These cats are cutups

Let us now praise famous cats of the animated genus. There’s Tom, the feverish, futile pursuer of Jerry the mouse, and Sylvester, a similarly inept “puddy tat” with a canary obsession. There’s Top Cat, talking trash and living in it too. There’s Stimpy, of “Ren & Stimpy” notoriety, a cat so slobberingly obsequious he could have been a dog. There’s Garfield, master of mischief and ennui.

And now, angling for a place in the cartoon feline pantheon, there are Mr. Blik, Gordon and Waffle.

They’re the principal characters in “Catscratch,” a new animated series dreamed up by Doug TenNapel, best known for creating the popular “Earthworm Jim” video game and its TV spinoff. It arrives Saturday at 8 p.m.

TenNapel claims he has owned real cats with the temperament and personality of each of the animated three. That would mean one with a Napoleon complex (Blik); one with a big heart, a great sense of loyalty and dreadfully messy eating habits (Gordon); and one with about as much brain power as a lampshade (Waffle).

The back story on the “Catscratch” cats is that their owner, a billionaire named Mrs. Cramdilly, died and left them everything she owned, including her vast, sprawling mansion and classically stuffy butler, Hovis. The three cats now live in abject luxury, able to indulge their every fantasy.

In its manic energy and retro look, “Catscratch” often recalls the trendsetting “Ren & Stimpy,” which Nickelodeon introduced in 1991. But the new cartoon isn’t as dark and twisted -- or as inventive. Although there are puns and subtler satirical jabs that recall “Ren & Stimpy” (and “Rocky and Bullwinkle”), the slapstick elements prevail.

Wayne Knight, the malevolent postal worker Newman on “Seinfeld,” provides the voice for the blustery, domineering Mr. Blik. “Kids in the Hall” alumnus Kevin McDonald is poor, dopey Waffle, and Rob Paulsen, with credits including “The Smurfs” and “Pinky and the Brain,” employs a sensible Scottish brogue for Gordon.