Clone High – The First Complete Season (DVD)

Teletoon watchers may remember Clone High, which ran a few years back and hasn’t had a repeat run since. It was also known as “Clone High USA” and briefly ran on MTV, canceled after a protest regarding the portrayal of Gandhi as a wayward teen acting very un-Gandhi like. The show was about a planned community named “Exclamation, USA” where secret government employees cloned famous historical figures for possibly diabolical purposes. The clones, as the theme title says, are in their ’sexy teens now’, nad are experiencing social anxieties, as well as the pressure of having to live up to their predecessors.

The main characters are Abe Lincoln, JFK, Cleopatra, Gandhi, and Joan of Arc, and supported by everyone from Jesus to George Washington Carver. I guess having history jokes on MTV should make it obvious the show was doomed from the get-go, but that didn’t get in the way of Clone High being one of the funniest animated shows in recent memory. Featuring the voice work of Will Forte (now of SNL), Nicole Sullivan and Michael McDonald of MADTv, and Christa Miller of the Drew Carey Show, the show was a very good parody in many ways of the Dawsons Creek/Beverly Hills 90210s of the TV world, with melodramatic takes on the many clichés these shows specialize in.

The show is also quite bizarre. The principal of the school has a robot butler designed after Mr. Belvedere, who refers to everyone as “Wesley”. Numerous celebrity cameos pop up in unexpected ways, such as Mandy Moore as a homeless angel, Tom Green in a great self-parody, and Marilyn Manson as a pimp for the food pyramid. Other weird situations take nice shots at extreme marketing, old Looney Tunes cartoons, as well as a full rock opera that nicely tributes both “Tommy” and “the Wall”.

It’s a real shame this show was cut short, but I’m very grateful that Clone High made its way to DVD. This, as well as other shows that weren’t given a fair shake, such as Mission Hill, now have the chance to reach an audience that the networks would not have otherwise exposed them to.

I’m very pleased this set used the Canadian cut of the series, which has better music, unlike the MTV episodes which had to change up the music seemingly every 7 seconds to try and be hip. There are a few behind the scenes extras, but nothing to write home about. I can’t say I expected much though. Regardless, this is an awesome show that should be seen, and the price is right enough to avoid a downgrade in score. – Goon

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Recommended If You Like: The Simpsons, Mission Hill, Bromwell High, teen dramas