The Oblongs

The Oblongs
DVD cover
Format	Sitcom Animation
Created by	Angus Oblong
Starring	Will Ferrell Jean Smart Pamela Adlon Lea DeLaria Jason Sklar Randy Sklar Becky Thyre Jeannie Elias Billy West Laraine Newman
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes per episode
Production company(s)	Jobsite Productions Mohawk Productions Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	The WB (2001) Adult Swim (2002)
Original run	April 1, 2001 – October 20, 2002

The Oblongs is an American animated television program. It was created by Angus Oblong and produced by Film Roman, Random House, Jobsite Productions and Mohawk Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television and is loosely based on a series of characters that Oblong introduced in a picture-book entitled Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children. The theme song for the show was composed and performed by They Might Be Giants.

The show focuses on the antics of a family who live in a poor valley community who, as a result of pollution and radiation exposure, are all severely disabled and deformed, either physically or mentally. The pollution is the direct result of the lavish lifestyle of a rich community known as "The Hills", the residents of which continue to exploit prejudice and harm the valley residents with absolutely no regard for their safety or well-being.

Television airing

The show premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB, but it failed to find an audience. On May 20, 2001, The WB aired Disfigured Debbie, the second episode produced, as the season finale, leaving five of the episodes unaired. A fan of the series who was writing an episode guide at TV Tome informed creator Angus Oblong of the show's cancellation and rallied fans of the series to petition and encourage the network to renew the show. Ultimately, the petition was unsuccessful. In August 2002, the series found a home on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim evening program schedule, where it received high ratings when many fans discovered the series for the first time. In Australia, the show premiered on the Nine network on December 8, 2001^[1], however due to insufficient ratings, it was withdrawn after one episode^[2] (but was later shown in a late night/early morning time slot). In 2005, the show began airing on TBS and was released on DVD.

List of characters

The Oblong family

• Robert Quinn "Bob" Oblong (voice: Will Ferrell), the father, was born to Jesse Raymond Oblong and Emma Patricia (née Ramsower) without any arms or legs and works at a poison factory called Globocide, where he screws the caps on poison bottles with his teeth. He can drive vehicles like any other person and is an accomplished pianist. Very chipper and sunny, he is seen as being modeled after various fathers from 1950s shows, complete with pipe.

• Marie Kay "Pickles" Oblong (née Klesser) (voice: Jean Smart) Born to Peter Theodore Klesser and Sarah Mae (née Langham); is the chain smoking, alcoholic mother who was originally a Hill resident but moved to the valley after meeting, and falling in love with Bob. All her hair has since fallen out due to the hazardous atmosphere of The Valley, and she is now regarded as an outcast by her former Hill friends. While not bitter about losing her former privileged life (in her words: "I found a bar next to a wig shop"), she often expresses disdain towards her self-centered neighbors in the Hills and has since wised up to matters of the heart, and urban survival. When her drinking and smoking allows, she can be notable for her strong values and even stronger dedication for her family. Pickles also is turned on by Bob's simple, albeit at times awkward, wisdom.

• Christopher "Chip" Anthony and Biff Quinn Oblong (voices: Randy and Jason Sklar) are 17-year-old conjoined twins who are attached at the waist and share a middle leg. Biff is a hard worker obsessed with sports, while Chip is more laid back. It is sometimes implied that Biff is gay, though other times the two are seen lusting after girls together. Biff and Chip each occasionally go into "trances" to give the other brother privacy (as seen in the episode "Get Off My Back"). Biff and Chip have different hair colors, as seen in "My Name is Robbie", when Chip turns to Biff and berates him for "frosting his hair"

• Milo Francis Oblong (voice: Pamela Segall Adlon), the middle child and youngest son, is afflicted with numerous mental and social disorders resulting in being classed as a class 5 maniac, preventing him from having access to science lab materials at school, including everything from attention deficit disorder to diabetes. He's also on every medication "from Ritalin to Rogaine," having only one hair and a "soft spot" in the center of his head. He is based on a character that appears in Creepy Susie. Despite his afflictions, he is a very forthright and benevolent boy, though he envies the Hill lifestyle and wishes to rise above his economic status. He wears a shirt that says "NO." At most times, he is the main protagonist of the series.

• Elizabeth Lauren "Beth" Oblong (voice: Jeannie Elias) is the youngest child and only daughter, who has a warty, elongated growth growing out of her head. Despite her appendage, she appears to be significantly more well adjusted than the rest of her family. She has a doll (which is actually a bondage whip with a doll's head, dress, and arms attached so the whip looks like a ponytail) named Slowie. Her birthday is on June 7. In the episode "Pickles' Lil' Amazons", it is revealed that Beth's elongated growth on her head is the result of eating meat containing bovine growth hormones.

• Emma Patricia "Grammy" Oblong (née Ramsower), Bob's vegetative mother, resides in a motorized wheelchair and is unable to speak. Instead, she communicates using a green light which means yes, a red light which means no, and a flashing red light which means she has soiled herself.

• Lucky, the one-lunged family cat who chain-smokes cigarettes and wears a disinterested, deadpan expression.

• Scottie is Milo's narcoleptic dog, a result of perfume used on him during his tenure as a test animal at Globocide. Scottie was based on the short story "Narcoleptic Scottie" in Creepy Susie. When adopted by the family after being hit by their car, he was originally used as a therapy-animal to calm Milo's eccentric and hyperactive behavior, though over the course of the series, this sedate effect seemed very short-lived.

Milo's friends, "The Clubhouse Kids"

• Helga Marie Phugly (voice: Lea DeLaria) Born to Bryan Jay Phugly and Sharon Marie (née Malone) is a morbidly obese, toad-like little girl. She lives in a fantasy world, always insisting that she is pretty and popular and that "the Debbies'" actually like her (when Milo told her the Debbies hated her, she plugged her ears, clenched her eyes shut, started to stomp around, and began humming loudly), though in her first appearance in Creepy Suzie, the Debbies were her enemies, and she ended up killing them. At times she seems to have a crush on Milo which leads to her kidnapping him in one episode. It is also implied in the episode "Get Off My Back" that she has a crush on Chip; she throws herself at him at an attempt to kiss him, but he moves out of the way and she winds up kissing Milo, much to her horror and disgust. Helga used to live at home by herself and feeds on wedding cakes and the occasional animal that she spots; her parents left on vacation and never returned, later to return in the same episode found stranded on an island. Her house is the only one seen.

• Susane Marcheline Rachelle "Creepy Susie" Garnier (voice: Jeannie Elias) is a Goth girl who speaks with a French accent and appears to float instead of walk, as her legs are never shown. She is obsessed with death; she is always talking about it, the worst ways to die, what happens while being killed and often claims that she has killed people, and even once cannibalized someone. She's very moody and has a problem with pyromania. She appeared/started as the lead in Creepy Susie. Her feet are shown only once: on the cover of Creepy Susie. The book also notes that she hovers six inches off the ground.

• Margaret Anna "Peggy" Weggy (voice: Becky Thyre) is a one-breasted girl of about 13 who lacks the lower half of her head (though we never see the bottom), causing her to spit and talk with a lisp. Despite being the most deformed of the group, Peggy is incredibly cheerful and upbeat, and dreams of such high and mighty goals as being president or marrying a handsome doctor. When their school has a parents' night, it's shown that she has two fathers, who are normal looking men (who are implied to be gay) with no obvious deformities, suggesting she is adopted.

• Michael Marshall "Mikey" Butts (voice: Jeannie Elias) Born to Jaysen Michael Robert Butts and Liza Rae (née Marshall) is a boy saddled with a dangling, doubled posterior. Standard underwear will not fit him, so he wears his grandmother's old bra like backwards suspenders. He is also known to habitually probe his nose and ears with his finger. Because of his larger deformed posterior, he takes jokes about the area more literally especially since they come true soon after. As a running gag, he is inflicted with severe misfortune in almost every appearance, ranging from being stung by bees to attacked by dogs.

Other characters

• George Jared Klimer (voice: Billy West) Born to Owen Rodger Klimer and Lyllie Donna (née Esmond); is Bob's rich, snobby, racist boss. He represents the power and arrogance of the people of the Hills. He is very condescending to his employees, especially Bob and James. He is husband to Pristine and father of Jared and Deborah Sara "Debbie" Klimer. Their last name is pronounced like "climber", as in social climber.

• Pristine April Michelle Klimer (née Ryen) (voice: Becky Thyre) Born to Gary Stephen Ryen and April Michelle (née Pacciotti (pronounced "pay-chee-AH-tee"); is the wife of George and mother to Jared and Debbie. Pristine was friends with Pickles before she married Bob. Now Pristine spends her days mocking her former friend for being a bald alcoholic.

• Jared George Klimer (voice: Pamela Segall Adlon) is the annoying, arrogant, and not-so-bright son of George and Pristine and brother to Debbie. He likes to taunt The Clubhouse Kids, along with his equally conceited and snobbish best friend Blaine (voice: Billy West). He calls Milo "Obdong". In the episode, "Get Off My Back", it is rumored that Jared and Blaine are involved in a homosexual relationship, as Milo says to the two bullies, "Everyone says you two have sex with each other."

• The Debbies (voices: Becky Thyre, Pamela Segall Adlon in some episodes) are a popular clique of girls. All of them look perfectly identical. One is the Klimers' daughter; another, Debbie Bledsoe, is the daughter of the mayor. They are usually seen in groups of four, though at times there seem to be as many as 11. They appeared in Creepy Susie. They are an obvious parody of the Heathers. They all wear 1950s-style beehive hairstyles.

