"Histeria!" Retro Series Talkback

[Surreal Kangaroo]

I’ve been watching Histeria on MeTv Toons and I’ve been really enjoying it. I used to watch it occasionally on Kids WB (like I want to say it was on weekday mornings either before or after Pokemon). At the time I didn’t have any strong feelings in either way but I had a friend at school who really loved it and I kind of associate the show with him. I like how it makes fun of history (like Time Squad) but has educational value to it.

Also does anybody know why it was never reran on CN (or anyplace else for that matter)? I think it was the only WB cartoon that never reran on CN. Heck, even Road Rovers and Waynehead were shown on CN. Is it because it’s E/I?

 

[Mejo]

It was a fine show. Lots of good jokes and fun characters (love The Kid Chorus, Father Time and Miss Information).

I think it was the only WB cartoon that never reran on CN.

It wasn’t. Detention, Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain, Da Boom Crew, Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue, Coconut Fred’s Fruit Salad Island and Loonatics Unleased all never aired on Cartoon Network in the US (though given the quality of all of those except for the first one, it was probably for the best that CN didn’t air them).

 

[Silverstar]

I thought the show was fine, but I absolutely hated the character of Big Fat Baby. Characters whose sole job is to be as disgusting as possible have never clicked with me. On a related note, they could've dialed back on the toilet humor for my tastes (did we really need an entire musical number about cow pies?), but other than that, I thought it was OK. Not a favorite of mine, but for the most part I could watch it for half an hour and not complain.

 

[Goldstar!]

Hysteria! was an interesting experiment for Warner Brothers. Attempting an entire show for the purpose of "edutainment" in the form of a sketch comedy show. It wasn't bad, per se, but it just fell short of being actually good. Schoolhouse Rock did it better.

 

[LinusFan303]

I enjoyed it ,nice to have it running somewhere again. It does a fun idea of bringing historic concepts whilst being fun. I think it's only fault is how some of the comedy and exaggerations blend into the factual stuff, but it's not there to be a full teaching show, but a nice again intro in the concepts. The show was in my spot as a kid, as much as Time Warp Trio was and a few other shows, plus I was one to check out History Channel at the time too. Been fun rewatching now.

Also does anybody know why it was never reran on CN (or anyplace else for that matter)? I think it was the only WB cartoon that never reran on CN. Heck, even Road Rovers and Waynehead were shown on CN. Is it because it’s E/I?

I think Cartoon Network really didn't think it fit, and didn't feel like paying for it.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

It wasn’t. Detention, Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain, Da Boom Crew, Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue, Coconut Fred’s Fruit Salad Island and Loonatics Unleased all never aired on Cartoon Network in the US (though given the quality of all of those except for the first one, it was probably for the best that CN didn’t air them).

Well, your answer is in that list -- CN wouldn't run anything that wasn't at least a moderate hit on WB. That being said, TV channels are usually so starved to fulfill that pesky E/I requirement with ANYTHING....I thought Histeria would have shown up somewhere before this solely due to that.

 

[Classic Speedy]

A mixed bag. I liked re-imagining historical figures as celebrity impersonations, and the SNL skit-esque tone worked. Also enjoyed learning parts of history that I didn't learn in school, like the Falkland Islands skirmish. Always liked whenever Miss Information, The World's Oldest Woman, and Chit Chatterson appeared. Music was good, per usual for '90s silver age WB (blatant plug: check out my YT link). Certain segments stood out above others, like Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad, the Tesla sketch, and the Seinfeld parody in the Civil War part 1 episode.

Downsides: The kids were mostly defined by one quirk, which got old when going through the complete series set. The animation felt very conservative, the StarToons segments aside. The songs were hit-or-miss; wasn't a fan of the ones which just parodied public domain songs with new lyrics, and it felt like they were aiming young as opposed to the all-ages feel of songs in Animaniacs. Lots of repeat gags ("Hey, you're not ____!") that were very predictable.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Lots of repeat gags ("Hey, you're not ____!") that were very predictable.

In defense of Pepper Mills, she's a classic Ruegger-type character...and by that I mean she sticks to a formula that starts as something and becomes something else the more you see it. Buttons and Mindy, for example, starts as a standard rescue-the-waif cartoon but eventually becomes "how many different spins can we put on this rescue-the-waif cartoon."

The first few times you see Pepper the joke is that she's a rabid fangirl. Then the next few times you see her you pick up that the last line is just going to keep happening. The anticipation eventually becomes not who she's after, but who she thinks that person is. And that works no matter what order you watch the episodes in, which is crucial for how WB aired it.

 

[Daffyrocks]

I never watched it per see, I just saw clips in YouTube mash-ups done by a certain user. I somehow got interesred in the characters, but nothing more than that until now, when I saw the show on MeTV Toons. And I didn't know at first the true meaning of the series, that it used to teach history in an absurd way

To this day, Pepper Mills stands out as my most favourite character of the show; she also used to be crush when I first saw her. I liked how she was bigger than the rest of the Kids Chorus, along with the dreaded Toast ("I don't care!"). Froggo is also a favourite of mine, somehow

 

[Space Cadet]

I remember seeing this as a kid but I never really watched it. I knew it was in the same vein as other shows like Animanaics and Freakazoid but the E/I logo kinda turned me off the show since I didn't want to watch educational stuff as a kid.

