Brendon Small Movies

In the animated comedy's second season, the metal band Dethklok continue to see their unprecedented success rise despite numerous assaults by would-be saboteurs and even more PR nightmares. While the guys -- Nathan Explosion, Swisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles, Toki Wartooth, and William Murderface -- remain relatively oblivious to their profound fame, the rest of the world is under their spell. Crazed fans elect Nathan mayor of Florida after killing the sitting mayor, cause absolute chaos when Dethklok drop out of the public eye and continue to subject themselves to extreme physical abuse. The band, meanwhile, attempt to expand their repertoire when they perform at a concert where inmates are executed, try recording music on water and even start their own fashion line. The Tribunal, Dethklok's main source of opposition in the first season, continue to monitor the guys, even sending in spies when manager Ofdensen hires look-alikes for the band members to serve as decoys for public appearances. But the Tribunal take a backseat to the band's newest foes, the Revengencers, a terrorist group who try a variety of extreme methods to put an end to Dethklok once and for all. Creators Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha provide voices for the band and many other characters, while Mark Hamill, Victor Brandt, and Malcolm McDowell round out the regular voice cast. Season 2 also attracted many guest stars from the music industry, including James Hetfield of Metallica and Mike Patton of Faith No More, as well as comedians like Brian Posehn and Richard Christy. ~ Brie Hearn, Rovi

Season two of Home Movies abandons the "Squigglevision" process which provided the animated show with most of its movement (such as it was) during its first season. Producer Tom Snyder had forsaken Squigglevision in favor of a new, streamlined computer flash process, which to many viewers proved more attractive and accessible. However, Snyder did not forsake his habit of having the voice actors improvise most of their dialogue, in happy disregard for precise mouth-movement synchronization. The season opener, "Politics" finds 8-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendon Small (voiced by grown-up producer Brendon Small) again facing persecution by school bully Shannon (voiced by comedian Emo Phillips). Subsequent episodes of note include "Hiatus," a not-so-veiled comment on the two-year gap between Home Movies' cancellation by UPN and renewal by the Cartoon Network; "Space Boy," featuring a faux theme song performed by The Scabs which spoofs a popular David Bowie composition; "Dad," in which Brendon meets his biological father, who lives down to his reputation; and the season finale "The Wedding," in which Coach McGuirk once more proves to be "Mr. Wrong" for Brendon's neurotic mother, Paula. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The weekly, half-hour animated sitcom Home Movies was originally produced in the "Squigglevision" process created by Tom Snyder (Dr. Katz), in which eight frames of squiggly, zigzagged lines were "looped" over and over to simulate the character's mouth movements. This enabled Snyder and co-producer Brendon Small to produce the series at a rock-bottom price, and to allow the voice actors to adlib and improvise to their hearts' content, without worrying about matching the lip action on screen. Debuting April 26, 1999, on UPN, Home Movies was the story of an eight-year-old aspiring filmmaker who happened to be named Brendon Small (the series' aforementioned co-creator, who also supplied the character's voice). Inspired by the behavior of his high-strung mother Paula (voiced by comedienne Paula Poundstone) and his myopic kid sister Josie, and disgusted by the adult world in general, the nerdish, asthmatic Brendon vented his spleen by producing short autobiographical movies with the minicam that he carried with him at all times. Brendon's filmic collaborators included his best friend Melissa and his erstwhile enemy Jason. Although 13 episodes of Home Movies were filmed, only five were seen on UPN before the network yanked the series on June 7, 1999. The remaining eight installments would not be seen until the series was picked up by cable's Cartoon Network on September 2, 2001. Response to the series was positive enough to warrant a renewal in the fall of 2002, but several changes were made. For one, Paula Poundstone was replaced by Jennifer DiTullio in the role of Paula Small; for another, Tom Snyder had abandoned the Squigglevision in favor of a more attractive computerized flash-animation process (the dialogue was still largely improvised, however; precise lip-movement synchronization was never the series' strong suit). The Cartoon Network version of Home Movies remained in active production for three years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi