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
The episode opens with the Narrator (Joe Leahy) starting a running gag by saying "We interrupt this program to bring you this important message... I love you" Simple to the point, and a nice touch that adds to the satire and gets the Narrator a chance to shine after weeks of taking a backseat
Rating: 4 out of 5
Hot Rods from Heck
Well, we almost get an entire episode dedicated to a singular Freakazoid plot line. In today's episode, we see the Douglases on a family road trip. With Douglas (John P. McCann) driving, Debbie (Tress MacNeille) in the passengers seat and Duncan (Googy Gress) wrestling with Dexter (David Kaufman) in the back seat, the story starts off simply. They're driving in the desert when suddenly they are cut off by a pair of racing hot rods. When Dexter gets a good look at them, he discovers that they are being driven by robots.
Cut to a nearby cliff, notorious villain Longhorn (Maurice LaMarche) is controlling them with a remote. His plan is to have the hot rods send a truck off course that is carrying a missile. Longhorn is a different kind of villain. The back story, provided by Paul Harvey (Rugg), is that he has a lot of southern in him with a really cocky Elvis impersonation going on. He sings, plays guitar, and plans to hold Nashville hostage if they don't give him a recording contract. He means business. He even drives a semi-truck called Bessa Mae. With his henchman Turk (Matt Landers), they get all miffed when they discover their plan is falling apart at the hands of Freakazoid (Paul Rugg).
Right as Freakazoid is about to take action, Cosgrove (Ed Asner) cuts him off and invites him to watch a bear riding a small motorcycle at the carnival. Freakazoid admits that the bear is a pretty good rider. Cosgrove takes this moment to talk about Longhorn's plans and that he should probably get on the case. Cosgrove can't because he isn't in his jurisdiction (which raises the question: why was Cosgrove there?).
So Freakazoid snaps into action. He first shows us the Freakalair, which was presented a few episodes back. Is proud to say to the camera that they are planning on keeping it. Big enthusiastic applause comes from this. Cut to the Hall of Freakmobiles. Freakazoid walks through a line of about 15 cars that all look the same. He eventually settles on one and decides to take off, but not before explaining the definition of "toyetic," which is a word companies made up to sell products based on TV cartoons.
Riding the Freakmobile, he manages to get back out to the desert and foil Longhorn's plans. Longhorn hops into Bessa Mae and snaps into action. He starts a race through the desert with Freakazoid. Right when Freakazoid thinks that he has Longhorn fooled by flying into the air, Bessa Mae begins flying into the air. This weirds out Freakazoid, which causes him to take a nose dive into the water (another question: where did that come from in the desert?). He is convinced that the Freakmobile is waterproof, but is quickly proven wrong.
With all other plans failing, he decides to lead Bessa Mae into a baseball stadium. He does this by running with his hands in the air. He goes through town and country to get there, but eventually lands right where he wants them. He has landed Longhorn and Turk right on center field during the seventh inning stretch. This causes everyone to belt out into a rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Freakazoid saves the day, and Dexter is back on his way to a road trip with his family, including Duncan, who is convinced that a blue man beat him up while everyone wasn't looking. No one believes him. However, it is nice contrast to the bully jock side that Duncan was originally established as.
This is by far the weirdest segment to date. It is exceptionally weird in that it is very competent and doesn't stray too far with pop culture references, though it keeps taking random left turns that show the plot at its zaniest. Seriously, a flying semi-truck, and a hall of Freakmobiles. It is ridiculous and amazing all at the same time. Cosgrove is even starting to become more established and interesting.
However, I am really confident that this is partially a riff on Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. How? Pointless car chases that just keep raising the ridiculous nature. It also just feels that way because the center pieces of the episode seem to revolve around racing, and that is what this episode excels at. Also, Longhorn is not quite as interesting as Cave Guy or the Lobe, but he definitely deserves to be fleshed out more in future episodes. He manages to be a southern stereotype without being insulting. Bravo!
