Just absolutely awful cartoons that make you wonder how they got made?

[Voror]

Getting a lot of weird flashbacks here.

Yeah, hated this show.

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I don't remember this show much at all but I remember being shocked when I realized later that it had one of the best villain VA ensembles. Tim Curry, Tony Jay, Clancy Brown and Frank Welker.

 

[Loxley]

One of my friend's youngest siblings was born in 2000 and when I told him about these two shows he refused to believe that they were real. So imagine his genuine shock when we took a trip to YouTube to show him clips XD

 

[Manmademan]

I mean this is on right now.

I don't know how this became a thing at all.

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Its literally a parody of the stuff hanna barbera used to do with a straight face

 

[DragonSJG]

Clue Club is even beneath my radar.

I recall:
Josie and the pussycats (scooby with a girl band and a cat)
Speed Buggy (scooby with a racing crew and talking dune buggy)
Funky phantom (scooby with the ghost of a dead guy from the revolutionary war)
Jabberjaw (scooby under the ocean with a talking shark that was curly from the three stooges)
Bluford Files (scooby in the deep south swamps, also scooby is now a confederate sympathizer)
Galloping Ghost: (scooby, but two girls paired with the ghost of a dead miner)
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: (scooby, but teenage girls paired with a superhero caveman)

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Josie and the Pussycat was always "Oh look the show with that other Shaggy and Fred"

The rest of those was just....what? It's hilarious that it's HB ripping themselves off

 

[Deleted member 2085]

Clue Club is even beneath my radar.

I recall:
Josie and the pussycats (scooby with a girl band and a cat)
Jabberjaw (scooby under the ocean with a talking shark that was curly from the three stooges)

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[Rlan]

Its literally a parody of the stuff hanna barbera used to do with a straight face

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I understand that, I just don't understand how we decided that Mike Tyson should have his own cartoon in 2019.

 

[Manmademan]

One of my friend's youngest siblings was born in 2000 and when I told him about these two shows he refused to believe that were real. So imagine his genuine shock when we took a trip to YouTube to show him clips XD

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Kids today have no idea. You could get away with literally any concept in the Saturday morning/syndicated era because your audience was captive and your revenue stream guaranteed.

The show didn't have to make sense, didnt have to be good, it just had to exist.

 

[Boogiepop]

This came out waaaaaaaay after the movie faded from public conciousness, and was also super terrible from what I saw of it.

 

[Slayven]

Clue Club is even beneath my radar.

I recall:
Josie and the pussycats (scooby with a girl band and a cat)
Speed Buggy (scooby with a racing crew and talking dune buggy)
Funky phantom (scooby with the ghost of a dead guy from the revolutionary war)
Jabberjaw (scooby under the ocean with a talking shark that was curly from the three stooges)
Bluford Files (scooby in the deep south swamps, also scooby is now a confederate sympathizer)
Galloping Ghost: (scooby, but two girls paired with the ghost of a dead miner)
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: (scooby, but teenage girls paired with a superhero caveman)

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I had completely forgot about the bluford files and the galloping ghost. Remember they sent Jabber Jaw into space?

 

[Slayven]

Why didn't anybody get sued?

 

[Chumunga64]

While these choices are okay, you guys aren't digging deep enough. You personally think they're awful, but they were both pretty popular and ran for a lot of seasons.

You guys need to go for something much more out there that is poop. See Secret Saturdays:

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IIRC, Secret Saturdays was critically acclaimed

Hell, I watched the series again, and it's still pretty damn good.

 

[Slayven]

The show didn't have to make sense, didnt have to be good, it just had to exist.

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[DrArchon]

Kids today have no idea. You could get away with literally any concept in the Saturday morning/syndicated era because your audience was captive and your revenue stream guaranteed.

The show didn't have to make sense, didnt have to be good, it just had to exist.

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That and it had to have toys to make the real money. Street Sharks was shit but even I had a toy or two from it back then.

 

[DragonSJG]

Sonic Underground anyone?

 

[Manmademan]

I understand that, I just don't understand how we decided that Mike Tyson should have his own cartoon in 2019.

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Because the venn diagram between the people who remember Tyson fondly and those who were scarred by insane HB stuff in childhood is a perfect circle

 

[Daniel Westlake]

While these choices are okay, you guys aren't digging deep enough. You personally think they're awful, but they were both pretty popular and ran for a lot of seasons.

You guys need to go for something much more out there that is poop. See Secret Saturdays:

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Come on I know it's not particularly well remembered but Secret Saturdays was fine.
---
Shit like Game Over tho...

 

[Inugami]

IIRC, Secret Saturdays was critically acclaimed

Hell, I watched the series again, and it's still pretty damn good.

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A critical darling doesn't necessary mean it's great, and the fact that it only lasted 1 year says enough (that coupled with what I watched of it. Not sure what the attraction is).

There are definitely positives in the family, but the story and setting were pretty bad to my recollection.

 

[higemaru]

I understand that, I just don't understand how we decided that Mike Tyson should have his own cartoon in 2019.

