Courage the Cowardly Dog

 

Courage the Cowardly Dog follows Courage (Marty Grabstein), a kind yet easily frightened dog. He was abandoned as a puppy after his parents were forcibly sent into outer space by a crazed veterinarian.^[2] Soon after, he was found in an alleyway by Muriel Bagge (Thea White), a friendly, sweet-natured Scottish woman, who decided to take Courage in as her own, and was inspired by the nature of this first meeting to give him his name. In the present, he lives with the now elderly Muriel and her also elderly husband Eustace Bagge (Lionel Wilson episodes 1–33, Arthur Anderson episodes 34–52), a grumpy, selfish and greedy farmer who regularly mistreats Courage out of jealousy and refers to him as "stupid dog". The entire family lives in a two floor, isolated farmhouse in what consists of a large, desert-like area in the middle of Kansas: the nearest town to the farmhouse is a fictional town with the literal name of Nowhere.

Courage and his owners frequently encounter monsters, aliens, demons, mad scientists, zombies, vampires, and other such perils involving the paranormal or supernatural. The plot generally uses conventions common to horror films. Although most of the creatures that the three face are hostile, some only appear that way, but are simply suffering from distress and/or acting in desperation, and can even turn out to be friendly to them.

The task of protecting Muriel and Eustace from such dangers falls on Courage, who endeavors to thwart or reconcile with the monster of the week and remedy or repair any damages done. Although Courage is occasionally aided with that task, the full extent of his efforts is usually performed unbeknownst to Muriel and Eustace. Ironically, given his name, Courage may be considered a genuine hero who often goes to great lengths to protect his owners, and a genuine coward who still expresses much of his distress with over-the-top, piercing shrieks.

Although episodic in nature, there are a handful of recurring characters in the show's cast, including Courage's sarcastic, sentient computer (Simon Prebble); the family physician Dr. Vindaloo (Paul Schoeffler); a fortune-telling chihuahua named Shirley the Medium (Mary Testa); Eustace's mother "Ma" (Billie Lou Watt); villains Katz and Le Quack (both voiced by Schoeffler); and the antagonistic Di Lung.