Rating: 5 out of 5
A Time for Evil
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Just when you thought that they introduced supporting character not involved in the main story, the Huntsman (Jeff Bennett) comes along. With an introduction (sung by Jim Cummings and Bennett) that feels like it takes up all of the segment, we discover his back story. He is a hunter with a huge overbite who went hunting one day and saved a chunky gnome, who in return granted him wishes and turned him into the beefy huntsman that he is today. He fights crime (and apparently all of Freakazoid's enemies), and is unmatched physically. Where Lord Bravery is the British equivalence of Freakazoid, the Huntsman is probably the Australian version, though I'm trying not to call this a strictly Aussie episode.
The plot is as followed. The Huntsman goes into headquarters and asks Lt. Artie King (Dorian Harewood) if there is any crime. King says no, which causes the Huntsman to get all miffed and demand to have something to do. He claims that he is going to his brother's house. He emphasizes this to no end before leaving. Cut to the next scene, he is fighting crime.
Where it the punchline? What was the point? The Gnomes may have been a lamer segment as a whole, but this was equally as useless. We have this established character and it felt like he was created because the show needed to buffer out time somehow. It also is annoying because the premise felt more like it was the song, which was over half of the segment and still felt really long. I would like to say that this is supposed to be a riff on Mel Gibson's persona, but we barely had a chance to know who he was. Just bring back Lord Bravery. Even Toby Danger was more interesting than this.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Ending
Freakazoid is at a convention about to reveal his new line of Freakmobile toys. He is so excited, and when the camera pans in on him, he defends himself by saying that he needs the money. It is a short and simple bit that really works to be satire on the consumerism culture that has come to define superhero properties. It is simple and to the point that it almost makes you wish that they cancelled the Huntsman segment to just give this more time.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Overall Rating 4 out 5
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In my entire recapping of Freakazoid, "Hot Rods from Heck" may go down as the weirdest that the show has ever done. I mean, we have seen Freakazoid ride the Freakmobile on several occasions, but the way that it is utilized here is so bizarre and fun that it seems impossible to top. Even the use of Bessa Mae is really clever and at times more creative than anything else in the chase. I just wish that it could have figured out a way to escalate things more and more without losing the energy that the show was building.
Also, I am glad that we finally are settling into a groove of Dexter and Freakazoid coexisting in a singular episode. We saw it in "Dance of Doom," but up until the origin story that is "The Chip," we didn't really see the two interact. Here, we get a sense that they are the same person, and that really helps to flesh out the plot and make it more appealing. Superheroes are meant to have double identities, and it has felt like a sham to not see both. While it may become problematic to see Dexter and the Douglases together on a normal basis, at least seeing Dexter would be a nice touch.
Also, how is it that Cosgrove keeps getting more and more interesting? He is still a little vague and his advice giving is still a little straightforward, but his set ups are making less and less sense. That is a good thing. He manages to be the one cartoon cop that I want to hang out with. I am just hoping that he manages to become more central so that we can get more than a two minute joke with him, though they are usually the best of the episode.
Why does the Huntsman need to exist? Right when you feel like the show has found its groove, it sneaks in one small segment with the Huntsman. I will take this back if it turns out that he is crucial in the future, but as far as introductions go, that was all that it was. A song, a segment, and we're done. Where is the comedy? Where is the satire? It was more frustrating than anything else, because we don't have any sense of what the Huntsman actually does. At least Lord Bravery established himself in the first outing. Even Toby Danger had a more interesting plot than this, and he had a very low joke to minute ratio.
Another highlight is one that has been building as the show's definitive running gag. Every time Joe Leahy gets a chance to interrupt the cartoon, we get another random comment from him that is supposed to be significant, but in the end, feels a little ridiculous. Statements like "I love you," and "I can see you," are too goofy to be taken seriously and help to set the tone for the rest of the episodes. I cannot imagine an episode without it, but only if they can keep the idea fresh. I just miss hearing the Narrator the past few episodes, because he part of the glue that keeps the Freakazoid segments strong.
Here's hoping that the next episode manages to not feature a pointless piece of filler for an otherwise excellent episode.
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