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Dead daughter trauma + 1 or 2 hagiographic documentaries rehabilitated his image. FWIW, he seems like a changed man in his old age but he probably shouldn't have his own tv show.

Also, Glenn Martin DDS was the worst goddamn thing in the world.

 

[Manmademan]

That and it had to have toys to make the real money. Street Sharks was shit but even I had a toy or two from it back then.

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This isn't actually true. Virtually none of the Saturday morning stuff did, and the syndicated stuff only if it caught on. There is a shit ton of syndicated animated programming that got no toys or only a token effort.

I post about this every now and then, but TV stations used to be LEGALLY REQUIRED to show "educational" content and cartoons were the most cost effective way to pull that off. Legislative changes in the early 90s eliminated this and that killed cartoon syndication overnight.

The toys weren't the revenue driver. It was TV stations being unable to air anything else. Unbelievable as it sounds, infomercials at one point were illegal and tv stations were simply "off the air" for hours a day.

 

[Slayven]

This made me feel old


Cause this was a reference to a super obscure HB cartoon

 

[SteveWinwood]

there was that show where there were three beatle rip offs by day and by night they were superheroes

Spring man, multi man, and dude water or some shit



garbage

at least hurculoids was funny

two blobs and a rhino shooting rocks

 

[Kenai]

I freaking hate Denver the Last Dinosaur and his theme song.

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I loved this show. Art was good, had that cheesy 80's theme song, colorful characters ect.

Edit: My contribution: The Brothers Flub

There was literally nothing redeeming about The Brothers Flub

 

[Fat4all]

 

[theSoularian]

Got to talk about the 90s and their love of dodgy cgi



For those young bucks, Heavy Gear was Mechwarrior rivial. Their hook was the mechs could rollerblade.

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I thought Voltron 3D was crap then, but ....its even worse than I remembered. What a shitty follow up to the OG Voltron.

 

[DrArchon]

This isn't actually true. Virtually none of the Saturday morning stuff did, and the syndicated stuff only if it caught on. There is a shit ton of syndicated animated programming that got no toys or only a token effort.

I post about this every now and then, but TV stations used to be LEGALLY REQUIRED to show "educational" content and cartoons were the most cost effective way to pull that off. Legislative changes in the early 90s eliminated this and that killed cartoon syndication overnight.

The toys weren't the revenue driver. It was TV stations being unable to air anything else. Unbelievable as it sounds, infomercials at one point were illegal and tv stations were simply "off the air" for hours a day.

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Learn something new everyday. I guess my perception was warped by the mega-successes like TMNT and me not really knowing how much money stations were spending on these.

 

[Fat4all]

ehh, i guess my gym partner's a monkey isn't an awful show, but i did wonder why it be

 

[Deleted member 2085]

Anyone remember this "gem"?

 

[ryseing]

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Oh Christ this thing SUCKED

 

[Altazor]

this thread is great, I had forgotten about all the Scooby Doo ripoffs that HB had produced hahahahaha

 

[RochHoch]

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I remember enjoying this back in the day tbh. Dunno how it holds up.

 

[Manmademan]

there was that show where there were three beatle rip offs by day and by night they were superheroes

Spring man, multi man, and dude water or some shit



garbage

at least hurculoids was funny

two blobs and a rhino shooting rocks

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Oh god, THAT.

They retooled that into the Harlem Globetrotters cartoon by just making them Black and adding basketballs

This is not a joke

 

[Chumunga64]

A critical darling doesn't necessary mean it's great, and the fact that it only lasted 1 year says enough (that coupled with what I watched of it. Not sure what the attraction is).

There are definitely positives in the family, but the story and setting were pretty bad to my recollection.

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Blame that on the toyline failing

the problem with western action shows. no toys, no show

 

[DrArchon]

Blame that on the toyline failing

the problem with western action shows. no toys, no show

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Wasn't this the same reason given for why Sym-Bionic Titan died?

RIP. Gone too soon...

 

[DragonSJG]

there was that show where there were three beatle rip offs by day and by night they were superheroes

Spring man, multi man, and dude water or some shit



garbage

at least hurculoids was funny

two blobs and a rhino shooting rocks

Click to shrink...

Nobody disses the Impossibles when I'm around

 

[Shigs]

Sonic Underground anyone?

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I'm a die-hard Sonic fan and even I avoided that one like the plague.

 

[Carnby]

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LOL. Wow.

 

[Ferrio]

Anyone remember this "gem"?

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I was just about to post this. As if Gene Simmons didn't do enough harm, he does this shit.

 

[DragonSJG]

Oh god, THAT.

They retooled that into the Harlem Globetrotters cartoon by just making them Black and adding basketballs

This is not a joke

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I remember that too

 

[Deleted member 2085]

I was just about to post this. As if Gene Simmons didn't do enough harm, he does this shit.

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One of the few cartoons to make me mildy ill just looking at it. I hate every character design in this show, full stop.

 

[Hydra_BE]

God, I hated these...

