THE MUMMY: THE ANIMATED SERIES

 

THE MUMMY: THE ANIMATED SERIES / THE MUMMY: SECRETS OF THE MEDJAI

(WB, September 29, 2001-June 7, 2003)

 

Universal Cartoon Studios, Sunwoo Entertainment

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Chris Marquette – Alex O’Connell
John Schneider – Rick O’Connell
Grey DeLisle – Evelyn O’Connell
Tom Kenny – Jonathan Carnahan
Nicholas Guest – Ardeth Bay
Jim Cummings – Imhotep, Sir Arthur Fenwick, opening narration (season 1), various
Michael Reisz – Colin Weasler

 

 

            In 1992, producers James Jacks and Sean Daniel approached Universal Studios about updating the original 1932 Mummy film for the 90s. Universal approved, but wanted the film to be kept to around $10 million. In the following years, the concept went through several ideas and revisions with the likes of Clive Barker and George A. Romero being attached. However, none of the approaches were quite right. In 1997, Stephen Sommers contacted Jacks and Daniel with his desire to make the film. He had grown up liking the original Mummy and wanted to reproduce the parts he liked on a grander scale. He essentially pitched it as Indiana Jones or Jason and the Argonauts vs. the mummy. Around this time, Universal’s management had changed due to the spectacular failure of Babe: Pig in the City and had a renewed interest in revisiting its successful 1930s franchises, so they took to Sommers’ idea and greenlit the movie with an $80 million budget.

            The Mummy, set in 1926, saw British librarian and aspiring Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) going on a quest to discover the lost city of Hamunaptra when her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah), came into possession of a map he stole from American adventurer Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser). They recruited Rick as their guide and found themselves in competition with a group of American treasure hunters led by his former associate, Beni (Kevin J. O’Connor). The Americans discover the Book of the Dead which Evelyn “borrows” and reads from, inadvertently awakening Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo). Imhotep was a high priest and sorcerer who, in 1290 BC, was having an affair with Anck-su-namun (Patricia Velásquez), the mistress of Pharaoh Seti I (Aharon Ipalé). They killed the Pharaoh and she killed herself to avoid capture by his guards, believing Imhotep could resurrect her. However, he too had been captured and mummified alive. It was up to Rick and Jonathan to stop Imhotep before he sacrificed Evelyn to finally resurrect Anck-su-namum.

            The Mummy opened on May 7, 1999. Despite mixed reviews, it went on to have the highest non-holiday May opening of all time with $43 million. It proceeded to amass $416.4 million worldwide. Naturally, Universal wanted a sequel and got one in the form of 2001’s The Mummy Returns. Set in 1933, Rick and Evelyn are now married and have a son, Alex (Freddie Boath), who possessed equal parts his mother’s intelligence and mischief and his father’s bravery. Alex accidentally got the Bracelet of Anubis locked onto his wrist, which would kill him within two days if he didn’t get it to Ahm Shere as shown in a vision. Also, an Egyptian cult resurrected Imhotep again so that he could confront and defeat the Scorpion King (Dwayne Johnson) and assume command of Anubis’ army to conquer the world. The sequel opened on May 4, 2001 and while garnering even more mixed reviews went on to gain a $435 million box office.

Promotional art showing the Manacle of Osiris in action.

            Looking to keep up the momentum of the franchise and attract a younger audience, Universal commissioned the creation of a cartoon spin-off. Developed by Tom Pugsley and Greg Klein, The Mummy: The Animated Series followed a simplified version of the first movie while incorporating elements from the sequel. For the show, Evelyn (Grey DeLisle) was given a promotion at the British Museum of Antiquities for the recovery of the Book of the Dead (which alternated between being bound tablets as in the movie and a traditional book). She, Rick (John Schneider) and Alex (Chris Marquette) were given a dirigible, The Zephyr, to take them to a dig at Hamunaptra. Jonathan (Tom Kenny) tagged along to escape some unhappy people he cheated. Colin Weasler (Michael Reisz), Evelyn’s co-worker who was due the promotion she got, stole the Book and followed them in order to resurrect and control Imhotep (Jim Cummings) and exact his revenge. Instead, Imhotep subjugated Colin and sought to claim the Manacle of Osiris—the object for which Seti had him mummified for trying to steal (since adultery and murder isn’t really kid-friendly)—that had bonded itself to Alex’s wrist. With the aid of old friend Ardeth Bay (Nicholas Guest), a member of the nomadic Medjai tribe charged with keeping the world safe from Imhotep, they drove the mummy off. Every weekly episode featured an ongoing race between Imhotep and the O’Connells to find the Scrolls of Thebes, which meant control over the Manacle.

