The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show
Encyclopedia
The Rudy and GoGo World Famous Cartoon Show was a programming block of cartoon
s for TNT during the mid 1990s. Hosted by "Rowdy" Rudy R. Moore (a marionette
puppet of a young boy, who looked a little like Howdy Doody
), and his pet goat Gogo (a live action nanny goat), the show featured a variety of cartoon short subject
s from Turner Entertainment
's library, including pre-July 1948 Warner Bros.
' Looney Tunes
and Merrie Melodies
, MGM
cartoons such as Tom and Jerry
and Droopy, and Fleischer
/Famous
' Popeye the Sailor. Between cartoons, Rudy, Gogo, and an African American
puppet named Jesse B. Weaver (or "Jumpin' J.B." to his friends) would star in short host segments, usually involving floating around in a bizarre colorful spiral and randomly screaming. The show also used clips from various Turner-owned films and television series from the 1960s and 1970s for added backdrops and storylines.
played the character Cowboy Sally (from "Wild West Yorkshire") and Jon Langford
played the Olde Salty Sea Biscuit, a pirate who would be shown floating on a canoe in a giant bathroom sink. Other celebrity guest appearances included Jeff Goldblum
, Will Smith
, and Ed Lover
and Doctor Dre
from Yo! MTV Raps
.
showed the films The Blob
, Queen of Outer Space
, House on Haunted Hill
, and Thunderbirds Are Go
and featured Gogo's surprise announcement for the 1996 US presidential election, as well the anti-climactic dropping of the giant cheese ball at midnight. The "Gogo Para Presidente" campaign jingle became a popular segment of the show.
’s Hayden Hall. During the 1995-96 school year, several Freshmen students wrote to the program and were rewarded by having their names appear on screen as friends of the show. The last episodes of the show featured very little, if any, host segments and the series ended its run in August, 1997
. In fall 1998, TNT stopped showing cartoons all together and the network started to change its image.
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
s for TNT during the mid 1990s. Hosted by "Rowdy" Rudy R. Moore (a marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
puppet of a young boy, who looked a little like Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by E. Roger Muir and telecast on NBC in the United States from 1947 until 1960. It was a pioneer in children's television programming and set the pattern for many similar shows...
), and his pet goat Gogo (a live action nanny goat), the show featured a variety of cartoon short subject
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
s from Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
's library, including pre-July 1948 Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
' Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
and Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
, MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
cartoons such as Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
and Droopy, and Fleischer
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
/Famous
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
' Popeye the Sailor. Between cartoons, Rudy, Gogo, and an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
puppet named Jesse B. Weaver (or "Jumpin' J.B." to his friends) would star in short host segments, usually involving floating around in a bizarre colorful spiral and randomly screaming. The show also used clips from various Turner-owned films and television series from the 1960s and 1970s for added backdrops and storylines.
Characters and celebrity guest appearances
The show had a quite few minor characters, such as the skeleton puppet Boney Bonerton, voiced by show co-producer Jack Pendarvis. Boney Bonerton would host mini talk shows or game shows, and there would be commercial parodies advertising Boney Bonerton merchandise (i.e. The Boney Bonerton video game or the "Boney Bonerton Just Sings" CD). Also members of the band The Mekons were regulars on the show, Sally TimmsSally Timms
Sally Timms is an English singer and songwriter. Timms is best known for her long involvement with the Mekons whom she joined in 1985....
played the character Cowboy Sally (from "Wild West Yorkshire") and Jon Langford
Jon Langford
Jon Langford born October 11, 1957, Newport, Monmouthshire is a Welsh-born musician and artist who is presently based in Chicago. He is the younger brother of science-fiction author and critic David Langford...
played the Olde Salty Sea Biscuit, a pirate who would be shown floating on a canoe in a giant bathroom sink. Other celebrity guest appearances included Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
, Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
, and Ed Lover
Ed Lover
James Roberts , better known as Ed Lover, is an African-American rapper, actor, musician, radio personality, and former MTV VJ.-Biography:...
and Doctor Dre
Doctor Dre
André "Doctor Dré" Brown is an African American radio personality and former MTV VJ.-Career:Doctor Dré is best known for being the co-host of MTV's hip hop music specialty program Yo! MTV Raps with partner Ed Lover. The duo also starred in the 1993 film Who's the Man?...
from Yo! MTV Raps
Yo! MTV Raps
Yo! MTV Raps was a two-hour American television music video program, which ran from August 1988 to August 1995 through its original Yo! MTV Raps name and later by Yo! . The program was the first hip hop music show on the network, based on the original MTV Europe show, aired one year earlier. The U.S...
.
Variations and film specials
Some episodes ran under different titles (such as "Rudy and Gogo 2000", "Rudy y Gogo", and "Taterhole") and TNT also used Rudy and Gogo as hosts for various cult classic film marathon specials, such as "Rudy and Gogo's Thanksgiving Leftover Special" and "Rudy and Gogo's Funtime Movie Parade". The "Rudy and Gogo's New Year's Eve Flaming Cheese Ball" special for 1995/1996 New Year's EveNew Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
showed the films The Blob
The Blob
The Blob is an independently made 1958 American horror/science-fiction film that depicts a giant amoeba-like alien that terrorizes the small community of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania...
, Queen of Outer Space
Queen of Outer Space
Queen of Outer Space is a 1958 American CinemaScope science fiction feature film starring Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, and Laurie Mitchell in a tale about a revolt against a cruel Venusian queen. The screenplay by Charles Beaumont was based on an outline supplied by Ben Hecht...
, House on Haunted Hill
House on Haunted Hill
House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American B movie horror film from Allied Artists. It was directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, and starring Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren. He and his fourth wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house for a "Haunted...
, and Thunderbirds Are Go
Thunderbirds Are GO
Thunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on Thunderbirds, a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation"...
and featured Gogo's surprise announcement for the 1996 US presidential election, as well the anti-climactic dropping of the giant cheese ball at midnight. The "Gogo Para Presidente" campaign jingle became a popular segment of the show.
End of the series and fan followings
In 1996, the Minneapolis rock trio John Updyke's Lick Pussy (later renamed J.U.L.P) recorded a version of "Gogo Para Presidente" for a 7" vinyl b-side for the Earmark Records label. In 1997 they debuted a music video, directed by Mike "Suade" Newell, at First Avenue Nightclub. This low budget, sepia-toned short featured the band putting up "snipe" posters that read "Vote Goat" on walls and phone poles. It was later included on Newell's DVD entitled "Michael C. Newell - History: 1991-2004". The program was also a favorite in college dorms and had a particularly devoted following in New York UniversityNew York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
’s Hayden Hall. During the 1995-96 school year, several Freshmen students wrote to the program and were rewarded by having their names appear on screen as friends of the show. The last episodes of the show featured very little, if any, host segments and the series ended its run in August, 1997
1997 in television
The year 1997 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1997.- Events :-Debuts:-Miniseries:*Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, a reunion of the 1979–93 series*The Last Don...
. In fall 1998, TNT stopped showing cartoons all together and the network started to change its image.