June 29, 2021

STEVE SHERMAN DEAD AT 72

 


You can read the full story here.


After a tenure as Jack Kirby’s assistant and an editor at DC Comics, he went on to work for Filmation and Sid & Marty Krofft Productions before forming his own puppet studio with Gregory Williams. They provided the O.G. Readmore puppet for ABC Weekend Specials, several of the puppets for Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and the penguin puppets for Beakman’s World, one of which he operated.

June 26, 2021

SONIC BOOM

 
SONIC BOOM
(Cartoon Network, Boomerang, November 8, 2014-November 18, 2017, US
Canal J, November 14, 2014-March 9, 2018, FR)


 
Sega of America, Inc., OuiDo! Productions/Technicolor Animation Productions, Lagardére Thématiques, Jeunesse TV, Canal J, Gulli


 
 
MAIN CAST:
Roger Craig SmithSonic the Hedgehog, Morpho, Dave the Intern, various
Alexandre Gillet (French) – Sonic the Hedgehog
Colleen O’ShaughnesseyMiles “Tails” Prower, Zooey, various
Marie-Eugénie Maréchal (French) – Miles “Tails” Prower, Zooey
Travis WillinghamKnuckles the Echidna, Hypnobot, various
Sébastien Desjours (French) – Knuckles the Echidna
Cindy RobinsonAmy Rose, various
Naïké Mellerin-Fauveau (French) – Amy Rose
Nika FuttermanSticks the Badger, Diane Aardvark, Staci
Claire Morin (French) – Sticks the Badger
Mike PollockDoctor Eggman, Mayor E. Pluribus Fink, Fastidious Beaver, Bolts, Lord Eggman
Marc Bretonniére (French) – Doctor Eggman
Kirk ThorntonOrbot, Shadow the Hedgehog, T.W. Barker, Chameleon, Froglodyte Drill Sergeant, various
Benjamin Pascal (French) – Orbot, Mayor E. Pluribus Fink, Chef Woody, Foreman Fred, Hayward
Wally WingertCubot, Dixon, Willy Walrus, Froglodyte High Priest, Og, Nominatus, D-Fekt (season 2), various
Tony Marot (French) – Cubot
 
 

For the history of Sonic the Hedgehog, check out the post here.

           
            By the close of the first decade of the 21st century, Sega had come to find that Sonic the Hedgehog’s appeal in the western markets seemed to be fading. After a number of lukewarm releases beginning with 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog reboot, they saw that sales were declining with each successive title. Sega decided to take some drastic action and create a new spin-off franchise geared expressly towards the west that would run concurrently with the “modern” Sonic games in Japan as an official alternate universe.

BRB's proposed update to Sonic, making him look more like a real hedgehog.


            And who better to cater to western audiences than westerners themselves? Sega gave the project to Big Red Button Entertainment (BRB) in 2009, the studio started by Naughty Dog’s Bob Rafaei and Luxoflux’s Jeff Lander, based on Rafaei’s experience at starting successful franchises from scratch. This would be the first time a western developer would be put in charge of developing a mainline Sonic game. Sega told BRB to radically change the Sonic formula and to get away from the speed aspect, since focus groups had led them to believe that western audiences found Sonic to be too fast.


The new Sonic game would feature co-op and skill-based platforming with a focus on exploration and discovery and very little in the way of speed, restricted mostly to vehicle levels. To lean into the fact that this was a whole new universe, BRB opted to delve deeper into the origins of Sonic and his traditional foe, Dr. Eggman, and crafted a whole lore around them and their environs. BRB spent a year working out their proposal for Sega’s approval, including gameplay mechanics and level and character designs, under the name Project Apollo to keep the fact that they were working on a Sonic game a secret. Official names up for consideration were Sonic Origins based on the story, and Sonic Synergy based on the focus on co-op play which entire sections of levels would be based around.

Sonic Boom's environments featured many statues depicting a story that would never be told.


            Unfortunately, Sonic Team, headed up at the time by Takashi Iizuka, had a number of problems with what they were presented. They felt it deviated too much from what the franchise was (despite that being the goal) and gave them a number of changes to bring it more in line with what they considered a Sonic game to be. Further, Sonic Team had their own intentions of tackling Sonic’s origins and didn’t want a western developer to beat them to it (even though this was supposed to be an alternate universe take to begin with). So, a good portion of the narrative was jettisoned despite traces of it remaining in the level design and backgrounds. The biggest and most project-shattering change, however, came with the news that as part of an exclusivity deal Sega’s signed with Nintendo, BRB’s Sonic game would now become a Wii U exclusive. Up until that point, the game was being developed with CryEngine 3 which was completely incompatible with the Wii U’s hardware.

