Damn that kid and his douchebaggery!

There was a block of cartoons on Teletoon I watched fairly regularly. They were The Oblongs,  Undergrads, and Mission Hill.

While I’m sure I’ll write about all three of them, today I want to talk about Mission Hill.

Mission Hill was set in the eponymous, fictional neighbourhood of Cosmopolis. The main cast all shared a loft, and shared that same late 90s slacker attitude. Of all three shows I named, this one was probably my favorite. The voice acting was better than Undergrads, and the writing, in my opinion, was way way better than the Oblongs. The theme song by Cake didn’t hurt either.

Look at all those untucked shirts!

The animation style was fairly simple, but worked for the premise of the show. My favorite part of their style of animation was the added extras, like actual daggers flying out Andy’s eyes, or a sight line showing where he was staring.

The voices however, we’re very keen. Staring what I would say are minor celebrities, the cast had a lot of chemistry. Andy French was played by Wallace Langham, who has a very impressive resume. Andy’s brother Kevin was played by Scott Menville aka Teen Titan’s Robin. Another notable cast regular was Tom Kenny, voice of none other than SpongeBob SquarePants. He voices Wally, the Old Gay man who lives upstairs with his partner Gus.

According to the DVD commentary, this was the first Gay kiss on TV.

The story revolved around Andy, who was a struggling cartoonist, trying to kind of make his way in the world, between ska shows and malt liquor benders. He works at a waterbed store, and lives with his brother Kevin, and roommates Jim and Posey.

The biggest problem with this show, that led to it’s cancellation, was the fact that it aired when it did and where it did. In the US, the show aired on the WB, in 1999, with very poor ratings. If this show were to air today, I think it would go over like gangbusters. I’ve always said if I won like 50 million dollars, one of the things I would do is get this show back on the air. I guess the timing was wrong for this type of show. It was cancelled after 13 episodes.

On the DVD, the special features include animatics, and behind the scenes looks at the show, so I recommend picking it up. If you don’t I’ve got one word for you.

You are one, unless you watch this show.