The O'Connells: Jonathan, Rick, Evelyn and Alex.

            To avoid paying for actor likenesses, the character models designed by Steven Choi and John Suzuki bore only a passing resemblance to the movie cast with Evelyn and Jonathan being given bright red hair, Rick made blonde, and Alex an orange hue. Imhotep was given hair in his human form, although he spent the majority of the series as a purple semi-decomposed entity reminiscent of the early stages of reforming himself upon resurrection in the films. Imhotep also spoke clear English, whereas while he used it in a few scenes (an audio translation for the audience) he mostly spoke in ancient Egyptian.  Like the films, Alex was given visions via the Manacle that helped warn or guide him on their journeys, but also gained additional powers like energy bursts and telekinesis. Rick’s propensity for firearms and the small armory he carried with him was removed and replaced with a whip or other offensive objects he found on location during fights. Ardeth did maintain his sword, but rarely used it. Colin, while an original character, exhibited squirrely traits similar to that of the Beni character.

Imhotep lives! ...Sort of.

            The Mummy: The Animated Series debuted on The WB on September 29, 2001 as part of the Kids’ WB programming block (its debut was delayed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks). Imhotep and Colin served as the primary villains, but typically Imhotep would summon a monster or mummy soldiers to do his bidding against the O’Connells before dealing with them directly himself. Most of the first season was written by Pugsley and Klein with additional scripts by Tony Schillaci, Nick DuBois, Elaine Zicree, Marc Scott Zicree, Marty Isenberg, Robert N. Skir and Steven Melching. The music was composed by Cory Lerios, John D’Andrea and George Gabriel, with Cummings providing backstory narration over the opening theme. Animation duties were handled by Sunwoo Entertainment. Uniquely, before the intro each episode opened up with the episode’s title over a sepia tone globe showing where in the world the story was taking place at that moment. The globe would return again during the episode to show a change in location.

            The series didn’t quite attain the heights of the films, and a little creative tooling was done for the second season. Given the subtitle The Secrets of the Medjai complete with a new intro, Alex was taken into the Medjai order to receive their training and to learn how to better control the Manacle. Introduced were fellow trainees Fadil (Jeff Bennett) and Yanit (Jeannie Elias), giving Alex people his own age to interact with and friends beyond his mongoose, Tut. After having been previously, Anck-su-namun (Lenore Zann) was introduced as a recurring villain; made a high priestess whose power and ambition could rival even Imhotep’s to the point of betraying him after he resurrected her. This also led to the integration that Evelyn was the reincarnation of Princess Nefertiri, Seti’s daughter. Another recurring villain was Ninzam Toth (Michael T. Weiss), a dark Medjai who betrayed the order. Pugsley and Klein only wrote the first and last episodes of the season, with William Forrest Cluverius and Greg Weisman joining the other writers for an episode apiece.

Dark Medjai Ninzam Toth.

            The Mummy failed to find a significant audience, due in large part to The WB constantly putting it on hiatus from its schedule in favor of other programs and shifting its timeslot several times. It was ultimately cancelled at the conclusion of the second season. However, it was allowed to resolve most of its major plotlines while leaving the possibility open for a return; something very few animated series ever get. It remained on in reruns for the rest of that June until it was removed from the network in July. It then aired on Toon Disney until the channel as rebranded as Disney XD.

Colin Weasler, living up to his name.

In 2002, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released three episodes edited together as a movie on the DVD Quest for the Lost Scrolls. That year, Ubisoft published a 2D platforming video game for the Game Boy Advance, which allowed a player to switch between the O’Connells for different fighting styles and skills. A 3D action game for the PlayStation 2 was published by Hip Games in 2004, however this time the player could only use Alex. None of the series’ voice actors reprised their roles. As part of the promotion for the third and final film in the main trilogy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the complete series was released across three DVDs in 2008, and later as a single set internationally by Mediumware in 2013. It was made available for streaming on Peacock in 2020.