The Sonic Synergy logo.


            With an unmovable deadline of 2014, BRB had to seriously scale back on the game’s features. 4-player co-op and online support were tossed, taking entire bits of levels with them. Characters and a collectible system were completely removed. The story itself was even heavily trimmed, taking out narrative elements and lines of dialogue. They even had to call on CryTek to help them adapt CryEngine 3 to the Wii U, ultimately resulting in their creating a special version of the engine not used by any other game. Parts of the game were co-developed by studio IllFonic.



            The game, ultimately titled Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, was released in North America on November 11, 2014 with a wider release expanding to other territories in the following weeks. The game saw Sonic (Roger Craig Smith), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), Knuckles (Travis Willingham) and Amy Rose (Cindy Robinson) pursuing Eggman (Mike Pollock) to a tomb adorned with Sonic and Tails’ visages. Inside, they encountered a powerful new foe in the form of the titular Lyric the Last Ancient (Patrick Seitz), who recognized Sonic from thousands of years ago. Lyric plotted to use Chaos Crystals to create a metallic world populated by robots, and Sonic and his friends sought to stop him. Tails developed new Enerbeams that they could all use to hang from rails, remove enemy shields, and various puzzle-solving mechanics. Each character also had their own unique abilities and attacks.

Concept art for the young Eggman when the game was meant to focus on their origin.


            The resulting game ultimately proved a disaster, scoring negatively with both critics and fans. Many found the level designs repetitive, the puzzles and combat dull and tedious, the camera system broken, the controls unresponsive, and bugs and glitches galore (including one that allowed Knuckles to basically leap over entire parts of levels). Not to mention long-time fans had a problem with the new character designs when they were first revealed. A Nintendo 3DS game, Shattered Crystal, was developed by Sanzaru Games and released at the same time as Rise of Lyric with identical game design. It fared a bit better in reviews, but was still widely panned. Both games were announced by Sega as being the worst-selling games in the franchise.

The original teaser image for Sonic Boom.


            So, what does this have to do with Saturday mornings, the reason we’re all here? Well, part of Sega’s plan to reinvigorate their western audience was to not only hit them on home consoles, but on television as well. They entered into a deal with French animation studio OuiDo! Productions (later Technicolor Animation Productions after they were acquired by Technicolor SA in 2015) to produce an animated series for western TV along with Sega of America. They decided to enhance the brand synergy by making BRB incorporate elements of the show into their game, such as the name, while the show also took some inspiration from them.

The cast of Sonic Boom: Sticks, Knuckles, Sonic, Amy and Tails.


            Sonic Boom was developed by Evan Baily, Donna Friedman and Sandrine Nguyen, with Baily and Bill Freiberger (who also voiced several characters) serving as showrunners. The series was set on Seaside Island, primarily Hedgehog Village (formerly Unnamed Village), where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy lived along with a variety of other animal characters (the production usually let the animators decide what kind of animal each would be unless they needed someone to be something specific). Sonic and his friends, known as Team Sonic, were often tasked with stopping Dr. Eggman’s elaborate schemes at conquering the island (and turn it into a theme park) which in turn would allow him to conquer the entire world. All of the game’s voice cast reprised their roles for the series, with voice director Jack Fletcher also working on the show.

Concept art for Hedgehog Village.


            Besides the setting, another change from previous Sonic media was the characters’ appearances and, in some cases, their personalities. 15-year-old Sonic remained a good-hearted hero with supersonic speed who often was oblivious to the feelings of others and extremely impatient. For the first time, his arms were covered in blue fur and he was given a scarf (playing into the action-adventure trope), as well as additional spikes (to help differentiate him from the Japanese Sonic, since both looked so similar). 8-year-old Tails continued to be Sonic’s sidekick and served as the team’s mechanic, pilot and inventor. He was given a pair of goggles and a tool belt, as well as a tendency to be blunter and more skeptical at times. 12-year-old Amy Rose was the peppiest member of the team who served as their organizer and archaeologist, as well as the mature voice of reason. Unlike other versions of Amy, this one was shier about her attraction to Sonic and was given an outfit to make her seem more like the adventuring type proficient in hammer-based combat. 16-year-old Knuckles received the most drastic makeover of all the characters, being made significantly taller than the others and bulkier to emphasize his role as the team muscle and removed his ability to glide as they couldn’t fit it into their stories. He was also made dimwitted and gullible to the point that he often exasperated his friends. His trademark boxing gloves were changed to regular ones in order to allow his hands to be as expressive as the storytellers needed them to be. The sports tape Sonic and Knuckles sported were inspired by fighters and American football players to make them seem more grounded and less vain, which to the producers meant more heroic.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone's out to get you.


