Do You Remember These Shows From The Early 2000s Cartoon Network?
There are so many times I mention a show from my childhood and no one has any idea what I’m talking about. That is the inspiration behind this new series of articles. I want to see who actually remembers some of the great shows from the past, but apparently, most people forgot. Today, we’re going to tackle shows that aired on Cartoon Network outside of anime in the early 2000s. Let me know if you remember these gems and what other shows you feel have been lost to the sands of time.
Sheep in the Big City
I’m going to be completely honest, I remember watching and loving Sheep in the Big City, but I had forgotten what it was about. I did a little digging, though, and was reminded how silly the premise for the show was. The show was dripping with puns and humor. It wasn’t great from a storytelling perspective, but it wasn’t designed to be. It was designed (or at least I saw it) as an almost slapstick comedy show that had a bit more of a story than Looney Tunes. Here’s a plot synopsis:
“Sheep lives happily on a farm with his friends. Unfortunately, a Secret Military Organization, led by General Specific, needs Sheep for its Sheep-Powered Ray Gun (with a sheep-shaped hole in it).
General Specific will get Sheep at any cost, and, knowing that the farm is at stake, Sheep is forced to leave for the big city. Now Sheep is on the run from General Specific, who is assisted by his henchmen, Private Public, the Angry Scientist (who in the show is often wrongly referred to as “Mad Scientist”), a bunch of other military types, and the Plot Device.
In addition, Sheep has to come to grips with the Big City and trying to romance his love, Swanky the Poodle. All the while, he has to avoid the attentions of a host of unwelcome characters — Lisa Rental and Swanky’s owner, the sheep-hating Lady Richington, wielding a stainless-steel wig.”
Time Squad
Time Squad was such a great show in my opinion. I’ve even gone back and re-watched some episodes and I still found myself enjoying the show. The premise is pretty wacky, but simple. You have an idiot time-traveling cop and his unhelpful robot sidekick trying to make sure nothing bad happens to the timeline. When they go back to stop Eli Whitney from building flesh-eating robots instead of the cotton gin, they end up in the year 2001 (because they don’t know their history at all) and come across an 8-year-old orphan who happens to be really good at history. The orphan, Otto, then joins the cop and robot to help fix the problems in the timeline using his expert knowledge.
This show was brilliant, and I think they could even find a way to revive it for kids these days if they so desired. I’m normally against reviving shows and would prefer original content, but this is one of the few times that I’ll make an exception.
Megas XLR
If you scrolled past the credits videos on the last two shows, stop reading this and go listen to the credits to this show right now! I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain any further why Megas XLR was great. Giant robots, alien monsters, and plenty of humor. I have a hard time finding people who remember this show existed though. I don’t understand why. I’ll be honest here and say I don’t remember how the series ended, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t wrap everything up and I wouldn’t mind them bringing this show back either if only to run a couple episodes and finish it properly. As a testament to how great this show is, this is the clip I think of every time I have to go to the DMV: