TV Rewind: Freakazoid - "Foamy the Freakadog/Office Visit/Ode to Leonard Nimoy/Emergency Broadcast System"

Hello and welcome to TV Rewind, a series that will explore the shows of yesteryear and dissect them one episode at a time. My goal is to explore lesser known programs that you may not be aware existed. For my first series, I have chosen Freakazoid!, a beloved cartoon that ran on the WB from 1995-1997 and made for some weird, Animaniacs-style parodies of the superhero genre. I will attempt to give you the goods every weekend, just like the actual show. While I may not do it every week, make sure to look out for double headers in which I review episodes on Saturday and Sunday.

Opening

As per usual, Freakazoid opens on a small tangential segment that really adds nothing to the story but sets up the tone for the episode to come nicely. In this week's segment, the Narrator (Joe Leahy) is talking about the show in great detail. As he is speaking, he notes that he doesn't want people to send him or the staff angry letters and that they would better be addressed to someone like Newt Gingrich. What a reference for a kid's show. It may be one thing to put Bill Clinton in the scene, but what kid cares about Newt Gingrich? This show definitely had the edge.

The final nice touch is that the scene revolves around this city landscape that is only a few panels long and features a Freakazoid billboard. These few panels are played over and over, similar to the style of old Hannah Barbera cartoons. It is kind of funny, though may easily be overlooked to the hilarious ramblings of the Narrator.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Foamy the Freakadog

The first segment in this episode is another joke on the quest for Freakazoid's sidekick. The Narrator introduces Freakazoid (Paul Rugg) as he is walking through a museum-like setting of statues of past sidekicks (including the recent Fan Boy). He comes across the statue of Foamy the Freakadog, whom he remembers fondly. He proceeds to a flashback to share the story of how the two were united.

Riding in his Freakmobile, he chases a man in a van labeled "Dog Catcher." As he approaches the van, he jumps out of the Freakmobile and climbs into the passenger seat of the van. The Freakmobile crashes into a nearby storefront and Freakazoid is yelling at the Dog Catcher (Rob Paulsen) to pull over. He does, but not without crashing into a kiosk. Freakazoid writes him a ticket on the account that his taillight is busted.

He frees the dogs in the back of the van and watches as they run through the city, which has been vandalized thanks to his reckless nature. The remaining dog inside captures his eye. It is a foamy, deranged animal that he nicknames Fomay the Freakadog (Frank Welker). The dog doesn't quite take to his new owner and takes every chance he can to physically abuse him. This doesn't stop Freakazoid from painting him blue, giving him a black hair with a white streak doo and matching outfit.

The two go on journeys together, trying to take down such forces as the Cobra Queen (who will come into play in a future episode). As Freakazoid is being choked by a large cobra, Foamy takes the moment to free him, but not without abusing him like a rag. 

It eventually gets to the point where Freakazoid is tied to a bomb in the desert. He notices Foamy is not tied up. He asks him to go get Cosgrove to free him, as the bomb is set to go off soon. Foamy takes off, jumping leaps and bounds through the desert, even flying over a patch of scorpions. We see Cosgrove looking through binoculars, but this is not where Foamy is going. He decides to go to a fire hydrant further along to make what the censors called "dog water," which they did not show.

After the bomb goes off, Freakazoid, crisped and darkened, flies through the air and lands next to Foamy. This ends the flashback, and Freakazoid ends the story by saying that sadly the partnership had to come to an end. Sadly, it was his. As the episode ends, Freakazoid is shown with Foamy biting his rear.

The gimmick of Foamy is so simple, but it works. Where the stories with Fan Boy or Handman had tedious arcs that dragged the pacing, the journey with Foamy is based on a naive owner who refuses to give up on a dog whose only use for him is a chew toy. He does get redemption points for freeing Freakazoid, but only in favor of harming him. If there is one complaint to be taken from this episode is that we finally see the return of Cosgrove, but technically not. He is mute the entire episode and serves no purpose other than to look through binoculars. We really need him to come back.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Office Visit

We see the return of one of my favorite secondary characters Lord Bravery (Jeff Bennett). It turns out that I was right in assuming that he was British as we see Big Ben in the background in many shots and strangers talking with a thick English accent. 

In this week's segment, Bravery is headed to the patent office to get his name registered. After getting scoffed at by people in the elevator on the way to the office, he says that he wouldn't save any of them if they were in need of rescuing. This is a common theme and while he doesn't cite Superman as the hero to call, it is reminiscent of the moment from "Sewer Rescue" in which he tries to convince a sewer victim to not call on Superman.

In the office, he is talking to Mr. Snarzetti (Brian George) about why he can't patent his name. Snarzetti mistakes him for a clown and finds no reason why he wouldn't change the name. This leads into a discussion of how he needs to get permission from Lord Bravery's Bake Shop to change his name, as Snarzetti is worried that Lord Bravery will be asked to give random strangers a scone simply because of his name. They also run down a list of possible new names, the most ridiculous being Smoked Meat and Fishes. Lord Bravery hates these and decides to go on a quest to get the name back himself.