 

[LinusFan303]

I also remember I had the toys from I think it was Subway or Wendy's , can't remember where, but that was fun.

I remember seeing this as a kid but I never really watched it. I knew it was in the same vein as other shows like Animanaics and Freakazoid but the E/I logo kinda turned me off the show since I didn't want to watch educational stuff as a kid.

Funny how much I didn't really notice E/I bugs and stuff as younger kid, I watched ABC's One Saturday Morning and didn't figure out why they had a random lightbulb flying on the screen and saying "Illuminating television".

 

[MarshalGrover]

I genuinely like some of the songs.

But the characters all bad. They all have one catchphrase/joke and that's it.

 

[Classic Speedy]

I remember seeing this as a kid but I never really watched it. I knew it was in the same vein as other shows like Animanaics and Freakazoid but the E/I logo kinda turned me off the show since I didn't want to watch educational stuff as a kid.

I liked Science Court back then, which had the E/I logo. But that may have been partially because it came from the creators of Dr. Katz.

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

I watched Histeria this morning. How did that wet nurse gag get past the censors? Like seriously? For those of you not in the know it was about King Tut and his brother’s childhood and how they had a wet nurse who was played by the World’s Oldest Woman and she was “you need to finish your dinner” while chasing after them (and they were grown).

Also the vomitorium sketch. First off I’m pretty sure it was a misconception that purging food was a regular thing. Secondly do we need an entire sketch about barfing. I’m honestly not squeamish about throw up, but I’m just like why does this need to be a thing that we need to take up an episode. Maybe they thought kids would think it’s funny.

It might sound like I’m hating on the show. I’m not, it’s just today’s episode made me say “what the crap?” more than a few times.

 

[Daffyrocks]

Also the vomitorium sketch. First off I’m pretty sure it was a misconception that purging food was a regular thing. Secondly do we need an entire sketch about barfing. I’m honestly not squeamish about throw up, but I’m just like why does this need to be a thing that we need to take up an episode. Maybe they thought kids would think it’s funny.

I have to agree here

 

[Mejo]

I watched Histeria this morning. How did that wet nurse gag get past the censors? Like seriously? For those of you not in the know it was about King Tut and his brother’s childhood and how they had a wet nurse who was played by the World’s Oldest Woman and she was “you need to finish your dinner” while chasing after them (and they were grown).

Also the vomitorium sketch. First off I’m pretty sure it was a misconception that purging food was a regular thing. Secondly do we need an entire sketch about barfing. I’m honestly not squeamish about throw up, but I’m just like why does this need to be a thing that we need to take up an episode. Maybe they thought kids would think it’s funny.

It might sound like I’m hating on the show. I’m not, it’s just today’s episode made me say “what the crap?” more than a few times.

One sketch were actually removed due to it’s content after it’s original airing: Convert or Die, about a game show during the Inquisition (not nearly as good as the Mel Brooks version but eh).

Also, what I’ve heard on online and Facebook, the creator (good old Tom Rugger) apparently has very fond memories of this series and wishes for a revival. He specifically commented on the show on Facebook saying “some great comedy and animation by a creative team at the top of their game”.

 

[Erased Paper]

It might sound like I’m hating on the show. I’m not, it’s just today’s episode made me say “what the crap?” more than a few times.

Kids' WB! actually stopped airing that episode, after 1999...

 

[Pooky]

It's something I mostly recall through the prism of being an outsider, not being able to watch. At the time it launched I was 11-12 and pretty big on the previous Ruegger shows and read quite a bit about Histeria! on dial up internet (something a revival could cover now I suppose), but it wasn't shown in the UK until a few years later, by which time I had kind of moved on. Apparently it was first show in the UK on the BBC on Sundays in 2000, but I think it probably passed me by as I have no memory of watching it in that timeslot. I do remember watching some of it a couple of years later in 2002 when they showed it in a before-school weekday mornings slot, and it didn't ever really make much of an impression on me. In the years since I have seen some amusing clips on YouTube and such, I wouldn't mind giving the series a proper go now but that's still not particularly easy in the UK.

Unlike most cartoons, Histeria! could (according to Ruegger) count Peggy Charren among its fans.

 

[TnAdct1]

Also the vomitorium sketch. First off I’m pretty sure it was a misconception that purging food was a regular thing. Secondly do we need an entire sketch about barfing. I’m honestly not squeamish about throw up, but I’m just like why does this need to be a thing that we need to take up an episode. Maybe they thought kids would think it’s funny.

Bingo. Remember that one of the main goals of Histeria was to teach kids about world history while also being entertaining to them. As such, among the methods to appeal to the target audience is to include something as juvenile as toilet humor (with the vomitorium episode being one of the more infamous examples of this).

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

Kids' WB! actually stopped airing that episode, after 1999...

Makes sense. I also forgot to mention the “vestal virgin” part. If it was a brief comment I could see where kids wouldn’t pick up on it, but they dragged it out with the censor lady saying that they can’t talk about virgins.