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.
*Note: I am going in order of the DVD set, and the accompanying sketch "The Cloud" was previously covered a few weeks back.
In Arms Way
It is Christmastime and Freakazoid (Paul Rugg) is on a quest to get gifts for everyone. As he is crossing the street to purchase Lincoln Logs, a shady figure walks into a coffee shop. This man has his arms spread wide and attached to his hip. His name is Arms Akimbo and he is a criminal that sells Oops Insurance. What is Oops Insurance? Due to his wide arm span, this just means that he knocks over things with his elbows.
The origin of Akimbo is explained by our Narrator (Joe Leahy), who gets plenty of jokes in this week. Akimbo's story is that due to his parent's insistence on standing with his arms to his side, his arms got stuck like that. Soon he found that he could lift things and place them in his armpits, including televisions. He now serves as a nuisance to business owners by knocking things over and blowing up buildings.
Freakazoid, still busy buying presents, is unaware that Akimbo is about. Suddenly, he receives a message from Mike (Jeff Bennett), who runs a stand called Papoo's II. Akimbo is causing mischief and contacts Freakazoid by a pager that vibrates his butt. Freakazoid acknowledges this message, but not before getting sidetracked and asking Santa (Frank Welker) advice. He is trying to get Steff a gift, but is still drawing a blank.
A few buildings blow up later on, and Freakazoid claims that this is a signal to finally get on the mission. He doesn't, and instead continues to shop at Chochkeys. During that time, he runs into the Lobe (David Warner), who is not out for crime, but just shopping for fun. Freakazoid has a friendly chat with him before continuing to look for the perfect gift.
Suddenly Akimbo and his men arrive and decide to fight Freakazoid. This is not before they get into a fight over a baseball game that the villains had against the heroes the previous summer. Freakazoid claims that he is safe, but Akimbo is confident that he caught the ball. Cave Guy (Bennett) and the Huntsman (Bennett) rush out to try and settle things down only to make them more complicated. This is a milestone for the show in that they finally give the Huntsman a somewhat funny premise to work with. Does it succeed? Barely.
This sends Freakazoid and Akimbo into a battle that sees the henchmen go down fast by running into each other. Then Freakazoid doseydoes with Akimbo until he grows dizzy. He falls through a few shelves and is quickly defeated.
After arresting everyone, Freakazoid talks to Cosgrove (Ed Asner) about what to get Steff. He originally implies banjo lessons, but Freakazoid thinks that it is a bad idea. After a quick discussion, they settle on perfume. Cosgrove doesn't like it at first, but as he walks away, he decides that it is a good idea. Freakazoid ends the episode by cheering on this segment-love debacle's revelation.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
I must admit that in watching this episode, I saw a running theme between this and "the Cloud." It was the theme of Christmas. In "In Arms Way," it is more blatant that Freakazoid wants to buy people presents. However, with a cameo by the Lobe, it also establishes that there could be ulterior motives for the villain that comes into play in "the Cloud." Also, at the end of "the Cloud," Freakazoid makes another revelation, but this time it is what he wants to get for Cosgrove. I just wish that the DVD set didn't make this a little tricky to review.
However, as far as segments go, this isn't the worst or the best. While I like the idea of placing it around Christmas, I felt the isolation of Arms Akimbo and Freakazoid for most of the episode did not work that well. Sure, the Oops Insurance concept was brilliant and the exploding buildings (for some reason, I want to say that was from Lethal Weapon) only made Akimbo seem more intriguing, but the zaniness was missing.
The villain is very one note, and the story acknowledges it on many accounts. Knocking over jars is a very vaudeville gag for this show, and there are only so many times that it can hold some charm. Still, when Freakazoid and Akimbo get together, it results in some madcap fun that may end a little obvious, but becomes the highlight of the segment's otherwise mellow plot.
I like that Freakazoid was asking everyone (notably Santa) about Christmas gifts and that Cosgrove ended up being the voice of wisdom. In any other segment, this could have worked. However, I just felt the pacing was a little off and Akimbo is not quite the best at holding the audience's attention. However, bravo on giving Joe Leahy plenty of great material to work with. His narration in this episode was top notch.
My one high note is that we see the Huntsman finally with a valid premise and gag. He is a lousy umpire and cannot see calls. He throws a fit as a result, and it is only funny because we've been waiting for him to tell a joke all season long. Bravo! Also, I hope that the villains team up again, because Cave Guy and the Lobe could probably do something diabolical in the right setting.
In the end, this is just a Freakazoid Christmas, and it is a relief to not have it jam packed with morals. Instead, we get exploding buildings. This has more in line with Die Hard than A Christmas Story, and I like that. However, next time, I want to see more going on besides listening to Freakazoid's big dilemma be what to get everyone, especially since the emotional arc wasn't really that established or strong.
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