Project G.e.e.K.e.R.

Project G.e.e.K.e.R. is an animated television series that premiered on CBS on September 14, 1996. It was created by Douglas TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim, and Doug Langdale, the developer of Earthworm Jim the animated series, and was a production of Columbia TriStar Television under Adelaide Productions, with original music by Shawn Patterson (main title theme by Terry Scott Taylor).[1] TenNapel and Taylor also collaborated on the video games The Neverhood, Boombots and Skullmonkeys, and in 2005, re-united for the Nickelodeon cartoon Catscratch.

Project G.e.e.K.e.R.
GenreAction
Adventure
Comedy
Science fiction
Created byDouglas TenNapel
Doug Langdale
Written byDoug Langdale
Voices ofBilly West
Cree Summer
Brad Garrett
Jim Cummings
Charlie Adler
Theme music composerTerry Scott Taylor
ComposerShawn Patterson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producersDouglas TenNapel
Doug Langdale
ProducerAudu Paden
Production companiesDoug²
Adelaide Productions
Columbia TriStar Television
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseSeptember 14 (1996-09-14) –
December 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)
Related
Earthworm Jim
Catscratch
The Weekenders
Dave the Barbarian
Phineas and Ferb

The show was cancelled after only one season, as CBS cancelled all of their Saturday morning schedule in 1997 to stop their downward-spiraling ratings.[2]

The Federal Communications Commission also rejected CBS's attempt to classify the show as educational and informational under that fall's strengthened requirements for children's programming.[3]

Synopsis

The show parodied the style of action-adventure cartoons. Set in the future, it was based around a genetic shapeshifter experiment known as Project GKR (Geno-Kinetic Research), who had been stolen by Lady MacBeth (a short-tempered cyborg with a bionic arm) before the creator could finish programming. He needed to be a deadly and powerful weapon at the hands of the evil Mister Moloch, head of Moloch Industries, but due to the lack of his final programming, "GeeKeR" is left to be a totally random, permanently salivating, four-fingered klutz. He only occasionally manages to use his powers to any full extent, a blessing and a threat to his friends and their enemies. Lady MacBeth (whom GeeKeR calls Becky) and her partner-in-crime Noah, a baseball cap-wearing intelligent Tyrannosaurus rex, must now prevent Moloch and GeeKeR's creator Dr. Maston from ever obtaining GeeKeR at all costs.

