This week in lost media finds, Uncle Gus, among the more elusive Cartoon Network pilots has finally been found. Well, one of two, but you get the picture. In the event it gets taken down again I gave it a watch, and I figured I'd share my thoughts to see where it stands against others and whether or not it had any potential as a series.
The pilot was produced by Lincoln Peirce, aka the guy behind Big Nate which I would've assumed was yet another quirky cartoon the greater cartoon community latched onto, but then I realize it was based on a comic strip Peirce created back in the early-90s, so it seems he's doing just fine these days. Peirce had pitched Uncle Gus to Cartoon Network twice, but allegedly thrice, so it seems there wasn't anything wrong with the pilot itself, it just didn't get as many votes, and the shows that did win out, let's be honest, they deserved it at the end, we got a lot out of them, they're amazing shows and the pilots they stomped had very little longevity in them, a season or two tops.
But back to the pilot, while it never truly caught on, it was able to sustain itself with audiences another way. Gus got to appear in the Shockwave game Cartoon Cartoons: Summer Resort, that is, in that game's first episode, and it seems that honor was given if the pilot managed to get respectable voting numbers. Best way I can explain is to refer to the other characters, Longhair from Longhair and Doubledome, Prickles the Cactus, eponymous and Vivian from Foe Paws... I smell a rig.
Anyway, Foe Paws being the exception, Uncle Gus, Longhair and Prickles both got a second chance in some capacity, the former two getting another pilot made for the second big pick in 2001, and Prickles getting a flash cartoon sequel on Cartoon Network's website. So it certainly had its fans, but I guess some people just weren't able to snag it sooner.
Now that I got that out of the way, let's get into the pilot proper.
The Pilot
Uncle Gus, if it went to series, centers on the unemployed Uncle Gus who lives with his talking anthropomorpic horse Flapjack and his annoying nephew B-Otis, and I'm not saying annoying to be negative, he gets on the nerves of the other two with his tendency to break out into song.
Uncle Gus can be compared to the likes of CatDog and Johnny Bravo, that is, having a lovable loser who can't help but find himself getting in trouble through the best intentions. Uncle Gus is no moron, he's not wacky, obnoxious or means anyone any harm, the worst he can do is indulge, like when he spent his unemployment money on a new TV. Flapjack is otherwise the straight man, but compared to others like him he seems to be a bit more lax on crazier ideas and errs more to Gus' side depending on the situation.
When it comes to pilots, while a premise can help make a pilot stick, the actual content needs to be well enough for the potential to truly show. In the pilot, Gus discovers an old flame, now a zoologist, is still wearing the engagement ring he gave her, and he attempts to determine if she still loves him. Gus and the others wind up breaking into a monkey exhibit where the zoologist is, and after a misunderstanding where the monkeys assume Gus' advances are a challenge, he is forced to fight the monkey's alpha male.
It could only get bad if he is determined to win her love, but it seems Gus stood no chance. The resolution comes from B-Otis getting nabbed and then after falling from a tree he was on knocks out the gorilla. If the zoologist loved Gus and B-Otis managed to steal her heart then that would not only be unsatisfying but weird as all hell. It turns out that she didn't love him and the only reason she kept the ring on was because she couldn't get it off.
Admittedly I knew the zoologist would not love Gus anymore, but credit to the pilot it proved my expectations wrong on how things would go down, and it seemed Gus was gonna flounder no matter what. It ends with B-Otis taking over Gus' house with the other monkeys, and as Gus and Flapjack were always trying to silence him with the singing, I guess I can see why he'd have them locked out.
How was it?
So, where would I rank Uncle Gus? Does it come close to the unholy three I talked about not too long ago? Nope, not even close.
Referring back to CatDog and Johnny Bravo, the schtick behind each is that both star lovable losers, people who find trouble no matter what they do. We want to see them succeed which is why we keep coming back to them. I feel like Uncle Gus would've fit in comfortably with shows like that. Gus is a likable character for sure, he's not dumb, and we've all been in his shoes at some point in our lives. Some may consider B-Otis annoying, but so do the characters.
Because the show stars an older man character it'd allow it to stand out from other shows like it on Cartoon Network. It just so happened to not make it to the top three. At the very least, this didn't deserve to be lost for so long. Unfortunately, at least in its entirety in English, the second Uncle Gus pilot is still lost, but on the upside, if we can get it located we can give it another shot and see what more we can get out of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjIWgOjRDaI
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