SPACE GOOFS

 

SPACE GOOFS
(France 3, September 6, 1997-May 12, 2006 FR
FOX, September 6, 1997-March 28, 1998 US)
 
Gaumont Multimedia (season 1), Xilam (season 2)

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Eric Le Roch (season 1) (French) – Candy H. Caramella
Charlie Adler (English) – Candy H. Caramella, various
Éric Métayer (season 2) (French) – Candy H. Caramella, Bud Budiovitch
Peter Hudson (season 1) & Bernard Alane (season 2) (French) – Etno Polino
Maurice LaMarche (English) – Etno Polino, various
Marc Bretonnière (French) & Jim Gomez (season 2) (English) – Bud Budiovitch
Jeff Bennett (English) (season 1) – Bud Budovitch, Stereo Monovici
Patrick Préjean (French) & Michael Sicoly (English episode 1-15) – Gorgious Klatoo
Danny Mann (English) – Gorgious Klatoo, Stereo Monovici (season 2), various
Antoine Tomé (season 1) & Patrick Guillemin (season 2) (French) – Stereo Monovici

 

            While on their way to a picnic, five extraterrestrials from the planet Zigma B. crashed into an asteroid and ended up stranded on Earth. Fearing they’d be experimented on or eaten if captured by the resident humans, they took up refuge in a house up for rent. There they wait in the hopes that someone from their planet will come looking for them while also keeping anyone from entering their home and discovering them.

The aliens: Bud, Stereo, Gorgious, Candy and Etno.

            The group was comprised of the diminutive green-skinned Candy H. Caramella (Eric Le Roch & Charlie Adler), an uptight neat freak who always wore a polka-dotted apron; the big-nosed and red-lipped purple-skinned Etno Polino (Peter Hudson & Maurice LaMarche), who was the leader and brains of the group constantly developing machines to help them get home that either malfunction or are ruined by outside interference; tall orange-skinned Bud Budovitch (Marc Bretonnière & Jeff Bennett), who was lazy, naïve and addicted to television; fat blue-skinned Gorgious Klattoo (Patrick Préjean, Michael Sicoly & Danny Mann), who was eternally grumpy and hungry; and the two-headed red-skinned Stereo Monovici (Antoine Tomé & Bennett), the bookworm of the group whose heads were generally full of useless information and were constantly arguing with each other. Jean Yves Raimbaud designed the main characters, with Hugo Gittard providing additional character designs.

Bats take over the house.

            Episodes generally revolved around someone coming to or moving into the house and the aliens attempting to evict them without being discovered (ranging from the realistic, like a scout troop, to the fantastic, like fellow aliens, to the mythic, like Santa Claus). Sometimes, their attempts to keep people away would end up attracting them instead. Occasionally, this intrusion would result in the house undergoing some kind of transformation such as becoming a prison or being integrated into a theme park. As part of keeping their cover, the aliens would change their physical appearance by getting into a device called the SMTV, which resembled a mad scientist’s salon chair. A running gag featured their changing into two nonsense forms before getting a useful one. Other problems arose from within as the aliens dealt with their own idiosyncrasies, Etno’s inventions, or an Earthling running off with one of their many spaceship attempts.

Super brothers cause a super mess.

            Space Goofs (originally titled and known in some international markets as Home to Rent, based on the sign hung on the gate of the aliens’ house), debuted on France 3 in France, as well as on FOX as part of the Fox Kids programming block, on September 6, 1997. The series was created by Raimbaud and Philippe Traversat, and developed by Isabelle De Catalogne and Samuel Kaminka. The series was written by Raimbaud, Catalogne, Kaminka, Jim Gomez, Bob Camp, Nicolas Gallet, Jean Louis-Capron, Kelly Armstrong, Bob Jaques and Regis Hochman, with Camp, Gomez and Mauro Casalese also credited for dialogue and Camp and Gomez serving as the voice directors. Animation was handled by Big Star Enterprise, Anivision and Sunwoo. Iggy Pop was shown the pilot and agreed to compose the theme song, with Ramon Pipin and Hervé Lavandier handling the rest of the music.

