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popculturebuffet · 4 days

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The Kablammiest Retrospective: KaBlam! Season 3 (Comission for Cory Bryant

Hey there kablamoids, wake your grammy as it's time once again for more Kablammy. I'm back on my Kablam retrospective for season 3 as I keep my heiner in the recliner. It also feels weird to be almost done with the series, with only one season and a bunch of fun odds and ends left before we turn the page on this retrospective.

Season 3 was a weird watch.. not in terms of content: Henry and June visiting Colonial Williamsburg, Sniz becoming a faith healer via a power washer, Lou Rawls singing about loving the action league, Loopy invites burping aliens to colonize earth, and Tod isn't struck down by god herself is pretty standard wacky nonsense for the show and I'm here for it.

It was a weird watch more because it both changed.. and stayed the same. Most of the founding shorts are still here and will be till the end next season and have largely settled into what they are. The end of the Off-Beats last season and the departure of Mike Brandon from Sniz and Fondue felt like they'd really change up the show.. but it really dosen't. Two new segments show up in their place, Jet Cat and Race Rabit, but both a only have two shorts each this season. There seemed to be no real intrest in replacing either short.

There's also only ONE pilot this season, something that'l lchange next season as from looking ahead, something i didn't do this time, the series does try more to fill the gap left by it's departing segments. In their place are some music videos with the zambonis, both good songs, but it feels like a Kablam that both knows what it is.. but also dosen't know what it's going to do with that extra space. IT seems to settle up more by next season as jet cat and race rabbit appear more often and more pilots set in to fill the void left by our faviorite ambigiously gay ferrets, but it's still a strange time for our faviorite cartoon cramaganza. So let's see how this season shakes out and how our faviorite segments do in this time of change.

Henry And June continues similarly to season 2, but there's a theme I only noticed as I sat down to write this; network interfernece. There's a lot of episodes where the show's format is changed due to the network deciding on some weird new trend or raitings stunt. Our heroes pivot to being an educational show, go to colonial willamsburg, deal with a writers strike. get sidelined when Mr Foot proves more popular, and deal with a pompus director from Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

It's a fun idea too.. and lowkey feels like venting as the shows star with the network was slowly falling due to them shuffling the show around randomly. As a result we get some true classics. We also get bits where Henry or June will have green or blue eyes , respectively, a nice little animation bit. Overall season 3 of Henry and June is fantastic and a nice new coat of paint ot an already stunning hot rod of a segment.

More Happiness Than Allowed By Law: Henry and June celebrate their birthday (and creaton by Mark Marek). Henry naturally beefs it by getting June nothing while she gets him a nice remote control car, forcing him to scramble for a new gift till he settles on a really nice mood ring. A decent segment, not much to say.

Money Train 2: This one is just a bunch of assorted segments, but said segments are gold. They try a fan of the month program to spotlight the fans.. only to get a convict, Henry pretneiously explains why we need villians, the two do some mountain climbing and eventually ask

And the two try to guess the mystery celebrity but end up pissing off Ben Franklin instead. This is also easily one of my favioroite back covers, which tend ot tie into the story more this season, as after June guesses the mystery guy is wesley snipes, we get a hypothetical money train sequel with him and ben franklin. In a time of ip revivals great , small and sometimes really fucking weird please whoever owns money train.. give us this sequel.

Your Logo Here: KaBlam! goes educational by network mandate, leading to a fun educational tv spoof as our heroes try to turn this very much non educational show into one and also grapple with Ed the Educational otter, the first otter i've wanted to punch in the face. Ed is smiley, takes the duos antics not very well and even tears up a comic book when talking about the joys of reading. Despite the fact comics are fucking rad and their in one. Naturally he ends up getting beaten up as he should for being an uptight dick. Still it's a fun tounge in cheek adventure and one of my faviorites of the season.

Holdeth the Pickle, Holdeth the Lettuce: Another favorite, this one has our hosts doing the show from Coloneal Williamsburg. Why?

The sheer nonsense of the idea coupled with our heroes growing frustration with how the actors WILL NOT break character even when they need power or an interview, cumilating in our heroes taking a swim only to get put in stocks... it's great stuff.

It's All in the Wrist: Another random segmetns episode and this one... isn't as fun outside of the end one where they make a kablam arcade game tha'ts just henry getting hit by things and June's reaction to this not reflecting the show.. is to have mr foot drop thigns on him. Honestly feels closer to their season 1 characterizations.

