Is it mad, I ask you, to genetically engineer the surviving DNA of some of history’s most famous figures, set them up in a high school wherein their melodrama can result in juicy story angles and then secretly plot to use them to create a Cloney Park attraction? IS IT, WESLEY? What’s next, are you going to tell me that smoking raisins is bad?
Two decades ago, one cartoon series dared to don a paper pirate hat and ask those questions. Called Clone High, the show was an absolute hoot for several reasons: It had a brilliant voice cast, it was a fantastic piss-take of teen movies at the time and it was the springboard that made Chris Miller, Phil Lord and Bill Lawrence household names. Even if it did piss off all of India by animating Ghandi into an ADD-riddled horndog who occasionally got advice from Marilyn Manson and Tom Green hey look at my elbow skin.
Lasting only one glorious season, Clone High ended on a cliffhanger: Abe Lincoln finally getting it on with Cleopatra, while also finally realising that Joan of Arc had feelings for him. Which John F. Kennedy pounced on during their high school prom. Again, this series was freakin’ magnificent, WESLEY. Following hot on the heels of the announcement that Beavis and Butthead will be making a comeback, came the news that Clone High will also be getting a revival.
And by the sound of things, Lord and Miller will be preparing the show for remakeover! Remakeover remakeover, remakeover remakeover,remakeover remakeover…remakeover! CLAP YOUR HANDS DAMMIT! According to the AV Club, new episodes will be headed up by showrunner Erica Rivinoja, with Lord and Miller working to reimagine the perpetually horny lives of Abraham Lincoln, Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, John F. Kennedy and various other historical icons. I do hope Genghis “pool-flipping” Khan makes the cut. Did you see it man? They flipped the bitch!
“What’s always amazing to me is, I created a bunch of TV shows,” Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence said back in a 2017 interview with Entertainment Weekly.
There’s a lot of good Scrubs fans on the internet, but I would tell you it’s amazing to me that neck-and-neck with them are the people who are psychotically passionate about Clone High, even though it was only on for 13 episodes. It always drives me insane. Phil and Chris think it’s cool it survives this way, but I’m annoyed that if it started now, with streaming and YouTube and everything else, it had such a binge-worthy short-attention-span theater with great little clips that would live everywhere on social media, I think it would be a monster for those guys.
I’m so happy right now, I could riot at a college level.
Last Updated: July 3, 2020
