30 Years of Freakazoid!
Thirty years ago today, on September 9, 1995, Freakazoid aired its first episode.
Freakazoid was a strange show for its time. I mean, it's strange even now. But back then, the idea of a Saturday morning cartoon that wasn't neatly targeted to kids was strange. Any normal cartoon airing on a Saturday morning should have had action figures and sugary breakfast cereal and collectible trading cards. But Freakazoid was never one to be categorized into a simple box. It looked like a superhero show, sounded like cartoon comedy, and tightly held a serious of inside jokes and obscure references.
The first episode didn't start slow. I admit that the five day forecast bit at the very beginning of the episode had me going "What...?" more than anything else. What was I watching? What was this show?
But once a reference was made to Batman being on another network? I was hooked! Fourth wall breaking humor has always been my weakness.
This show was definitely something different. And the next bit with Handman the sidekick proved it.
The strange, self-aware and often absurdist humor resonated with me. I recorded every episode so I could watch them later, although I have no idea whatever happened to those VHS tapes. I was sad when only two seasons were made, because there were so many stories that could've been told.
Which is probably why, nearly 30 years later, it lead me to writing Freakazoid fanfiction.