Year Round Fun: The KaBlam! writers go on strike and I wish i'd knew about this one when we did our writer's strike special last year as it shows WHY shows need writers as our heroes slowly break down without them, and has a fun ending as our heroes offer them to turn the page in good faith, but it's not in their contract. A really stellar episode.

The New Class: My faviroite of the season and it's not an easy choice, but the concept is once again nicely bonkers and meta: our heroes get a new director, the pretentious Glen R Dilworth, probably a gentle poke at Courage the Cowardly Dog creator and Sniz and Fondue pilot director John R Dilworth.

Glen.. is fantastic. He's a pretentious director.. whose previous credit was saved by the bell the new class, which he treats as high art, particularly hyping up Screech. Just the fact someone was this far up dustin diamonds ass is glorious, as is the specific reference. It's extra juicy as for some weird reason.. NBC is not streaming the new class. And it's not a rights issue as the new class DID show up their website apparently before everything was converted to peacock, so I have no idea why they buried this thing. I mean it could be terrible but i'd still at least watch some of it to complete the trinity.

While i've seen this character type before it works really well here, with Glenn's acting exercises, constant interuptions of the show and Henry beating him with a screech impression, luring him outside so mr foot can put glen in the trunk of his car.. and.... okay....

People Henry Has Had Killed Counter: 1

Great for Paper Traning: June brings a dog to set. It dosen't go well. You've seen this plot before and done better. Next

You'll Love Our Selection: KaBlam! installs an audience enjoyment meter o rama thing and it rates our heroes high.. but mr foot thorugh the fucking roof. So the show pivots to focusing on mr foot who rises to the occasion, while Henry and June struggle on the sidelines. The weird mr footcentric verison of the show is great as is his movie... i'ts the best use of the foot man so far and a nice break from him just mauling people or reading something. It's a fine gag but they've done it a LOT and you get.. numb to it after a while.

You May Already Be A KaBlammer: June hires an expy of Ed McMahon to be her sidekick and Henry is insecure the guy dosen't find him funny and tries a bunch of stuff to be funny.. then his mom shows up. It's a fun runner and the guest guy is genuinely hilaroius even if you don't ENTIRELY scope the refrence.. which i only.. half do. Like I've seen ed mcchamon once or twice and listend to the weird al yankovic song "Here's Johnny", but i'm not really up on late night with Johnny Carson and likely never will be and i'm happy with that. I know just enough for homages and that's fine by me.

KaFun!: A grab bag to close out the season and a really strong one for a change. My faviorite bits are JUne being disapointed she dosen't need deoderant so henry fakes she needs some to feel more mature, which just feels genuinely sweet , and the ending where it turns out Henry's on japanese knockoff Ka-Fun!.. which i'd love to see, paticuarlly prometheus and yoshi. I am a bit annoyed they didn't call it a manga and while I get the term wasn't as widespread as it is NOW it was something they probably coudl've looked up. Not easily but still.

For what's sadly the last time. And I went into these expecting them to be terrible... I mean the creator left and these wer emade without him because they still owned the IP. Normally that situation.. dosen't make great art.

And while Sniz and Fondue: The Final Chapters isn't amazing, it has one of the series best episodes tucked away and the others are decent. I was expecting a trainwreck and what I got was mostly

Nothing truly horrible, but only one of them really felt outstanding and bonkers. Brandon was right in that they coudln't quite get the dialouge down, as the characters talk with less weirdly specific slang and we don't get as much waxing lyrical, with only the fourth short doing it. the personality's faded out a bit thanks to Brandon leaving and you can tell. It dosen't have Season 2's clear sense of exaustion, which IS a plus, but it dosen't really have the soul of the series. Sometims a series CAN go on without a creator, and sometims it has to because that creator's a sex monster. Sometimes a work can be revivied with a fresh voice. But in this case, at least at the time Sniz and Fondue simply coudln't work without Brandon.

It's a shame the series ends with kind of a dull thud. I loved these shorts and their 90's style and wish Brandon was more determined to actually.. do something with them again. or nick but let's face it nick's genuine atittude these days tends to be

So I have no real hope of a revivial of Sniz and Fondue or KaBlam as a whole.. but I can dream can't i?

Solitare Confinment: The setup for this one is good. Fondue gets a computer... says he got it from some guy who came down from space. Had some issues with it

Fondue however gets addicted to solitare, and hides that he is from Sniz. From there.. the episodes decent but i've seen enough gaming addiction episodes to have seen better. The big with a burglar robbing them because Fondue's too distracted and telling themn "I'll call the police.. after one more hand" is fantastic though. The ending with Sniz as a computer is also sweet. Together they'd create Baltaro.