            Newly created for the franchise was Sticks the Badger (Nika Futterman), Amy’s best friend who replaced her as a playable character in Shattered Crystal. Sticks was a free-spirit who came from the jungle. Although she’s a skilled fighter proficient in boomerangs and homemade weaponry, it’s often overshadowed by her extremely paranoid nature and wild habits. Despite coming off as a little mad, that unique worldview often pushed her towards genius in finding solutions that none of the others could even begin to consider. Freiberger created her as a sort of surrogate for himself. She was meant to bring in a healthy dose of cynicism to contrast with the unwavering heroism of the others, as well as add more humor and surprises.

Eggman plotting with Cubot and Orbot.


            Eggman lived in an island fortress off the coast of Seaside Island, where he possessed unlimited resources to come up with new robots and devices meant to darken the heroes’ day. Eggman was often buffoonish and his schemes more zany than threatening, and at times seemed to almost be on friendly terms with Team Sonic. Eggman’s primary henchbots were Orbot (Kirk Thornton), who was wise and often spoke bluntly, and Cubot (Wally Wingert), who was dimwitted and often misunderstood the meaning of statements characters made. His main army were the Badniks; foot soldiers who resembled various animals. In keeping with their perception on vanity and heroism, Eggman was made extremely vain and was often seen caring about his appearance and that of his robots. Other previously established foes included Metal Sonic, Eggman’s robotic duplicate of Sonic, and Shadow the Hedgehog (Thornton), who was depicted as being even more aggressive and vengeful that other versions with a desire to beat Sonic at all costs.

Eggman with one of the Weasel Bandits, Willy, Dave, Chameleon, and T.W. Barker and his stunt bears.


            New foes included Charlie (Thornton), a desert rat archaeologist whom Knuckles got fired, turning him evil; The Lightning Bolt Society, a secret society consisting of small-minded small-time crooks like the teenaged Dave the Intern (Smith), egotistical spy Chameleon (who was actually a wolf, voiced by Thornton), triplets The Weasel Bandits, and Willy Walrus (Wingert); the Froglodytes, a horde of evil frogs that lived in caves beneath the island; Hypnobot (Willingham), a robot created by Tails that could control other robots and gained sentience; sentient computer virus Nominatus (Wingert) who was foe to both Eggman and Sonic; and T.W. Barker (Thornton), a dog who served as the ringmaster for a circus where all the performers were slaves and commanded a pair of stunt bears.



            Sonic Boom was teased in October of 2013 with an image of the main characters’ silhouettes against a wall. Sega released the first trailer for it on February 6, 2014. It finally debuted on Cartoon Network on November 8, 2014, and made its French debut on Canal J the following week. It was the fifth Sonic series and the first to be completely rendered in CGI. Each episode was 11-minutes in length, and often paired up with another to round out a complete half hour of air time (typically a rerun once it aired for a while). Each episode took about 18 months to produce. Writers would write their scripts independently, then get together to do a punch-up session and iron things out. Voice recording typically happened over a year before an episode ever aired, with four-hour recording sessions scheduled once every two weeks. The entire production was overseen by Sonic Team; only the second time after Sonic X. Two intros were used: the full version aired in France, while a shortened version was used in the United States due to the countries’ different delivery requirements.

Eggman chilling with Sonic and Tails.


The series was written by Joly, Mark Banker, Doug Lieblich, Dave Polsky, Eric Trueheart, Mitch Watson, Alan Denton, Greg Hahn, Jean-Christophe Derrien, Romain Van Liemt, Adam Beechen, Tom Pugsley, Dan Milano, Reid Harrison, Thomas Barichella, Joelle Sellner, Natalys Raut-Sieuzac (who was also a director), Freddie Gutierrez, Sam Freiberger, Charles-Henri Moarbes, Benoit Grenier, Phaea Crede, Justin Shatraw, Ian Flynn, Paul Shriver, Marine Lachenaud, Cedric Lachenaud, Marie Beardmore, Anne Baraou, Kevin Burke, Chris “Doc” Wyatt, Peter Saisselin, Evan Stanley, Jake James, Françoise Gralewski and Ken Pontac, with Denton and Hahn serving as story editors (credited as “creative consultants” in the first season). Robinson contributed a script in addition to her voice roles. Stories generally dealt highly in comedy with fourth-wall breaks and pop culture nods, particularly in many of the episodes’ titles. Most episodes were standalone stories, however references to past episodes did occur. The series music was composed by Michael Richard Plowman, with a score provided by OuiDo! Publishing and TESF Publishing. Animation duties were handled by Infinite Studios and Bali Animasi Solusi Ekakarsa Studio.

