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| KaBLam! | |
|---|---|
 KaBlam! title card (season 1) |
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| Format | Animated sketch comedy |
| Created by | Robert Mittenthal Will McRobb Chris Viscardi |
| Starring | Julia McIlvaine Noah Segan Mischa Barton Rick Gomez Mo Willems Danielle Judovits |
| Opening theme | "2-Tone Army" by The Toasters (Credited as 'The Moon Ska Stompers') |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 47 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nickelodeon (1996-2000), Nicktoons Network (2002-2005, 2008) |
| Original run | October 1, 1996 – December 30, 2000 |
KaBlam! (written as KaBLaM! in the logo) is an American animated television series that ran on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2001. It features a collection of short films in several different styles of animation, bridged by the characters Henry and June, who introduce the shorts and have adventures of their own in between.
Contents |
Production
The segment creators include David Fain, Tim Hill, Steve Holman, Emily Hubley, Mark Marek, Mike Pearlstein, Mo Willems, and Cote Zellers.[1]
The theme song and all of the background music on the show was provided by the Moon Ska Stompers, a band composed of King Django, Victor Rice, and members of The Toasters and The New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble. The majority of the soundtrack was 30-second instrumental clips of songs from The Toasters' D.L.T.B.G.Y.D. album, while the theme song itself is a shortened version of the Toasters song "2-Tone Army".
It currently airs on Australia's Nickelodeon affiliate. The show is also currently broadcast in France on television channel GameOne (see Télévision Par Satellite), in a French-dubbed version and on other Nickelodeon channels around Europe. It also was shown in the United Kingdom from 1997–2000, and in Poland from 1999–2002.
Episodes
| Season | Ep # |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | 13 |
| Season 2 | 13 |
| Season 3 | 12 |
| Season 4 | 9 |
Season 1
Season 1 started off with regular cartoons in their regular order. Sniz & Fondue, Action League Now!, Prometheus and Bob, and Life with Loopy. The Off-Beats was also another regular cartoon that filled in for "Life with Loopy". Other cartoons such as Surprising Shorts, Angela Anaconda, and once, The Louie and Louie Show aired. Henry and June frequently had random short plots when the screen was shown on them and barely had one main plot unlike future episodes. They had one whole plot in Comics for Tomorrow Today! and What the Astronauts Drink. The opening theme to the show starts out with a hawk crashing into the camera while the camera pans through a forest, goes underwater and travels to Egypt where Egyptians dance and the Great Sphinx swipes at the camera. The camera heads up to space where two kids in a ride, the planets, stars, asteroids, and UFOs are seen. After the United States Capitol gets destroyed by two UFOs, it then pans to Godzilla destroying a city. It then pans to an open street comic book store and lands on the KaBlam! comic book, featuring the Flesh, Stinky Diver, Sniz, Fondue, and Loopy on it. The book is then opened by Henry and June. After they dance, the episode starts. At the start of the theme, a voiceover of a man shouts "Wake up the masses!". As soon as he finishes, another man (Burt Pence) continues by saying, "Assume the crash position. Hold on tight, take a deep breath for a new kind of cartoon show. It's KaBlam! Where cartoons and comics collide. Now to take you inside and turn the pages, here are your hosts, Henry and June." The ending theme to the show is a quirky, upbeat tune.
Season 2
After 6 more episodes of The Off-Beats, and one last episode of Surprising Shorts, they were officially taken out of KaBlam! One-time shorts were brought in such as Randall Flan's Incredible Big Top, The Girl With Her Head Coming Off, and The Adventures of Patchhead which did return in season 3. The Brothers Tiki appeared twice in season 2. Henry and June are now drawn differently and their voices are deeper. The opening theme to the show is barely changed. When the camera pans on the KaBlam! comic book, it is clearly seen that the cover is different. Instead of the original characters, Thundergirl, Stinky Diver, Prometheus, Bob, Loopy, Sniz, and Fondue are seen. The ending theme to the show is dramatically changed. Instead of the quirky, upbeat tune, many trumpets, trombones, and saxophones are heard, along with a drum beat. Though the instruments changed, the tune is still upbeat.