Penny-Ante Vigilantes: This is just the Ed-Touchables but not as good. Or, to use an episode that aired before this one, Homer the Vigilante but not as good. Either would be a better time than this which is just... bland, and while the twist was sufficently twisty, it's really not tha tfunny and Fondue didn't quite go far enough to justify his getting beaten by a big unruly mob. Also fondue got beaten up by a big unruly mob.

Hosed!: So you know how i've been saying there was one exception to the seasons blandness? Well snap me down, here it is. It's such a goofy, glorious concept I can't help but love it. Okay so a random burglar man steals some wheel chairs, using one to escape. Sniz is testing the new power washer fondue got him and accidently sprays the guy.. then Fondue assumes the guy was healed because he got up and walked. So our heroes.. become faith healers.. using a high pressure hose. It's such a bonkers premise I love it so much. It was a sign that MAYBE they coudl've kept going, as it has that same creativity and singularly weird brain the Brandon shorts did. Naturally they once again get chased by a big unruly mob.

Big Unruly Mob Count: 2

The Great Chilli Cookoff: Our final short and it's.. okay. It's a "our heroes compete" episode, this time for a ride in a fire truck which after binging enough Chicago Fire to consume a planet, I get it. But it's your pretty standard compettion episode.. albeit the heartwarming resolution to join chillis burns down a fire house

So at least the series ends fittingly. Also the fire house was having a cook off at all because their antics destroyed the last one. I gesture you to the adorable puppies above.

So that ends our time with these boys.. and i'm really sad to see them go. While Seasons 2 and 3 had issues... I still loved these characters and it's one of the prototypical "two dudes get into shenaigans show" Sniz and Fondue walked so Regular Show Could run and Close Enough could fly. And for that .. i'll always be greatful.

Action League Now Season 3 is excellent. I prefer Season 2 slightly more, but Season 3 is still top notch and hilarious, keeping the league as unlikeable idiots so the slapstick works better, keeping it creative with the settings, and keeping it fresh. There's not much new here and having watched mass quantities of Bluey recently, I can tell you I prefer when a show evolves.. but sometimes it dosen't really need to. This show is simple, stupid fun and it's all it wants to be, and it's gotten good at it. After seasons 2 and 3, i'm gonna love the league.

Flippers of Fury: In a very obvious GI JOe parody, which fits perfectly given Stinky is very obviously an old gi joe figure rekitted, Stinky must face his old ninja rival the red ninja with the help of Master Pu. This segment is pretty good.. admitely it has a decent amount of 90's "we saw a kung fu film once" type asian sterotyping with master pu, a very white guy is voicing him very badly, but otherwise stinky's training, how he wins just by using his plunger and the spot on parody of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow help compensate. A solid start.

Rags to Riches: The Mayor Unleashes a mummy's curse. I could really end it there, but the fac tit gets unleashed on the Chief, who doubts it at first is great. A decent episode if only for having a mummy's curse. I'm a sucker for a mummy's curse i've just seen it done better. And I say that a LOTTT IN THESE reviews.. but i've been watching cartoons for most of my life, never really dropped off them as a teen like most kids, and thus i've seen a LOT of these plots and both Courage the Cowardly Dog and Aqua Teen simply did a mummy's curse slightly better. That being said neither has the Mayor trying to sell said cursed items on a home shopping network, so this episode still slaps, so it's not like say "Penny Ante Vigilantes" where ther'es zero reason to watch it. It's still good, other stuff's just better.

Melty Dearest: Meltman becomes mom to a giant spider. It's funnier than it has any right to be and ends with meltman getting cocooned by a giant spider and I love the spiders googly eyed design so ... decent.

Tears of A Clone: If I had a nickle for every episode of an animated show i'd seen with this title i'd have two nickles.. which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice. This episode is a LOT of fun though as Bill the Lab Guy gets into cloning. The Mayor understandably orders it shut down: No clone saga's or inferno's in this lab.. but that's AFTER the league bumbles into it. So we get 5 or so of each league member all failing to do anything right and getting some of them killed and it's glorious. I also love the mayors scheme, stealing fine china.. whcih naturally, like most of the clones, ends up over a cliff. I do love when they toss shit over a cliff, it has a gravitas the other stunts sometimes don't. I mean they had to clean that shit up, and it was so worth it. I also like the solution: the mayor clones himself. And now he has 5 beautiful kidneys. he feels freaking amazing.

