Canadian productions from that time that were broadcast in the US and then disappeared. As other commentators have indicated, they were thoroughly enjoyable for all ages.

Imagine my shock when on visiting Montreal about ten years ago I turned on the hotel tv and, finding nothing better, checked out Katts and Dog. Which I had known exclusively as Rin Tin Tin, K-9 Cop. Now, you have to understand several things. First, Rin Tin Tin was a famous German shepherd dog character from a series in the late 50s. So it was perfectly logical for this dog to have that name. But the dog in Canada was Rudy, and I was amazed to discover that they had gone back over every single "Rudy" and dubbed in "Rinty" for the US audience. The dubbing was absolutely undetectable. But to this day I don't get the point.

Second thing you have to understand: They never made it clear where the show took place. It was intentionally an unspecified city in the Pacific northwest. The police uniforms looked plenty US to me but they must have been designed to look Canadian to the Canadians as well. (They did not have checkered caps.) Standard Canadian and standard US English, if there is such a thing, are scarcely distinguishable, so I guess they got by by not having the characters say "eh?" Because of PC or union considerations or both, there was a sequence of episodes in there where the female interest spoke with a French accent. In the context they made her French French, but obviously she was quebecoise.

Anyway, an excellent family show, and it is a shame that those of its ilk seem to be with us no more.
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