KaBlam! facts for kids

Quick facts for kids KaBlam!
Genre	Sketch comedy Musical Slapstick Anthology series
Created by	Bob Mittenthal Will McRobb Chris Viscardi
Starring	Noah Segan Julia McIlvaine Mischa Barton Rick Gomez Mo Willems Danielle Judovits
Opening theme	"Two-Tone Army" by The Toasters
Ending theme	"Skaternity" by The Toasters (season 1) "Everything You Said Has Been a Lie" by The Toasters (seasons 2–4)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	48 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bob Mittenthal Will McRobb Chris Viscardi Brian O'Connell Albie Hecht
Running time	24 minutes
Production company(s)	Nickelodeon Animation Studio Flying Mallet, Inc. (season 4)
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Original release	October 11, 1996 (1996-10-11) – January 22, 2000 (2000-01-22)
Chronology
Related shows	Action League Now! Angela Anaconda All That

KaBlam! (which is styled as KaBLaM!) was a cool American animated sketch comedy TV show. It ran on Nickelodeon from October 11, 1996, to January 22, 2000. The show was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi.

KaBlam! was designed to show off different and unique styles of animation. These styles were often seen in indie movies and commercials. Each episode was a collection of short films made with these different animation styles. Two main characters, Henry and June, hosted the show. They would introduce the short cartoons and have their own funny adventures in between.

This show was the only Nicktoon created especially for the SNICK block on Nickelodeon. It was very popular and well-liked by critics. KaBlam! was last shown on Nickelodeon's 'The Splat' block on October 8 and 9, 2016.

Making the Show

The people who created the different cartoon segments included David Fain, Tim Hill, Steve Holman, Emily Hubley, Mark Marek, Mike Pearlstein, Mo Willems, and Cote Zellers. The show's theme song and all the background music were made by the Moon Ska Stompers. This band included members from The Toasters.

KaBlam! was the first show to be created from All That, another popular Nickelodeon show. The idea for KaBlam! was pitched to Nickelodeon in 1994. The pilot episode, "Your Real Best Friend," was made in 1995 and finished in 1996. One of the shorts, The Off-Beats by Mo Willems, was first made as separate short films for Nickelodeon. After it was nominated for an award, more The Off-Beats segments were made for KaBlam!.

The show started being made in 1995 and first aired on October 11, 1996. It ran for four seasons and had 48 episodes in total. The very last episode was shown on January 22, 2000.

In 2010, Mark Marek, who created the Henry and June shorts, helped create the cartoon MAD for Warner Bros. Animation. Julia McIlvaine, who was the voice of June, appeared in some episodes of MAD.

Episodes and Seasons

This is a complete list of episodes from the Nickelodeon animated television series KaBlam!.

The titles for all episodes of KaBlam! are named after the funny ads you'd find on the back cover of a comic book. Each episode ends with the "comic book" closing, just like you'd finish reading one!

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (1996–97)

Season 2 (1997–98)

Season 3 (1998–99)

Season 4 (1999–2000)

Season 1 Highlights

The first season of KaBlam! featured regular cartoons like Sniz & Fondue, Action League Now!, Prometheus and Bob, and Life with Loopy. The Off-Beats also appeared often. Other shorts, such as Surprising Shorts, Lava!, and Angela Anaconda, were shown too. This was the only season where every episode included a Sniz & Fondue short.

Henry and June, the hosts, usually had many small, random plots in between the cartoons. They only had one main story in a few episodes, like "Comics for Tomorrow Today." The opening animation for this season was very detailed. It showed a hawk, underwater scenes, ancient Egypt, outer space, and a Godzilla-like monster. Finally, it landed on a KaBlam! comic book, which Henry and June then opened. The ending theme for most of this season was "Skaternity" by The Toasters.

Season 2 Changes

After seven more episodes of The Off-Beats and one last Surprising Shorts, these segments were removed from KaBlam!. New one-time shorts were introduced, such as Randall Flan's Incredible Big Top and The Girl with Her Head Coming Off. The Adventures of Patchhead appeared and returned in season 3. The Brothers Tiki was shown twice.

Henry and June looked and sounded a bit different in this season. Their voices were deeper. The opening theme was mostly the same, but the KaBlam! comic book cover looked different. It showed characters like Thundergirl and Prometheus. Henry and June also danced differently. The ending theme changed to "Everything You Said Has Been a Lie" by The Toasters. After this season, the show's rating changed from TV-Y to TV-Y7.

Season 3 Updates

This season included the last four episodes of Sniz & Fondue. New shorts like JetCat and Race Rabbit were introduced. The Adventures of Patchhead made its final appearance. A music video for "Hockey Monkey" by James Kochalka also appeared once.

Henry and June looked slightly different again, and their voices were a bit deeper. The opening theme was shorter, and Henry and June started having their own main stories in each episode. In the episode "You May Already Be a...KaBlammer!", the singer Lou Rawls was featured. The announcer's line in the opening changed to "Hold on tight, take a deep breath for a cartoon cramaganza!" This season was originally planned to be the last, but Nickelodeon decided to renew the show.

