Bugs Bunny that another proposed name for the character was "Happy Rabbit." In the actual cartoons and publicity, however, the name "Happy" only seems to have been used in reference to Bugs Hardaway. In "Hare-um Scare-um", a newspaper headline reads, "Happy Hardaway." Animation historian David Gerstein disputes that "Happy Rabbit" was ever used as an official name, believing that the only usage of the term was from Mel Blanc himself in humorous and fanciful tales he told about the character's development in the 1970s and 1980s; the name "Bugs Bunny" was used as early as August 1939, in the Motion Picture Herald,
The Bugs Bunny Show combined re-edited bridging sequences from both shows to link the seven cartoons featured in each episode. The bridging sequences would be edited further in later versions of the "Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour". The verse in the "This Is It" theme song "The night of nights" was retained, despite the fact the show was no longer broadcast in prime time. In 1971, "The Road Runner Show" moved to ABC, and a reconstituted half-hour "Bugs Bunny Show" aired on CBS, featuring re-edited versions of the bridging sequences and a different grouping of cartoons. In 1973, "The Bugs Bunny Show" returned to ABC