Shadow victorious over Sonic.

The show was renewed for a second season, as revealed by Sega at the Sonic 25th Anniversary party in at San Diego Comic-Con 2016.  The series was given a graphical upgrade: textures were added to the various animal furs and clothing, Eggman gained some definition on his skin, and the animation moved a lot smoother. Plans were in place to bring in more characters from the games, such as private detective Vector the Crocodile (Keith Silverstein), along with new and returning characters. The season debuted on October 29, 2016 on Cartoon Network but then moved over to sister channel Boomerang for the remainder as an attempt to bring more viewers to the network. The French version would begin the following April, now sporting the truncated American opening.

Eggman attacks with his inventions.


Upon Sonic Boom’s conclusion in 2017, there went a long period of silence where fans were speculating whether the show would continue on for another season. It wouldn’t be until 2020 that Freiberger would confirm on his Twitter account that Boom, along with Sega’s entire alternate universe plan, was dead. Over the course of 104 episodes, Sonic Boom managed to secure a loyal and dedicated fanbase, as well as net itself four award nominations; winning “Best Animation” from the Chico Independent Film Festival. It was translated into multiple languages and broadcast around the world in various countries.



Two more games were made in the Boom franchise. The first was Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, a mobile endless runner platforming game from Hardlight Studio that served as a sequel to Sonic Dash. Along with the main Boom cast, Shadow and Vector were added as playable characters and each character possessed a special ability to help with scoring. The second was Fire & Ice; was another Nintendo 3DS game developed by Sanzaru. Unlike the previous two games which served as prequels to the show, this one was set during the second season. Learning from their mistakes, the levels were made shorter and the option for players to either speed through or explore was given to accommodate different playing styles. Amy returned as a playable character alongside Sticks, and a new fire and ice power element was added. It also introduced the new character D-Fekt (originally RagnaBot, voiced by Wingert), a malfunctioning Eggman robot that ended up joining Team Sonic, that would find his way into the show. The game was released on September 27, 2016 to coincide with Sonic’s 25th anniversary, and while the reception still wasn’t stellar it was a noted improvement over the previous entries.

The first issue of the Archie comic.


Archie Comics, then the current rights holder to publish Sonic-based comics, began publication of a tie-in comic series in 2014. The series was primarily written by regular Sonic writer Flynn, who would also pen a season two script, along with Aleah Baker. He would be joined by both Freibergers to help integrate the book better with the show. Art was provided by Stanley, Ryan Jampole, Jennifer Hernandez, Steven Butler, Dan Schoening, Tracy Yardley, Edwin Huang, Tyson Hesse and Diana Skelly. Despite good sales, Archie cancelled the book after 11 issues, feeling that the stories would be served better outside of a monthly book. No further new stories appeared, but various issues were reprinted in the pages of Sonic Super Digest and Sonic Super Special Magazine before their own cancellations. In France, a series of 6 children’s books were published by Hachette Jeunesse between 2015 and 2016. Tomy handled the toy end of the franchise, releasing action figures in single, double and multi-figure packs along with playsets, and plush toys in standard, talking, large-headed and clip-on forms. The toys were first displayed at New York Toy Fair in February 2014, and a Sonic figure was offered as a GameStop and EB Games exclusive as a pre-order bonus for the Wii U and 3DS.


Gift set version of Season 1 volume 1.


