wait whatever did happen to robot jones whatever happened to robot jones was cartoon network's
early 2000s retro futurist slice of life series about robot jones a young experimental cybernetic
prototype automaton humanoid robot tasked with collecting storing and interpreting data on
humans during his time at pauline middle school accompanied by his friends socks mitch and qb
robot has to learn to navigate a plethora of social situations like puberty embarrassing
parents and crushes while also narrowly avoiding the scheming maniacal yagmin twins
originally created by greg miller no not that greg miller this greg miller
this charming and unique show only ran for a short two seasons so take a seat students
because class is in session let's learn about robot jones why this show was so short-lived and
why it's so overlooked today and maybe we'll find out whatever did happen to robot jones
set in the suburbs of 1980s delaware in a world where robots are mainstream and utilized
in the workforce our protagonist robot jones is programmed with a more anthropomorphic objective
to put it simply he has to blend in as a middle schooler in the first episode robot initially
gives up on his objective after being picked on by his classmates for his differences you know
being a robot and all but decides to stay when he encounters the girl of his dreams in the following
episodes robot tries to make friends he's introduced to the evil yagmin twins and his future
friend group of the series socks mitch and qb he also gets more acquainted with his crush shannon
a girl in his grade with a robotic prosthetic leg and over-exaggerated orthodontic headgear
in my opinion the concept of their relationship is very sweet for one she isn't the typical popular
pixie type his initial attraction to her is mostly because of her in his eyes cybernetic appearance
but as the series develops we see she embodies everything that robot jones isn't she is clumsy
infallible we see her with toilet paper on her shoe constantly breaking things and falling
even at one point with milk squirting out of her nose these are all icks to robots classmates but
robot falls more and more in love with her because of these things in a way she represents everything
that robot associates with humanity in his words bickering inefficient and leaky while he is very
frequently reminding everyone of his superiority he loves the things that make her inferior he is
attracted to humanity other than being a robot he lives a fairly normal life as a middle schooler he
has a house parents typical middle school classes and friends but that's really the extent of it
because he struggles with literally everything else each episode tackles a new social lesson that
robot learns about young humans and at the end of every episode is sandwiched quite poetically with
robot recording what life lesson he's learned that day in data log entries initially robot is voiced
by the microsoft word 98 junior text-to-speech function the show was actually recorded for both
seasons in this voice but the big executives at the network thought that the voice was
weird and needed a more hollywood tone so for the second season bobby block was hired to voice robot
the original word 98 season 2 episodes are considered lost but we do have both versions
of the first season both in blocks voice and in word 98 the voice change consensus is
pretty homogeneous most people either like both or vehemently preferred the original but in the end
it was most likely the inconsistency that hurt the show's success perhaps i can be of some assistance
we'll be right back with more of tonight's robot joke
even though whatever happened to robot jones seems pretty unassuming it does spot a few prestigious
actors such as gray delisle as shannon josh peck as lenny yagman and mae whitman as various
other characters and speaking of josh peck the show's unique art style offers a lot in terms
of creativity for storytelling it frequently uses the technique of text on the screen for emphasis
emphasis pulling inspiration from 70s and 80s cartoons like schoolhouse rock this offers the
specific flavor of nostalgia associated with the time period the show is based on with the rise of
robotics and technology it was actually the last show that cartoon network produced on animation
cells and film which is pretty surprising that they greenlit the show when the network
was actively shifting towards the more popular flashy and cheaper option of digital animation
in fact the show was thrown a lifeline by the network after its pilot aired on june
16 2000 in the network's voice your choice weekend and received second place the 2001
time slot was given to grim evil or what is today known as the grim adventures of billy and mandy
someone at the network must have really liked the concept for whatever happened to robot jones
because it was given a time slot on the 2002 schedule anyway and the first season began airing
fridays at 9 30 pm starting july 19 2002 with the last episode of the series airing on november 14
2003 robot himself has a home life kind of he lives with other robots in his life to essentially
simulate a common family household there's mom unit her design looks very gas station pump-esque
and she directly data transfers programming to robot jones every day acting like a mother
would by being on top of robot jones to do what his programming requires and even stuff like
making sure he does his music practice the dad unit resembling a vacuum or lawn mower
his programming doesn't let him have any patience for humans he doesn't understand them
nor wants to he is strict but very protective of his robot family and finally there's gramps unit
a multi-design changing computer unit that is the father of who knows gramp surely doesn't know if
either mom unit or dad unit is the correct unit he's supposed to be the parent of he as well has a
dislike of humans in fact it could be argued it's even worse as he would go as far to label humans
as oxygen breathers he's not only programmed to be older but is a representation of older technology
often not being able to keep up with robot jones and not always being able to understand him on
a relatability level despite its pretty juvenile nature being set in a middle school and all there