Earthlings have invaded Zigma B!

            The series was produced by Gaumont Multimedia, whose animation division was founded by producer Marc du Pontavice. Shortly after production on the series ended, Gaumont decided to close their animation division and du Pontavice purchased their assets to open a new studio, Xilam, with his wife, Alix. Xilam continued to produce programs for Gaumont until the latter opted to focus entirely on video game publishing before shutting down in 2004. Xilam, with the aid of Igel Media, purchased the rights to Gaumont’s shows outright and put both Space Goofs and Oggy and the Cockroaches back into production.

            The second season of Space Goofs made its French debut on May 20, 2005, debuting internationally a few months later. Only Préjean was retained in the French cast, with Éric Métayer taking over Candy and Bud and Bernard Alane taking over Etno. Gomez, as well as being the only voice director, also assumed the role of Bud on the English side. Stereo was eliminated from the cast as the studio determined he didn’t offer much in story contributions. On the show, it was said he had somehow managed to return home and would appear twice in the season, now voiced by Mann. Season 1 director Thomas Szabó joined the writing staff, along with season 2 director Olivier Jean-Marie, Pierre Colin-Thibert, François Rosso, Franck Ekinci and Olivier Derynck, with Gallet being the only holdover. Thierry Gérard came on as a character designer while Big Star was joined by Tae Soo Kim on animation.

            One of the first Space Goofs projects Xilam took on was the development of a video game called Stupid Invaders. Published by Ubisoft on December 15, 2000, the game featured the aliens being targeted by the mad scientist (Mann) from “Zero Stuff”, who had hired hitman Bolok (Billy West) from “The Pro” to capture the aliens and their ship. Most of the people involved with the production of the show worked on the game, with the only differences being the fact it was rendered using 3-D models and had an increase in toilet and adult humor and mature themes (such as Candy considering a sex change, keeping in line with the fact he often wore women’s clothing, took on a female disguise, and flirted with men). As part of that humor, it tended to take adventure game cliches and turn them on their head; such as interacting with anything or anything resulting in an instant comical death without any kind of warning. The game was dedicated to Raimbaud, who had died from cancer in 1998. A film of the same name was also planned, but aside from a short preview posted online the project never materialized.

One of many crossovers with fellow Gaumont/Xilam production, Oggy and the Cockroaches.

    The characters from the series appeared in other Xilam productions in small cameo roles. The characters and the house made several appearances in Oggy and the Cockroaches, complimenting their own appearances on Space Goofs. A picture of Candy was seen on the cover of a manga in Shuriken School: The Ninja’s Secret. Candy also appeared as a character’s transformation in an episode of The Daltons. Promotions for the show included toys from restaurants Taco Bell, Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. and Long John Silver’s, as well as Dairy Queen and a miniature pinball game from Cost Cutters Hair Salon in relation to reruns airing on Fox Family Channel (now Freeform). There was also a set of figurines featuring the main aliens and several of the humans they encountered.

Promo art for season 2, featuring the aliens and their house.

20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Saban Entertainment released three VHS compilations comprised of 3 episodes in two of them and 4 in one. Four different episodes were included on an Italian VHS compilation. Five episodes were included in a DVD compilation in France, and 8 across four DVDs in North America by Carlton Entertainment. Xilam started an official Instagram page for various images and YouTube channel where the episodes are hosted.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1 (English airdates):

“Once Upon a Time…Part 1 / Once Upon a Time…Part 2” (9/6/97) – Aliens on a picnic end up stranded on Earth and try to survive until they can be rescued. / Government agents discover the aliens and attempt to get the government to take action against them.

 

“Venus Junior / One Minor Technicality” (9/13/97) – Etno attempts to bring more aliens to Earth in order to get a ride home, but those that arrive turn out to be useless. / The aliens build a rocket to escape an asteroid bound for Earth, but a local boy ends up foiling their plans.

