Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Created by
and based on the writings of children’s author Shane DeRolf, Zazoo
U was one of the launch programs for the new Fox Kids Network programming
block in 1990. The series followed the adventures of a group of anthropomorphic
animals (or “Americanimals”) as they attended Umatta University (nicknamed
“Zazoo U”) and received life lessons along with their education.
Some of the occupants of Umatta: Slogo, Logan, Bully, Dr. Russell, Boink, Tess, Grizzle and Ms. Devine with Rarf.
The main
students of the show were friends Boink (Michael Horton, doing a bit of a Jack Nicholson impression following
the first episode), who had a laid-back approach to life and seemed capable of
pulling almost anything out of his carrying case or locker; Grizzle (Jerry
Houser), a pig that prided himself on his stench and always had his drumsticks
handy; Bully (Brian Cummings, impersonating Richard
Nixon), a wooly mammoth seen constantly dragging around a piano (that
tended to get destroyed); and tomboy Tess (Susan Silo) who generally tried to
give Grizzle a wide berth. Occasionally they would be joined by Slogo Bonito
(S. Scott Bullock) and Logan Bonito (Neil Ross), two acrobat brothers who lived
at the circus with their parents, and Chomper, a small yellow creature with a
voracious appetite.
Boink and his bottomless case.
As colorful
as the student body was, the faculty was as colorful in their own right. Dr.
Russell (Stu Rosen, who also served as voice director) was a walrus whose
verboseness often left his students more clueless than when they started.
Contrasting him was the mute Professor Zork, the penguin music teacher who
preferred to let his baton do the talking. Ms. Devine (Tress MacNeille) was a high-class,
self-absorbed fashionista who “taught” (in very loose terms) various
subjects and constantly carried around her furry pet, Rarf (Danny Mann), with
whom Grizzle had an antagonistic rivalry with. Mr. Seymour (Lee Thomas) was the
geography teacher that got himself stuck inside a television set and now taught
from there; often interacting with the videos inserted for the lesson. Additionally,
two rapping buzzards named Rawld-O and Buck (both Dorian Harewood) served as
kind of the Greek chorus
for the show; commenting on the episodes and the plot and sometimes carrying in
the setting (as limited as they were) for the next scene. Rawld-O did all the
talking for the pair while Buck beat-boxed.
Professor Zork and Dr. Russell relaxing in the teacher's lounge.
Zazoo U debuted
on FOX on September 8, 1990. Unlike other
programs with a message, the series approached topics with a surreal absurdism
and parodies as the characters went from one silly situation to another and
broke the fourth wall constantly. For instance, they used a box of sentient
crayons that believed each of them was better than the other to showcase the
value of working together, or a nine-mile-high pile of garbage to show how
pollution can start and spiral out of control. The moral of the tale was
ultimately conveyed in a poem written by DeRolf and recited by Harewood over a
montage of accompanying images. A running gag on the show involved footage of
the feet of live-action kids (which is exactly what the characters referred to
them as) running down a hallway and trampling whatever characters were seen
immediately before.
Buck and Rawld-O carrying in the major prop for the next scene.
Despite receiving
critical acclaim and praise, Zazoo U didn’t find its audience—especially
in light of it being up against shows like Muppet
Babiesand The
New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Additionally, many of FOX’s
affiliates chose not to carry the show. It became the first Fox Kids series to
be cancelled, with the final two episodes not even being allowed to air before it
was removed from the schedule and replaced by Peter Pan and the Pirates. Despite
its short run, Zazoo U received some merchandising in the form of a t-shirt and a lunchbox
by Aladdin.
To date, only 6 episodes have seen release across 3 DVDs
by Jetix in the United
Kingdom; with online availability limited only to several episodes uploaded to YouTube. As for DeRolf, he was asked to
develop the early
branding effort for Fox Kids before writing six children’s books and having
a successful career starting companies in children’s media, toys and games, as
well as developing award-winning children’s programming and PSA’s for the Ad Council.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Nine Mile Pile” (9/8/90) – The students of Umatta file
in for the new school year as an errant wad of bubblegum causes a pile of junk
to grow outside.
“The Crayon Box That Talked” (9/15/90) – Rarf’s Fairy
Rarfmother brings a box of crayons to life that pair up with each of the
students in order to prove which is the best color.
“The Search for the Meaning of Life” (9/29/90) – Tess goes
on a relentless search for the meaning of life.
“Yesterday’s Zoo” (10/6/90) – A hunt for the school’s
janitor leads to the discovery of many hidden relics.
“Is Bigger Better?” (10/20/90) – An argument about bigger
meaning better gets bigger but decidedly not better.
“Har V and Sue” (11/3/90) – When Tess and Grizzle stop being
friends, both compete to win Boink’s friendship.
“Bully Loses His Temper” (11/17/90) – When Bully gets angry,
he literally loses his temper which runs amok around the school.
“Share a Chair” (12/1/90) – A dejected Grizzle wanders off
when he doesn’t get a special chair like everyone else.
“Ms. Devine’s Blues” (12/15/90) – Rarf attempts to prove to
Ms. Devine that he’s special and not worthless.
“No Strings Attached” (1/5/91) – Boink’s imagination allows
him to discover invisible strings that end up altering the laws of physics.
“Money for Music” (1/19/91) – The class tries to earn money
in different ways for new musical instruments.