Season 3
After 5 more episodes of Sniz & Fondue, it was officially taken off KaBlam! Jetcat and Race Rabbit are introduced which become regular cartoons throughout the show. The Adventures of Patchhead makes its second and final appearance. A music video for a song by James Kochalka called "Hockey Monkey" also appears once. Henry and June are drawn a little differently and their voices are slightly deeper. The opening theme is shortened and Henry and June have their own main plots now. In the episode "You May Already Be a...KaBlammer!", Lou Rawls is featured and voiced by the actual provider. The opening theme had a number of changes. After the camera comes up out of the water, it goes directly to the White House scene. After the Godzilla scene, the camera pans toward a school instead of the comic book store. The camera scares a bird off that is perched on a window as it enters a classroom. It pans by a teacher and through a number of students. It stops as it hits a student reading a KaBlam! comic book. On the cover of the comic book, it shows a child who is ecstatic. Henry and June then open the comic book, dance, and the episode starts. The announcer's line as he introduces the show is slightly changed. Instead of saying "Hold on tight, take a deep breath for a new kind of cartoon show," he says "Hold on tight, take a deep breath for a cartoon cramaganza!" The ending theme is not changed.
Season 4
All the regular cartoons, Action League Now!, Prometheus and Bob, Life with Loopy, Jetcat, and Race Rabbit all come to an end at the final episode. Music videos by They Might Be Giants appear twice; they were Why Does the Sun Shine? and Doctor Worm. One-time cartoons still appear: Fuzzball, Garbage Boy, Emmett Freedy, Stewy the Dogboy, The Little Freaks, and The Shizzagee. One-time shorts are included in nearly every episode, excluding "A Nut in Every Bite!", "The KaBlair! Witch Project", and "Now With More Flava'". In every episode, Henry and June have their own main plot. In the episode "Sasquatch-ercise", Richard Simmons is featured and in the episode "Now With More Flava'", John Stamos and Busta Rhymes are featured; however, the stars did not voice their characters. The opening theme is not changed, along with the ending theme.
Regular shorts
Some of these shorts air more frequently and consistently than others.
Henry and June
The animated hosts of KaBlam! who turn the pages of a comic book (changes with each episode) to reveal the next cartoon, as well as being involved in subplots of their own between the shorts. They appear to have gotten their names from Henry & June.[citation needed]
Characters
- Henry — Henry is the energetic male host of KaBlam!. He tends to behave foolishly and believes that he looks good shirtless. He is more up-tight and practical than June, and seems to be disaster-prone, especially around Mr. Foot. Voiced by Noah Segan.
- June — June is the show's more laid-back co-host. She has a sarcastic personality and enthusiasm for her job. She has a tendency to find Henry's dilemmas quite humorous, and is rarely injured herself. Voiced by Julia McIlvaine. She is also prone to anger as many people incorrectly call her a boy, due to her tomboyish nature.
- Mr. B. Foot — Mr. Foot is a giant Sasquatch who works on the show. His hobbies include sleeping, injuring Henry, and unexpectedly stealing the spotlight. However, under the rage and bluster, he is not a terrible creature; he never injures June. In one episode, he is revealed to be an accomplished drummer. He once spoke in the episode, "A Little Dab'll Do Ya".
- Mr. Fred Stockdale — The elderly network executive in charge of KaBlam!. He acts rather senile, and will do anything to get KaBlam! good ratings—including firing someone or getting Henry into lots of physical accidents. He seems to be a parody of Admiral James Stockdale.
- Henry's Mom — She appeared twice and was mentioned another time. She shows her love for her son in an exaggerated way. In "Cramming Cartoons Since 1627", her name is revealed to be Lois.
- Mr. Jimmy McGee — He appeared twice as a co-host of June on KaBlam! He gets in fights with Henry's mom. Appears to be a parody of Ed McMahon.
Sniz & Fondue
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 3
A pair of ferret brothers who often get on each other's nerves. Sniz is the younger kid ferret that is very hyperactive, and quite a troublemaker of the two, while Fondue is the older teenage ferret, that's the nervous, and intelligent one. There is also Snuppa and Bianca, Sniz and Fondue's roommates. From mid-1997 (around KaBlam's second season) until Sniz and Fondue ended production in late-1998 (around Kablam's third or fourth season.) It had a more new and modern look (possibly made with Flash animation.) Sniz and Fondue is the only short (with the obvious exception of Action League Now!) to have a new appearance with every episode of Kablam during the show's first season.
Action League Now!
