Garbage Pail Kids (TV series)

Last updated
Garbage Pail Kids
Developed by Flint Dille
Voices of Tara Charendoff
Cree Summer
Noam Zylberman
Michael Fantini
Alyson Court
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerBob Hathcock
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
Original release
ReleaseJune 7 (1988-06-07) 
October 29, 1988 (1988-10-29) (UK)

Garbage Pail Kids is an American animated series which was produced in 1987, based on the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards, produced and directed by Bob Hathcock and co-written and developed by Flint Dille. Due to controversial themes, it did not air in the United States. However, it did air in certain countries around the world, including in Europe and the Caribbean.

Contents

Synopsis

The series stars the characters Split Kit, Elliot Mess, Terri Cloth, Patty Putty, and Clogged Duane as gross looking kids with abilities to help others. In the first two episodes, they have normal alter-egos, which transform into their "Garbage Pail" identities; later episodes show them exclusively in their Garbage Pail looks (it is never explained if their Garbage Pail personae became permanent).

The show also features parodies of popular movies of the era like the Indiana Jones series, Superman , Conan the Barbarian , King Kong , and The Fly . It also has segments between stories, such as "Garbage Pail Groaners" (jokes) and "Would We Lie To You?" (facts).

Cast

Main

Episodes

Episode #Segments
Episode 1
  • Open: Fun Busters Public Service Message
  • Junkoid Zone Aliens
  • Commercial: Friendly Al's Used Toy Store
  • "Would We Lie To You?": Toothie Ruthie/Nat Nerd
  • Batteries Not Included
  • "Garbage Pail Award": The Biggest Bully Around

Written by Flint Dille
June 7, 1988 (UK)

Episode 2
  • Open: Squishy
  • Pie Fight at the Okee Dokee Corral
  • Commercial: Anti-Kissing Creme
  • "Would We Lie To You?": Sherwood Forest/Hand Turns Green
  • Honest Abe Has A Close Shave
  • Wanted: The Cheater

Written by Rowby Goren, Gordon Kent, Flint Dille
June 9, 1988 (UK)

Episode 3
  • Open: Sturgeon General Warning
  • Idaho Spud and the Temple of Trash
  • Commercial: Automatic Tattler
  • Groaner: "Cows Can't Talk"
  • Justin Cleans Up
  • Wanted: Yvonne Yakker

Written by Rowby Goren, Buzz Dixon, Gordon Kent, Linda Woolverton
June 14, 1988 (UK)

Episode 4
  • Open: Cute Cartoon Characters Union's Protest
  • Oops! The Disaster Movie
  • Commercial: Clean Plate
  • Groaner: Eating the Whole Cake Will Make You Explode
  • The House That Dripped Crud
  • Wanted: The Borrower

Written by Flint Dille, Gordon Kent, Rowby Goren
June 16, 1988 (UK)

Episode 5
  • Open: Little Brother
  • Savage Stuart the Barbarian
  • Commercial: Homework Machine
  • Groaner: World's Most Powerful Glue
  • Green Dean Goes Out Of His Bean
  • Garbage Pail Award: Carly Cuts

Written by Rowby Goren, Michael Hill, Gordon Kent
June 21, 1988 (UK)

Episode 6
  • Open: Mice Like It Too
  • R.A.L.F.
  • Commercial: Bully Kicker
  • Groaner: 3000 year old Mummy
  • Elliot Messed Up
  • Wanted: The Party Pooper

Written by Gordon Kent, Doug Booth, Rowby Goren, Flint Dille
June 23, 1988 (UK)

Episode 7
  • Open: Aliens Make Contact
  • Supernerd
  • Commercial: Sister Alarm
  • Groaner: Fish in the Bathtub
  • Mona Loser
  • Garbage Pail Award: The Babysitter

Written by Gordon Kent, Marvin Wolfman, Donna Kuyper, Paul Davids, Rowby Goren
June 28, 1988 (UK)

Episode 8
  • Open: Do Not Adjust Your TV
  • Kinky Konk
  • Commercial: Volume Control for Noisy Brothers
  • Groaner: 3 minute Eggs
  • Chris Messin' August
  • Wanted: The Bathroom Hog

Written by Rowby Goren, Buzz Dixon, Gordon Kent, Paul Davids
June 30, 1988 (UK)

Episode 9
  • Open: Couch Potatoes
  • Goldthumb
  • Commercial: Fake School Bell
  • Groaner: Good-for-Nothing Dog
  • An Egg-citing Adventure
  • Wanted: Teacher's Pet

Written by Gordon Kent, Flint Dille, Rowby Goren
July 5, 1988 (UK)

Episode 10
  • Open: Simon Says
  • The Unmentionables
  • Commercial: Fake Rubber Blow-Up Kid
  • Groaner: Red-Handed
  • Heartless Hal
  • Garbage Pail Award: The Neighborhood Grouch

Written by Linda Woolverton, Gordon Kent, Flint Dille, Rowby Goren
July 7, 1988 (UK)

Episode 11
  • Open: Garbage Pail "Kiss"
  • The Pink Cat's Eye
  • Commercial: Cootie Detector
  • Groaner: You're Not Buying That
  • A Rhyme In Time
  • Garbage Pail Award: Mother of the Year

Written by Richard Mervin, Gordon Kent, Rowby Goren
July 12, 1988 (UK)

Episode 12
  • Open: The Family Dog
  • Shirley Dimples
  • Commercial: Bird Brain
  • Groaner: Man in the Soup
  • The Land of Odd
  • Wanted: Nosy Neighbors

Written by Gordon Kent, Paul Dini, Michael Charles Hill, Flint Dille
July 14, 1988 (UK)

Episode 13
  • Open: Kid's Drawing
  • The Fry
  • Commercial: Have a Nice Meal
  • Groaner: Mother Knows Best
  • A Fishy Story
  • Garbage Pail Award: Father of the Year

Written by Gordon Kent, Flint Dille
July 19, 1988 (UK)

DVD release

Paramount Home Entertainment released Garbage Pail Kids: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on April 4, 2006.

Controversy

The CBS television network directly produced the series, and ordered an entire season, heavily promoting it in the run-up to the 1987–88 season. However, it was abruptly pulled a few days before its debut, and (just like Little Muppet Monsters ) was replaced with an extra half hour of Muppet Babies , which was expanded to 90 minutes in order to fill the time-slot after Garbage Pail Kids was pulled from the schedule.

CBS removed the series from their schedule, following protests from Action for Children's Television, the National Coalition on Television Violence, and the Christian Leaders for Responsible Television (a part of the American Family Association). The reasons given were that the series ridiculed the disabled and glorified violence, along with the claim that the program was effectively program-length ads for the toys and cards of the Garbage Pail Kids.

Some advertisers, such as Nabisco, McDonald's and Crayola also pulled out, either due to pressure from interest groups, or because they were unable to pre-screen the series from advanced tapes.

A few CBS affiliates, such as WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas, [1] KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma, WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio, [2] KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas [2] and KREM-TV in Spokane, Washington [3] made known they would not carry the series on their stations, notifying CBS of their pre-emptions weeks in advance of the debut. [4]

Despite not airing in the United States, the series did air in numerous other countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, among others.

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References

  1. Garron, Barry (September 16, 1987). "CBS cans controversial 'Garbage Pail Kids' show". The Kansas City Star . Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Hall, Steve (September 16, 1987). "'Wise Guy' too much of a blast, while 'Oldest Rookie' likable". The Indianapolis Star . Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  3. "Spokane Chronicle – Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  4. "Why Were There No Cartoons???". Geocities.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2014.