“One Single Seed” (N/A) – An alien talent agent lands at the
school searching for the galaxy’s next big star.
“Boink’s Rap” (N/A) – The others must help Boink overcome
his stage fright in time for the school talent show.
In 1959, independent filmmaker Roger Corman
had just completed a film for American
International Pictures called A Bucket of Blood.
Given only $50,000 and a five-day shooting schedule on some sets leftover from Diary of a High
School Bride, Corman decided he was
bored of straightforward horror and added some humor elements along with writer
Chares B. Griffith.
Visiting various beatnik coffeehouses helped them come up with the story: a
dark satirical black comedy horror film about beatnik culture.
Griffith, whose parents came from a vaudeville background, helped Corman around
his unease at directing comedy for the first time.
Seymour feeds Audrey Jr.
For Corman’s next attempt at horror
comedy, there has been several origin stories for its conception. One account
was that it was a bet. Another
was that because new residual rules for actors were coming into place on
January 1, 1960 that would change how Corman did business and he wanted to beat
the deadline with one last picture. Corman himself
would say that it began as a joke; that while having lunch with the manager of
the small rental studio where he worked out of, he was told that production on
a film was wrapping and they were leaving the sets up for a time before taking
them down. Corman, familiar with the sets and not having a lot of money on hand,
decided almost as a joke that he would make a film utilizing them within two
days. Re-teaming with Griffith, they hashed out a story and Griffith wrote the
script.
The Little Shop of Horrors was
set in a flower shop in Los
Angeles’ Skid Row. Bumbling shop clerk Seymour Krelboined (Jonathan Haze)
was attempting to keep his job by presenting his boss, Gravis Mushnick (Mel Welles),
a unique flower grown by combining seeds he acquired from a Japanese gardener. The
plant, resembling a large Venus
flytrap, was named Audrey Jr. after his crush, co-worker
Audrey Fulquard (Jackie
Joseph). However, the flower was in poor shape and Seymour
had only a week to revive it before losing his job. Discovering it thrived on
human blood (and could talk, courtesy of Griffith), Seymour soon fell
into an accidental murder spree that kept Audrey Jr. fed and growing almost
larger than the shop, attracting new business for Mushnick in the process. The
film was populated by a host of eccentric characters, including regular
customer Siddie Shiva (Leola
Wndorff), whose relatives seemed to die every day; new
customer Burson Fouch (Dick
Miller), who enjoyed eating plants and decided to make
Mushnik’s his regular spot; sadistic and lousy dentist Dr. Farb (John Herman Shaner);
and Seymour’s hypochondriac mother, Winfred (Griffith’s grandmother Myrtle Vail).
Seymour, Mushnik and Audrey look on as Junior grows.
The film was shot similarly to a
sitcom, with three days of rehearsals and two days of actual filming utilizing multiple
cameras on fixed sets with no dynamic lighting. Because of rules at the time,
it worked out cheaper in Corman’s favor to pay the actors on a weekly basis
than on a daily one, so he hired them all for the week. Exterior shots were
then done over two weekends by Griffith and Welles, and Haze would later recall
that there were some reshoots. The film was very similar to Blood:utilizing
minimal sets, Corman’s regular stock actors, and the structure of the story of
a dim-witted character failing upwards with murderous results. Miller, who
played the lead in Blood, turned down the starring role for the smaller
role he ended up having. A pre-fame Jack Nicholson
also appeared as a masochistic dental patient.
The film's poster.
Corman had trouble finding
distribution for his film as some felt the characters of Mushnik and Shiva were
anti-Semitic (Welles himself was Jewish and created his character’s accent). It
was finally released by his production company, The Filmgroup,
nine months after its completion. After being screened out of competition at
the 1960 Cannes
Film Festival, AIP distributed the film as the B movie
for their release of Mario
Bava’s
Black
Sunday, gaining it extra
attention. The film slowly gained popularity through television airings
throughout the 1960s and 1970s, becoming a cult classic.
The stage version of Audrey II and Seymour.
In
1982, the film was adapted into an Off-Broadway horror comedy rock musical with
direction and lyrics by Howard
Ashman and music by Alan Menken.
The musical took some liberties with the original story: the setting was moved
to New
York’s Skid Row; Mrs. Shiva, Burson Fouch, the detectives
that investigated the various deaths and Seymour’s mother were omitted and
Seymour (given the new surname Krelborn, played by Lee Wilkof)
became a ward of Mr. Mushnik (Hy Anzell);
Audrey (Ellen
Greene) was put into an abusive relationship with the
dentist, now renamed Orin Scrivello (Franc Luz),
to give Seymour more of a motive to kill him; a chorus of street urchins
modeled after girl groups of the 1960s was added; Audrey Jr., now named Audrey
II (Ron
Taylor voice, Martin P. Robinson
puppeteer), was remade as an alien intent on taking over the world; and the
show ended with a much darker ending emphasizing class struggles and moral
values. By the time the show closed in 1987, it was the
third-longest running musical and the highest-grossing production
in Off-Broadway history.
One
of the show’s original producers, David Geffen,
decided to adapt the stage show into a new musical feature film. Frank Oz
was tapped to direct and worked on the story to make it more fitting for film.