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 4
Filmed in "Chuckimation," in which the characters/props are moved by unseen hands or thrown from off-camera (interspersed with occasional stop motion animation). Action League Now! featured a group of superheroes, played by custom-made action figures, who fight crime in suburbia despite being total idiots. The four superheroes are The Flesh, Thundergirl, Stinky Diver, and Meltman. Considered to be the most successful KaBLam! short, it briefly became a spin-off series in 2001. Action League Now! is the only short to have a new episode with every showing of KaBLam!. All of the characters on the shorts were voiced by personalities from radio station WDVE in Pittsburgh.
Life with Loopy
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 4
The life of twelve-year-old Larry and his strange experiences with his imaginative and adventurous younger sister, Loopy. The characters were animated with stop-motion puppet bodies, but their heads were created with flat cardboard heads.
Characters
- Loopecia "Loopy" Cooper — Loopy is an imaginative little girl with a knack for discovering surreal things, such as a world under the sofa. While she is often discouraged by Larry whenever she goes out to adventure, she does not let that stop her. Loopy is voiced by Danielle Judovits.
- Larry Cooper — Larry is Loopy's intelligent brother. Much like Lassie, Larry knows every detail of Loopy's adventures and narrates all of them, although he is almost never there.
- Loopy and Larry's Parents — They are Loopy and Larry's parents. They seem like caricatures of parents from 1950s sitcoms. Loopy's dad is voiced by Paul Reubens
Prometheus and Bob
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 4
A claymation/stop motion segment featuring the camera-recorded mission logs of Prometheus, an alien who comes to Earth attempting to teach a caveman, Bob, everyday things. From the use of fire to the act of ice skating, the result is usually a failure by the mischievous third cast member, who was a simple monkey.
Characters
- Prometheus — Prometheus is a gaunt purple extraterrestrial of advanced intelligence. He attempts to educate Bob, a nimrod caveman, as an experiment recorded on his remote-controlled camera. Prometheus is often injured due to Bob's low IQ.
- Bob — Bob is a babbling caveman. He once was completely covered in hair, but now has none because of a laser incident in the first clip. Has a tendency to overreact when scared.
- Monkey — Monkey is a small chimpanzee with many different roles, sometimes helping Prometheus, other times making his life miserable. Monkey usually tried to mess up or distract Bob.
- The Narrator — He recites the opening to the short, and the introduction to the short's "tape", "Tape [insert number here]", and finally, "End".
The Off-Beats
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 2
A group of unpopular friends who deal with constant problems, many caused by their main rivals, a popular clique known as "The Populars."
Characters
- August — August is the unofficial leader of The Off-Beats. He is the one Off-Beat that desperately wants to be liked by The Populars. However, none of his inventions, such as the Suave-O-Matic 5000 or the moroncart, impress anyone.
- Betty Anne Bongo — Betty Anne Bongo constantly plays the bongos, unless she loses her glasses. She's always helping Tommy, August, and Repunzil out of a jam. She was voiced by Mischa Barton.
- Tommy — Tommy loves his plaid coat and hat, and he loves being alone, never going indoors. Normally he's quiet, but he cannot handle his emotions very well, so he is often seen yelling (which startles everyone, including himself). Voiced by Mark Wagner.
- Repunzil — Repunzil is the youngest and most excitable member of The Off-Beats. She loves everyone and everything, even if they run away. Repunzil's long hair makes it very difficult for her to wear a hat.
- September — August's talking dog. He often runs away, and gets paid to like August, but he seems to enjoy being with the Off-Beats, anyway. He was voiced by Mo Willems.
- Grubby Gru — Grubby Gru is The Off-Beats' friend. He is the only adult in the world who realizes that The Populars are really mean kids, despite the Populars always pretending to be nice when Grubby is around. Voiced by Mo Willems.
- Tina — Tina is the leader of the Populars, who rules them with an iron fist. She is something of a stereotypical "school diva". If any of the Off-Beats start thinking that they are cool, Tina's always around to set them straight.
- The Populars — The popular group at school that always travels in a nose-in-the air clump. They are led by Tina (see above).
Other shorts
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 2
- Surprising Shorts — The only short segment not to have recurring characters, these shorts usually had nothing to do with any previous shorts included on the show. Examples of these shorts are the Lava series, Garbage Boy, Emmitt Freedy, and Stewy the Dogboy, which later became Disney's Teacher's Pet. This segment was usually introduced by June pulling down Henry's pants, revealing his unflattering and garishly colored boxer shorts, hence the name.
