High Noon Toons was a 3-hour programming block of cartoons hosted by two cowboy hand puppet

Hand puppet

A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the leg or face that occupies the interior of the puppet. Glove puppets are a variation of hand puppets...

s named Haas and Lil' Jo (a Bonanza

Bonanza

Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...

 pun) shown on Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....

 in the mid-1990s. The series was made by Matt Thompson and Adam Reed, who would later go on to create adult-themed cartoon series like Sealab 2021

Sealab 2021

Sealab 2021 is an American animated television series. It was shown on Cartoon Network's adult-oriented programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 23, 2000 and the final episode aired on April 25, 2005...

 for Adult Swim

Adult Swim

Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...

 and Archer

Archer (TV series)

Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....

 for FX.

Often the show would have special themes, such as "Quick Draw McGraw

Quick Draw McGraw

The Quick Draw McGraw Show is the third cartoon television production created by Hanna-Barbera starring an anthropomorphic cartoon horse named Quick Draw McGraw following their success with The Ruff & Reddy Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show. The show debuted in syndication in the fall of 1959,...

: Pure Mustang". Haas and Lil' Jo also hosted Cartoon Network's "Spring Break '95", where the two would be on a beach setting with bikini-clad Barbie dolls, and would show Spring Break-related cartoons.

Creation and cancellation

Matt Thompson had been working for Turner for a while already in the early 1990s, when his boss at Cartoon Network liked his sense of humor. Matt was then asked to come up with some funny interstitial material for a new 3 hour block of cartoons. When it came time to present, Matt was so hungover from the night before that he had actually failed to come up with any ideas, so he simply started making his hand talk like a puppet. The hand puppets were a hit, and Matt was ordered to write 500 jokes to fill 10 to 15 seconds of filler time from the noon to 3pm time slot. Matt recruited his friend Adam Reed for the other hand puppet and the show was complete.

Matt and Adam would often be drunk while making the show, and eventually got reprimanded for drinking on the job after setting a prop spaceship on fire.