The Oblongs

*The Oblongs*
The Oblongs
	File:Oblongs DVD.jpg
Created by	Angus Oblong
Starring	Will Ferrell; Jean Smart; Pamela Segall Adlon; Lea DeLaria; Jason Sklar; Randy Sklar; Becky Thyre; Jeannie Elias; Billy West; Laraine Newman
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	approx. 0:22 (per episode)
Original release
Network	The WB
Release	April 1, 2001 –; October 20, 2002

The Oblongs... is an animated television program aimed at adults and teenagers. It was created by Angus Oblong and produced by Jobsite Productions and Mohawk Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television and is very loosely based on a series of characters that Oblong introduced in a picture-book entitled Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children. The theme song for the show was done by They Might Be Giants.

The show focuses on the antics of a family who live in a poor valley community who, as a result of extreme pollution and radiation, all are severely disabled and deformed. The pollution is the direct result of the lavish lifestyle of a rich community known as "The Hills," the residents of which continue to exploit and harm the valley residents with little regard for their safety or well being.

It premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB, but it failed to find an audience. On May 20, 2001, The WB aired "Disfigured Debbie," the second episode produced, as the season finale, leaving five of the episodes unaired. A fan of the series who was writing an episode guide at TV Tome informed creator Angus Oblong of the show's cancellation and rallied fans of the series to petition and encourage the network to renew the show. Ultimately, the petition was unsuccessful. Later that same year, Canada's Teletoon network began airing the series. Quickly, a large fanbase began to bloom. In August 2002, the series found a home on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim evening program schedule, where it received high ratings due to many American fans discovering the series for the first time. When shown in Australia on free to air television in 2003, the show was pulled in the middle of the first episode (but was later shown in a late night/early morning timeslot). In 2005, the show began airing on TBS Superstation and was released on DVD.

List of characters

The Oblong Family

Bob Oblong, the father, was born without any arms or legs and works at a poison factory. He can drive vehicles like any other person and is an accomplished pianist. Very chipper and his disposition being very sunny, he is seen as being modeled after various fathers from 1950s shows, complete with pipe. Voice: Will Ferrell
Pickles Oblong is the chain smoking, alcoholic mother who was originally a Hill resident but moved to the valley after meeting Bob. All her hair has since fallen out, and she is now regarded as an outcast by her former Hill friends. While not bitter about losing her former privileged life, she often expresses disdain towards her self-centered neighbors in the Hills. Also known as "Old Horror". Pickles also is turned on by Bob's simple albeit at times akward wisdom. Voice: Jean Smart
Milo Oblong, the middle child, is afflicted with numerous mental and social conditions, including everything from attention deficit disorder to diabetes. He's also on every medication "from ritalin to Rogaine," having only one hair in the center of his head. He serves as the de facto main character. Full name: Milo Francis Oblong (stated in "Get off My Back"). Considering the fact that They Might Be Giants have created the theme song, it may be more than a coincidence that Milo's t-shirt says "NO.", which is also an album by They Might Be Giants. Voice: Pamela Segall Adlon
Chip and Biff Oblong are 17 year old Siamese Twins who are attached at the waist and share a middle leg. Biff is a hard worker obsessed with sports, while Chip is more laid back. It is sometimes implied that Biff is gay, though other times the two are seen lusting after girls together. Biff and Chip each occasionally go into trances to give the other brother privacy (as seen in the episode "Get Off My Back"). Voices: Twin brothers Randy Sklar and Jason Sklar
Beth Oblong is the youngest child, who has an odd pink pickle-shaped tumor growing out of her head (it is sometimes speculated as being a penis or everything similar). Despite her tumor, she appears to be more well adjusted than the rest of her family. Slowie is Beth's doll on a stick. Voice: Jeannie Elias
Grammy Oblong, Bob's vegetative mother, resides in a motorized wheelchair and never speaks, although she frequently passes gas.
Lucky Oblong, the family cat who constantly smokes cigarettes.
Scottie Oblong, Milo's dog, became narcoleptic after being used as a test animal at Globocide. Scottie was based on the short story "Narcoleptic Scottie" in Angus Oblong's book Creepy Susie & 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children.

Milo's friends, "The Clubhouse Kids"

Helga Phugly (sounding close to "Hella Fugly," meaning "very fucking ugly") is a morbidly obese, toad-like little girl. She lives in a fantasy world, always insisting that she is pretty and popular. At times she seems to have a crush on Milo. Voice: Lea DeLaria
Creepy Susie is a Goth girl who speaks with a French accent and appears to float instead of walk, as her legs are never shown. She is a 10-year-old, female version of Jean-Paul Sartre. Voice: Jeannie Elias
Peggy Weggy is a one-breasted girl of about eleven who lacks a lower jaw, causing her to spit and talk with a terrible lisp. On Parents Night, it's shown that she has two fathers, who are normal looking men with no obvious deformities or disabilities. Voice: Becky Thyre
Mikey Butts is a boy saddled with an unfortunate, dangling, doubled posterior. Standard underwear will not fit him, so he wears his grandmother's old bra like backwards suspenders. Voice: Jeannie Elias

