Madballs
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Episode Guide:
Episode 1: Escape from Orb
Air Date: 1986
Writer(s): Heather MacGillvray & John de Klein
Synopsis:
We start with the intro which features a theme song modeled after Great Balls of Fire and clearly introducing what seems to be a rock group of Madballs. After that we are introduced, through narration, to the Planet of Orb, ‘Once the happiest and hippest ball of dirt in the galaxy’. We are informed that Orb has been taken over by Commander Wolf Breath and his Badballs. They have enslaved the population and outlawed laughing, bouncing and most of all, music.
The Madballs are the lone survining rock band on the planet. We first see them as they are working on a monument of Wolf Breath. There we see one of the Badballs, Bruise Brother call Freakella a Mop Head because of overhearing her humming. We quickly learn that calling Freakella a mop head is one of her triggers.
This causes the Badballs to go on a manhunt for the Madballs and specifically Freakella. We next see her, humming, loud as can be, as she strolls down dark alleys. She seems to make a lot of questionable life decisions on a daily basis. Freakella, however, gets the best of one of the Badballs during a confrontation in which we see all kind of dust, debris and objects flying through the air, including a Care Bear! (That’s not a typo, they were both made by American Greetings)
We then transition to Aargh and Slobulus as they hunt through the garbage for a missing component to their space ship. This becomes a dumb and dumber sequence where Slobulus asks Aargh what they are looking for, to which Aargh has to explain that they are looking for the missing piece to the space ship they have been working on for 4-months. Slobulus asks what the piece looks like to which Aargh holds up the piece and says ‘it looks like this’ tossing it aside afterwards. Then Slobulus picks it up and exclaims that he found it!
We go back to Freakella who has continued humming very loudly on her way to what can only be assumed to be the ‘secret’ MadBall concert locale. Although it appears to be a secret only to the Badballs. The cheese factor continues as the concert is so loud that the Badballs can clearly track where it is coming from and crash the party.
A chase through the sewers commences until the Madballs find themselves at a dead end. Just in the nick of time, Slobulus and Aargh open a manhole cover and rescue the Madballs. This lets us go through an introduction sequence where we learn the names of each of the Madballs. Aargh then invites the Madballs to their spaceship where they can ‘Escape from Planet Orb’.
On the flight, the spaceship brings down the Monument of Wolf Breath and the Madballs begin the search for a new planet. Dusty lets them know that there are a zillion planets that they can live on, but wouldn’t you know, they end up headed for Earth due to seeing a broadcast of a rock concert mid flight (Heck of a reception this spaceship gets). The band, the Cartoons, no-show their appearance due to bad directions that took them to Alaska but lucky for manager Skip, the Madballs crash land directly onto the stage and in perfect position to grab each of their instruments and start a concert. Side Note: The humans in attendance are not thrown off at all by the sight of the Madballs or the crash landing of the spaceship.
We then learn that Wolf Breath had his own spaceship and that he and his Badballs are in hot pursuit. Once the Badballs land on the stage, Wolf Breath confronts the Madballs but accidentally calls Freakella a Mop Head in the process. Then after some cartoon magic the Badballs are blown back into their spaceship and sent hurtling into outerspace. This leaves the Madballs on Earth where they quickly sign a contract with Skip to be their manager.
Grade: 3/5
Episode 2: Gross Jokes
Air Date: 1987
Writer(s): Heather MacGillvray & John de Klein
Synopsis:
The show starts out with a text scrolling, ala Star Wars, while the narrator warns us on how bad the show is going to be overall. The look is in stark contrast to Escape from Orb as it seems to be taking a nod from You Can’t Do That On Television and Monty Python moreso than the standard 80s cartoon fare. The narrator introduces us to each of the Madball characters as well as Bash Brain who is voiced by Len Carlson doing his best Bobcat Goldthwaite impersonation. We then get to experience a million different skits.
General Malpractice: We see Screamin Meemie as a doctor in a skit full of bad dad puns until Freakells pushes the sketch off the screen exclaiming “That’s about all I can take of this stupid sketch”. She says she wants to see something with some redeeming social value, beauty and grace.
Poetry Corner: A voiceover reads poetry as we see some bizarre animation that loosely follows the text but in true Madball fashion.
Madball Revue: Aargh and Slobulus tell a joke to each other
Chef Hornhead: A restaurant setting that sees the madballs making terrible dad jokes and puns while sitting around a table deciding what to order. The skit continues to show the Madballs eating their actual meals which definitely amps up the ‘grossness’ of the sketch overall.
Madball Revue: Aargh and Slobulus tell a joke to each other
Lifestyles of the Poor and Wretched: The host does a close look at the life of Bash Brain. They paint a picture of a complete and utter failure without really many jokes at all sprinkled in.
Madball Revue: Aargh and Slobulus tell a joke to each other
Tomb it May Concern: We visit Skull Face in a cemetary where we get to hear a few more dad jokes and puns.
A Boring Travelogue: This segment sees Dusty Dustbrain behind a news desk sharing the Madballs recent travels. Their travels see them destroying or vandalizing the Statue of Libery, the Leaning Tower of Piza, the Great Pyramid, The Eiffle Tower, and a few others. We also saw them imprisoned and greeted by military forces at various countries.
Madball Revue: Aargh and Slobulus tell a joke to each other
Hornhead complains about not having enough lines which leads us to
Mr. Hornhead’s Big Muscial Number: Hornhead is thrown off because he says he doesn’t have any musical talent which quickly becomes evident as he sings a rather gross song to a familiar tune. (Ten Little Indians)
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School Skit: Screemin’ Meemie teaches a class of Madballs with jokes from the students on why they are sleeping, why they couldn’t finish their book reports and can’t answer math problems.
Madball Revue: Aargh and Slobulus introduce the next section
Name That Smell: Skull Face hosts a gameshow in which Madballs have to guess a smell which turns out to be one of the other Madball characters in a box
The End is Near: The Madballs sit around a table trying to come up with a grand finale. The Madballs are scooped up and tossed in a garbage truck and hauled away.
Grade: 0.5/5