Cast

Additional voices

Episodes
No.TitleOriginal air date
1"Destruct Sequence"September 14, 1996 (1996-09-14)
Premiere Episode. After stealing GeeKeR from Dr. Maston, GeeKeR's self-destruct mode initiates, a feature Dr. Maston put in to keep GeeKeR from falling into the wrong hands. Becky and Noah have no choice but to seek Maston's help in this matter. Can Becky and Noah defuse GeeKeR before he makes like a bomb and goes BOOM!?
2"In Space, No One Can Hear You Sneeze"September 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)
GeeKeR, Becky and Noah go into hiding on Space Station Zebra, but Mister Moloch sends his most insidious operative, Larry the Virus. Larry is an intelligent mutant strain of the common cold who takes control the bodies of those he infects. GeeKeR alone is immune, and soon he finds himself attacked by everyone on the Space Station... including Becky and Noah.
3"Nightmare Park"September 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)
GeeKeR, Becky and Noah are on the run from the vicious, bio-engineered street thugs known as The Junkers. The Junkers, employed by Mister Moloch, chase our trio into Nightmare Park, an abandoned amusement park full of still-functioning systems which are programmed to respond to any aggressive act with deadly combat games. Becky must control her raging temper or the park's mechanisms will destroy them all.
4"Geekasaurus"October 5, 1996 (1996-10-05)
When GeeKeR morphs into a dinosaur and finds himself unable to change back, Noah must hide him in Dinopolis, the hidden city of the Dinosaurs where no human is allowed. But this brings the wrath of Mister Moloch down on Dinos everywhere, and soon Noah must choose between protecting his friend and saving his people.
5"Smell of the Wild"October 12, 1996 (1996-10-12)
GeeKeR starts emitting a hideous stench and can't stop. His smell draws an attack from Mister Moloch's goons, as well as the ire of Becky and Noah. Feeling rejected by his friends, GeeKeR runs away to the Wildlife Refuge, declaring that "animals like stinky things." But in the Refuge, GeeKeR faces a danger even greater than Mister Moloch: hordes of mutant wildlife led by the mighty Toxic Moose.
6"23"October 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)
Doctor Maston finally succeeds in creating another artificial human, GKR 23. GKR 23, equipped with a computer brain, is even more powerful than GeeKeR. 23 soon breaks free of Mister Moloch's control and sets out to destroy all humanity so that he can repopulate the earth with superior, artificial beings like himself. Now it is up to GeeKeR to defeat the virtually indestructible 23.
7"Thing Called Love"October 26, 1996 (1996-10-26)
GeeKeR experiences love at last, falling hard for Sirena, a bizarre, tentacled alien woman. Becky is suspicious; it seems as if this alien has some strange power over men. But even when it becomes obvious that Sirena is working for Mister Moloch, GeeKeR refuses to abandon his "true love" and walks willingly into Moloch's clutches. Can GeeKeR break the chains of love and do the right thing?
8"In the GeeK of the Night"November 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)
A strange monster is wreaking havoc on the city of Neo-Denaire. Becky and Noah are shocked to discover the "monster" is actually a sleep-walking GeeKeR. Noah learns the cause of GeeKeR's Jekyll-and-Hyde transformations; a signal beamed at GeeKeR from an orbiting satellite. But GeeKeR is forced to stay awake to avoid becoming a monster, and his sleep deprivation-induced hallucinations cause no end of trouble for our trio.
9"Independence Daze"November 9, 1996 (1996-11-09)
Mister Moloch sets hundreds of ravenous, mechanical Cyberplants loose on Neo-Denaire, programming them to capture GeeKeR and his friends. When Becky and Noah are captured, the fuzz-brained GeeKeR must prove that he can be independent and track them down all by himself. GeeKeR's attempts at sleuthing are ridiculous in the extreme, and matters are complicated when the Cyberplants get out of control and start wrecking the whole city.
10"Worm"November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)
GeeKeR gets a pet alien worm. Becky can't stand worms, and convinces GeeKeR to set the worm free in the tunnels under the city. But neither of them realizes that this type of worm grows to fit whatever it is kept in; down in the tunnels it becomes enormous. Moloch harnesses the giant worm and uses it to track down GeeKeR. Soon, both GeeKeR and Noah are captured, and the only way Becky can save them is to overcome her revulsion and team up with the worm.
11"Noble Savage"November 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)
Doctor Maston implants a tracer in Noah so that Mister Moloch can track him and capture GeeKeR. But the tracer affects Noah's brain, causing him to gradually revert to savagery. Noah soon goes off on a berserk rampage, and Becky and GeeKeR have to track him down. But when they find him, they discover that the nine-foot dino would just as soon chow down on friends as strangers.
12"GeeKMan"November 30, 1996 (1996-11-30)
GeeKeR gets hold of a bunch of old comic books and decides that the best way for him to be accepted by normal people is to become a superhero. Donning a garish costume with huge inflatable muscles, he becomes GeeKMan, Champion of Justice. Unfortunately, "GeeKMan's" rather destructive heroics turn the people of Neo-Denaire against him. Soon, the whole city is out for his blood.
13"Future Shocked"December 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)
GeeKeR, Becky and Noah travel a hundred years into the future and discover that Mister Moloch has gained control of GeeKeR and used his powers to conquer the galaxy. Our trio find an extremely elderly Noah languishing in a cell, his mind addled by his long imprisonment. "Old Noah" gives them a few murky tips on how to foil Moloch's plan, and they return to the present to fight a seemingly doomed battle to change the course of future history and save the galaxy.

Credits
  • Executive Producers: Douglas TenNapel and Douglas Langdale
  • Supervising Producer: Richard Raynis
  • Producer: Audu Paden
  • Associate Producers: Monique Beatty and Greg Chalekian
  • Production Coordinator: Luke Wasserman
  • Original Music: Shawn Patterson
  • Theme Song: Terry Scott Taylor
  • Color Designer: Don W. Kim
  • Music Editor: Bradford Cox
  • Dialogue Editor: Thomas Kearney
  • Digital Compositor (Opening Titles): Andy Jolliff
  • Background Designers: Vince Toyama and David James
  • Storyboard Revisor: Charles Garcia

Music

Terry Scott Taylor (friend of creator Doug TenNapel) was contracted to write the main title theme for the show, while Shawn Patterson was selected to be the series score composer. Two days before the show was set to air, Columbia TriStar discovered a licensing issue with Terry and Patterson was asked by the producers to compose and produce a main title theme to go on the air. Shawn completed this and Project GeeKeR aired with Shawn's original main title music. Weeks into the series, the licensing problem with Terry Scott Taylor was cleared up and the show's creator Doug TenNapel requested that Terry's original main title theme be reinserted into the series. Patterson's main title music was then removed from the remainder of the series.

See also

References
  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 481. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 644. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. Mifflin, Lawrie (December 4, 1996). "News Instead of Cartoons". New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
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