Art of Thunder: The Mayor steals a valuable bit of art by timmy, a 5 year old boy and that alone is great. I love these little bits of world buildindg, seeing how the action figures use the human world house. Naturally the league destorys it. A decent episode.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen: We find out WHY Stinky is such an asshole: it turns out in the war his own mother sold him out. He bonds with a real life dog named smelly, whose a good boy yes he is... btu was trained by the worst boy, the mayor so he tears up the league like dogs do and Stinky has to be saved by his tratirous mom. This episode is redicluous, shockingly heartfelt and a lot of fun. It's not the first time they did dog shenanigans but it's honestly even more fun than the dog as godzilla thing. I've seen that. I haven't seen an action figure try to emtooinally heal using a dog that turns out to be used by evil.

A Star Is Torn: The Mayor pretends to be a film maker to trap thundergirl. What I like abotu this one is Meltman spots the obvious issues.. btu Thundergirl is absorbed in the ego despite loosing everal limbs.. and the others are her agents. Seeing Flesh and Stinky talk alike hollywood agents in thier goofy voices just works for me. What can I say. Another solid one.

Melty's Girl: My faviorite of the season. Meltman got a girlfirend.. I and I expected this to turn into a "she's using him for the fame" or "she's secretly evil' plot as is standard. Instead.. she's just genuinely supportive and likes him

So the problem is that... Meltman really isn't WORTH IT. She thinks he can do better than just gathering the coffee, sets him up with his own office and even gives him a flashy new costume as dr melt

I just love this idea of someone being just.. generally dogshit at superheroing and having a super supportive partner who instead tries to hype them up. It's a concept i'l lhave to file away as it could be really good on it's own and it's grea there as Meltman only succeeds by accident and breaks up with his girlfriend.. not because she's bad but simply because she believes in this idiot and this idiot cannot live up to that.

Roughing the Passer: It's the all star game and the Mayor wants to quaterback but isn't being brought in as not only does the coach already have several all star ones, but the mayor also sucks suprising no one. So naturally his counterplan is "murder them all and then get to be put in coach", while the league TREIS to help but naturally does a few accidental murders itself. A fun episode and the mayor even gets his dream by becooming the ball... it's a fun one even if I don't recognize a single person because I don't follow sportsball.

Hit of Horror: Hodge Podge returns and he's started to wear on me as his only gimmick is having a dumb voice nad calling them action jerks and we don't see as much of him. He brainwashes the public to attack the league and their stupid enoguh to go out to a parade. Thankfully Bill the Lab guy has an antidote: LOU MOTHERFUCKING RAWLS. Who we're going to be talking about a LOT on this blog this year.

For those who dont know him

Secondly he's an r an db singer from the 60's and 70's. He was on the muppets, has the voice of an angel and I found out about him when I gorged on the garfield specials as a teen, as he performs an opening song for all but one of them. And their all fucking bangers. Every last one. The man is a legend so him singing a rendtiion of his classic "you'll never find" that says "your gonna love the league" instead of miss my lovin is fun. It's also fun just to see little action figure lou rawls. This episode is lou rawls out of lou rawls.

And Justice For None: The weakest episode of the season and naturally the last... it's a clip show trial episode. They win because the judges naturally get crushed. While Henry and June lampshade it being a clip show that.. isn't enough to save it. A weak ending to a great season.

Same as it ever was really. I'm not a huge fan of these shorts, zoned out a lot and still respect the hell out of them. Their gorgeous to look at they just aren't for me. I can respect however that, intetinoally or not they are a good allegory for colonalism. Yes.. really.

Stay with me: Prometheus tries to "edcuate the savage" but a lot of the things he's trying to force on bob.. are things he either dosenj't need or want. Bob seems entirely fine as is despite having less technological advances than his tall friendo, but Prometheus tries to force new stuff on him anyway rather than introduce what would be benficial (such as a couch or clothing) slowly. Blend it with his cave culture instead of just trying to replace it.

Hammock: Some fun hyjinks. I didn't say I was ambivilant about ALL of them

Ball: I forgot this one happened. I said all of them not "most of them"

Birthday: this one is REALLY fun as Prometheus forgets that most caveman see fire as bad when he lights Bob's birthday cake on fire.

Toilet:... how did I forget this one?

Treehouse: It's bart's birthday and everyone's having fun, but Homer realizes he forgot a present, so he goes to the shop of an asian sterotype who sells forbidden objects from where many fear to tred, and also frozen yogurt which he calls frogurt. He gives him a krusty doll but warns him it's cursed. That's bad. but it comes with a free frogurt. that's good. the frogurt is also cursed. That's bad. But you get your choice of topping. That's good. The toppings contain potassum benzoate. That's bad. Can I go now?

Bed: Bob tries to sleep on a bed. Shenanigans insue

Robot: Finally one I liked. Promethus makes a robot of himself but it goes haywire and ends up making a bob. They run off to reno and get married. Good for them.

Arctic: ICE FLOW NOWHERE TO GO ICE FLOW NOWHERE TO GO LOST IN THE BLINDING WHITENESS OF THE TUNDRA

Laundry: I have too much of it

Glue: GLUE GLUE GLUE GLUE GLUE GLUE.

I'm happy to say Life with Loopy made a comeback. Season 2 wasn't bad.. but it wasn't as consitantly fun or imaginative as season 1. Still amazingly crafted.

Season 3 on the other hand takes the series to new heights with a fun season of wacky nonsense. The concepts here are pitch perfect and capture the series premise well again: take something a kid would misunderstand or go through, and have whatever their mind could cook up play out instead of the more mundane solution. We've got burping aliens, mom being part of a secret government project, clones, ducks, bulls in china shops, dog prisons and the revelation Loopy's into aliens and also bi, neither of which suprises me. Loopy is the best of the recurring segments this season and it's not even close, and it's fun to see the show at full throttle. Like with Sniz and Fondue I think some exaustion was seeping in, and the break to make more segments worked out like gangbusters. It's why while I may not like long hiatuses, I can undrestand them as it means the show comes back a swining and loopy certainly swung

Send in the Clones: Those laughy daffy clones. Okay simpsons refrence aside this was a very good start to the season with a very relatable problem: Loopy wants to play with her dad, but he's so busy with the 80 dozen things he has to do. I love how the two have a genuinely close and caring relationship.

So her solution is to clone him a bunch. this goes poorly as not only is he TOO present now, she gets no privacy, but turning the washer into a cloning machine means their mom's nearly gone insane from doing laundry by hand. Her solution is to simply make too many loopys.. and yes that's the exact same one the action league later used.. but hey it works as the reason WHY it works is diffrent: for the action league chief simply wasn't able to corral the dumbasses alone, while with Loopy it simply overwhelmed her dad's into non existantance by asking all the questions that drive parents insane. Granted we're left with a lotta loopys but I assume they formed a colony on the moon after loopy lassoed it again. A great start

Big Burp Theory: Loopy burps and aliens come down to colonize the planet as a result of speaking their language

It's still not bad at all, and the solution of Larry solving things by farting, thus offending them, while I could see it coming.. is still a pretty good fart joke. Not amazing, but still decent.

Secret Agent Mom: This one is a LOT of fun: So once a month Mom plans a fishing trip for Dad and the Kids, but Loopy wonders what she does. She claims she's cleaning out the basement and she kind of is.. but it turns out mom's a secret agent for the government. Her mission though is what makes the episode: turns out there's an alien in the family basement, and he was SUPPOSED to share his secrets with them. Instead he sat around and ate a lot, sort of like what I do between reviews. And during them. I may relate to this guy just a bit too much. So it's time to send him home. I also like that once Loopy finds out mom tries a half assed denial... and then just lets her ride shotgun. It again speaks to how much Loopy's parents love her and encourge her weird shit. Hell loopy saves the whole mission by helping the guy exercsie as they didn't adjust his craft for his belly buddy. I call mine fred. So Loopy helps him get buff, they get him home, and no one wille ve rknow an alien was in the basement and probably farted it up a bunch

Loopy and the Snow Lady: This one is touching. It's tale as old as time: Loopy makes a snow lady, she comes to life but OH NO THE HEAT WILL KILL HER. Loopy does keeper her alive a while btu eventually dad wants the freezer space back. No really he wants to kill a sapient being to store steaks. JUST GET ANOTHER FREEZER FOR THE WOMAN MADE OF SNOW DADDD.

Instead Loopy plans to take her to winter world, but has to deal with snow lady getting sidetracked and enjoying the warm world. She's seeing the world AND she got the beach. She got it all. They do get her there in time though and loopy joins her as their latest attraction. Awwww.

Goin South: Another fantastic episode in a row as Loopy runs into a canadian duck trying to go south for the winter, eh, but he can't fly so Loopy agrees to help her new friend. What's nice is he finds a new home too, as they end up in the south pole with a bunch of pengies. The pengies gladly accept their new duck friend and it's a touching, funny ending for all.