The first Boom DVD came as a free gift in the launch version of Fire & Ice. It contained the episodes “Chili Dog Day Afternoon”, “It Wasn’t Me, It Was the One-Armed Hedgehog” and “It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog”. Other DVD releases followed in 2016, as Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season across 4 volumes in the United Kingdom. In 2019, NCircle Entertainment began releasing the series regularly on DVD in North America. The first two were the episode compilations Here Comes the Boom! and Go Team Sonic!, containing 8 and 9 episodes, respectively, with the 8-episode Robot Uprising! following in September of 2020. That October, they released the first 26 episodes in both a regular edition and a limited edition gift set including Tomy’s Sonic and Eggman action figures. The remaining 26 followed in February, with that limited edition version featuring Knuckles and Tails figures. The complete first season was released onto a single Blu-ray set in 2021, the same day as the first 26 episodes of season two came onto DVD. The limited edition version this time around featured a Sonic backpack clip rather than a figure. The first season was made available to stream in the United States on Hulu in 2016 (combining two episodes into one, making it seem like only 26 are available), with the second coming in 2017. Internationally, the show could be found on Netflix. Episodes from the first season were also made available to purchase for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.


 
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Sidekick” (11/8/14 US, 11/14/14 FR) – Sonic looks for a new sidekick after Tails gets hurt.
 
“Can an Evil Genius Crash on Your Couch for a Few Days?” (11/8/14 US, 11/14/14 FR) – Eggman moves in with Sonic while his fortress is under repair.
 
“Translate This” (11/15/14 US, 11/19/14 FR) – Tails’ translation device causes problems when it reads his friends’ thoughts aloud.
 
“Buster” (11/15/14 US, 11/19/14 FR) – In trying to be nicer to animals, Sticks befriends a slime-belching robot dog.
 
“My Fair Sticksy” (11/19/14 FR, 11/22/14 US) – Amy teaches Sticks how to be a lady so she can attend an awards ceremony.
 
“Fortress of Squalitude” (11/22/14) – Eggman asks Amy to help redecorate his lair for its appearance in a magazine.
 
“Double Doomsday” (11/29/14 US, 12/10/14 FR) – Eggman decides to take on an intern whose ambitions prove very dangerous.
 
“Eggheads” (12/6/14 US, 12/10/14 FR) – Eggman bakes cookies that turn Sonic’s friends into his henchmen.
 
“Guilt Tripping” (12/17/14 FR, 1/17/15 US) – The Gogobas guilt Sonic and Tails into staying at their village after they saved them.
 
“Dude, Where’s My Eggman?” (12/17/14 FR, 1/24/15 US) – Orbot and Cubot wake up with no memory of the previous day and have to find Eggman.
 
“Cowbot” (12/24/14 FR, 1/31/15 US) – Sonic has to protect Eggman from a robot Tails reprogrammed to take revenge on its creator.
 
“Circus of Plunders” (12/24/14 FR, 2/7/15 US) – When Tails temporarily leaves after an invention jeopardizes a mission, Sonic and his friends volunteer to perform at T.W. Barker’s circus.
 
“Unlucky Knuckles” (1/14/15 FR, 2/14/15 US) – Knuckles looks for a cure to his run of bad luck.
 
“The Meteor” (1/21/15 FR, 2/21/15 US) – A meteor causes Sonic and Eggman to switch brains.
 
“Aim Low” (1/14/15 FR, 2/28/15 US) – Eggman hires Soar the Eagle as his life coach to improve himself after his latest defeat by Sonic.
 
“How to Succeed in Evil Without Really Trying” (1/21/15 FR, 3/7/15 US) – When Tails’ friends get angry at his latest machine’s blunder, he unknowingly joins an evil organization.
 
“Don’t Judge Me” (2/11/15 FR, 3/14/15 US) – Eggman fakes a broken neck after a battle so that he can sue Sonic in court.
 
“Dr. Eggman’s Tomato Sauce” (2/11/15 FR, 3/21/15 US) – Team Sonic suspects there’s something fishy about Eggman’s tomato sauce that turned him into a celebrity chef.
 
“Sole Power” (2/18/15 FR, 3/28/15 US) – Sonic goes to Eggman for help when his speed causes a deafening tone that affects everyone.
 
“Hedgehog Day” (2/18/15 FR, 4/4/15 US) – Eggman turns to Sonic for help when his new invention gets him trapped in a time loop.
 
“Sleeping Giant” (3/11/15 FR, 4/18/15 US) – Team Sonic needs to find a way to put a rock giant back to sleep after accidentally waking it up.
 
“The Curse of Buddy Buddy Temple” (3/11/15 FR, 4/18/15 US) – Eggman and Sonic are forced to cooperate to escape a temple.
 
“Let’s Play Musical Friends” (4/1/15 FR, 4/25/15 US) – Orbot and Cubot have to go into the cyber-world to expel a sentient virus from Eggman’s systems.
 