A fourth Mummy film was planned, but ultimately scrapped in favor of Universal’s attempted Dark Universe reboot in 2017. However, the 90s Mummy franchise continued on until 2018 in the form of the Scorpion King spin-off series centering on that character. It debuted with a theatrical film in 2002 and a prequel and three sequels that went direct-to-video. Like its parent series, Scorpion King had also been announced as getting the reboot treatment.

            

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“The Summoning” (9/29/01) – A jealous co-worker resurrects Imhotep to get revenge on Evelyn, while Alex ends up bonded with the Manacle of Osiris that Imhotep wants.

 

“A Candle in the Darkness” (10/6/01) – The O’Connells search for the library at Alexandria where Imhotep seeks Alex’s destruction.

 

“Against the Elements” (10/13/01) – Imhotep summons elemental spirits to attack the O’Connells, while Alex makes a new friend: a mongoose named Tut.

 

“The Deep Blue Sea” (10/20/01) – Alex wonders if he can handle the powers of the Manacle while his family looks for clues in an underwater city.

 

“Eruption” (10/27/01) – While dealing with Imhotep in India, Alex gets visions of a girl named Ishi.

 

“Orb of Aten” (11/3/01) – It’s a race to New York City where Imhotep plans to hold a dangerous ceremony at the Statue of Liberty.

 

“The Black Forest” (11/10/01) – The O’Connells have to rescue Einstein from Imhotep before he solves the mathematical clue that leads to the scrolls.

 

“The Cloud People” (11/17/01) – A vision leads the O’Connells to the mountains of Peru where the scrolls may be, and Imhotep attempts to stop them by causing a cave in.

 

“Fear Itself” (12/1/01) – While searching for the treasure of Genghis Khan, Alex unknowingly releases a fear demon that invades the minds of his family.

 

“The Boy Who Would Be King” (12/8/01) – Alex manages to befriend young Chinese emperor Jin-Wu who takes Alex after the scrolls alone and unwittingly causes the release of a dragon.

 

“Howl” (2/2/02) – While investigating in Ireland, Rick is bitten by a wolf and becomes a werewolf.

  

“The Maze” (2/16/02) – The O’Connells head into the Paris catacombs where they finally find the scrolls—and the Minotaur that guards them.

“The Puzzle” (2/9/02) – The race is on to assemble the puzzle of Horus in order to uncover the final location of the scrolls.

 

Season 2:

“A New Beginning: Part I” (2/15/03) – Imhotep returns and resurrects a threat greater than him: evil high priestess Anuck-su-namun.

 

“A New Beginning: Part II” (2/22/03) – An injured Evelyn is saved, but the method used causes the soul of Princess Nefertiri to begin to take her over.

 

“The Dark Medjai” (3/1/03) – Alex and a fellow trainee head out to rescue Ardeth from the legendary Dark Medjai.

 

“Like Father, Like Son” (3/8/03) – Alex befriends an archaeological mercenary that causes troubles at home.

 

“A Fair to Remember” (3/15/03) – The O’Connells set out to recover the powerful Eye of Shiva that can set skies on fire.

 

“The Enemy of My Enemy” (3/22/03) – Evelyn has to team-up with Imhotep to retrieve the Cloak of Isis before the Aglaphones, who have enthralled the other men, get to it first.

 

“The Cold” (3/29/03) – Colin betrays Imhotep in order to get his hands on the powerful Trident of Voth.

 

“Time Before Time” (4/12/03) – Imhotep uses a mystical time machine to possess the Manacle, leaving Alex the only one to remember the original timeline and restore it.

 

“Spring of Evil” (4/26/03) – Imhotep joins forces with Ninzam Toth to turn Alex into their apprentice and destroy Ardeth.

 

“Trio” (5/10/03) – The Medjai set out to find Imhotep, who has merged with an ancient spider creature.

 

“Old Friends” (5/17/03) – Looking for a missing friend leads the O’Connells to discover Anck-su-namun has drained the life out of her with the Ring of Sukothai.

 

“Just Another Piece of Jewelry” (5/31/03) – Imhotep and Colin discover an ancient Medjai journal that speaks of an artifact more powerful than the Manacle.

 

“The Reckoning” (6/7/03) – The O’Connells journey into the underworld to stop Imhotep from taking over a supernatural army.

KEN SPEARS DEAD AT 82

 

You can read the full story here.

He worked for Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he co-created Scooby-Doo with his partner, Joe Ruby. He also did work for Krofft Television Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises before ABC set them up with their own studio, Ruby-Spears Productions.

 

The shows he’s worked on include Space Ghost, The Herculoids, The Adventures of Gulliver, Cattanooga Cats, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Harlem Globetrotters, Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch, The Barkleys, The Houndcats, Bailey’s Comets, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Jabberjaw, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Wonderbug, Magic Mondo, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Bigfoot and Wildboy, ABC Weekend Specials (episodes), Fangface, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Heathcliff (1980), Thundarr the Barbarian, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Puppy’s Further Adventures, Saturday Supercade, Rubik, The Amazing Cube, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Dragon’s Lair, Turbo Teen, Mister T, It’s Punky Brewster, Lazer Tag Academy, Superman (1988), Dink, the Little Dinosaur, Piggsburg Pigs!, and Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa.

ALEX TREBEK DEAD AT 80

 

You can read the full story here.

Best known for his 36-year stint as the host of Jeopardy!, he also made appearances as himself om episodes of The Weird Al Show and Pepper Ann, as well as Alan Quebec in an episode of Rugrats.

TEACHER'S PET

 

TEACHER’S PET

(ABC, Toon Disney, September 9, 2000-May 10, 2002)

 

Walt Disney Television Animation

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Shaun Fleming – Leonard Helperman

Nathan Lane & Kevin Schon (6 episodes in season 2) – Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II
Debra Jo Rupp – Mary Helperman
Wallace Shawn – Principal Crosby Strickler
Jerry Stiller – Pretty Boy
David Ogden Stiers – Mr. Jolly

 

 

            This is the story of a boy, nerdy Leonard (Shaun Fleming), and his dog, Spot (Nathan Lane). However, Spot was a unique dog in that he was tired of being just a dog. So, when Leonard started 4^th grade, Spot decided to dress up as a human and became Scott Leadready II. He joined Leonard’s class at Fala D. Roosevelt Elementary School (named for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dog) and became extremely popular as the smartest, most athletic, and coolest kid. Leonard discovered Spot’s ruse but is convinced to go along with it—often landing him in trouble in the process.

Leonard and "Scott" with Mr. Jolly and Pretty Boy.

            Spot wasn’t the only pet in the Helperman household. There was also Pretty Boy (Jerry Stiller), a bossy big-mouthed canary with a Napoleon complex, and Mr. Jolly (David Ogden Stiers), an overweight and cowardly cat. The matriarch of the family was Mary Helperman (Debra Jo Rupp), who also happened to be Leonard and “Scott’s” teacher; which sometimes helped to enhance Leonard’s daily embarrassment. Other characters included Ian Wazselewski (Rob Paulson), the class weirdo who enjoyed doing gross things; Leslie Dunkling (Mae Whitman), the Helperman’s next door neighbor and Leonard’s class crush who was often nice to him despite her well-to-do upbringing and popularity (although she favored Scott more); Tyler, Trevor and Taylor (all Pamela Adlon), three of the coolest kids in the school who were friendly with Scott but barely tolerated Leonard; fraternal twins Chelsey and Kelsey (both Cree Summer), who were popular and competitive with each other and were secret admirers of Scott’s; Younghee Mandlebom (Lauren Tom), Leslie’s best friend who was often mean to Leonard despite having a crush on him; and Crosby Strickler (Wallace Shawn), the school principal who hated dogs after one bit off part of his finger as a kid. Strickler also had a pet; a cat named Tallulah (Tress MacNeille), who acted sweet in his presence but was a terror to others.

"Scott" being a hit with the class while Leonard can only look on.

            Teacher’s Pet debuted on ABC as part of the One Saturday Morning programming block on September 9, 2000. It was created by artist Gary Baseman, who had the idea that his dog, Hubcaps, would put on clothes and lead a whole other life while he was out at work. Baseman developed the show with Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, pitching it to Disney who picked it up. Episodes were typically broken up into two plots: the main plot following Leonard and Spot’s adventures at school with Spot constantly trying to keep his identity a secret, and Mr. Jolly and Pretty Boy getting into mischief back home. The majority of the episodes featured a single story, but several were broken up into two segments.

The 4th grade class.

The series was written by the Steinkellners and Baseman along with Ford Riley, Laura McCreary, Michael Price, Jim Patterson, Steve Leff, Cade Chilcoat, David Maples, Nicholas Hope, Jessie Jones, Mark Steen, Nanclee Myatt, Patrick Gleeson, Billiam Coronel, Jim Staahl, Jim Fisher, John Reynolds, Mike Samonek and Jess Winfield, with Maples serving as the story editor. Animation duties were handled Wang Film Productions Company and Toon City Animation, Inc. The theme was composed by Brian Woodbury and Peter Lurye and performed by the cast, with Stephen James Taylor supplying the rest of the show’s music. Teacher’s Pet looked different from other Disney productions due to the fact that the character designs by Marc Perry and Kim Roberson adhered closely to Baseman’s own art style. Baseman also served as the series’ art director.

They should've known something was weird about "Scott" with how eager he was to go to school.

In January of 2002, new episodes began airing concurrently on Toon Disney as part of the @Toon and Magical World of Toons programming blocks. That February, new episodes moved exclusively to Toon Disney while reruns continued to air on ABC until One Saturday Morning became ABC Kids in September. Lane, who had just landed a role in the Mel Brooks musical The Producers, had to leave the show while the season was in production resulting in his understudy, Kevin Schon, taking over as Spot for 6 episodes. However, as the episodes were aired out of production order, Lane’s performance still appeared between Schon’s.  Teacher’s Pet was a critical darling, garnering good reviews and winning several Daytime Emmy Awards and a BAFTA, along with three Annie Awards nominations. However, critical praise doesn’t often equate to ratings and the show struggled to find a sizable audience. The series was ultimately cancelled after two seasons.

After the pilot episode was completed, it was decided that a film extension should be ready to hit theaters when the series hit its peak popularity. By the time it was realized that the show would never have a peak, the film was already written. Disney, however, liked the show and allowed production on the film to continue. Teacher’s Pet: The Movie had a much wider scope than the series proper; taking the characters on a road trip and out of the classroom. It was released on January 16, 2004, written by the Steinkellners, directed by regular series director Timothy Bjӧrklund, and featured a tribute to Hubcaps who had died during production. It also had Lane returning to the role of Spot. The film served as the series finale, resolving many of the show’s ongoing storylines, including Spot’s desire to be human. Originally, it was planned to be left open for future installments, but given the reception of the series that idea was changed. That proved to be a smart idea as the film performed about as well as the show, earning only $6.5 million against its $10 million budget. It was the last film to be based off of a One Saturday Morning program, and the last not made-for-TV film based on one of their shows until the 2022 Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers film.

Determined to stop living a dog's life.

            Teacher’s Pet was broadcast around the world in various languages; primarily on offshoots of the Disney Channel. To date, only the film has seen release on home media on both VHS and DVD by Disney Home Entertainment. It was also made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. In 2019, the film became one of the launch titles of the streaming service Disney+, with the rest of the series following soon after. Comics strips based on the series were published in Disney Adventures magazine and its British counterpart, Disney’s Comic. Some of these were collected in 2023 in Disney One Saturday Morning Adventures from Fantagraphics.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Metamorphosis” (9/9/00) – As Leonard beings 4^th grade with the humiliating fact that his mother is his teacher, his dog Spot decides to disguise himself up as a boy and go to school as well.
 
“Pet Project” (9/16/00) – When the kids are assigned to write about their pets, Spot tries to pass Mr. Jolly off as his pet cat while Leonard writes about Pretty Boy.
 
“Movin’ on Pup / Escaping Dog Trick” (9/23/00) – Spot gets promoted to the 5^th grade but discovers it’s a bigger challenge than he thought. / Mary thinks Spot ran away when he goes for ice cream with Leonard and sets up an electronic fence to keep him in.
 
“A Lick is Still a Kiss” (9/30/00) – When Leonard repeats Spot’s description of how Leslie’s lip gloss tastes, rumors begin to spread that he had kissed her.
 
“Being Mrs. Leadready” (10/7/00) – Spot has to pretend to be his mother for parent-teacher night and ends up being invited over to dinner by Mary.
 
“Let Sleeping-Over Dogs Lie / Costume Pity Party” (10/28/00) – Leonard is nervous about his first slumber party, especially since it’s at Ian’s house. / Leonard no longer wears Halloween costumes after being bullied, and Spot ends up losing his on the way to school only to be mistaken as wearing a dog costume.
 
“Scott’s Honor” (11/4/00) – Leonard doesn’t think Spot can cut it as a Junior Boy Ranger since he’s colorblind.
 
“Fifi” (11/11/00) – A class trip to the circus leads Spot to fall in love with a poodle there and consider leaving Leonard for her.
 
“Bad to the Bone / Always Knock the Postman Twice” (11/18/00) – When Spot thinks he’s put on a “naughty list” for sticking his head out of the bus window, he decides to lean into his bad boy image. / Leonard tries to cure Spot of his mailman prejudice before it gets Scott in trouble.
 
“You Can’t Bite City Hall” (12/2/00) – Spot is okay with the city turning the dog park into a skate park until his dog friends give him their side of the story.
 
“A Dog for All Seasons” (12/16/00) – While Mary struggles to write a play incorporating all of her class’ holiday traditions, Spot tries to find out if dogs have any.
 
“Tallulahpalooza” (1/6/01) – Strickler asks Mary to watch his cat Tallulah for him, putting a damper on Spot’s charade and causing Mr. Jolly to fall in love with her.
 
“Saving Mr. Jolly / Rule of Paw” (1/13/01) – Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly think each other are missing and go to Leonard at school for help. / Spot takes his new position as playground monitor far too seriously.
 
Season 2:
“Never Take Candy from a Kindergartner” (9/22/01) – Leonard feels guilty using a kindergartner’s crush on him to get free candy.
 
“A Few Good Boys” (9/29/01) – Spot and Leonard absolutely hate their Junior Boy Ranger community service assignments.
 
“Bad Fur Day” (10/6/01) – Spot makes fun of Leonard’s bad haircut until a grooming mishap threatens to blow his cover.
 
“The Tale of the Telltale Taffy” (10/27/01) – Spot convinces Leonard to break his promise and cross the street for Halloween candy since their side is only giving out vegetables.
 
“Don’t Count Your Chickies Before They Hatch” (11/3/01) – Spot has to choose between his desire to go to the air show or watch over chicken eggs for his assignment.
 
“Strickler’s Pet / Fresh n’ Frozey Chocolaccino” (1/11/02) – Strickler enlists Spot to help ensure the kids fall short of their reading goals so he won’t lose a bet to them. / Spot and Leonard decide to sell a special drink to raise money for a scooter but soon run out of ingredients to make it.
 
“The Grass Seed is Always Greener…” (1/18/02) – Pretty Boy’s migrating instincts take over and he leaves to go South for the winter, causing the others to search for him.
 
“No Substitutions, Please” (1/19/02) – Everyone loves their substitute teacher except for Spot, while Mr. Jolly tries to take care of Mary’s cold in Spot’s place.
 
“Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Green” (1/25/02) – Spot gets jealous when Leonard uses their game of fetch to come up with a new game for the other kids.
 
“Party Animal / Mr. Jolly: Man…or Mouser?” (1/26/02) – Leonard doesn’t seem interested in the surprise birthday party Spot set up for him. / Leonard bets that Mr. Jolly can catch a mouse within five minutes.
 
“What’s Sweat Got to Do With It?” (2/1/02) – Leonard finds he keeps getting sweaty palms when he’s near Leslie and Pretty Boy tries to help Mr. Jolly kick his dairy habit.
 
“Dogfight” (2/8/02) – The kids encourage Spot and Leonard to fight over a basketball loss while Mr. Jolly tries to prove to Pretty Boy that he can be ferocious.
 
“Taint Valentine’s Day” (2/9/02) – Spot tries to help Leonard by sending him a bunch of Valentines, but it ends up causing him problems with the girls see they’re all by the same person.
 
“Science Not Fair” (2/15/02) – Mary mistakenly credits Spot’s science project to Leonard.
 
“To Bee or Not to Bee” (2/22/02) – Leonard becomes intimidated by his opponent’s preparations for the upcoming spelling bee.
 
“One Dog’s Junk” (3/1/02) – Spot becomes distraught when Leonard sells his favorite toy to Ian and Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly unknowingly get into a bidding war with each other to get him a new one.
 
“Team Scott / Take Me Out of the Ball Game” (3/8/02) – Spot single-handedly wins all the confab events for his troop, but they all end up getting lost on the way to the last one. / When Spot is deemed ineligible to play on the baseball team, he tries to turn Leonard into a great player.
 
“Inspector Leadready II” (3/15/02) – Spot becomes a detective to clear Leonard of accusations that he broke Leslie’s map of Brazil.
 
“The Turkey That Came to Dinner” (3/22/02) – The pets must protect the turkey Grandma Rose brought along from becoming Thanksgiving dinner.
 
“Double Dog Dare” (3/29/02) – To avoid admitting his feelings for Leslie in a game of Truth or Dare, Leonard accepts a super hard dare.
 
“Attack of the Fifty Inch Girl” (4/5/02) – Scott and Leonard find themselves the target of a relentless bully who has them both contemplating quitting school.
 
“The Flipper” (4/12/02) – Spot helps Leonard get so good at a card game that he becomes a bad sport after winning everyone else’s cards.
 
“The Blight Before Christmas” (4/19/02) – Tired of getting dog toys for Christmas, Spot sets out to find a lost dog so he can collect the reward and buy himself human things.
 
“All About Eavesdropping” (4/26/02) – The boys want to know what girls want so Leonard and Spot plot to put on a magic show at Leslie’s birthday party so that they can eavesdrop on them.
 
“The Nose Knows / Don’t Bite the Hound That Feeds You” (5/3/02) – Spot has to convince Strickler that they’re serving dog food in the cafeteria without blowing his cover. / Spot gets some French fleas and comes to understand life from their point of view.
 
“A Breed Apart” (5/10/02) – Spot drags Leonard to a dog show to find out what breed he is while Mr. Jolly gets an unwelcomed visit from his father.
 
Film:
“The Movie” (1/16/04) – Spot decides he wants to become human for real and discovers a mad scientist that can make it happen.

Originally posted in 2020. Updated in 2024.

Y2K AND CABLE IS HERE TO STAY

 

            The 21^st Century was finally here. After being this mythological far-off time the subject of many science fiction adventures, we were now living in—THE FUTURE! Of course, while the world was largely waiting with bated breath to see if all technology would reset to 1900 thanks to a glitch in the matrix known as the Y2K bug, the television world was moving forward. Forward and AWAY, actually, from what we’ve known before.

A cable box.

            Cable television was here to stay. After its humble beginnings offering dozens of new channels for people to enjoy, that number steadily increased into the hundreds and eventually the thousands. Not only was there A channel for every kind of thing, now there were several. Especially for kidvid. Cartoon Network was making great use of the classic Hanna-Barbera library before moving that over to sister network Boomerang as they delved into more original programming. Nickelodeon continued to churn out new cartoons and live-action programs, eventually expanding into additional channels Nicktoons, NickMusic, TeenNick and Nick Jr., and Noggin in partnership with Sesame Workshop. The Disney Channel continued to grow, itself expanding into Toon Disney (later Disney XD). PBS, Comcast, Sesame Workshop and HIT Entertainment entered into a joint venture to start their own channel: PBS Kids Sprout (now Universal Kids).

The old Fox Kids website.

            Meanwhile, something else was also growing. A little thing called the internet. You might’ve heard of it? While the internet had been around for a while, it really didn’t begin to pick up until the end of the 90s. Gradually, more and more people and companies embraced the concept of having a webpage and the networks came along for the ride. They enhanced the experience of their viewers by offering schedules, pages about their favorite shows, and even interactive content for the kids.

It's Batman Beyond--in 3-D!

            What does all this have to do with Saturday morning television? Well, a lot, really. Suddenly the major networks found themselves struggling against increasing competition for the eyes of the young ones. Along with the new networks and the internet, video games had begun to enter the third dimension and VHS was giving way to more readily-available DVDs. Plus, the FCC continued to crack down, demanding more educational content as well as restricting how they could advertise to children. It was a lot of hassle for ever-diminishing returns, and the networks began eyeing getting out of the kid vid business. They ended up deciding that instead of handling it themselves and incurring all of the risk and cost, they would sell the airtime and programming rights to outside production companies and their very cable competition themselves.

            Under pressure from its affiliates, FOX sold Fox Family Worldwide to Disney and put the Fox Kids block under the control of the Fox Broadcasting Company. They in turn sold control of their daytime schedule to 4Kids Entertainment, resulting in the FoxBox programming block; later renamed 4Kids TV. 4Kids was in charge of all the programing and collected all the ad revenue, but FOX still had final say over the kind of content broadcast. The block ran until 4Kids defaulted on their payment for the time in 2008 and FOX was unable to guarantee the block would be carried by its affiliates. They instead gave 2 hours of the time back to the affiliates and filled the remaining time with the paid programming block Weekend Marketplace.

            In light of the sale, Disney renamed One Saturday Morning ABC Kids as a nod to Fox Kids. They loaded the block primarily with reruns of Disney Channel programs designed to help meet FCC requirements. In 2004, the block became almost exclusively live-action after dropping Fillmore! and Recess from broadcast. Along with the sale came control of Fox Family Channel (the true motivation behind the purchase) and the entire Saban Entertainment library. Disney opted to end new entries into the Power Rangers franchise with RPM and instead focus on re-releasing remastered versions of the first 32 episodes of Mighty Morphin.

            Once Nelvana’s contract ran out in 2000, CBS turned to sister network Nickelodeon to take over programming with Nick Jr. on CBS, and two years later Nick on CBS when they incorporated Nick programming geared towards older audiences. That partnership came to an end in 2006 when parent company Viacom was split into two separate companies with Nick and CBS falling under different ones. CBS then turned to DiC Entertainment who partnered with AOL to produce the KOL Secret Slumber Party (initially the Secret Saturday Morning Slumber Party, but changed to represent AOL’s kid’s subsidiary and because some CBS stations chose to air the block on Sundays). The block was hosted by the Slumber Party Girls, a teen pop group signed with Geffen Records, who also served as performers on one of the debut programs, Dance Revolution. When KOL withdrew from the partnership, DiC joined with American Greetings Corporation and the block was renamed KEWLopoplis after American Greetings’ teen-oriented KEWL Magazine. When DiC was taken over by Cookie Jar Entertainment in 2008 the block became Cookie Jar TV.

Although initially doing well in the ratings, TNBC was in a steady decline by 2001 and was attracting a demographic FAR older than the network wanted (people over 40). NBC decided to outsource its programming to Discovery Communications, giving its cable channel Discovery Kids and outlet called Discovery Kids on NBC in 2002. After four years, Discovery decided to focus exclusively on its own channel and declined to renew their contract with NBC. NBC then entered into a partnership with Ion Media Networks, Corus Entertainment, Scholastic and Classic Media which resulted in the educational effort known as Qubo geared towards children ages 5-14. Qubo would replace the Discovery Kids block on NBC that year, and later on Fridays on i: Independent Television (now Ion Television).

In July of 2001, Kids’ WB’s afternoon line-up was rebranded Toonami on Kids’ WB (at least until the following June), importing Cartoon Network shows to air on the network including Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, The Powerpuff Girls and The Nightmare Room. That September, the morning block was discontinued and the time given back to the network’s affiliates, and eventually the same fate would befall the afternoon block as the affiliates wanted to find an older audience with sitcom reruns and talk shows. The Saturday block remained, extended by an hour and even surviving the transitional period when The WB merged with UPN and became The CW. But, in 2007, The CW decided to sell time to 4Kids Entertainment and the block became The CW4Kids in 2008. However, all of this was in America. Kids’ WB actually continued to live on in Australia, airing on Nine Network in 2006 and 9Go! in 2009. The block featured hosts, variety-style segments filmed at GTV-9 and Warner Bros. Movie World, and cartoons.