The Banana Splits elephant. Fleegle would assume the role of leader of the Banana Splits, and preside at club meetings. The characters were played by actors in voluminous fleecy costumes, similar to later Sid and Marty Krofft characters such as "H.R. Pufnstuf". While Snorky "spoke" in honking noises, the other three spoke in English—Drooper with a Southern drawl in the manner of Michael Nesmith, and Fleegle with a pronounced lisp. The Splits' segments, including songs-of-the-week and comedy skits, served as wraparounds for a number of individual segments. In the second season, "The Three Musketeers" segments were replaced with repeats of "The Hillbilly Bears",
The Banana Splits not get permission from the author of a children's book by that title. The Krofft brothers give credit to the success of the series for opening the door for their own entry into television, "H.R. Pufnstuf". NBC picked up the Krofft series, which was launched during an hour-long special hosted by "The Banana Splits" on August 30, 1969. The show's live-action segment "Danger Island", a cliffhanger serial, as well as the short-lived "Micro Ventures", a part-live action, part-animated series consisting of only four episodes, ran alongside the animated segments "Arabian Knights" and "The Three Musketeers". Actors Jan-Michael Vincent (billed as