Underappreciated Undergrads?

Posted: May 1, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 00s Cartoons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When I think of my favorite cartoon from when I was a teenager, Undergrads usually ranks pretty high up there. The MTV cartoon, released in Canada on Teletoon,had it’s original run from April to August 2001.

The main character, Nitz, finds himself in his first year of college at the generic State U (not to be confused with U State!) and unsure of what to do. The show is all about Nitz’s and his three friends, Rocko, Cal and Gimpy, trying to get through their first year of college, and pretty much covers every aspect of college life in your first year.

Like finding Stray Cats outside your friend's campus!

When I compare this show to my first year of University, I think I lived it pretty spot on, but I’m not sure if that was just life imitating art or not. Maybe this show primed me so much to expect those things, that I went ahead and did those things anyways.

So what did I like about the show? I’ll start with the voices. The four main characters were voiced by the show’s creator, Pete Williams, according to his imdb page, but I was pretty sure that Rocko’s voice was redubbed, but I can’t find any evidence for that. The side characters are memorable, including Kimmy Burton, and Jesse who made we want to break up with my then girlfriend to find a girl like her at college.

I was primed to get on this!

So was Undergrads as good as I remembered?

I’m inclined to say no. I still like it, but the show’s downfall was the fact that it only had 13 episodes. After years and years of watching them, they tend to get pretty stale. I mean there are definitely some parts that make me laugh still, but I can only take so much of a good thing.

What? He doesn't like the show anymore?!

Join me for my next post about a kid who keeps a journal.

What the hell are you staring at!

Posted: April 29, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 90s cartoons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

So no one guessed which toon I was talking about today, so no shout outs. But I’ll keep this an ongoing thing. I’ll leave a hint at the end of each post, and if you can guess first, I’ll give you the credit.

So, I think this show might be a little obscure, but I enjoyed this show as a kid, even though it was meant for adults. Featuring Jason Alexander and Dweezil Zappa, and about $5 million in celebrity appearances — though I’m sure they worked for less — Duckman was probably one of the funniest cartoons of all time.

The story revolves around Eric Duckman — though they just call him Duckman 99.99999999999% of the time — having adventures, and being the most lecherous duck I’ve ever seen. He also runs his own detective buisness, and is a single father to Ajax, his slightly dazed and confused son, and Charles and Mambo, his conjoint twin sons that are super geniuses, when he can fit it in.

I have sons? Are you sure?

I watched maybe half the series, though not in order, on Teletoon when I was maybe twelve or thirteen and older, and many years later downloaded some of the series, mostly epidosed I had already seen. There’s since been a DVD release of the entire series, and I look forward to picking that up someday.

And I look forward to picking her up!

So what sets this show apart from other adult animated shows? The mature content factor is through the roof, without being South Park levels of crazy, and there are many satirical parts to the show. The animation quality some might say is poor, but I feel that it adds to the show. The animation was produced by Klasky Csupo, who, you may remember is the Rugrats’ production company. The show, even though I was waaaaay to young to watch it, made a lot of sense to me, and made me laugh hysterically. I think it was around that point that I realized that I was a 20-year old trapped in a 13-year old body.

If you haven’t seen this show, all I can do to convince you is tell you that this is Jason Alexander at his best, Dweezil Zappa puts in a memorable performance, and Tim Curry shows up a lot.

A delicious King Chicken, played by Tim Curry. So a Chicken Curry... yeah I ran out of steam.

As usual, if you had an experience with this show, please feel free to leave a comment sharing it with us.

Look forward to my next post, about a show that’s about four friends. can you guess what it is?

Way way back in the 1980s

Posted: April 23, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 00s Cartoons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s time to talk Clone High. This short-lived series ran just under a year (November 02 – April 03) with an episode count of 13. The show focused on the lives of 5 clones of historical figures: Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Ghandi, Joan of Arc and Cleopatra.

The show was essentially a play on the teenage drama, and was set at Clone High. So if you’ve never seen it before, you’re a terrible person imagine Degrassi with clones.

Just like my high school!

Look at all those smiling clones.

This series sticks in my mind because the humor in it was so self-referential, usually involving jokes about the clones’ past. Abe, whose historical counterpart was possibly one of the greatest leaders of all time, is a normal wishy-washy teenager, trying to score with the cheerleader and lacking any leadership that would have been endowed by his genetics.
But the true comedic genius came from a slew of guest stars, including Tom Green, Jack Black and my personal favorite, John Stamos.

image

Damn him! With his jet black hair and winning smile!!!

So why should you watch this show? It’s got sweet animation, a funny voice cast and the story is solid throughout 13 solid episodes.
If you can find it on DVD, I recommend you buy it. Hell, buy two and give one to me.

Did you watch Clone High? Let me know about your experiences in the comments section, or on Twitter, @imprintex.

Stay tooned, on Wednesday we talk French.