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 1
- Angela Anaconda — A cutout-photo cartoon that was later spun off into its own series on the Fox Family Channel and was briefly rerun on Nickelodeon, in the US. This series is about a girl named Angela, who is a social outcast. She finds herself unpopular in school and always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nanette, a fake-French girl who everyone loves and wants to be, always mocks Angela. During each episode, a poem-like story is narrated by Angela. She often gets her revenge on the antagonist of that particular episode, and more often imagines her revenge on said antagonist in a highly exaggerated manner.
Began: Season 3 Ended: Season 4
- JetCat — A segment about a girl who has an identity as a cat superhero and flies around and saves her city. She says she "flies like a jet and fights like a cat." This is the only short that takes place outside of the comic book. It was featured as a comic in Nickelodeon Magazine for a short time. The music was composed by Rocko's Modern Life composer Pat Irwin
Began: Season 3 Ended: Season 4
- Race Rabbit — A live-action show about a romantic rabbit racer with an English accent who competes in races but there is usually trouble along the way caused by the Boolies, who are his human enemies. Race always wins the race, foiling the Boolies' plans along the way. Created by Scott Fellows
Began: Season 2 Ended: Season 3
- Patchhead — This segment is about a barefoot kid with a watermelon for a hat, and she stops cheaters from winning competitions.
Began: Season 2 Ended: Season 2
- The Brothers Tiki — A claymation segment about two extraterrestrials resembling vegetables, who land on Earth in a ship bearing a striking resemblance to a barbecue grill.
Began: Season 4 Ended: Season 4
- Fuzzball — A non-recurring cartoon about a tomboy who tries to re-win her dad's trophy, which she broke (this plot might have been revisited in an episode of Fairly Odd Parents).
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 1
- The Louie and Louie Show — A short that appears only once on the show. Two neglected pets (a hamster and a lizard) try to get some attention from their owners, who are all too busy playing with the family dog. This short was animated by Gary Baseman.
Began: Season 4 Ended: Season 4
- Little Freaks — Another one-time cartoon. Three freaky superheroes try to stop a villain from controlling the world's fashion trends.
Began: Season 1 Ended: Season 1
- Anemia and Iodine — One-time short. A cartoon displaying the misadventures of a depressed gothic older sister and her skateboarding, hyperactive younger brother.
There were also various They Might Be Giants music videos for the songs "Why Does The Sun Shine?" and "Doctor Worm". In addition, there was a music video of "Hockey Monkey", created by James Kochalka and performed by The Zambonis. These were a mixture of live-action by Jesse Gordon and different animation styles, all produced and directed at The Ink Tank.
Film
A live-action Prometheus and Bob film was announced in 1998 to be directed by Harold Zwart and produced by Amy Heckerling, but apparently fell through due to lack of interest.[2]
Shorts from Kablam! have appeared at the beginning of theatrical releases. An episode of Action League Now! titled "Rock-A-Big Baby" was shown before the Nickelodeon film Good Burger. Angela Anaconda appeared before Digimon: The Movie.
KaBlam! Spin-Off
A show called The Henry & June Show was made and produced in 1999. In 1999, its first episode "A Show of Their Own" aired, featuring the same two kid hosts from KaBlam! in their own show. The next episode was "Be True to Your School" which was aired in 2000. The show wasn't a success, and only had 2 episodes:
1. "A Show of Their Own" (1999) Henry and June from KaBlam! get their own show, complete with a studio audience, and even musical guests.
2. "Be True to Your School" (2000) Henry and June attend school, and try their best to tackle hard subjects like "How To Look Your Best".
Banned KaBlam! Episodes
 |
This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (October 2009) |
The following 3 episodes of KaBlam! were banned for reasons unknown.
- Episode 8: "Why June Refuses to Turn the Page"
- Episode 29
- Episode 30: "Timeless!"
References
- ^ "1997: The year of drawing dangerously". Variety. 1997-11-18. http://www.variety.com/article/VR111661995.html?categoryid=14&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew (1998-09-18). "Nick sets 'Bob' toon feature". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117480543.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=prometheus+bob. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
External links
- KaBlam! at TV.com
- KaBlam! at the Internet Movie Database
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