The film starred Rick
Moranis as Seymour, Vincent Gardenia
as Mr. Mushnik, Steve Martin as Orin
Scrivello, and Levi
Stubbs as Audrey II, who was now operated by an entire team
of puppeteers, along with Greene reprising her role as Audrey. A few of the
songs were removed from the production, and the masochistic dental patient was
added back in, played by an ad-libbing Bill Murray.
Although the original dark ending from the stage show was adapted, it didn’t
test well with preview audiences and was replaced with a new, happier one. Little
Shop of Horrors was released by Warner
Bros. on December 19, 1986, underperforming the studio’s
expectations with only a $39 million box office. However, home video sales made
the film a smash hit.
The main cast: Audrey Jr., Seymour, Mr. Mushnik, Audrey and Paine.
In
1991, a new adaptation came in the form of an animated series produced by Saban
Entertainment and Marvel Productions.
This version, developed by Mark
Edward Edens and Ellen Levy,
combined elements from the original and musical productions while making
changes of their own. Seymour (Marlow Vela, Lisa Paulette and Jana Lexxa
singing) was now 13-years-old and a wannabe nerd (he had all the right
qualities, except the smarts). Seymour frequently broke the 4th wall
to relay his inner thoughts and commentary on situations to the audience.
Seymour’s mother’s hypochondria was changed to her being a health nut,
constantly working out and sticking Seymour with healthy foods. Seymour still
had a crush on Audrey (Tamar Lee & Jennie Kwan), who was now the daughter
of his boss, Mr. Mushnik (Harvey Atkins & Michael Rawls), at the Little
Shop of Flowers (changed from Mushnik’s Flowers). Audrey barely acknowledged
his existence, focusing entirely on finding her future career (the first
episode said she had a lifelong dream of being a firefighter, but she pursued a
different occupation in every episode). The dentist character was reimagined as
school bully Paine Driller (David Huban & Mark Ryan-Martin), who wore
orthodontic headgear (his father was also a dentist). It was Paine’s bullying
that sent Seymour to the city dump where he stumbled upon the 200-million-year-old
petrified seed that would sprout into Audrey Jr. (Roland “Buddy Lewis” &
Terry “Proffet” McGee). Junior was more of an omnivore than a strict carnivore,
eating basically any type of food or object. He was also a rabble rouser,
constantly attempting to make plants rise up against humanity and reassert
their place on the food chain once held during his time via his new “plant
magnetism” ability. And he was a lot nicer to Seymour, often trying to help him
out—especially in regards to Audrey—in his own, crude ways. Junior retained his
hypnosis abilities from the original film, and had a penchant for plant puns. A
character resembling Nicholson made small appearances in various episodes, as
did the flower-eating Fouch.
Mushnik's Flowers is now Little Shop of Flowers.
Little
Shop debuted on FOX
as part of the Fox
Kids
programming block on September 7, 1991. It was written by Edens, Mel Gilden,
Robert Tarlow,
Marty Isenberg,
Robert N. Skir,
Steve Cuden,
Barbara Slade,
Matthew Malach
and Hope
Juber, with Edens serving as story editor. Noticeably
absent from the show—and the title—was any kind of horror. Since this was meant
for children, the episodes largely dealt with the antics of Seymour and Junior
and tried to convey morality lessons amidst the absurdity. The characters broke
out into song several times an episode, and with this being the 90s it wouldn’t
have been complete without at least one of them (in this case, Junior) breaking
out into a rap. Haim
Saban and Shuki
Levy
handled the series’ music, while the raps were produced by Romeo Williams,
John
D. Mitchell and Ron Kenan.
The characters were designed by Joe Horne,
Darrel Bowen
and David
Mucci and animation duties were handled by KKC&D.
Corman himself served as a creative consultant and his distribution company,
Concorde-New Horizons Corporation (now New Horizons),
also handled the show’s distribution. Noticeably, while the characters and the
objects they interacted with were fully colored, the backgrounds instead were
only loosely done so with swatches of colors similar to the style of old UPA
cartoons.
The
series only lasted 13 episodes before it was cancelled. It remained on the
network until the following September and later made its way to the Sci-Fi
Channel’s (now Syfy)
Cartoon
Questand The
Animation Stationprogramming blocks
until 1997. It wouldn’t be until 2017 that episodes began to surface online; however,
one is only available in a German translation. Meanwhile, the legacy of Little
Shop of Horrors continues on. Since 2003, multiple revivals of the stage
production have been made both in America and the United Kingdom. In 2012, the
original ending for the 1986 film was made
available on home media for the first time (technically
second, but the original poorly-done attempt was pulled
off the shelves at Geffen’s request). Warner Bros. had
also announced a remake
of the musical film was in development, however it has since
been postponed
indefinitely.
