Away from the more ‘mature’ animated comedy shows such as Family Guy, American Dad!, South Park, and to an extent The Simpsons, series listed under the genre that broadcast on children-oriented channels such as Nickelodeon, Disney, or Cartoon Network are seen as ‘safe’ for a family audience to enjoy together, even if the writers of shows such as Fairly OddParents and Phineas & Ferb sneak in a few jokes designed to go over younger viewer’s heads.
One such ‘innocent’ series that formerly aired on Cartoon Network was Dexter’s Laboratory, a comedy based on a 9-year-old boy called Dexter who as the name of the show suggests, is the owner of a secret laboratory, with many stories involving mishaps surrounding his inventions, usually caused by his button-pressing older sister Dee Dee.
Between 1996 and 2003, 221 segments (from 76 full-length ‘episodes’) were shown over 4 seasons, and seemingly offered a similarly-recognisable form of children’s entertainment with a few adult-pleasing jokes, but it appears as though 2013 can add a new segment to the list, after Cartoon Network affiliate and YouTube comedy channel Adult Swim got their hands on a ‘lost episode’ that was originally banned from broadcast.
Said to have been made in 1998 as part of season 2, the episode ‘Rude Removal’ only aired at conventions and private screenings despite the creator’s original intention of it being aired as a ‘late-night only’ segment (pulled at the last minute by Cartoon Network), but has now made its long-overdue public premiere online. The episode sees Dexter and Dee Dee accidentally enter his new ‘rude removal machine’, turning the siblings into extra-polite versions of themselves whilst vulgar clones wreak havoc on the house, although the presumably strong language on this episode has been censored (because sometimes it’s even funnier that way).
Meanwhile, a few days after this episode of Dexter’s Laboratory was posted, it was revealed that a fellow Cartoon Network show of the era, The Powerpuff Girls, will also be making a comeback, albeit in a much more (presumably) family-friendly tone with a CGI special airing by the end of the year (breaking from a regular 2D style).
However, the ‘new’ content in animated comedy (seen so far by over 1m people) that actually exists right now (and more fitting of the term ‘lost episode’) can be viewed here, while continuing the theme of ‘bleeped swearing from something you wouldn’t expect to swear’, also below is a clip from now-defunct BBC adult animal puppet comedy Mongrels, featuring a foul-mouthed fox named Vince…
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