 

“Toon In, Drop Out Part 1 / Toon In, Drop Out Part 2” (9/20/97) – Two cartoon characters end up taking residence in the aliens’ house. / The aliens attempt to evict the cartoon characters.

 

“TV Connection / Showdown in Tiny Town” (9/27/97) – Bud ends up trading places in the TV with a cartoon racoon and never wants to leave. / After watching a Western, Bud shrinks himself down to visit the Western-themed bug town he built around his model railroad.

 

“Old MacDonald Had a House / Bats in the Belfry” (10/4/97) – The aliens attempt to make the house unappealing to potential tenants, but end up attracting a farmer instead. / A gang of bats takes over the house and the aliens can’t get them out.

 

“You Can’t Go Home / Clowning Around” (10/11/97) – The aliens attempt to cheer up an aging elephant so she’ll leave the ancient elephant burial ground that was where their house now is. / When clowns take over the house, Etno comes to believe they’re advanced humans.

 

“Scout’s Night Out / Pink Rhinoceros” (10/18/97) – Gorgious goes undercover to get rid of a group of Boy Scouts, but ends up having to undergo their trials to prove himself. / Getting rid of a rock band goes awry when Etno is forced to join them.

 

“Maybe Baby / Holiday Heave Ho” (10/25/97) – A baby ends up falling into the aliens’ house. / The aliens believe Santa Claus is a red blob from the horror movie they watched the night before and try to keep him out of their house.

 

“Short Changed / Backyard for Eternity” (11/1/97) – Two crooks use the aliens’ house as a hideout. / Bud ends up locking himself out of the house and spends all night trying to get back in.

 

“The Flying / Bad Luck Blues” (11/8/97) – Trying to get Bud away from the TV leads to him adopting a fly he nursed back to health. / A hard-luck case comes to the house and Bud attempts to bombard him with optimism.

 

“No Account Art / Granny Go Home” (11/15/97) – Gorgious has secretly been creating art in his room, which an art critic takes credit for himself. / An old lady and her dog come to the house and she causes a racket by playing the organ.

 

“Buy Now, Pay Later / Toy Trouble” (11/22/97) – A salesman rigs up situations to force the aliens to buy his useless products. / Local children mistake Candy for a doll and take him to their home to play with roughly.

 

“Gnome Alone / Rip Van Etno” (11/29/97) – The aliens attempt to capture a gnome for a wish, but he takes advantage of them instead. / Bud accidentally knocks Etno out during his cockroach experiments, causing him to dream of waking up in a future world dominated by the insects.

 

“Rebel Without a Brain / Time for a Change” (12/6/97) – The aliens pose as a human family to help Bud through his rebellious phase. / Tired of dealing with tenants, the aliens transport the house back in time.

 

“Snoutra / Sweet Tooth Blues” (12/13/97) – Candy’s favorite singer and his family move into the house, leading to the others to become sick of his music. / Gorgious’ over-indulgence of junk food leads to him having nightmares.

 

“Flora and Feast / Dingo Bingo” (1/17/98) – Etno gives Candy alien plants for a contest, but he ends up accidentally turning it into a gluttonous monster. / Gorgious wins the lottery and ditches his friends.

 

“We Robot / Neighborhood Watch” (1/24/98) – Etno builds a robot to serve him and is guilted into allowing it to serve all of them. / The aliens’ neighbor discovers their existence and tries to prove it to the authorities.

 

“Mother from Another Planet / Spook to Rent” (1/31/98) – The aliens may be saved when Candy’s mother comes for a visit. / The ghost of the Flying Dutchman disturbs the aliens’ house while searching for something.

 

“20,000 Feet Under Home to Rent / Bongo Park” (2/7/98) – Etno gets the idea to flood the house to keep people away, but instead attracts two hydrologists. / A tycoon builds a theme park with a roller coaster running right through the house.

 

“Flashman vs. Zork / Pinball Planet” (2/14/98) – A superhero and his brother rival move into the house and begin fighting. / Gorgious accidentally unleashes three genies who threaten to destroy their home planet.

