Eek! the Cat

'''Eek! the Cat''' is an American-Canadian cartoon series, broadcast on Fox Kids in the former, YTV in the latter and CBBC in Britain. Created by Bill Kopp and Savage Steve Holland, the show ran from 1992 to 1997.

Plot
Eek is your average, suburban cat who lives with his family. He's quite a good-spirited little fellow, always helping those in need, whether it be his girlfriend Annabelle, or a timid ghost in a graveyard. However, he lives in a surreal and crazy world where trouble always seems to follow him around, whether it be his neighbor Annabelle's shark dog (creatively named "Sharky"), or just plain bad luck, Eek constantly finds himself in rather sticky situations where things do get strange, ranging from getting an autograph from celebrity bears who have been framed criminals, or saving the human race as well as his girlfriend from annihilation by an alien species, frustrated by the earth blocking their view of Uranus. However, he never loses his bright and cheery optimism. As he puts it best; "It never hurts to help!"

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Amusing humor style centered around slapstick, surreal comedy, sight gags, running jokes, and pop culture references. Not exactly original, but it works well enough for this type of show and is presented in a more subtle and straightforward than something like Animaniacs or The Simpsons. The fourth wall breaks, unlike, say, Sonic Boom, are less in your face, and they're typically reserved for sight gags and random dialogue. Granted, the show does sometimes cop-out and has a movie parody for an episode, but these episodes are infrequent, and mainly reside in seasons 2-3.
 * 2) Great voice talent, including work from the main creators of the show (Kopp voices Eek himself, whilst Savage voices secondary characters such as Elmo the Elk). The voices all match the characters incredibly well, and they are never really annoying.
 * 3) While the show can seem too mean-spirited to the uninitiated, there is a good heart at the center of it all. As stated before, Eek is a very kind and easygoing person, and despite all the pain and suffering he goes through on a daily basis, he's still incredibly kind and well-intentioned, and episodes typically end with the lad getting rewarded in some way or another for his good deeds, something you don't really see with this kind of cartoon.
 * 4) The show can have decent character development at times. While season one portrayed Sharky as a bit of a jerk (basically the embodiment of "NICE THINGS ARE BAD GRRR") season two gradually developed his character and gave it more depth. By season three, he was one of the most interesting characters in the series, and you do start to empathize with him quite a bit. Bear in mind, he's a literal shark dog.
 * 5) Very nice looking and colorful, vibrant animation that is very stylish and appealing, with the art style being reminiscent of something that Bob Clampett, Tex Avery or Max and Dave Fleischer would draw. It also fits VERY well with a large amount of slapstick violence.
 * 6) Like some other 90's era cartoons focused on cartoonish acts of violence, this show has a separate segment The Terrible Thunderlizards which is essentially a classic Bugs Bunny vs Elmer Fudd or Tom vs Jerry show with a prehistoric theme. Just like Eek!, it is still very funny and charming, and some might consider it better than the former.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While not as bad as one would think it is, the show can get rather mean-spirited at times. It hardly ever gets to the point where it's irritating (after all, what's a cartoon without some numbnut getting their skull whacked in?) But when it does get irritating, it's not pretty. Such as Sharky in season 1, who was mainly just a big jerkoff to Eek for no good reason other than him existing.
 * 2) Some of the plots relied on numerous famous films and old sitcom references as full-on episodes like Star Trek for example.
 * 3) Zoltar, the recurring threat that revolves around him trying to kidnap Annabelle and use her as a battery for a machine to destroy the earth.

Videos
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External Notes
TV Trash's review on this show on Vimeo.