Sweet Dreams; Larry keeps having a very boring recurring dream, so to help him Loopy does an inception. I really love the reason WHY the dream is looping: the guys in charge can't think of anything so they put him in reruns. It's such a hilariously petty and mundane solution and Loopy crashing it and accidnetly unchaning his nightmares allows him to be the hero and save her, and gives the guyzos plenty of new material. Now Larry's dreams will run for years and years to come.

Fang Fairy: This one's really fucking weird and I love it. As Larry refuses to get dental surgery, Loopy hears a joke about the fang fairy and takes it seriously leaving some fake teeth to proove she's right. She is but the fang fairy's a real dick about it and makes her a relcutant werwolf. Her family's response is to runaway despite having seen weirder shit at this point, so she finds out she's his first client in centuries nad he get sa job as Larry's dentist, presumibly scarring him for life

Bull In A China Shop: This one is really fun and as a clumsy kid myself painfully relatable: Loopy keeps breaking shit so she goes to a china shop to train herself not to.. and meets THE bull in a china shop who not only runs it but runs a support group for it, helping loopy and some others. While this would be more than enough what I like is tha tat graduation the three accidnetly break more stuff.. and the bull feels liberated, realizing that while it's one thing to be mindful, hating yourself for simply being a tad clumsy even when your trying.. isn't healthy. Granted the solution of leather knick knacks isn't really WORKABLE but like this message: sometimes your just clumsy and tha'ts okay.

Whale of A Time: One of the season's weaker episodes but it does have our heroes getting eaten by a whale. The Wedon'tknowtheirlastnamejustgowithit family is on vacation with something for everybody!.. except larry whose intended activity, the charlie chicken summer spectacular, is canceled. Turns out they were eaten by a whale and found a ton of treasure, so our heroes trick them into remembering it's for the craft, not the money. It's okay though the whale does look pretty damn cool. The puppets on this show are always so dang impressive.

In the Doghouse: Loopy goes to retrevie a ball from the neighborhood dog... whose running a prison camp and holds her, a boyscout and a mole against their will

Thankfully she helps them escape and helps the dog see that maybe playing is more healthy than a home prison.. granted anything is more healthy than that but still, baby steps.

Larry's Girl: one of my faviorites this season. I love a good dance episode and Larry needs a date... however he's also too "teenage boy" to consider his standards are too high. So Loopy goes to a dating service ran by cupid, whose giving computer dating a shot. He pulls up a tentacle alien and while Loopy's intrested, she knows Larry isn't into tentacle monsters. So instead she gets a girl that's TOO cool for schoool.. and for charlie chicken. Thankfully loopy trying to use the old arrow bit finds him a girl who is down with the chicken, and yes that's the term they use. THeir going to get high and watch charlie chicken and that my friends is true love.

Jetcat is based on a series of comic stories by Jay Stephens, as part of his comic strip oddville then as part of a dark horse anthology. He pitched four shorts based on it to nick, sold them all, and thus we get JetCat, a new segment for KaBlam!. I won't be reviewing the comics for the odds and ends as I ... didn't think of that when I set tha tup, but I wouldn't be opposed to doing it someday.

Jetcat is decent: I love the reason for the name as young Melaine Mcay flies like a jet and is fast as a cat and the costume slaps. The action is decent and it's goot a nice cartoony feel

It's problem for these two segments.. is Mealine's best friend Tod. The first ep covers him finding out she's jet cat which could've been neat as he's genuinely hurt, especially since she makes a bit dael out of "best friends telling each other everything". The problem is it then gets ruined by tod being a giant sized shit in a tiny body, demanding she get him shit and milking her guilt. He gets beat up by a robot for his hubris but it dosen't feel like enough nor like he really learned his lesson

The reason for this is the next short. I could've forgiven him for falling a bit into his vices once or twice or in diffrent ways.. but no the next short he once again tries to take advantage of being a superheroes best friend. And look wanting some of the perks with that fine. You want them to take you to another country to get pizza or take you flying or just bring you some cool shit from saturn if they happen to be by there fine. But Tod just geninely seems to think he's entitled to get shit from mealine because his friend's a superhero, asking abotu her secrets for a book report, not getting that might leave her a wee bit dead if her enemies read it. Why her enemies would be reading an elementary school report, I don't know, but given how many arch enemies tend ot be a person the hero knows, it's a risk she shoudln't take so Tod can get a d+.