 

[Ferrio]

"Fuck time to find something else to do than watch TV"

 

[Deleted member 6056]

Fuck The Brothers Grunt. Albino aliens with varicose veins trying to fuck lamps that tug at their nipples that are literally retarded.


I cannot think of much worse than this thing.

 

[Electricb7]

While these choices are okay, you guys aren't digging deep enough. You personally think they're awful, but they were both pretty popular and ran for a lot of seasons.

You guys need to go for something much more out there that is poop. See Secret Saturdays:

Click to shrink...

Here's one... Xavier Renegade Angel.

"Yeah, but that show was supposed to look and sound bad and have a terrible plot and no redeeming qualities." you might say.

"Fudge off, intentionally awful is STILL awful." I retort.

(edit) better more disturbingly accurate picture.

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These posts anger me greatly.

 

[mrmoose]

This isn't actually true. Virtually none of the Saturday morning stuff did, and the syndicated stuff only if it caught on. There is a shit ton of syndicated animated programming that got no toys or only a token effort.

I post about this every now and then, but TV stations used to be LEGALLY REQUIRED to show "educational" content and cartoons were the most cost effective way to pull that off. Legislative changes in the early 90s eliminated this and that killed cartoon syndication overnight.

The toys weren't the revenue driver. It was TV stations being unable to air anything else. Unbelievable as it sounds, infomercials at one point were illegal and tv stations were simply "off the air" for hours a day.

Click to shrink...

Are you sure about this?

When the industry was deregulated in the 80s under Reagan and FCC head Fowler, it allowed basically glorified toy commercials (one of the first and most effective was He-man, IIRC) to air without restriction. Look at the sheer amount of cartoons which were only made to be commercials for toys in the 80s, and the effect it had on people who grew up in that time and STILL collect or long for toys of their youth.

A decent read on the effect Reagan and Fowler had:

Dr. Toon: When Reagan Met Optimus Prime

Dr. Toon looks back at the impact of deregulation on TV animation.

www.awn.com

Regulation came back in the form of the Children's Television Act of 1990, then one with teeth in 1996, first in the form of truth in advertising (ie: you couldn't have toys fly in the commercials if they couldn't do it on their own in real life), then what kinds of advertising (you can't advertise Transformers toys during Transformers) and then a mandate that every station air a certain number of hours of educational programming, which were carefully defined (so GI Joe airing a little five minute snippet at the end of knowing is half the battle didn't qualify anymore).

But what really killed the cartoon were the rise of the live action teen shows like Saved by the Bell (along with other factors like cable, news, etc.)

 

[TheDinoman]

I think Transformers Energon marks the absolute nadir of Transformers cartoons/anime.

I think this picture says everything that needs to be said

Like, people like to rag on the Beast era cartoons because of their dated CG, but the guys at Mainframe still managed to get a ton of life and expression out of those character models, and those show were fully CG, whereas Energon is partially hand-drawn.

The diagnostic drones from Beast Machines had more expression than anything in Energon, and they don't even fucking have faces.

 

[Percival Sparkletrout]

Anybody remember Angela Anaconda? Yeah, this was a thing.

 

[Manmademan]

Learn something new everyday. I guess my perception was warped by the mega-successes like TMNT and me not really knowing how much money stations were spending on these.

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Right. Lots of people make that mistake. Stuff like Transformers, GI Joe, Thundercats etc were the exception.

For every one of those, there were a half dozen that had no toy presence. What kind of toys were sold for:

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Heathcliff
Inspector Gadget
Muppet Babies
The Jetsons (80s)
Ulysses 31
Filmations Ghostbusters
Dennis the Menace
Beverly Hills Teens
Fraggle Rock
Dinosaucers
Police Academy

All of those were syndicated before 1990.

If toys existed, they were minimal. Syndication meant a VERY large number of episodes produced up front, generally 60 to 70 episodes, or about 4 to 5 seasons of current television before a single toy ever hit shelves.

It wasnt toy sales that funded that. Independent stations paid for those programs to fill time slots and requirements that couldn't be filled by anything else- and syndication is where all the money is made even for Network TV. Jerry Seinfeld and the Friends cast made the vast majority of their money when their shows were syndicated, not during first run.

 

[StallionDan]

there was this cartoon from britain (or at least on British cartoon network) and it had the ugliest characters I've ever seen

it was about 3 boys and in the intro they were using a mirror to look up a girls skirt

it was so bad but that's all I remember

this would have been on in like 98 or 99 maybe 2000

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Dear God...

 

[Manmademan]

Fuck The Brothers Grunt. Albino aliens with varicose veins trying to fuck lamps that tug at their nipples that are literally retarded.


I cannot think of much worse than this thing.

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This ill give you as one of the only things as flat out AWFUL as what HB in the 70s was doing. Brothers grunt is completely unwatchable garbage.

 

[Carnby]

Fuck The Brothers Grunt. Albino aliens with varicose veins trying to fuck lamps that tug at their nipples that are literally retarded.


I cannot think of much worse than this thing.

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It was a series literally based on a bumper.

https://youtu.be/zrXbZMNVb8k