SpiritFluid
Spooky, and Gay
- Location
- The Sun from which The Shadows Cast
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
Television is a strange thing at times. In a network bursting with countless programs of all kinds, it's clearly inevitable that some become lost to the mists of time and meddling of executive hands. But not all shows lie forgotten. We all remember these shows, in some recess of our mind, some more then others.
This is a thread to discuss these lost shows, ones perhaps even the internet hasn't catalouged. It can happen, strange as that may sound to some. And, as a Canadian, I can assure you that it happens a lot. My country tends to get either leftovers from the United States and perhaps the U.K (although that's extraordinarily rare), and original programming tends to have a fairly short and obscure life with only a shining few breaking the mold (ReBoot and Beast Wars, most iconically). And then you have the other shows, well made but not quite that popular enough to have garnered much attention.
This is a place to discuss all these things, those shows you saw once or maybe a lot when you were younger, and never again, and yet sticks in your memory. Describe the show, show a video or a picture, let your memory go wild, and let's just generally discuss these bygone programs, for better or ill.
This is a thread to discuss these lost shows, ones perhaps even the internet hasn't catalouged. It can happen, strange as that may sound to some. And, as a Canadian, I can assure you that it happens a lot. My country tends to get either leftovers from the United States and perhaps the U.K (although that's extraordinarily rare), and original programming tends to have a fairly short and obscure life with only a shining few breaking the mold (ReBoot and Beast Wars, most iconically). And then you have the other shows, well made but not quite that popular enough to have garnered much attention.
For example,
Yes, people, we're getting that obscure; I said this was a thread for things almost nobody remembers, did I not? Anyways, Brady's Beasts was a simple enough snow about a 12-year old Boy (Yes, that character model is supposed to be of a 12-year old) finding to find his Demonic Monster Waifu and help all other kids accept literal Monsters in their daily lives. It was a small little thing that started in 2005 and didn't have a presence that stuck much longer, and it was likely forgotten by everyone except myself because it was just that Generic. An innocent little show with a 'SpooOoooooky~!' theme and teaching about Tolerance and Friendship with the unfamiliar. About as sterotypically a Canadian kids show as you could get.
So, what other ways could Canadian cartoons depict the supernatural (besides through Martin Mystery, which I'm not discussion in-depth here because it's connection to Totally Spies and how many times I see it mentioned in the 'obscure' category has made me think it is no longer in it)? Well…
Moville Mysteries, a show that only sticks in my memory due to its character designs and unsettling themes… or what had felt like unsettling themes at the time, due to how freakish the designs were and a pervasive "Spooky" tone that actually tried to feel spooky. The show was about a trio of """""""kids""""""" investigating the strange things happening in the titular town of Moville, although the tone was oddly schizophrenic from what little I remember (One episode it mught be a killer vampire, another it might be them looking for a supernaturally lucky jockstrap for the Basketball Team). It's a show forgotten for no extraordinary means.
But to cap this little trilogy of of mediocre Canadian Shows with a spooky vibe to them (I apologize of this being the pervading theme, these are just the shows that stick out the most in my head and can conjure the most discussion; unless anybody wants to go off on Timmy Two-Shoes?) is one that I remember in far more clesr detail, and remember actually being very good as well. A Live-Action Monster-of-the-Week show where a group of teens have to face off against an insane former B-Movie director and his horde of film monsters brought to life, and one I know I habe discussed before, the show Monster Warriors.
So, what makes this show stick out moreso then other Momster of the Weeks like Power Rangers or the like?
Well, most of those shows don't have a civilian death toll. Monster Warriors? First episode, the main villain sends a Giant Spider to a manned power station, blowing the place up an killing a couple workers (it's not explicity stated, but, well, there wasn't any evacuation when the thing sjowed up and blee up the place). Another episode, a Giant Octopus appears at the beach during a Swimming Competition, chowing down on swimmers and beach-goers alike (although when the monster is blown the fick up, it's implied that a few people survived he whole "got eaten by a fucking monster").
