After the opening sequence, the wraparound segments, hosted by Droopy, would begin. The familiar rotating executive producer credit of Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott briefly runs as Tom chases Jerry past the screen, knocking things over and running over others along the way. They continue chasing, as all of the other stars build a giant "Tom & Jerry" sign (similar to the second opening of Tom & Jerry Kids). The show's opening begins with Tom chasing Jerry through a blank yellow screen.
Characters not seen in this series of Tom and Jerry shorts are Mammy Two Shoes, Butch, Quacker, Topsy, Lightning and Toodles Galore. Still missing was the " Red Hot Riding Hood" character, who would not reappear until the following made for TV series, Tom & Jerry Kids, in 1990. The villainous wolf from the classic series was also included, and named "Slick Wolf". Spike from Tom and Jerry was used in many of these Droopy episodes as well, filling in for the other "Spike" bulldog created by Tex Avery for the old Droopy films, who was not used as a separate character here.
Half hour shows would consist of two seven-minute Tom and Jerry episodes, plus one Droopy cartoon in the middle, featuring some other characters such as Barney Bear. The version by Filmation (Hanna-Barbera's leading competitor for TV animation at the time) was able to restore the familiar slapstick chase format, and reintroduced not only Tyke and Nibbles (here named "Tuffy"), but also some of the other MGM stars.
The previous made-for-TV Tom and Jerry Show for the ABC network in 1975 was produced by Hanna and Barbera under their own studio (with MGM), but had made the cat and mouse friends in most of the episodes, due to the reaction against violence in cartoons. After the original 114 theatrical shorts run of the William Hanna- Joseph Barbera directed series, the characters were leased to other animation studios who changed the designs, and eliminated all of the supporting characters.
The series was notable in being the first attempt since the closing of the MGM studio in the 1950s to restore the original format of the cat and mouse team. This was the second made-for-television Tom and Jerry production.