So the smug shit instead wants to interview a supervillian out of spite and nearly dies for it.. yet I don't feel bad as he glosses over the guys genuinely tragic past just wanting death rays and shit. I mean I like death rays and shit as much as the next guy. Tod once again nearly dies for his sins... .which sadly is just "nearly" but i'll take it. So two decent shorts held back by one of the worst sidekicks i've seen in a superhero work. To the point.. he goes in the hall.

Welcome home you little shit goblin. So to explain this to both new readers and to cory, the hall of aggrivation is where I put characters who for one reason or another, really boil my ass. The most obnoxious shit heads imaginable. And specific verisons too for those who cross franchise lines, as the sins of one version aren't vistied upon another. For those curious whose who

Row 1: Julie Powers (Scott Pilgrim (Comics), Helen Lovejoy (The simpsons), Billy Butcher (The Boys (comics), Bernice (Luann), Daisy Duck (Legend of the Three Cablleros)

Row 2: Mindy's Mom (Animaniacs), Peepers (Sam and Max Telltale Games), Whizzer (See Peepers), Roger (Miraculous Ladybug), Yivo (Futurama)

Row 3: That Idiot What Opened UP the Necrionicon despite ash writing warnings in blood (Evil Dead), the Stone Head of Abe Lincoln (Sam and Max Telltale), Prowl (Transformers IDW Comics (First Continuity), Steph (Luann), Tweety Bird (Looney Tunes) Row 4: Todd (Jetcat), Henry Peter Gyrinch (Marvel Comics), The Two Shitheads from Biodome, Havok (Marvel Comics), The Batman Who Laughs (Dc Comics)

Now we're all caught up onto

I REALLY liked Race Rabbit. RR comes to use from Scott Fellows, who would go on to make my beloved tweenhood faviorite Ned's Declassified School Surivival Guide.. which I REALLY gotta cover sometime. Someday... for now though he made these shorts, one of Kablams few live action segmetns and it's only recurring one.

The formula is simple: Race Rabbit is a world class Racer, and also a really good guy who stops every episode to help some person in need, which his super chip/ai max never takes well. The series is weridly british and fun as Race races to both do his good deed for the day on time, from helping get teeth from the queen herself to a young boy to helping deliver baby food, and to outrace the Boolies, two "inbreed bulies from the upercrust" who wantj to catch him and stuff him but their way too slow. Race Rabbit is fun fast paced and lovingly nonsense, and the boolie sare dleightfully hammy. I love their second defeat especailly as the ypretend ot be a moose in the road.. and Race, having equipment to detect them, sees through it, drives on by.. and lets a car that specifically says "i break for no one" ram the bastard. Well one of them the other is trying to catch him. At any rate only two shorts this year but a LOT of fun

Like I said there wasnt a ton of Suprising Shorts, scaling back to the four or five of season 1. There's also almost no pilots this time: Patchead returns, we get some music videos and we get one pilot at the very end of the season. We do get new recurring-ish segments with Jet Cat and Race Rabbit, so I get WHY this was scaled back, I just miss it: some of my faviorite shorts in seasons 1 and 2 were these one off experiments and even the ones I wasn't super over the moon on like the Brothers Tiki were still a lot of fun to look at. Part of what makes KaBlam! special is it feels like indie animation given a platform at a time where that simply didn't happen and part of that is various one off shorts, creative little bits from directors you really DON'T see often on kids shows outside of pilot showcases like Oh Yeah Cartoons! or What a Cartoon. I appricate it even more now with the current indie animation boom: Nowadays shows like Helluva Boss, The Amazing digtial Circus, Orion and the Stars and more can just.. go straight to series or share the pilot to see intrest instead of having to go thorugh hoops. It makes me appricate how much harder these animators had it and what a wonderful platform this was.

What we have though is good so let's get to it shall we.

PatchHead: Demolition Mission: Apparently these shorts had most of the voice rerecorded for these versions. Something I forgot to point out last time. Anyway Patchead's at the races today and Torque Dipstick is the faviorite to win. I also like his weird plastic lantern jaw. it's great. What isn't.. is that he has a confederate flag on the back.

This dosen't necessarily mean Torque was present on January 7th, as lots of people just used that flag without thinking "Gee this was fighting for slavery, maybe I shoudln't put this on my nitro burning funny car vroom vroom. " I mean the web comic PvP frequently used the general lee from the dukes of hazzard as a gag in the 2000s.

Fun Fact: I had this issue once.

We just.. thought of it as a relic and not a relic of racisim. White dumbasses tend to do that.