And, of course, the fucking Skeletons. Creatures rising up from toxic sludge, pulling construction workers into the green muck, andd them exitting it an insane and screaming green (or orange, or green with painted orange fire… yeah, I don't get it either) and attacking anybody they saw and generally harassing people. Now, the show did have problems that I can only assume were done to make sure the show was given a TV-Y-7 rating, like slapstick/gross humour and (almost) always having the show end on a happy note (one episode, where a main character gets stuck in a timeloop and or going insane and is tortuing the aforementioned skeletons by hiding in a secret base and letting them disintegrate in an automatic defense system, aside), but from what I remember, the show had a persistently grim tone that few shows have really matched. Sure, there's "Everything sucks" grim tones in television, but it's hard to place a "everything gets worse as time progresses and it started nice" tone in TV, and not have it be a reference to quality of the show.
Yes, people, we're getting that obscure; I said this was a thread for things almost nobody remembers, did I not? Anyways, Brady's Beasts was a simple enough snow about a 12-year old Boy (Yes, that character model is supposed to be of a 12-year old) finding to find his Demonic Monster Waifu and help all other kids accept literal Monsters in their daily lives. It was a small little thing that started in 2005 and didn't have a presence that stuck much longer, and it was likely forgotten by everyone except myself because it was just that Generic. An innocent little show with a 'SpooOoooooky~!' theme and teaching about Tolerance and Friendship with the unfamiliar. About as sterotypically a Canadian kids show as you could get.
So, what other ways could Canadian cartoons depict the supernatural (besides through Martin Mystery, which I'm not discussion in-depth here because it's connection to Totally Spies and how many times I see it mentioned in the 'obscure' category has made me think it is no longer in it)? Well…
Moville Mysteries, a show that only sticks in my memory due to its character designs and unsettling themes… or what had felt like unsettling themes at the time, due to how freakish the designs were and a pervasive "Spooky" tone that actually tried to feel spooky. The show was about a trio of """""""kids""""""" investigating the strange things happening in the titular town of Moville, although the tone was oddly schizophrenic from what little I remember (One episode it mught be a killer vampire, another it might be them looking for a supernaturally lucky jockstrap for the Basketball Team). It's a show forgotten for no extraordinary means.
But to cap this little trilogy of of mediocre Canadian Shows with a spooky vibe to them (I apologize of this being the pervading theme, these are just the shows that stick out the most in my head and can conjure the most discussion; unless anybody wants to go off on Timmy Two-Shoes?) is one that I remember in far more clesr detail, and remember actually being very good as well. A Live-Action Monster-of-the-Week show where a group of teens have to face off against an insane former B-Movie director and his horde of film monsters brought to life, and one I know I habe discussed before, the show Monster Warriors.
So, what makes this show stick out moreso then other Momster of the Weeks like Power Rangers or the like?
Well, most of those shows don't have a civilian death toll. Monster Warriors? First episode, the main villain sends a Giant Spider to a manned power station, blowing the place up an killing a couple workers (it's not explicity stated, but, well, there wasn't any evacuation when the thing sjowed up and blee up the place). Another episode, a Giant Octopus appears at the beach during a Swimming Competition, chowing down on swimmers and beach-goers alike (although when the monster is blown the fick up, it's implied that a few people survived he whole "got eaten by a fucking monster").
And, of course, the fucking Skeletons. Creatures rising up from toxic sludge, pulling construction workers into the green muck, andd them exitting it an insane and screaming green (or orange, or green with painted orange fire… yeah, I don't get it either) and attacking anybody they saw and generally harassing people. Now, the show did have problems that I can only assume were done to make sure the show was given a TV-Y-7 rating, like slapstick/gross humour and (almost) always having the show end on a happy note (one episode, where a main character gets stuck in a timeloop and or going insane and is tortuing the aforementioned skeletons by hiding in a secret base and letting them disintegrate in an automatic defense system, aside), but from what I remember, the show had a persistently grim tone that few shows have really matched. Sure, there's "Everything sucks" grim tones in television, but it's hard to place a "everything gets worse as time progresses and it started nice" tone in TV, and not have it be a reference to quality of the show.