Season 4 Finale

In the final season, most of the shorts came to an end, except for Action League Now! and Angela Anaconda, which became their own shows. Life with Loopy and Prometheus and Bob aired their last seven episodes. JetCat and Race Rabbit also had their final episodes.

Music videos by They Might Be Giants appeared twice, including "Why Does the Sun Shine?" and "Doctor Worm". Many new one-time cartoons were also featured, like Fuzzball and Garbage Boy. In every episode of this season, Henry and June had their own main story. Famous people like Richard Simmons, John Stamos, and Busta Rhymes were featured, but they did not voice their own characters. The opening and ending themes stayed the same.

Show Segments

Regular Shorts

These shorts appeared more often throughout the show's run.

Henry and June

Henry and June were the animated hosts of KaBlam!. They would flip the pages of a comic book to show the next cartoon. They also had their own side stories between the shorts. Mark Marek directed these shorts.

Characters

• Henry is the male co-host. He is best friends with June, but sometimes she acts more like a bully. His voice changed over time. Henry was voiced by Noah Segan.
• June is the female co-host and Henry's best friend. She is often sarcastic but also cares about Henry. She finds Henry's problems funny. June was voiced by Julia McIlvaine.
• Mr. B. Foot is a giant Sasquatch who works on the show. He likes sleeping, accidentally hurting Henry, and stealing the spotlight. He is not mean to June. He is also a good drummer.
• Mr. Fred Stockdale is the elderly boss in charge of KaBlam!. He acts a bit confused and will do anything to make the show popular, even if it means causing Henry trouble.
• Henry's mother shows her love for Henry in a very big way. Her name is Lois.
• Mr. Jimmy McGee appeared twice as June's co-host. He often argued with Henry's mom. He was a parody of Ed McMahon. His catchphrase was "Ahooga!". He was voiced by the show's writer, Robert Mittenthal.

Sniz & Fondue

This short started in Season 1 and ended in Season 3. It was about two ferret roommates who often annoyed each other. Sniz was the younger, hyperactive troublemaker. Fondue was the older, nervous, and smart one. Other roommates included Snuppa and Bianca. The show stopped being made because the production company worked on another show, and creator Michael Pearlstein left.

Action League Now!

This short ran from Season 1 to Season 4. It was filmed using "Chuckimation", where characters are moved by unseen hands or thrown. Action League Now! featured a group of superheroes made from action figures. They fought crime in a suburb. The four heroes were The Flesh, Thundergirl, Stinky Diver, and Meltman. This was the most successful KaBlam! short and even became its own spin-off series in 2001. All the characters were voiced by people from a radio station in Pittsburgh. The show was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Albie Hecht.

Life with Loopy

This short ran from Season 1 to Season 4. It followed the adventures of a preteen boy named Larry and his younger sister, Loopy. Loopy was very imaginative and always found strange things. The characters were stop-motion puppets with magnetic metal heads. The show was created by Stephen Holman.

Characters

• Lupicia "Loopy" Cooper is an imaginative young girl who discovers surreal things, like a world under the sofa. She never lets her brother Larry stop her from her adventures. Loopy was voiced by Danielle Judovits.
• Larry Cooper is Loopy's smart older brother. He knows all about Loopy's adventures and tells the stories, even if he isn't always there.
• Mrs. Cooper is Loopy and Larry's mother. She is smart, and one episode showed she used to be a secret agent.
• Mr. Cooper is Loopy and Larry's father. He is usually relaxed, but one episode showed he gets angry about bills.

Prometheus and Bob

This short ran from Season 1 to Season 4. It was a stop motion segment called The Prometheus and Bob Tapes. It showed mission logs of Prometheus, an alien who tried to teach a caveman named Bob everyday things. A mischievous monkey often messed up the lessons. The show was created by Cote Zellers.

The introduction said the events happened "900,000 years ago."

Characters

• Prometheus is a thin purple alien with a hollow voice. He tried to teach Bob as an experiment, recording it with his camera. Prometheus often got hurt because Bob was not very smart.
• Bob is a babbling caveman. He used to be covered in hair but lost it in a laser accident. He also panicked easily when scared.
• The Monkey was a mischievous monkey who often interfered with Prometheus's lessons. Sometimes, he tried to help.
• The Narrator spoke the opening and closing lines for each short.

The Off-Beats

This series ran from Season 1 to Season 2. It was about a group of unpopular friends and their rivals, "The Populars." It first aired as short commercials before KaBlam! premiered. It was also on a Rugrats videotape. The show was created by Mo Willems. It was removed from KaBlam! because Mo Willems wanted to work for Cartoon Network. The series ended with a half-hour Valentine's Day special in 1999.