“Late Fees” (4/1/15 FR, 5/2/15 US) – Returning Amy’s library book on time turns out to be a herculean task for Sonic.
 
“Into the Wilderness” (4/1/15 FR, 5/9/15 US) – Sticks’ attempt to teach Amy survival skills leads Sonic and Knuckles to challenge them to a race through the jungle.
 
“Eggman Unplugged” (4/8/15 FR, 5/16/15 US) – Eggman swears off technology for good just when Team Sonic needs it to beat the Lightning Bolt Society.
 
“Chez Amy” (4/8/15 FR, 7/13/15 US) – Tired of the poor service at Meh Burger, Amy decides to open her own restaurant with help from Eggman.
 
“Blue with Envy” (4/8/15 FR, 7/14/15 US) – Sonic becomes suspicious of a visiting shrew that immediately becomes popular in the village.
 
“Curse of the Cross Eyed Moose” (4/22/15 FR, 7/15/15 US) – Sticks believes a cross-eyed moose cursed them all, so they quest for a mystical marmoset to remove it.
 
“Chili Dog Day Afternoon” (4/22/15 FR, 7/16/15 US) – Knuckles goes on a grand adventure for a particular pepper to help him win the annual chili dog cook-off.
 
“Closed Door Policy” (5/6/15 FR, 7/17/15 US) – Amy forces Sticks to hold a garage sale to get rid of some of her junk, accidentally freeing a horde of Froglodytes as a result.
 
“Mayor Knuckles” (5/6/15 FR, 7/20/15 US) – While Mayor Fink is away, Knuckles assumes his duties to disastrous results.
 
“Eggman the Auteur” (5/20/15 FR, 7/21/15 US) – Eggman manages to get Sonic to portray himself in his movie about their rivalry.
 
“Just a Guy” (5/20/15 FR, 7/23/15 US) – Amy attempts to help Sonic become more sensitive towards others.
 
“Two Good to Be True” (6/3/15 FR, 7/23 15 US) – Team Sonic must help an alternate Knuckles return to his home dimension where he’s the leader of the team.
 
“Beyond the Valley of the Cubots” (7/24/15 US, 8/29/15 FR) – Cubot decides to protect prototypes of himself from Eggman with Sonic and Tails’ help.
 
“Next Top Villain” (8/1/15 US, 8/29/15 FR) – Dave the Intern traps Eggman and takes over his armies to prove himself a supervillain.
 
“New Year’s Retribution” (6/3/15 FR, 8/8/15 US) – Eggman slows down Sonic so he has a chance to defeat him before the new year.
 
“Battle of the Boy Bands” (8/15/15 US, 8/29/15 FR) – The boys of Team Sonic start up a boy band to pull Amy and Sticks out of their obsession over pop star Justin Beaver.
 
“Tails’ Crush” (8/22/15 US, 8/29/15 FR) – Tails’ friends give him lousy advice in dealing with his crush on a fox named Zooey.
 
“Bro-Down Showdown” (8/29/15 US, 8/30/15 FR) – Sonic and Knuckles enter a game show to win Amy a new couch, but end up on opposing teams.
 
“Late Night Wars” (8/30/15 FR, 9/5/15 US) – Knuckles takes over Comedy Chimp’s late-night show when he becomes popular.
 
“Fire in a Crowded Workshop” (8/30/15 FR, 9/12/15 US) – Sonic, Knuckles and Amy tell their own versions of how they set Tails’ workshop on fire.
 
“It Wasn’t Me, it was the One-Armed Hedgehog” (8/30/15 FR, 9/19/15 US) – Knuckles helps Sonic try to clear his name related to thefts around the village.
 
“Robot Battle Royale” (8/31/15 FR, 9/26/15 US) – Knuckles enter a robot fight to prove he can invent stuff just as well as Tails.
 
“No Robots Allowed” (8/30/15 FR, 10/3/15 US) – Eggman has to convince the homeowner’s association there are no robots in his lair or be evicted.
 
“Fuzzy Puppy Buddies” (8/31/15 FR, 10/10/15 US) – Amy and Eggman secretly bond over their favorite game.
 
“Designated Heroes” (9/6/15 FR, 10/17/15 US) – Eggman tricks Team Sonic to face him one-on-one and to defeat themselves.
 
“Role Models” (9/5/15 FR, 10/24/15 US) – An image specialist tells Team Sonic they need to change to be better examples for the villages’ children.
 
“Cabin Fever” (8/31/15 FR, 10/31/15 US) – Team Sonic takes refuge from a storm at Amy’s house and her play about them drives them apart.
 