Trying to stop Torque is Crash Kudzu. Yes folks to my most plesant suprise Nick Offerman has returned to KaBlam!

I don't know if he's in the other patchhead shorts, but one can hope. Either way it's just.. such a joy to see Nick Offerman on my blog. I hadn't realized just HOW little i've got to cover anything with him till we got to Patchead these last two times.

Kudzu is once again up to cheating shenanigans, this time sabotaging Torques car. SO Patchhead naturally JUMPS ON THE FUCKING THING, then repairs it in mid run like he was that kid from speed racer as Torque uses various dick dastardly inventions on his nitro burning funny car vroom vroom to combat them. It's just fun to see and the early cg holds up decently. It's not exaclty convincing, but the sureealness of the patchhead shorts means it fits it in fine. Our heroes win, and Torque credits patchhead for his help and gives him a helmet for his helmet.

Pizza Rocket and Hockey Monkey: These are two music videos each animated by Mark Marek but each for a diffrent indie rock band.

The first is PIzza Rocket by James Kolchaka. The name SOUNDED familiar but I couldn't place it till I looked him up. Turns out Kolchalka is an indie comics artist, writing Johnny Boo a series i've never read but have seen before. He's done a lot of anthology work and is also a prolific musican, having a ton of albums.

Pizza Rocket is a decent song. Not really my forte, but I get why this man is popular. The animation is decent, it's just again for a song that's not my thing.

Hockey Monkey on the other hand.. is magical. It's from the Zamboni's a band I also didn't know existed, but is truly magical. Their a band that entirely plays hockey based songs. That's it. that's their gimmick. And having gotten a love of Hockey from watching Letterkenny and Shorsey, i'm entirely on board with this. Kolchaka also cowrote Hockey Monkey so good for him. Their also still around and I hope thier stuff can be featured on Shorsey one day. I mean it fits Jared Kesso's style: the music used is mostly techno or rap, but he can vary it up, as evidecned by this brawl set to born to be alive. You probably didn't know that existed but your very welcome.

So Hockey Monkey is a deeply wholsome deeply fun song about how all the scientests and national guard are running around looking for the monkey but he can't be found because he's down by the pond playing hockey with the kids, and all the parents and teachers are running around looking for the children but they can't be found because their down by the pond playing hockey with the kids. And it's 123 the kids love the monkey and 456 the monkey's got a hockey stick and 789 having a good time yeahhhhhhh.

As you can tell I REALLY love this , and the video itself is fun, using black and white live action bits for the people running around and nicely minimalist animation for the kids nad the monkey. it's REALLY fun and wholesome. Great stuff.

It's time for our third Kablammy awards! ANd i've realized I SHOULD have been giving out an award for best overall episode, but since it'd be weird to bring that in halfway I thought of a compromise. I'm going to do ONE FINAL kablammy awards at the end of all of this in the odds and end episode for best overall shorts from each one. That'll include best episode for each season and overall best episode of the series. Onto the awards

Best Henry and June: the New Class. I have a big soft spot for saved by the bell, another thing I should've covered by now but haven't somehow, sot his was an easy win.

Best Sniz and Fondue Short: Hosed. It's not even close. You faith heal with a pressure hose and tell me you can do better. You can't.

Best Action League Now! Short: Melty's Girl. I didn't really hide how much I loved this one, and that's for good reason. The Dr Melt costume is hilaroius and the idea of trying to prop up someone as pathetic as Meltman as a solo hero is hilaroius to me. And keep in mind I LOVE me a b list superhero, I think any superhero can be great in the right hands.. but meltman in this context is the worst and this epsiode only backs that up.

Best Life with Loopy Short: This was a tough one as this season was REALLY good.. but my pick is Bull in a China Shop. Larry's Girl was cloes as I love a good school dance and a godo dating service.. but I just like the bull himself, from his upperclass voice to the aseop he teaches and the china shop just looks neat.

Best Startling Short (Includes Jetcat and Race Rabbit): Hockey Monkey. I mean Patchhead is once again close, it has Nick Offerman.. but that song is just too dang catchy.

Best Overall Short: Hosed. It's just.. so delightfully stupid and while it's not the last aired sniz and fondue short, it was the last produced and feels like a proper sendoff.

And with that we're done with season 3. It was a good ride and we have another at the start of may as we reach the END of KaBlam! (if not this retrospective) with season 4. Will it stick the landing? Will I survivie without sniz and fondue? Let's find out next time.

#kablam #action league now #sniz and fondue #life with loopy #prometheus and bob #jet cat #patchhead #race rabbit #long post

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