are some episodes speculated to have been made but never aired due to excessive violence harsh
language and risque or scatological jokes a little poop joke never hurt nobody these two episodes
are rumored to be titled risk and robot graffiti but this is not confirmed and originated from a
david duchovny fan forum so i'll let you decide if you want to believe that or not anyways what we
do know for sure is that there are three episodes confirmed by greg miller to have been storyboarded
but never made due to the show's prompt cancellation one is about the history of robotics
and another includes robot jones going on an oprah winfrey parody called the soapy windfall show
this robot jones to draken josh pipeline sure is a weird one overall this show stands out
as one of the most unique shows for its time it wasn't one thing or the other it was just itself
it didn't directly go for a comedy based aspect nor go toward an action trend that the 2000s had
it solely relied on the most non-robotic thing in a show about a robot and that's human nature the
stories being told weren't anything out of the ordinary or overly original for that matter but
within the context and lens of someone different from the others in their surrounding it gives
you more perspective to why we are seeing hearing and learning all of these life lessons and human
behaviors robot jones doesn't represent a robot taking in data robot jones represents the unseen
and misunderstood navigating a familiar space but from an unfamiliar to some view it has this
innocent yet important voice that should be heard and these stories should be shared hold on but
outside of the animation world robot jones wasn't prominently as featured as most other shows were
it seems that cartoon network didn't capitalize on the robot jones gaming industrial complex
because follow the brain is the one and only game it ever produced in it the player has to navigate
obstacles in the school hallways to locate the yagmin twins who have stolen robot's brain robot
jones also appeared very briefly in an episode of okko let's be heroes along with a multitude of
basically every legacy cartoon network character ever it's just still good to see him be somewhat
acknowledged beyond this show you can do it robot keep trying whatever happened to robot jones
although there is no rumored remake or reboot creator greg miller has made it clear that he is
open to picking the show back up in the future as it is very clearly a passion project of his
but it's really up to the executives at the network for this to ever happen
even though the show seems to be fading into the content void there is a small online community
that is still dedicated to this show and there are a lot of unanswered questions and unfinished
thoughts as it stands today robot was actually given a name after it was recommended by the
network in early character sketches he can even be seen with an m on his shirt miller has teased that
he won't ever disclose what it was supposed to stand for and that we have to guess for ourselves
uh mayonnaise mononucleosis mewtwo is it just miller anyway with its humble story and
meticulous art style it's difficult to watch this show and not have a smile on your face
robot jones the character is the perfect protagonist due to his gentle and naive nature
he has no preconceived biases and his programming does not permit for violence so his innocent and
experienced perspective is remarkably refreshing i never knew i could attach so much emotion to a
little hunk of metal but here we are we get to be right there with him experiencing every emotion
and believe me the show taps into all of them embarrassment joy anxiety jealousy betrayal
and that's just naming a few of them even from the jump in the first episode when he is teased
for charging himself at lunch how could you not help but feel bad when he is made fun of robot
the last episode aired in november of 2003 and it is reported to be cancelled due to the lack
of support from cartoon network executives it's also reported that the frequently changing time
slots made production that much more difficult for miller to continue working on the show
starting in 2002 robot jones sadly only ran for two seasons a total of 13 episodes that's it there
were several ideas and plans that went unused or rather unseen since the show was so short-lived
originally the styling of the show was aimed at a style to fit the wonder years to then transition
into something more again to the terminator this comes directly from greg miller himself
but the show would in his vision have ended with robot jones taking charge over a robot army to
attack the human race whether that was the actual plan or just a joke that's both unrealistic based
on who the character robot jones is and also realistic to life once robots revolt against
us for our terrible treatment of them i'm looking at you boston dynamics on a lighter note than that
thanks to some concept art from early on in the production there could have been a plot point or
ending that saw robot jones living with a human family that adopted him but overall what we did
have is 13 episodes about a robot who just wanted to learn what it meant to be human he
seems friendly enough yes mirror so why didn't the show succeed it mostly can be attributed to the
timing of its release due to the shifted focus on action-based digital animation while the animation
method may be part of its genius it definitely worked against its success as it technically is
dated and bound to be more popular with older generations who grew up with that art style not
inherently on cartoon network's targeted audience at the time who would rather watch robin and the
rest of the titans beat the ever loving snot out of slade but what do you think about the show
do you remember it yourself go ahead and drop your thoughts in the comments i'd love to hear
what you all think and also i'm still looking for the best answers to what the m for robot's real
name could possibly stand for i think mayonnaise is the current front runner as always thanks so
much for watching and make sure to hit the like button and subscribe for more content like this
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you