EPISODE
GUIDE: “Bad
Seed” (9/7/91) – Seymour grows a 200 million-year-old seed into Junior who,
unable to go home, stays and helps Mr. Mushnik’s flowers grow. “Real
Men Aren’t Made of Quiche” (9/14/91) – Audrey decides to become a refrigerator
repairman while Junior and Seymour work on making a human-plant hybrid. “Back
to the Fuchsia” (9/21/91) – Junior decides to go back in time to warn the
plants about the rise of dinosaurs and maintain his place in the food chain. “Unfair
Science” (9/28/91) – Junior’s science project for Seymour ends up attracting
the attention of Seymour’s favorite celebrity, who wants to steal it. “Stage
Blight” (10/5/91) – A failed playwright produced Junior’s play where Seymour
finds himself as the romantic lead. “I
Loath a Parade” (10/12/91) – Junior falls in love with the Venus flytrap
Seymour brings home. “Air
Junior” (10/19/91) – Junior makes Seymour’s new pair of shoes able to fly. “Untitled
Halloween Story” (10/26/91) – Angered over the tradition of pumpkin carving,
Junior goes trick-or-treating with Seymour and Audrey to steal back all the
jack-o-lanterns. “It’s
A Wonderful Leaf” (11/2/91) – A reaper shows Seymour a vision of the future
while Junior dreams of running a flower hotel. “Tooth
or Consequences” (11/9/91) – Seymour learns that small lies can lead to big
trouble. “Walk
Like a Nerd” (11/16/91) – Junior decides to give himself legs and ends up
sharing Seymour’s body. “Pulp
Fiction” (11/23/91) – Junior organizes used paper products to revolt against
the paper-making industry. “Married
to the Mush” (11/30/91) – Paine’s aunt dates Mr. Mushnik under the belief that
he’s rich, which causes the ambitious Audrey to lose all hope and decide on
becoming a housewife.
Animator and director Savage Steve
Holland seems to have carved a career for himself out of his pitiful life
experiences. He turned his failed 11-year-old birthday party into a sad film a
comedy festival audience found hilarious, translated people he knew into the
casts of Better Off
Deadand One
Crazy Summer, and utilized his harrowing experience as a pet owner for
his first animated series.
Eek with Annabelle.
Developed with friend and colleague
Bill Kopp, Eek! The Cat centered on a pudgy purple cat named Eek (after
one of Holland’s cats, voiced by Kopp using a voice he came up with for his own
cat) who was an eternal optimist and always willing to live up to his motto
that “It never hurts to help!” Except, in Eek’s case, it often did. Not only
was he the victim of slapstick pratfalls that would make Wile E. Coyote
jealous, but he often inadvertently caused harm and misery to others. He was also
surrounded by some of the worst people that often sought to actively abuse or
take advantage of him.
Eek with Wendy Elizabeth and J.B.
Though anthropomorphized, Eek was
generally a typical cat around his family. The matriarch known simply as Mom
(Elinor Donahue) was often busy cleaning house or attempting to learn
nonsensical phrases in foreign languages. She had two kids: Wendy Elizabeth
(Elizabeth Daily) and J.B. (Charlie Adler). Both were whiny and spoiled, with Wendy
Elizabeth being prone to emotional outbursts whenever things don’t go her way
and J.B. being the least-intelligent of the pair. The kids’ favorite show was The
Squishy Bearz Rainbow of Enchanted Fun Minute. It starred The Squishy Bearz,
four family-friendly colorful bears—Kozy (Jaid Barrymore first time, then
Daily), Puffy, Wuz Wuz (both Cam Clarke), Pierre (Kopp using a French accent)—that
were a parody of the Care Bears and often ended up in extreme peril.
Sharky out for Eek's blood.
Outside of the house, Eek had his
girlfriend and neighbor, Annabelle (Tawny Kitaen, later Karen Haber, both using
a southern drawl), an obese pink cat whose heftiness often escaped Eek.
Annabelle was protected by Sharky the Sharkdog (who spoke in often-subtitled
growls), her pet guard dog that resembled a shark and generally disliked Eek as
he always happened to cause him injury or destroy his stuff (particularly his
deceptively cavernous dog house). Sharky’s favorite show was Patriotic
Warriors (a parody of American Gladiators),
and was in love with one of their stars, Platinum. Mittens (Dan Castellaneta,
later John Kassir), was Eek’s best friend who suffered from extreme paranoia
and lived with the poor-sighted Granny (Adler). Steven was a squirrel who lived
in a nearby tree with his family and was incredibly boring. The Incredible Elmo
(Holland) was Eek’s inept yet loyal friend who hid his cowardice by constantly tricking
Eek into doing something dangerous for him by claiming he needed to raise money
for an absurd medical procedure for his brother, Timmy. Elmo had a variety of
professions, including talk show host and medical doctor.
Close encounters of the Eek kind.
Eek! The Cat debuted on FOX on September 12, 1992 as part of the Fox Kids programming block. Every
episode was written by Holland and Kopp, utilizing slapstick humor and pop
culture references. Occasionally, episodes would spoof entire movies, be done
as a musical, or completely in rhyme. Rather than focus on the typical life of
a housecat like other productions, Eek was often thrust into one silly
situation after another; such as having to rescue Annabelle from the evil alien
Zoltar (Brad Garrett) who wanted to use her as a battery. Although FOX had a
comparatively liberal standards and practices department when compared to the
other networks, Holland and Kopp made sure that the censor assigned to their
show earned every penny she was paid by jamming the script with elements they
couldn’t air. For instance, the aliens in the episode “Eek vs. the Flying Saucers”
were initially described as a toilet, a urinal and a roll of toilet paper that
were treated “like filth” on their last visit to Earth. It could be surmised
that was just Holland and Kopp applying the old trick of putting in outlandish
content in order to get the stuff they actually wanted past the censor.
Animation duties were handled by Nelvana
while Nathan Wang composed the music.