 

“Cassius Gorgious / Busy Bees” (2/21/98) – To get a boxer out of their house the aliens steal his beloved teddy bear—who turns out to be alive! / Attempting to remove a beekeeper from the house ends up making his honey business a success.

 

“Party Time in Hell / Our Ancestors the Humans” (2/28/98) – The Devil turns the house into the gateway to Hell. / The aliens escape into time to avoid alien tax collectors.

 

“Timber / Prison Pals” (3/7/98) – The aliens move their house to escape the city, but find no joy in the countryside either. / The aliens’ house is turned into a prison, leading to their being cut off from their refrigerator.

 

“The Pro / Dead Funny” (3/14/98) – A hitman moves into the house and destroys all of the aliens’ garden gnomes. / The aliens give Stereo a comedian for their birthday.

 

“Zero Stuff / Small You Said?” (3/21/98) – The aliens must stop a mad scientist from destroying a planet. / After tormenting small creatures, Gorgious finds himself one after accidentally being hit by Etno’s shrink ray.

 

“Count Gracula / First Love” (3/28/98) – The aliens enjoy Halloween until Gorgious discovers his strawberry jame has been taken, and a trail leads to a mysterious box in the basement. / Everyone but Candy falls in love with a woman who gets dumped by her boyfriend.

 

Season 2:

“Don’t Monkey With Me!” (5/20/05) – A monkey escapes from the zoo and hides out at the house, tormenting Gorgious the whole time.

 

“Operation Guinea Pig” (5/27/05) – Etno becomes jealous of Bud’s new intelligent guinea pig.

 

“Zero Gravity” (6/3/05) – Etno launches the house into space, but instead of taking them home they end up on the moon.

 

“Macho Kung Fu” (6/10/05) – Gorgious’ obsession with Kung Fu is bolstered when movie star Steve Wong moves into the house.

 

“Stupid Invaders” (6/17/05) – The aliens get new neighbors who are extremely annoying.

 

“Musical Chairs” (6/24/05) – A robot space cabbie only has room to take three of the aliens home, meaning one of them will have to stay behind.

 

“Space Cruiser to the Rescue” (7/1/05) – A lightning strike brings to life the main characters of the sci-fi show Bud was watching.

 

“Madame Zelza” (7/8/05) – A psychic places a curse on the aliens after Gorgious breaks her crystal ball.

 

“Get Off My Couch!” (7/15/05) – A psychiatrist moves into the house and gets to work on the aliens’ personalities.

 

“The ‘Thing’ From Beyond” (7/22/05) – An alien copycat lands in the aliens’ yard.

 

“Tired Big Time” (7/29/05) – An irritating sleepwalker moves into the house.

 

“Heavy Metal Madness” (8/5/05) – The aliens turn into a biker gang in order to out-stunt and evict the gang that moved into the house.

 

“Sir, Yes Sir!” (8/12/05) – Gorgious decides to help out the training officer that moves in, but his mission may end up being to eliminate Candy.

 

“Crash Test Dummy” (8/19/05) – A crash test dummy moves in and convinces Bud to take his place.

 

“Which Witch is Which?” (8/26/05) – A witch casts a spell on Candy to cheer him up after the others forget his birthday.

 

“Other World Champs” (9/2/05) – The aliens sub in for injured basketball players playing in their house, but soon find themselves in need of a fifth player.

 

“Bollywood Aliens” (9/9/05) – Etno falls in love with the Indian princess that moves in, but the others want to get rid of her to protect themselves.

 

“The Tunnel” (9/16/05) – Roleplaying to get rid of a criminal ends up going to far when Bud forgets the plan and goes along with the crime.

 

“Meet My Cousin” (9/23/05) – An alien criminal poses as Candy’s cousin so he can stay with them and begins gradually taking over the house.

 

“Who’s Who?” (9/30/05) – Gorgious’ toenail clippers causes Etno’s latest device to create duplicates of Etno.

