Much in the manner of The Tick, Freakazoid! was a superhero cartoon where the main character was more weird and humorous than valiant. The show’s executive producer was Steven Spielberg.
Originally a calm computer geek teenager named Dexter Douglas (voiced by David Kaufman ) by day, as Freakazoid (voiced by Paul Rugg) he wore a red suit with an “F!” on it and had black hair with a white streak in it à la Cruella De Vil plus a blue face with eyes lined with black makeup.
He fought equally bizarre criminals, such as Arms Akimbo (a former model whose arms were frozen in place like hooks); Cave Guy; the Cobra Queen; Longhorn, and his arch-enemy The Lobe (voiced by David Warner) in two episodes per show. Cosgrove (voiced by Ed Asner), his contact on the police force, gave him deadpan advice.
Freakazoid operated from a secret base called the Freakalair, which had been built by his mute butler Ingmar – who was later replaced by Professor Jones (voiced by Jonathan Harris). The Freakalair contained a “Hall of Nifty Things to Know”.
Dexter attended Harry Connick High School in Washington DC and had a cat named Mr Chubbikins.
In the second episode of Freakazoid!, in the segment titled “Mo-Ron,” Freakazoid accepted an award from President Clinton when Princess Diana stepped in to interrupt, saying, “On behalf of the United Kingdom, I’d like to personally thank you . . . in a very personal way, if you catch my drift.” Before he could respond, Sharon Stone pushed her away, saying, “he’s taken”.
When the two began to fight over Freakazoid, he told them, “Now ladies, calm down. There’s plenty of me for everybody. If not, I’ll just have them draw me bigger.” Where were the censors on that one?
Freakazoid
Paul Rugg Dexter Douglas
David Kaufman Narrator
Joe Leahy Duncan Douglas
Googy Gress Debbie Douglas
Tress MacNeille Douglas Douglas
John P. McCann Sgt. Mike Cosgrove
Ed Asner Roddy MacStew
Craig Ferguson Steff
Tracy Rowe Professor Jones
Jonathan Harris Cave Guy
Jeff Bennett Longhorn
Maurice LaMarche The Lobe
David Warner