Renewed for a second season, Eek!
received a revamp. Holland and Kopp came up with the idea for a spin-off
series that instead became a segment of the parent show. Eek! adventures
were pared down to make room for The Terrible Thunderlizards, which saw
the whole show renamed Eek! and the Terrible Thunderlizards. Production
delays prevented the segment from joining the show when the season debuted and
it ended up starting that November. Additional 1-minute segments were planned
starring the various supporting characters, but they were dropped when they
found they didn’t have sufficient time to air them. The Thunderlizards segments
had their own theme composed by Dee Snider
of Twisted Sister.
The Thunderlizards: Kutter, Squatt and Doc.
Thunderlizards
was
set in prehistoric times, however the dinosaurs were shown to possess advanced
intelligence and modern equipment. A trio of dinosaur mercenaries—leader Doc
Tari (Holland), a Parasaurolophus whose crest hole contained a multitude of
gadgets; Day Z. Kutter (Kopp); a Styracosaurus who was an expert with sharp
weaponry, and Bo Diddley Squatt (Jason Priestly, later Corey Feldman), a
dim-witted Allosaurus that was often the first to volunteer for dangerous
missions (modeled after Private Hudson from Aliens)—were tasked
by their commander, General Galapagos (a Tyrannosaurus voiced by Kurtwood
Smith), with exterminating a pair of cavemen before they were allowed to mate
and eventually supplant dinosaurs as the dominant species.
Scooter and Bill.
Those
cavemen were Bill (Adler) and Scooter (Curtis Armstrong, a frequent Holland
collaborator). Scooter was the jolly, optimistic inventor of the pair, often
coming up with a variety of (ultimately defective) devices. Ill-tempered Bill
was often the guinea pig for those devices with disastrous results (ending with
the line “When does the hurting stop?”). They were aware of the Thunderlizards’
attempts to come after them although they had no clue exactly why. It was often
by sheer luck and the Thunerlizards’ ineptitude that the cavemen managed to
escape every time.
Thuggosaur Biff looks at their latest failed invention.
The
Thunderlizards had another foe: the Thuggosaurs. They were a race of undead
Grim Reaper-like dinosaurs that lived in a place called the X-Zone. They were
based on the Forbidden Zone mutants from Beneath the Planet of the Apes and
Battle for the Planet of the Apes. The Thuggosaurs constantly try to
attack Jurassic City, only to end up thwarted by the Thunderlizards and
sometimes the cavemen. Leading the Thuggosaurs was Thuggo (Garret, Smith for 4
episodes), a fan of dramatic TV shows. Biff was his second in command; a gentle
soul who enjoyed flowers.
While
the show remained unchanged for the third season, it did gain another (and
final) new name: Eek! Stravaganza. It also had a loss behind the scenes
as Kopp left the production. While he still provided the voices for all of his
characters, Kopp accepted a deal to develop The Shnookums and Meat Funny
Cartoon Showfor Disney’s The
Disney Afternoonprogramming block. The show ended up being
short-lived, and Kopp was offered a deal to do another show for FOX. Joining
Holland on writing duties for the season were Kati Rocky, Pamela Wick, Henry Gilroy, Paul Germain, Sandy Fries and Frank Santopadre.
The
fourth season introduced another new segment: Klutter! The segment
focused on Ryan (Clarke) and Wade (Holland) Heap, two boys who desperately
wanted a pet. However, their reporter father, John (co-creator David Silverman)
was allergic to just about every animal. They got their wish, however, when Ryan
accidentally charged a pile of clutter with static electricity, creating
Klutter (Kirk Thatcher). They, along with their baby sister Sandee (Sandy Fox)
and neighbors Vanna Erving (Halle Stanford) and Kopp (Michael Zorek) often went
on adventures with Klutter as Ryan fancied himself a reporter like his father.
Despite John’s insistence that their town was completely dull, that didn’t stop
them from encountering ghosts, monsters, mad scientists and aliens.
Klutter munching on some chips.
Klutter!
looked
markedly different from the rest of the Eek! line-up. That was because
it was co-produced by Film Roman with characters designed by Eric S. Keyes and Mark Walsh. Holland
took on most of the staff from the recently-cancelled The Critic, all of
whom worked on the segment.Because Holland and others often had fun
talking about and drawing funny pictures of Bill Kopp behind his back, they
created the character of Kopp based on him. Kopp was portrayed as a bit of a
dimwit and often bore the brunt of some of the jokes. Only 8 episodes of Klutter!
were made, alternating with Thunderlizards segments, which were produced
and directed by Brian Sheesley.
Silverman served as the story editor.
Eek and Elmo cook as Timmy looks on.
For
the fifth and final season, Eek! was taken off of Saturday mornings and
moved to the weekday afternoon timeslot. Klutter! reruns were used to
fill up episode run times, alternating again with Thunderlizard segments.
Although FOX cancelled the series in 1996, new episodes didn’t finish airing until
the summer of 1997. Parts of episodes returned in reruns the following year in
Fox’s Cartoon Cabaña programming block. Both
seasons were written entirely by Holland.
Mulder and Scully appear on Eek!
One
notable aspect of the show was the type and number of celebrity cameos they
were able to book. William Shatner
played Santa in the Christmas special and returned to play Captain Berzerk in
another episode. Bobcat
Goldthwait played Santa’s reindeer, Blitzen. Tim
Curry narrated an episode. Dee Snider and Mr. T portrayed dinosaur versions
of themselves in Thunderlizards. Phil Hartman was a psychotic
bunny, Buck Henry was Cupid,
and Heather Locklear played
Alice, a rival for Annabelle’s affections for Eek. As a love letter to the X-Files,
and an acknowledgement for the fact that Eek! was seen on an episode
of that show, not only did Eek! parody X-Files but David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprised their
roles for an episode of Eek! Appearing as themselves was Nia James, John Walsh, “Weird Al” Yankovic, John Landis, Don Cornelius, Julie Strain, Chuck Jagger, Chris Leary, The Barbi Twins, Cynthia Rothrock, Fabio and Margaret Loesch, the head of
Fox Kids. Holland and Kopp also appeared as themselves. Kato Kaelin was scheduled to
appear as well, but the network vetoed that.
EPISODE
GUIDE (there is some discrepancy with the episode order & air dates for
later seasons): Season
1:
“Misereek”
(9/12/92) – Eek takes Mittens’ place in order to get some better food but finds
out the grass is always greener.
“Bearz
N’ the Hood” (9/19/92) – Eek goes to get a Squishy Bearz autograph for Wendy
Elizabeth, but the Rat Pack disguise themselves as the Bearz to take the
mayor’s statue hostage.
“Castanova”
(9/26/92) – Cupid aids Eek in getting the attention of his new neighbor
Annabelle, while also avoiding her guard dog Sharky.
“Eek
vs. the Flying Saucers” (10/3/92) – Eek has to save Annabelle and the planet
from an evil alien.
“Cape
Fur” (10/17/92) – Eek rescues and adopts a bunny, only to discover the bunny is
a psychopath.
“HallowEek”
(10/31/92) – Eek has to rescue his children and some ghosts from a pretty
witch.
“Eek’s
International Adventure” (11/14/92) – While on a family vacation, Eek is
mistaken for a secret agent and ends up captured by the evil Brain with the
gorgeous agent Sasha.
“HawaiiEek
5-0” (11/21/92) – Rescuing Anabelle from a swimming pool lands her, Eek and
Jacques L’Ducks on a tropical island where Anabelle is made queen—and a
sacrifice.
“Great
Balls of Fur” (11/28/92) – When superstar Melvis fakes his death to escape his
career, his manager tricks Eek into impersonating him for his own benefit.
“The
Whining Pirates of Tortuga” (12/5/92) – While waiting for Sharky to leave, Eek
regales the neighborhood kittens with an adventure tale about his encounter
with real pirates.
“The
Eekcidental Tourist” (12/12/92) – Wendy Elizabeth’s mother takes the family on
a cross-country road trip to improve her geography knowledge, and Eek is left
behind in every state.
“It’s
A Wonderful Nine Lives” (12/19/92) – Eek goes on a mission to deliver a package
that fell out of Santa’s sleigh.
“The
Eeksterminator” (12/26/92) – Eek has to rescue the termites he gave Wendy
Elizabeth from a group of spiders and an exterminator.
Season
2:
“Shark
Therapy / Speed FrEek” (9/25/93) – Eek rushes Sharky to Dr. Elmo after running
him over with a lawn mower, but all they do is make Sharky worse. / Elmo tricks
Eek into running a race for him when he goes up against a superior opponent.
“Rocketship
to Jupiter / Eek’s Funny Thing That He Does” (10/2/93) – Eek dreams that he and
the Squishy Bearz visit Professor Wiggly to test his rocket ship. / Eek has to
get lemons from Sharky’s yard in order to replenish J.B. and Wendy Elizabeth’s
supply for their lemonade stand.
“Eekpocalypse
Now! / Eex Men” (10/9/93) – Eek, the kittens and Elmo head up the McTropolis
River to find Sharky. / Superpersonman decides to give up being a hero and
saddles Eek with the job.
“Quadrapedia
/ Night on Squishy Mountain” (11/6/93) – The Rat Pack kidnaps Anabelle on
behalf of two witch cats jealous of her beauty. / A day at the amusement park
is disrupted when Mom is captured by an insane automaton.
“Star
TrEek / Eeking Out a Living” (11/13/93) – Eek dreams he’s a starship captain
engaged in a battle with Sharky the Sharktarian. / When Eek and Sharky accidentally
break Annabelle’s garden fountain statue, they get jobs in order to buy the
glue needed to fix it.
“Meat
the Thunderlizards / The Great Eekscape” (11/20/93) – Believing mankind will
lead them to extinction, General Galapagos forms the Thunderlizards to stamp
out two cavemen. / Eek and Sharky end up in the pound when they’re found
without their licenses.
“The
Lava my Life / Eek Goes to the Hot Spot” (11/27/93) – A chase leads the
Thunderlizards and the cavemen into unwittingly rescuing the President’s
daughter. / When Eek ends up in the afterlife, a bad cat trades places with him
so that Eek will end up in the hot spot instead.
“Tar
and Away” (12/4/93) – The cavemen and Thunderlizards discover an alien ship in
a tar pit.
“It’s
a Very Merry Eek’s Mas” (12/5/93) – Eek takes Sharky to see Santa to grant him
a Christmas wish, but they end up delivering presents instead when the reindeer
and elves go on strike.
“Always
Eat Your Spinach” (12/18/93) – Trying to root the cavemen out of a house leads
Squatt to accidentally create a spinach monster.
“All
About Babs” (1/1/94) – The dino scientists create a female human designed to
lure the cavemen to the Thunderlizards, but she has her own plans.
“The
Frying Game” (1/8/94) – The Thuggasaurs plan to use missiles to destroy
Jurassic City.
“Ice
Age Kapades / Something’s Abyss” (1/15/94) – The cavemen discover a lost ice
projection gun in their travels and accidentally start the Ice Age. / The
cavemen fall into a ravine where they’re captured by slugs whose princess wants
to marry Bill.
“The
Unbearable Lightness of Being Scooter / Thundersaurus Wrecks” (1/22/94) – While
the cavemen escape via helium, the Thunderlizards discover the Thuggasaurs’
inflatable bomber. / Scooter saves a baby bat from falling, and as thanks its
mother gives them a ride while the Thunderlizards pursue in a plane.
“A
Sharkwork Orange / Let’s Make a Wheel” (2/5/94) – Eek sends Sharky to Dr. Elmo
for his anger issues. / Bill tries out Scooter’s new wheel and ends up foiling
the Thunderlizards’ new weapon against them.
“T-Rex,
Lies and Videotape” (2/19/94) – Spy cameras used to find the cavemen stumble
upon the Thuggasaurs’ latest explosive plot.
“Mountain
Groan” (2/26/94) – On a camping trip, Annabelle ends up the only one not abducted
and left alone against a bigfoot.
Season
3:
“Paws
/ In the Line of Fur” (9/10/94) – Eek, Sharky and Mittens have to retrieve
Annabelle’s overfed goldfish from Wendy Elizabeth’s pool party. / After rescuing
the President’s cat Socks, Eek becomes his escort and has to rescue him from
mad dog Checkers.
“Chariots
of Fur / Honey I Shrunk the Cat” (9/17/94) – Elmo forces Eek to substitute in a
race for him and uses Sharky to ensure Eek will win. / Eek and Sharky end up
shrunken by Elmo’s shrink ray, but before they can be enlarged they have to
remove a raisin from the President’s brain.
“Shark
Doggy Dog / Fatal Eektraction” (9/24/94) – Choking on a sock has Don Corenlius
turn Sharky into a rap star. / Eek’s new neighbor has the hots for him and
tries to get rid of Annabelle.
“The
Good, the Bad and the Squishy / Birth of a Notion” (10/8/94) – Eek tells
Annabelle about a mysterious stranger who partners with a sheriff to save a
Western town. / Babs returns to celebrate Bill’s burpday…by having the cavemen
build her a mall.
“Eek’s
SnEek Peek / The Thunder Years” (10/15/94) – Eek provides some behind the
scenes information of his movie with the Squishy Bearz. / The Thunderlizards
are downed in Thuggasaur territory and reminisce while they await rescue in a
cave.
“The
Eex Files / The Hurting Show” (11/5/94) – Eek is believed to be an alien when
he crashes into Area 51 after falling out of an airplane. / While the
Thunderlizards stop a hijacking, Scooter invents a talk show to help Bill work
through his problems.
“Paw
Sores / T-Rex and Sympathy” (11/12/94) – Eek dreams he’s a space knight in a Star
Wars-esque setting. / Mr. T-Rex rides along on the Thunderlizards’ next
mission.
“The
Eeksorcist / Boo Thunder” (11/19/94) – Elmo accidentally unleashes the joyful
spirit Huggie who possesses Sharky and makes him too cute and lovable. / Scooter
invents Halloween where they scare their neighbors with masks while the Thuggosaurs
create a lava-covered robot for their next attack.
“Lord
of the Fleas / Postcards from the X-Zone” (11/26/94) – Elmo tricks Eek into
babysitting some savage penguins that he has to wrangle out of the mall. / The
cavemen go on vacation when their home is hit by a stink bomb and the
Thuggosaurs plan a giggle gas attack.
“Eekstremely
Dull / Planet of the Crepes” (2/4/95) – An extremely boring squirrel family
moves into the neighborhood. / While the Thunderlizards battle the Thuggosaurs’
submarine, an astronaut crash lands on Earth and is shocked by what he finds.
“Eeksy
Rider / A Sharkdog Day Afternoon” (2/18/95) – While getting Wendy Elizabeth’s
bike fixed, Eek, Sharky and Mittens enter a BMX bike tournament. / The
Sharkenator arrives to eliminate Sharky, but Tera comes to his rescue.
“Rebel
Without the Claws / Cromagnon Farce” (2/25/95) – While Annabelle’s at the
beach, she sends Eek and Sharky off for an hour resulting in mishaps to befall
Sharky’s car. The Thuggosaurs try to hijack the space rocket the Thunderlizards
launch to track the cavemen.
“This
Eek’s Your Life” (5/6/95) – Sharky relives his past as everyone comes out to
celebrate his birthday.
“Try
Hard” (7/8/95) – Eek heads off to donate things to the Kittens’ Hospital while
Sharky seeks revenge against him for unknowingly destroying his statue.
Season
4:
“Valley
of the Dogs / Klutter” (9/9/95) – Sharky wakes up one day and decides to become
a Broadway star. / Ryan and Wade are desperate for a pet and accidentally create
one when static electricity brings their clutter to life.
“Pup
Fiction / The Klutter and I (Infection)” (9/16/95) – Eek and Sharky find a
briefcase and set out to return it to its owner. / Klutter tries to help the
kids stay awake long enough to watch a late-night horror movie.
“Natural
Bored Kittens / Lizard of Aaaahs” (9/23/95) –
“OutbrEek
/ Arctic Blast” (9/30/95) –
“Octopussy
Cat / Mixed Klutter” (10/7/95) – Eek undergoes a series of trials to return a
lost octopus to the ocean. / A trip to the aquarium has Klutter being captured
after he’s mistaken for an escaped sea creature.
“Going
to Eekstremes / Bi-Predator” (10/21/95) – Eek’s cousin visits and drags him on
a series of disastrous adventures. / Mr. T-Rex and Bill get blasted into a
restaurant where General Galapagos is eating with his wife.
“Dazed
and Eekstremely Confused / Franken-Klutter” (11/4/95) – Elmo tricks Eek into
taking his place as a movie stuntman. / A disgraced scientist wants to get his
hands on Klutter to figure out the secret to his living and become respected in
his community.
“Eek
Space-9 / The Yawn of Man” (11/11/95) – Eek and the crew have to stop Commander
Berzerk from destroying the universe. / Babs shows off her anacondaminium while
the Thuggosaurs’ latest plot backfires and turns them and the Thunderlizards
into babies.
“The
GraduEek / Peanut Klutter and Jelly” (11/18/95) – Sharky graduates obedience
school and befriends an attractive mail carrier prospect. / After bringing a
turtle back to the river, the kids have to chase their lunches after they float
away on a log.
“PolitEekly
Correct / Whatta Woild” (11/25/95) – After causing a quail to forget his song,
Eek and Sharky take him on a musical tour. / The Thunderlizards have to stop
the Thuggosaurs’ submarine attack.
“Night
of the Living Spuds” (1/29/96) – John gives the kids a pointless story for them
to investigate which leads them into encountering giant living potatoes.
“Goop
Dreams” (1/30/96) – The dino scientists invent a sticky goop that can trap the
cavemen.
“It’s
a Thunderful Life” (2/1/96) – The Thunderlizards’ latest device against the
cavemen goes crazy and begins attacking Jurassic City.
“Thunder
& Frightning” (2/5/96) – The Thunderlizards are given jet packs for their
next human hunt.
“The
Ghost of Goober Bottom Pond” (2/6/96) – Klutter and the kids investigate a
ghost story at the local pond.
“The
Thunder of It All” (2/7/96) – The Thuggosaurs plan to use a missile launcher
disguised as a smiling inch worm to invade and destroy Jurassic City.
“Bonfire
of the Vanna Tea” (2/8/96) – Klutter accidentally ruins the high society party
Vanna attempts to throw.
“The
Magnificent 5 ½” (2/16/96) – To stop a Thuggosaur invasion, the Thunderlizards
are saddled with three specialists for help.
Season
5:
“DiabolEek”
(9/6/96) – Sharky goes to Dr. Elmo to help get rid of his Eek nightmares.
“Pre-Hysteric
Man / Molten Rock-n-Roll” (9/13/96) – Bill accidentally releases a lava flow at
the city, and the Thunderlizards are tasked with stopping it. / The
Thunderlizards have to rescue musician Dee Snidersaur from the Thuggosaurs
after his helicopter crashes in the X-Zone.
“MystEek
Pizza” (9/16/96) – Eek ends up in orbit after ruining one of Sharky’s favorite
shows.
“Eek
Bin Ein Berliner / Thunder Valley” (9/20/96) – Eek causes the destruction of
Shakry’s dog house, and disrupts his attempts to rebuild. / Bill tries to lose
weight while Squatt flies away after drinking liquid helium.
“Snowbored”
(10/14/96) – Elmo tricks Eek into taking his place in a snowboard race.
“Fists
of Furry” (10/28/96) – Cynthia Rothrock trains Sharky in the martial arts.
“The
Island of Dr. Meow / Home O’Spaien Alone” (7/7/97) – Sharky has to defend his
newfound island paradise from a deranged scientist. / The Thunderlizards head
to the X-Zone to escape General Galapagos’ wrath when they tear down the wrong
building.
“Nightmare
on Elmo St. / Night of the Living Duds” (7/14/97) – Eek and Elmo accidentally
create a giant living chocolate souffle. / The Thunderlizards set out to stop
the Thuggosaurs’ Super Beehive cannon.
“Show
Squirls” (7/18/97) – The Squirrel’s show is taken on the road with Sharky serving
as their manager.
“Eekscaliber”
(7/21/97) – A conk on the head sends Sharky back to medieval times, serving
King Eek by finding the Holy Grill.
“The
FugEektive” (7/25/97) – Eek enlists John Walsh’ help in clearing an amnesiac
Sharky of a bank robbery.
“The
Sound of MusEek / Oh…the Humanity” (7/28/97) – Elmo’s friends hold a benefit
concert for Timmy’s next procedure. / The Thunderlizards are sent to escort and
important archaeological find while Scooter invents dentistry.
“Rock-Eek
6” (8/1/97) – When Sharky accidentally injures Platinum, he takes her place in
her upcoming match against the Disturbed Android.
