KaBlam!
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KaBlam! (stylized as KaBLaM!:) is a sketch comedy TV show that first aired on Nickelodeon on October 11, 1996. Hosted by Henry and June, the two goes in an anthology of cartoon skits to show an animated showcase of various cartoons, the most notable being Sniz and Fondue, Action League Now, Prometheus and Bob, Life with Loopy, and The Off-Beats.
Why It's Ka-blamerific
- Henry and June both prove to be excellent hosts with great chemistry with each other.
- Henry is the energetic host who behaves foolishly but still manages to keep the show running.
- June is the more-laid back host who has high enthusiasm for her job despite having large amounts of sarcasm.
- The showcased cartoons are very funny and entertaining to watch, especially Action League Now and Prometheus and Bob.
- The best part of the show is the Action League Now! segments, which appear in every episode and takes on action using action figures.
- It managed to pick up Sniz and Fondue after Nickelodeon rejected it in favor of Rocko's Modern Life.
- It also brought the debut to many cartoons that would later be picked up as full-time series such as Angela Anaconda, Untalkative Bunny, and Stewie the Dogboy (which eventually became Teacher's Pet). Even Action League Now got its own series after the end of this show.
- The animation for most of the cartoons are decent.
- Great soundtrack from The Toasters, especially the memorable theme song "Two Tone Army" and the season 2-4 ending theme "Everything You Said Has Been a Lie".
- Memorable episodes such as "Won't Stick to Most Dental Work" and "Tastes Like Paper".
- Gained two specials, one based on Henry and June, and another on the Life with Loopy segments.
- The "Won't Crack or Peel" episode took advantage of ChromaDepth 3-D for Nickelodeon's "Noggle-Vision 3-D" week, making it one of the very few Nickelodeon episodes to have been released in 3D.
Bad Qualities
- As with most Nickelodeon shows, it was not safe from seasonal rot. Any episode after "Year Round Fun" are considered to be in the quality decline, due to the bankruptcy of Funbag (the company that produced Sniz and Fondue), resulting in it being replaced with various one-shots (with many of them of poor quality) or with Jetcat or Race Rabbit, which while the latter two were good, neither of which are up to the caliber of Sniz and Fondue. The show went downhill in Seasons 3-4 as a result.
- Some bad segments, such as the Lava segments, most of the season 4 one-shots and depending on your view, Angela Anaconda (in which later became a full series from Teletoon and Fox Kids).
- Even the main shorts weren't safe from bad episodes, such as the Life with Loopy episode "Goop on the Loose!" from "Not Just For People Anymore", the Action League Now episode "And Justice for None" from "KaFun!" and the Sniz and Fondue episode "Chicanery Chums" from "Get Sam Donaldson's Mystery Bag".
- The animation from the early seasons (particularly the season 1 Henry and June and Sniz and Fondue segments) are somewhat shoddy in comparison to the later seasons.
- June can be unlikable at times. "More Happiness than Allowed By Law" is the worst offender, as June destroys Henry's birthday gift because Henry forgot to give her one.
- In addition, sometimes Henry can become too much of a butt monkey. While season 1 occasionally had this problem (an example being "A Little Dab'll Do Ya"), season 2 cranked up this up heavily ("Won't Crack or Peel", "I Just Don't Get It", and "Art + Science = Fun" being the worst offenders) to the point where it can be annoying. However, season 3 toned it down slightly (with the main notable offenders being the above "More Happiness than Allowed By Law" and "KaFun!") and season 4 reduced back down to season 1 levels if not less.
Trivia
- This show rarely airs in syndication and has no official home media releases due to copyright issues regarding to various cartoon skits. As a result, some episodes either no longer airs on television or is edited:
- Five episodes with Lava segments (episodes 3-5, 7, and 21) have the Lava segments cut out on later airings (particularly seen with the airing of "Not Just For People Anymore" on NickSplat in 2016, which airs all segments except for Lava but kept its end credits in) due to the copyright expiring for these segments, although episodes 7 and 21 was later removed from syndication as Lava had two segments on those episodes compared to one on the other episodes, leaving too much time lost from cutting these segments. These episodes still airs with the Lava:' segments cut on international feeds (including removing Lava from the end credits altogether).
- "Untitled (Why June Refuses to Turn the Page)" and "Comics of Champions" no longer airs on US networks after FOX picked up Angela Anaconda as a standalone series, leading to expiring contract with Nickelodeon shortly after its release. Both episodes still air on international feeds without any editing.
- "I Just Don't Get It" was pulled from US airings after late 2001 in wake of events related during the time due to the Action League Now segment "Caged Thunder" where the Mayor attempts to blow up the capitol. It still airs without edits on international feeds (some dubs also changes the capitol to the county seat), and eventually "Caged Thunder" re-aired in the US in the Action League Now series on NickSplat in 2016.
- "KaFun!" is perhaps the rarest Nickelodeon cartoon episode due to Untalkative Bunny being later picked up as a standalone series by Teletoon and thus having the contract with Nickelodeon expire shortly after. It does not even air on international feeds either, adding onto the rarity of the short prior to Mark Marek (one of the show's animators) releasing the episode on his website.
- "Timeless" no longer airs after 2000 on US feeds for unknown reasons, although it still airs on international feeds without any editing.
- Every episode except for "A Nut In Every Bite" has been officially released by Mark Marek onto his website.
- The series was originally going to end on the 29th episode, but Nickelodeon requested the series to continue for multiple seasons.
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