“Counter Productive” (9/30/15 FR, 11/7/15 US) – Knuckles attempts to help Charlie the Rat to make up for a past mistake, but ends up making things worse instead.
 
“It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog” (9/20/15 FR, 11/14/15 US0 – Eggman unites all of the island’s villains in a bid to defeat Sonic together.

 

Season 2:
“Tommy Thunder: Method Actor” (10/29/16 US, 4/8/17 FR) – Sonic lets a movie star shadow him and ends up regretting it when his ego begins making him take credit for the team’s victories.
 
“Spacemageddonocalypse” (11/19/16 US, 4/8/17 FR) – Team Sonic must save the planet from an asteroid.
 
“Nutwork” (11/26/16 US, 4/15/17 FR) – Sticks starts a pirate radio station in order to fill the truth she feels the regular media lacks.
 
“Alone Again, Unnaturally” (12/3/16 US, 4/22/17 FR) – Tails’ speed amplifier causes Sonic to become trapped in another plane of existence.
 
“The Biggest Fan” (12/10/16 US, 4/29/17 FR) – Sonic makes the mistake of making his self-proclaimed #1 fan his personal assistant.
 
“Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Worse-er” (12/17/16 US, 5/6/17 FR) – Sonic challenges Tails to come up with a trap that can actually catch him.
 
“I Can Sea Sonic’s Fear from Here” (12/24/16 US, 5/13/17 FR) – Sonic must overcome his fear of the water to face Eggman.
 
“In the Midnight Hour” (12/31/16 US, 5/20/17 FR) – The others don’t believe Sticks about a mysterious figure trying to hypnotize the village at night.
 
“Multi-Tails” (1/7/17 US, 5/27/17 FR) – To amplify his brain productivity, Tails splits himself into five beings.
 
“Strike!” (1/14/17 US, 6/3/17 FR) – Orbot and Cubot lead the other robots in a strike against Eggman.
 
“The Evil Dr. Orbot” (1/21/17 US, 6/10/17 FR) – Failing to get his evil license has Eggman put Orbot in control as a puppet, but Orbot soon becomes mad with power.
 
“Knuck Knuck! Who’s Here?” (1/21/17 US, 6/17/17 FR) – Knuckles gets amnesia during a battle, and when he learns he’s the last of his kind sets out to find a foster family.
 
“Mech Suits Me” (2/4/17 US, 6/24/17 FR) – Sonic finds an ancient mech suit that makes him more powerful and increasingly dependent on it.
 
“FiendBot” (2/11/17 US, 7/1/17 FR) – Eggman programs his new robot with everything it needs to know to defeat Sonic, but instead it wants to become his friend.
 
“Og Man Out: (2/18/17 US, 7/8/17 FR) – Team Sonic is suspicious of Og’s arrival, which seems justified when a Froglodyte army is soon behind him.
 
“Knine-to-Five Knuckles” (2/25/17 US, 7/15/17 FR) – Knuckles decides to get a job so he can buy a house for the lamp he won.
 
“Blackout” (3/4/17 US, 7/22/17 FR) – Team Sonic has to get through trap puzzles set by the ancients to get a new power source for the village.
 
“Unnamed Episode” (3/11/17 US, 7/29/17 FR) – The village residents find out it used to be named after Sticks’ evil ancestor, and their decision to rename lets Eggman take over.
 
“Robot Employees” (3/18/17 US, 8/5/17 FR) – Eggman creates automated robot workers for Meh Burger, driving Dave to join the Lightning Bolt Society.
 
“Give Bees a Chance” (3/25/17 US, 8/12/17 FR) – Amy takes care of one of Eggman’s beebots and adopts it.
 
“Mombot” (4/1/17 US, 8/19/17 FR) – Eggman creates a mothering robot for himself, which ends up just criticizing and embarrassing him in front of Sonic.
 
“Muckfoot” (4/8/17 US, 8/26/17 FR) – Tails wants to prove that a mythical creature is real.
 
“Nominatus Rising” (4/15/17 US, 9/2/17 FR) – The sentient virus returns and this time tries to take over the world from outside the computer.
 
“Eggman’s Brother” (4/22/17 US, 9/9/17 FR) – Eggman’s long-lost brother comes to the village and joins forces with Team Sonic.
 
“Do Not Disturb” (4/29/17 US, 9/16/17 FR) – Government regulations keep Sonic from evicting an endangered creature from his shack.
 