 

“Pygmy Planet” (10/7/05) – Etno accidentally summons a tiny planet with a couple of miniature trouble-making aliens.

 

“You Drive Me Crazy!” (10/14/05) – The others try to help out Candy when he keeps failing his driving test.

 

“A Dog’s Life” (10/21/05) – With Candy refusing to cook, the others turn themselves into dogs to be fed by the house’s latest resident.

 

“Manga Mania” (10/28/05) – The aliens turn themselves into Franco-Belgian cartoon characters in order to get rid of an anime panda ducking his fans in their house.

 

“@spacegoofs.com” (11/4/05) – The aliens find themselves addicted to the internet.

 

“Journey to the Center of the Earth” (11/11/05) – A documentary about volcanos inspires the aliens to go to the center of the planet for fuel for Etno’s new rocket.

 

“Abracadabra” (11/18/05) – The aliens join a magician’s magic act.

 

“Mummy’s Boy” (11/25/05) – A mother and son moving into the house reinvigorates Etno’s drive to get everyone back home.

 

“Soap Chick Number One” (12/2/05) – Bud tries to steal the only collectible soap chick he’s missing from the house’s new tenant.

 

“Arctic Intelligence” (12/9/05) – Bud accidentally freezes the city and forces the aliens to remain as penguins, which makes them ideal specimens for a scientist to study.

 

“The Alien” (12/16/05) – An alien applies to b a flight tester for the others, but his appearance leads the aliens to believe he’s a human in disguise.

 

“Be My Baby’ (12/23/05) – A stork hatchling imprints on Etno.

 

“S.O.S.” (12/30/05) – Etno’s space message is received by two alien hunters to capture him and demand to know where the others are.

 

“The Collector” (1/6/06) – A collector moves into the house who may have the aliens’ original spaceship in his possession.

 

“Be My Friend” (1/13/06) – A man with pungent overgrown hair may provide fuel for Etno’s latest spaceship.

 

“Time Traveler” (1/20/06) – Etno uses a device to rapidly evolve a tadpole.

 

“Back to School Blues” (1/27/06) – Etno decides Bud should attend the classes of the teacher and students who have just moved in.

 

“Remote Control Home” (2/3/06) – Etno installs a robot to keep the others in line, but Gorgious breaks her and causes her to take over the house.

 

“Invisible Invaders” (2/17/06) – A real estate agent harasses the aliens to get their house.

 

“Inside Gorgious” (2/24/06) – Etno shrinks himself to go inside Gorgious and remove a virus infecting him.

 

“Gorilla Island” (3/3/06) – Lightning causes the aliens to crash into the city zoo whose gorilla occupants take over their house.

 

“Welcome!” (3/10/06) – The aliens finally return home only to be greeted by everyone who has taken one of their previous spaceships.

 

“Dr. Artichoke & Mister Candy” (3/17/06) – Etno has Candy taste a syrup left by Dr. Jekyll to complete his vitamin encyclopedia, and it ends up turning him into a monster at night.

 

“Buffalo Blues” (3/24/06) – The aliens go back in time in order to get rid of their Native American resident.

 

“24H” (3/31/06) – Bud ends up stuck as a human when he accidentally breaks the SMTV and has 24 hours before the change becomes permanent.

 

“The Alien King” (4/7/06) – A spaceman believes he’s landed on an alien planet when he lands at their house and declares himself their ruler.

 

“Doodle” (4/14/06) – Bud raises an old childhood doodle while the others try to find the original artist.

 

“Gorgious the 1^st” (4/21/06) – A tough-talking mouse fulfills Gorgious’ desires and names him boss of the house.

 

“Space Sailors” (4/28/06) – The aliens try to get away from humans by sailing away only to have a castaway and his wooden girlfriend immediately move into the house.

 

“Fairy Tale” (5/5/06) – The Big Bad Wolf moves into the house and tries to eat the aliens.

 

“The Alien Show” (5/12/06) – The aliens go on a reality show to win a flying saucer and end up plotting against each other.