June 7 (1988-06-07) – October 29, 1988 (1988-10-29) (UK)
Garbage Pail Kids is an American animated series which was produced in 1987, based on the Garbage Pail Kidstrading cards, produced and directed by Bob Hathcock and co-written and developed by Flint Dille. Due to controversial themes, it did not air in the United States. However, it did air in certain countries around the world, including in Europe and the Caribbean.
Synopsis
The series stars the characters Split Kit, Elliot Mess, Terri Cloth, Patty Putty, and Clogged Duane as gross-looking kids with abilities to help others. In the first two episodes, they have normal alter-egos, which transform into their "Garbage Pail" identities; later episodes show them exclusively in their Garbage Pail identities.
The show also features parodies of popular movies of the era like the Indiana Jones series, Superman, Conan the Barbarian, King Kong, and The Fly. It also has segments between stories, such as "Garbage Pail Groaners" (jokes) and "Would We Lie to You?" (facts).
Cast
Main
Tara Strong – Patty Putty (episodes 1–13), Still Jill (episode 3), Carly Cuts (episode 5) (credited as Tara Charendoff)
Cree Summer – Clogged Duane (episodes 1–13), Trashed Tracy (episode 1), Squishy (episode 2), Plain Jane (episode 3), Heartless Hal (episode 10) (credited as Cree Summer Francks)
Noam Zylberman – Split Kit (episodes 1–13), Idaho Spud (episode 3), The Sturgeon General (episode 3)
Written by Gordon Kent, Flint Dille, Rowby Goren July 5, 1988 (UK)
Episode 10
Open: Simon Says
The Unmentionables
Commercial: Fake Rubber Blow-Up Kid
Groaner: Red-Handed
Heartless Hal
Garbage Pail Award: The Neighborhood Grouch
Written by Linda Woolverton, Gordon Kent, Flint Dille, Rowby Goren July 7, 1988 (UK)
Episode 11
Open: Garbage Pail "Kiss"
The Pink Cat's Eye
Commercial: Cootie Detector
Groaner: You're Not Buying That
A Rhyme In Time
Garbage Pail Award: Mother of the Year
Written by Richard Mervin, Gordon Kent, Rowby Goren July 12, 1988 (UK)
Episode 12
Open: The Family Dog
Shirley Dimples
Commercial: Bird Brain
Groaner: Man in the Soup
The Land of Odd
Wanted: Nosy Neighbors
Written by Gordon Kent, Paul Dini, Michael Charles Hill, Flint Dille July 14, 1988 (UK)
Episode 13
Open: Kid's Drawing
The Fry
Commercial: Have a Nice Meal
Groaner: Mother Knows Best
A Fishy Story
Garbage Pail Award: Father of the Year
Written by Gordon Kent, Flint Dille July 19, 1988 (UK)
DVD release
Paramount Home Entertainment released Garbage Pail Kids: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on April 4, 2006.
Controversy
The CBS television network directly produced the series, and ordered an entire season, heavily promoting it in the run-up to the 1987–88 season. However, it was abruptly pulled a few days before its debut, and (just like Little Muppet Monsters) was replaced with an extra half hour of Muppet Babies, which was expanded to 90 minutes in order to fill the time-slot after Garbage Pail Kids was pulled from the schedule.
Some advertisers, such as Nabisco, McDonald's and Crayola also pulled out, either due to pressure from interest groups, or because they were unable to pre-screen the series from advanced tapes.
Despite not airing in the United States, the series did air in numerous other countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, among others.
