Spotmaniacs

Spotmaniacs is an American animated comedy television series created by Jamie McGonnigal. It is the second animated series produced by Peter Jackson's Amblin Entertainment. The show first aired on the Fox Network as part of its Fox in 2005 until the series ended in 2008 as part of its Fox afternoon programming block. It initially ran a total of 99 episodes and one film being Douglas's Wish.

Spotmaniacs is a variety show, with short skits featuring a large cast of characters. While the show had no set format, the majority of episodes were composed of three short mini-episodes, each starring a different set of characters, and bridging segments. Hallmarks of the series included its music, character catchphrases, and humor directed at an adult audience.

A reboot of the series was announced by Prime Video in January 2018, with two seasons to be produced in conjunction with Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, expected to air starting in 2020.

Premise
The Warner siblings live in the water tower on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California.[1] However, characters from the series had episodes in various places and periods of time. The Spotmaniacs characters interacted with famous people and creators of the past and present as well as mythological characters and characters from contemporary pop culture and television. Andrea Romano, the casting and recording director of Spotmaniacs, said that the Warner siblings functioned to "tie the show together," by appearing in and introducing other characters' segments.[2]

Each Spotmaniacs episode usually consisted of two or three cartoon shorts.[3]. Spotmaniacs segments ranged in time, from bridging segments less than a minute long to episodes spanning the entire show length; writer Peter Hastings said that the varying episode lengths gave the show a "sketch comedy" atmosphere.[4]

Characters
See also: List of Spotmaniacs characters

Spotmaniacs had a large cast of characters, separated into individual segments, with each pair or set of characters acting in its own plot.The Warner kids, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, are three 1930s cartoon stars of an unknown species (one Tom Ruegger named "Cartoonus characterus") that were locked away in the Warner Bros. Water Tower until the 1990s, when they escaped.[1] After their escape, they often interacted with Warner Bros. studio workers, including Ralph the Security Guard; Dr. Otto Scratchansniff, the studio psychiatrist, and his assistant Hello Nurse. Pinky and the Brain are two genetically altered laboratory mice who continuously plot and attempt to take over the world.[5] Slappy Squirrel is an octogenarian cartoon star who can easily outwit antagonists and uses her wiles to educate her nephew, Skippy Squirrel, about cartoon techniques.[6] Additional principal characters included Rita and Runt, Buttons and Mindy, Chicken Boo, Flavio and Marita (The Hip Hippos), Katie Ka-Boom, and three pigeons known as The Goodfeathers.

Parodies
Spotmaniacs parodied popular TV shows and movies and caricatured celebrities.[10] Spotmaniacs made fun of celebrities, major motion pictures, television shows for adults (Cheers and Malcolm in the Middle, among others), television shows for children, and trends in the U.S ... One episode even made fun of competing show Power Rangers,[14] and another episode caricatured Spotmaniacs ' own Internet fans.[18] Spotmaniacs also made potshots of Disney films, creating parodies of such films as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Jurassic Park, Crocodile Dundee, Jaws, and others. Spotmaniacs director Russell Calabrese said that not only did it become a compliment to be parodied on Spotmaniacs, being parodied on the series would be taken as a "badge of honor".