He talks to the owner of Lord Bravery's Bake Shop, who doesn't like the name because her name is Helen (Tress MacNeille). She could change the name if they got the name approved for change from Helen's Butchery. This goes on down the line until the very end when a bunch of people, all convinced that if they can get someone else to change their business name that everything would work out. However, there is one person who won't do it. His name is Bill and his store's name is Bill. The whole process ends horribly.

As Lord Bravery is seen attending to his duties, he notices a woman requesting assistance. When he comes to her side, he states that his name is Smoked Meat and Fishes. The quarrel is no longer about saving a cat in a tree, but how much she could trust someone with that name. She yells for the police, and Bravery tries to clear the issue by stating what his real name is, the episode ends on the punchline of a customer asking for a scone, thus bringing the whole thing full circle.

The reason that Lord Bravery segments work and others don't is that it tonally fits with the Freakazoid segments. They are not exact, but they both present a different side to the superhero genre and never step on each other's toes. Whereas the Lawn Gnomes or Toby Danger are more stern and have few gags to really make it feel like a necessary segment. The reason that Lord Bravery also works is that he is always reluctant to be a hero, though he wants the respect. He is witty in the British way and his desire to be mighty is so endearing. Also, look out for a reference to Dreamworks in this segment. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ode to Leonard Nimoy

We see the return of Fan Boy (Stephen Furst) and his Star Trek obsessions. Unlike "And Fan Boy is His Name," this is a brief segment more to highlight what makes him kind of creepy. He really is a stock character of the geek crowd, but he hasn't been destroyed by overkill just yet. This segment, as its title suggests, is about his obsession with Leonard Nimoy and how he would like to get his autograph. He would even stalk him at his house just to get it. The segment is simple, and while tragically dated, is poetic enough to be an enjoyable satire on geek culture. Also, notice the kid wearing a Batman t-shirt in the background at :027. This show really is secretly in love with the Justice League.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Emergency Broadcast System

Another filler segment in which we see Freakazoid discussing what normally happens in the case of an emergency. He begins by making a high pitch noise. The tone is consistent, but he is proving to have trouble holding the note. His face begins to contort and turns from light blue to purple to dark blue. He faints before getting back up, unphased. He then kids and says that if this were a real emergency, he would be panicking and throwing his arms in the air. The joke is simple. Unlike the beginning, however, its reliance on a literal one note joke of annoying noise feels unnecessary. It is crazy, sure, but this definitely feels like a filler piece with very little funny to be taken from it.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Conversational Norwegian

I am so happy to report the return of Freakazoid teaching us new languages. He really does a better job than Ricky Gervais' Learn English series does in ten times the length. In this week's segment, he teaches us Norwegian as he is being rowed in a Viking ship by Fan Boy. The phrase is "Hbor er Rarkval," as in "Where is the Narwhal?" A few seconds later, the Narwhal makes his appearance known as he rips through the bottom of the ship, thus sinking it.

It isn't as inspired or interesting as the French segment, but it is mostly because I love the French accent. Still, it is a clever joke that works very well. This is especially noted because the language lesson is important to a tragic plot line about to develop. It isn't as clever as a French fart joke, but we'll take it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

It feels like a cheat for this episode to only feature a passing glance at Cosgrove. He isn't really used comically, either. After establishing him in the first two episodes as this wacky, misleading cop, he has been sorely missed in most of the segments that proceeded his.

However, I am glad to be getting out of the early experimental phase with one of the most solid episodes back to back. Even though Foamy is a new character, his involvement in the episode feels useful and despite the one note gag, it is effectively hilarious, if because Foamy isn't entirely a bad dog, just very disrespectful. It also helps that they don't try to make a full story around the dog that involves a dramatic middle. It just goes for action and the results are pretty great.

I underestimated Lord Bravery when I was younger. He is turning out to be a great piece to the Freakazoid puzzle. He is effectively snarky and his segments always involve a ridiculous approach to tedium that causes his pretentiousness to seem endearing. This week's segment is probably my favorite, as it is a downward spiral that could go on forever and still be hilarious.

The rest is pretty solid and I am just glad that we are starting to establish running gags instead of throwing new stuff against the wall. Segments like "Conversational Norwegian" may seem like a retread, but it is a good one that doesn't quite repeat the old gag, but bring a new approach to it. 

Here is hoping that the show continues to develop into the way that I would love for it to, with a rotating cast of ridiculous villains, sidekicks, and Lord Bravery. This is the first episode that feels like a solid Freakazoid episode, and it is mostly because it competently fits into the slapstick, nerd-loving tone that has become associated with it. Who knows what the next episode features, but it should be pretty great. 

Check out more of my work at www.nevpodcast.com where I post every Wednesday and have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.