“Robots from the Sky Part 1” (5/6/17 US, 9/23/17 FR) – Mighton and Bolts come from the robot sky city Roboken and believe Team Sonic to be evil for attacking robots.
 
“Robots from the Sky Part 2” (5/13/17 US, 9/23/17 FR) – When robots across the world turn evil, Sonic and Tails head to Roboken for help.
 
“Robots from the Sky Part 3” (5/20/17 US, 9/23/17 FR) – Tails learns he may have inadvertently caused the Roboken to be taken over by evil robots.
 
“Robots from the Sky Part 4” (5/27/17 US, 9/23/17 FR) – Hypnobot joins forces with Eggman to conquer the world.
 
“Flea-ing from Trouble” (6/3/17 US, 9/30/17 FR) – Eggman attacks with extremely tiny robots.
 
“Lightning Bowler Society” (6/10/17 US, 10/7/17 FR) – A bowling match could see the Lightning Bolt Society steal all of Team Sonic’s fans.
 
“Planes, Trains and Dude-Mobiles” (6/17/17 US, 10/14/17 FR) – The boys’ band has been booked for their first road gig and set out in their new van.
 
“Sticks and Amy’s Excellent Staycation” (6/24/17 US, 10/21/17 FR) – Belinda plans to attack the village since the boys are away on their gig.
 
“Inn Sanity” (7/1/17 US, 10/28/17 FR) – Eggman turns his lair into a luxury resort to raise money for his tax bill.
 
“Mister Eggman” (7/8/17 US, 11/3/17 FR) – When it comes out Eggman isn’t actually a doctor, he goes back to school to finish his PhD.
 
“The Haunted Lair” (7/15/17 US, 11/10/17 FR) – Believing it to be haunted, Eggman sells his lair to T.W. Barker.
 
“Return of the Buddy Buddy Temple of Doom” (7/22/17 US, 11/17/17 FR) – Eggman recruits the Froglodytes to make the Gogobas mine for a crystal to power his giant mech suit.
 
“Eggman’s Anti Gravity Ray” (7/29/17 US, 11/24/17 FR) – Eggman creates a ray to turn his lair away from the morning wind and ends up causing chaos in the village instead.
 
“Victory” (8/5/17 US, 12/1/17 FR) – Sonic challenges Eggman to a soccer game to save the rec center.
 
“Three Men and My Baby!” (8/12/17 US, 12/8/17 FR) – Sonic, Tails and Knuckles accidentally injure Lady Walrus and offer to take care of her baby.
 
“Where Have All the Sonics Gone?” (8/19/17 US, 12/15/17 FR) – Morpho sends Sonic to a universe where he never existed.
 
“If You Build It They Will Race” (8/26/17 US, 12/22/17 FR) – Team Sonic becomes very competitive with each other when they enter an auto race with cars they’ve designed.
 
“Chain Letter” (9/2/17 US, 12/29/17 FR) – Sonic quickly regrets accepting Eggman’s friend request on social media.
 
“Vector Detector” (9/9/17 US, 1/5/18 FR) – Vector is hired to find Amy’s missing hammer.
 
“Three Minutes or Less” (9/30/17 US, 1/26/18 FR) – Eggman tries to interfere with Sonic’s 3-minute delivery promise.
 
“Lair on Lockdown” (10/7/17 US, 2/2/18 FR) – Team Sonic gets trapped in Eggman’s lair with him after accidentally triggering a lockdown.
 
“You and I Bee-come One” (10/14/17 US, 2/9/18 FR) – Tails’ new teleporter accidentally merges him with a beebot.
 
“Don’t Make Me Angry” (10/21/17 US, 2/16/18 FR) – An experiment causes Eggman to become an adorable creature whenever he gets angry.
 
“Eggman Family Vacation’ (10/28/17 US, 2/23/18 FR) – Mighton and Bolts call on Team Sonic to help stop the evil schemes of the Eggman brothers in Roboken.
 
“Return to Beyond the Valley of the Cubots” (11/4/17 US, 3/2/18 FR) – D-Fekt joins up with the Cubots to take down Eggman.
 
“Eggman: The Video Game Part 1” (11/11/17 US, 3/9/18 FR) – Eggman recruits Shadow to help bring more evil into his video game.
 
“Eggman: The Video Game Part 2” (11/18/17 US, 3/9/18 FR) – When he realizes he’s been duped, Shadow decides to get revenge first on Eggman and then the entire universe.