• Yvette Ann Renee Debbie (Deceased) (voice: Michelle Ruff) An additional member of the Debbies. The only one who does not carry the same name. She is an extraterrestrial masquerading as a human. She has long blonde hair in a ponytail. She takes an interest in Milo in the pilot episode, "Misfit Love", though only to experiment on his brain. When it appears that Milo has been killed, she is forced to self-destruct, as it is apparently more cost-effective than returning to her base of operations.

• Anita Louise Bidet (voice: Billy West) is the owner of the bar where Pickles hangs out, The Rusty Bucket. Her name is a play on the phrase "I need a bidet." It is implied that she is a pre-op transsexual, and though it is made obvious to viewers, none of the characters in the show seem to realize it. In one episode, James falls in love with her. In the episode, "Please be Genital", when Pickles is reminiscing about her first meeting with her husband on the beach, there is a scene where the two first meet and a red-headed man comes running over to pick up a Frisbee, with the same voice as Anita, implying that this was Anita in the past (When Pickles asks her if she has a brother, her response is "Uh, yeah sure, why not?").

• Principal Jessica Davis (voice: Debra Wilson) is the school principal who confuses Bob for a CPR dummy due to his lack of limbs.

• Nurse Mildred Rench (voice: Laraine Newman) is the school nurse. She is described by Peggy as "a godless butcher without a shred of legitimate medical training". She has a scary operating contraption in place of her right arm. She also has four breasts, arranged in a pattern that resembles a cow's udder. She even has a deformed left hand. Her name is perhaps intended to play on Nurse Ratched from the 1975 film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

• James (voice: Billy West impersonating Woody Allen) is Bob's hunchbacked co-worker. He is a people-pleaser and lacks self-esteem.

• Mayor Johnny "The Mayor" Bledsoe (voice: Billy West) is the town's mayor and a masked pro wrestler, an obvious parody of pro wrestlers-turned-elected officials, such as Jesse Ventura. He is corrupt, as is the rest of the town, and his daughter is a Debbie.

• Mr. Leland Bergstein (voice: Billy West) is the kids' homeroom teacher, who seems weak and is easily cowed by the Debbies and the rich members of the town. It is revealed that he lives in the Hills as seen in the episode "Milo, Interrupted". He is called a "candyass" by the Mayor. He appears to be the nicest man in the Hills.

• Sheriff Pepper (voice: Maurice LaMarche) is Hill Valley's inept, corrupt law enforcer. His name may be a reference to Sheriff J.W. Pepper from the James Bond films.

• Homeless Bill (voice: Billy West) is Hill Valley's resident street urchin.

• The Girl with a Beak (voice: Becky Thyre) is an aptly-named, bird-like classmate of The Clubhouse Kids. She often is spurned by the kids despite their own maladies. However, in one episode, she does become popular.

• Mrs. Hubbard (voice: Laraine Newman) is the town's Bible-thumping, gun-toting, racist old biddy. She enjoys maintaining her rifle and assembling it blindfolded, then uttering "Beat that Chuck Heston!" Also known as "Czar Hubbard" in the episode "Milo, Interrupted." She is a spinster who never married and had kids because she claims "there are too many immigrants around". She wears a chastity belt called "The Forni-Guard 2000". Her name is probably taken from L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.

• The Coach (voice: Will Ferrell) is Biff and Chip's school coach, with whom Biff has an unhealthy obsession. He also teaches the Sex Ed and Driving Instruction classes, though he seems to confuse the two.

• Dr. Hofschneider (voice: Billy West) is the Oblongs' condescending and uninterested doctor.

• Verdelle Katherine Diver (voice: Lea DeLaria) is the regional coordinator of The Li'l' Amazons, a Girl Scouts-like troop. She, as well as the organization in general, is implied to be a lesbian (hence her last name, referring to the slur "muff diver"), and she hits on Pickles frequently during Pickles' court-ordered tenure as Beth's den mother.

• Tommy Vinegar (voice: Maurice LaMarche) — a parody of Tommy Hilfiger — is Pickles's ex-boyfriend. He got rich after Pickles taught him how to be popular, and thenpromptly dumped her.

• Velva, the Warrior is the Oblongs' version of Xena, whom young Beth adores. Her name is a pun on "vulva", and her show has heavy lesbian/anti-male overtones (all of the villains are male while all the heroes are female), not to mention blatant advertising of Velva merchandise and numerous genital references. Her sidekick is named Majora, she has a horse named Fallopious, and a pet bird named Placentor.

• Christina Mary "Dusty" Haymore (voice: Becky Thyre) is Bob's one-time co-worker, and a lifeguard. It is heavily suggested that she has had a lot of cosmetic surgery.

Awards

the Oblongs… won the Artios award in 2001 for Best Casting for Animated Voiceover - Television Mary V. Buck Susan Edelman.

Episodes

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Oblongs

• Official website
• The Oblongs at TV.com
• The Oblongs at the Internet Movie Database