Other Shorts

• Surprising Shorts – These shorts did not have recurring characters. They were only in Season 1. June usually introduced them by pulling down Henry's pants to show his colorful boxer shorts.
  • Lava! – These shorts featured animals in funny situations. They were edited out of international airings and future reruns due to copyright issues.
  • Anemia and Iodine – A one-time short about a Goth girl cat and her skateboarding friend. It was created by Krystine Kryttre.
  • Angela Anaconda – A cutout-photo short that later became its own Canadian animated series. It was about a girl named Angela who felt like an outcast. She often imagined getting revenge on her rival, Nanette. Due to copyright issues, these shorts were banned from airing on Nicktoons.
• JetCat – A short about a girl who is a cat superhero. She flies around and saves her city. She says she "flies like a jet and fights like a cat." This was the only short that happened outside the comic book. It was created by Jay Stephens.
• Race Rabbit – A live-action show about a British rabbit racer. He competed in races, but his human enemies, the Boolies, always caused trouble. Race Rabbit always won. This was the only KaBlam! short made in the United Kingdom. It was created by Scott Fellows.
• The Adventures of PatchHead – A live-action and computer-animated short about a barefoot kid with a watermelon for a hat. He had a Southern accent and stopped cheaters in competitions. Nick Offerman appeared in this short early in his career.
• The Brothers Tiki – A puppetry, stop-motion, and live-action short about two alien tiki statues. They landed on Earth in a ship that looked like a barbecue grill.
• Fuzzball – A cartoon about a tomboy who tried to win back her father's broken trophy. Created by Kevin Dougherty.
• The Louie and Louie Show – A short that appeared only once. It was about two neglected pets, a hamster and a chameleon, both named Louie. They tried to get attention from their owners. This short was animated by Gary Baseman and directed by Tom McGrath. Louie the chameleon was voiced by James Belushi, and Louie the hamster by Billy West.
• Little Freaks – Another one-time cartoon. Three freaky superheroes tried to stop a villain who wanted to control the world's fashion trends.
• The Shizzagee – A one-off short about a unique creature that looked like a coyote and lived with his owner, Brutus. It was the only computer-animated short on KaBlam!.
• The Girl With Her Head Coming Off – A one-time short created by Emily Hubley.
• Randall Flan's Incredible Big Top – A one-time short about a circus ringmaster who had to stop his blue lion from performing in a town that hated blue lions.
• Untalkative Bunny – A one-time short that later became its own series in the early 2000s.
• Garbage Boy – A one-off short animated in a collage style. It was about a kid who could make things out of garbage.
• Emmett Freedy – A one-off stop-motion short where a kid got cereal stuck in his hair, which was mistaken for lice.
• Stewy the Dog Boy – A one-off short about a dog who acted like a boy.
• Dave, Son of Hercules – A one-off short about a preteen boy who was the son of the Roman god Hercules and was embarrassed by him.

There were also music videos by They Might Be Giants for the songs "Why Does the Sun Shine?" and "Doctor Worm." Another music video was "Hockey Monkey," created by James Kochalka and performed by The Zambonis. These videos used different animation styles.

Cancelled Movie Idea

In 1998, there was talk of making a live-action Prometheus and Bob movie. Harald Zwart was set to direct it. However, the movie was never made because there wasn't enough interest. According to Cote Zellers, Chris Farley and David Spade were considered for roles before Chris Farley passed away. Much of the script ideas were later used for the 2010 movie Gulliver's Travels.

The Henry & June Show Special

A special TV show called The Henry & June Show was made and aired on Nickelodeon in 1999. The first part, "A Show of Their Own," featured Henry and June with a studio audience and musical guests. The second part, "Be True to Your School," showed Henry and June going to school and trying to learn difficult subjects. This special was only shown once after it premiered.

Special TV Blocks

Henry and June also hosted several special TV blocks for different Nicktoons:

• Henry and June's Nicktoon Summer Jam – Aired from July to August 1999.
• 101% Whizbang! With Henry and June (also called 101% Spooky Whizbang for Halloween 1999) – This block showed Nicktoons with a certain theme from September to October 1999.
• UPICK Friday/Monday - Aired from November 1999 to summer 2000.
• Nicktoon World News with Henry and June – Aired in mid-2001.

During these special promos, Henry's hair sometimes looked a bit different. June's cardigan was cherry-red instead of light red, and her dots were not visible. Also, their eyes were always blue and green in these promos.

Where and When it Aired

KaBlam! first aired on October 11, 1996. It had four seasons and 48 episodes. The final episode was shown on May 27, 2000. Reruns continued on Nickelodeon until 2001.

In 2002, the Nicktoons channel started airing reruns of the show. However, not all episodes were shown. Short segments from the show would play during commercials, but not the Henry and June parts or music videos. In September 2005, Nicktoons changed its schedule and removed older shows, including KaBlam!. The "KaBlam! Presents:" shorts continued to air until 2008.

KaBlam! was not seen on American TV again until October 8–9, 2016. This was when Nickelodeon's 1990s-focused block on TeenNick featured the show for the brand's 25th anniversary.

Internationally, KaBlam! was shown in other countries too. A French version was broadcast in France. It was also shown in the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2000. In Poland, it aired from 1999 to 2001. The show was also aired in Estonia and on YTV in Canada.

See also

In Spanish: KaBlam! para niños

• Action League Now!
• All That
• Angela Anaconda
• Cartoon Planet
• Cartoon Sushi
• JetCat
• Liquid Television
• The Off-Beats
• Oh Yeah! Cartoons
• Random! Cartoons
• Raw Toonage
• Robot Chicken
• Sniz & Fondue
• TripTank
• What a Cartoon!