Other characters

George Klimer (pronounced like "climber", as in social climber) is Bob's rich, snobby boss. He represents the power and arrogance of the people of the Hills. He is very condescending to his employees, especially Bob and James. Husband to Pristine and father of Jared and Debbie Klimer. Voice: Billy West
Pristine Klimer is the wife of George and mother to Jared and Debbie. Pristine was friends with Pickles before Pickles married Bob. Now Pristine spends her days condescending to her former friend. Voice: Becky Thyre
Jared Klimer is the annoying, arrogant, and not-so-bright bully son of George and Pristine and brother to Debbie. He likes to taunt The Clubhouse Kids, along with his equally conceited and snobbish best friend Blaine. Occasionally he has short bursts of awkward intelligence. Voice: Pamela Segall Adlon
The Debbies are a clique of annoying and identical teenage girls from the Hills who are all named Debbie. One is the Klimers' daughter; another is the daughter of the mayor. Their numbers are not known, but there are at least half a dozen. Voice: Becky Thyre
Anita Bidet is a pre-op transsexual woman who sounds like Harvey Fierstein and owns The Rusty Bucket, the bar at which Pickles hangs out. Though obvious to viewers, no one seems to realize her condition. James once fell in love with her. In one episode, when Pickles is reminiscing about her first meeting with her husband on the beach, there is a scene where the two are laying in the sand and a red-headed man comes running over, with the same voice as Anita, implying that this was Anita in the past. Voice: Billy West
Principal Davis is the school principal. Voice: Debra Wilson
Nurse Rench has a scary operating contraption in place of her right arm. She also has four breasts, arranged in a pattern that resembles a cows udder. It's possible her name is a reference to Nurse Ratched (Ratchet/Wrench) from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Voice: Laraine Newman
James is Bob's hunchbacked co-worker. Voice: Billy West
Mayor Johnny "The Mayor" Bledsoe is the town's mayor and a masked pro wrestler, an obvious parody of pro wrestlers-turned-elected officials such as Jesse Ventura. He is corrupt, as is the rest of the town, and his daughter is a Debbie. Voice: Billy West
Mr. Leland Bergstein is the kids' homeroom teacher. Voice: Billy West
Sheriff Pepper is Hill Valley's inept, corrupt law enforcer.
Homeless Bill is Hill Valley's resident street urchin. Voice: Billy West
The Girl with a Beak is an aptly-named classmate of The Clubhouse Kids. She often is spurned by the kids despite their own maladies. Voice: Becky Thyre
Mrs. Hubbard is the town's Bible-thumping, gun-toting conservative racist old biddy. Voice: Laraine Newman
The Coach is Biff and Chip's school coach, with whom Biff has an unhealthy obsession. Voice: Will Ferrell
Dr. Hofschneider is the Oblongs' condescending but uninterested doctor. Voice: Billy West
Verdelle Diver (as in "muff diver") is the regional coordinator of The Li'l' Amazons, a Girl Scouts-like troop. It's implied that she is a lesbian. Voice: Lea DeLaria
Tommy Vinegar is a spoof of Tommy Hilfiger and is Pickles's ex-boyfriend. Voice: Maurice LaMarche
Velva, the Warrior is The Oblongs ' version of Xena, whom young Beth adores. Her name is a pun on "vulva", and her show has heavy lesbian/anti-male overtones, not to mention blatant advertising of Velva merchandise & numerous genital references.
Funzie is The Oblongs ' spoof of Fonzie from Happy Days. Voice: Maurice LaMarche
Dusty is Bob's one-time co-worker, a lifeguard who's "fairly riddled with implants." Voice: Becky Thyre

Episode guide

"Misfit Love (Pilot)" - Milo attends his first day at "normal school" and falls in love with a girl who really is an alien.
"Narcoleptic Scottie" - In an attempt to calm Milo's A.D.D., his parents let him adopt a dog named Scottie.
"Milo Interrupted" - Milo finds that Helga's parents are missing and tries to help her, which makes his dad, Bob, suspect that he's abusing drugs.
"Bucketheads" - Milo starts a new fashion when he wears a bucket to school on a rainy day.
"Heroine Addict" - Pickles quits smoking and drinking after failing to get Beth a Velva doll...and becomes a thrill seeker after accidentally punching a girl in a Tae-Bo class.
"The Golden Child" - Milo creates an energy drink called "Manic" and becomes a "marketing genius".
"Flush, Flush, Sweet Helga" - Milo and his friends crash a Debbies' party and Helga gets stuck in a sewer pipe.
"Disfigured Debbie" - Debbie becomes deformed in a freak accident and finds acceptance with Milo and his friends.
"Pickle’s Li’l Amazons" - Pickles becomes the den mother of a Girl Scout troop after getting busted for neglecting Beth.
"Get Off My Back" - Bob accidentally super-glues Milo to Biff and Chip's back.
"Please Be Genital" - Bob gets his genitals crushed by a stripper wearing clogs during his best friend's bachelor party. When he confesses to Pickles that they can't have sex for a week, Pickles begins wondering whether or not her relationship with Bob is for real.
"My Name is Robbie" - Bob obtains limbs with a robotic Arms and Legs 2000 machine and becomes a lifeguard.
"Father of the Bribe" - Biff and Chip get their driver's licenses and come across the mayor's bribe money.

External links