Project G.e.e.K.e.R.

{{Infobox television

| image = Project GeeKeR.jpg

| genre = Action
Adventure
Comedy
Science fiction

| creator = Douglas TenNapel
Doug Langdale

| developer =

| writer =

| voices = Billy West
Cree Summer
Brad Garrett
Jim Cummings
Charlie Adler

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer = Terry Scott Taylor

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer = Shawn Patterson

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 13

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer = Douglas TenNapel
Doug Langdale

| producer = Audu Paden

| editor =

| location =

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime = 22 minutes

| company = Doug²
Adelaide Productions
Columbia TriStar Television

| channel = CBS

| first_aired = {{Start date|1996|9|14}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1996|12|7}}

}}

Project G.e.e.K.e.R. is an animated television series that premiered on CBS on September 14, 1996. It was created by Douglas TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim, and Doug Langdale, the developer of Earthworm Jim the animated series, and was a production of Columbia TriStar Television under Adelaide Productions, with original music by Shawn Patterson and the main title theme composed by Terry Scott Taylor.{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |page=481}} TenNapel and Taylor also collaborated on the video games The Neverhood, Boombots and Skullmonkeys, and in 2005, re-united for the Nickelodeon cartoon Catscratch.

The show was cancelled after only one season, as CBS cancelled all of their Saturday morning schedule in 1997 to stop their downward-spiraling ratings.{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |page=644}}

The Federal Communications Commission also rejected CBS's attempt to classify the show as educational and informational under that fall's strengthened requirements for children's programming.{{cite news |last=Mifflin |first=Lawrie |date=December 4, 1996 |title=News Instead of Cartoons |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/04/arts/news-instead-of-cartoons.html |work=New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2021}}

Synopsis

The titular character, Project GKR (Geno-Kinetic Research), is an artificial shapeshifting being created by Mister Moloch and Dr. Maston of Moloch Industries and intended to be used as a weapon. However, the cyborg Lady MacBeth and her Tyrannosaurus rex companion Noah rescue him before he can be finished, leaving him with low intelligence and little control of his powers. The three must work together to evade capture and prevent Moloch from re-obtaining GeeKeR.

Cast

= Main cast =

Billy West as G.e.e.K.e.R., additional voices
Cree Summer as Lady MacBeth, Nanny, Sonny, additional voices
Charles Adler as Dr. Maston, Jake Dragonn, Gene Damage, additional voices
Jim Cummings as Mister Moloch, Will Dragonn, Cosmotto, additional voices
Brad Garrett as Noah, Captain Wormhole

=Additional voices=

Danny Mann as Redjack
Ed Gilbert as Dinosaur Leader
Jeff Bennett as Larry the Virus
Charity James
Kath Soucie
Dee Dee Rescher as Female Junker
Joe Alaskey
Jason Marsden as Kid Dinosaur
Kevin Michael Richardson as Stonebender/"Mr. Smiley", additional voices
Joe Lala
Michael Bell as Toxic Moose
Lisa Kaplan

Episodes

{{Episode table|background=#3b4165|overall=6|title=30|writer=15|director=15|airdate=20|episodes={{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 1

| Title = Destruct Sequence

| WrittenBy = Doug Langdale

| DirectedBy = Audu Paden

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|9|14}}

| ShortSummary = Premiere Episode. After stealing GeeKeR from Dr. Maston, GeeKeR's self-destruct mode initiates, a feature Dr. Maston put in to keep him from falling into the wrong hands. Becky and Noah have no choice but to seek Maston's help to save his life.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| Title = In Space, No One Can Hear You Sneeze

| WrittenBy = Doug Langdale

| DirectedBy = Rafael Rosado

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|9|21}}

| ShortSummary = GeeKeR, Becky and Noah go into hiding on Space Station Zebra, but Mister Moloch sends his most insidious operative, Larry the Virus, after them. Larry uses his mind-control abilities to manipulate everyone on the station into attacking GeeKeR.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| Title = Nightmare Park

| WrittenBy = Doug Langdale

| DirectedBy = Llyn Hunter

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|9|28}}

| ShortSummary = GeeKeR, Becky and Noah are on the run from the Junkers, bio-engineered street thugs hired by Mister Moloch. The chase leads them into Nightmare Park, an abandoned amusement park full of still-functioning systems which are programmed to respond to any aggressive act with deadly combat games. Becky must control her raging temper or the park's mechanisms will destroy them all.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| Title = Geekasaurus

| WrittenBy = Jan Strnad

| DirectedBy = Toshiyuki Hiruma

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|10|5}}

| ShortSummary = When GeeKeR morphs into a dinosaur and finds himself unable to change back, Noah must hide him in Dinopolis, a hidden city of dinosaurs where no humans are allowed. But this brings the wrath of Mister Moloch down on dinosaurs everywhere, and soon Noah must choose between protecting his friend and saving his people.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 5

| Title = Smell of the Wild

| WrittenBy = Richard Stanley

| DirectedBy = Rafael Rosado

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|10|12}}

| ShortSummary = GeeKeR starts emitting a hideous stench which draws an attack from Mister Moloch's goons, as well as the ire of Becky and Noah. Feeling rejected by his friends, GeeKeR runs away to the Wildlife Refuge, declaring that "animals like stinky things." But in the Refuge, GeeKeR faces a danger even greater than Mister Moloch: hordes of mutant animals led by the mighty Toxic Moose.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 6

| Title = 23

| WrittenBy = Doug Langdale

| DirectedBy = Audu Paden

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|10|19}}

| ShortSummary = Doctor Maston finally succeeds in creating another artificial human, GKR 23. GKR 23, equipped with a computer brain, is even more powerful than GeeKeR. 23 soon breaks free of Mister Moloch's control and sets out to destroy all humanity and repopulate the earth with superior, artificial beings like himself. Now it is up to GeeKeR to defeat the virtually indestructible 23.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 7

| Title = Thing Called Love

| WrittenBy = Richard Stanley

| DirectedBy = Llyn Hunter

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|10|26}}

| ShortSummary = GeeKeR experiences love at last, falling hard for Sirena, a tentacled alien woman. Becky is suspicious; it seems as if this alien has some strange power over men. But even when it becomes obvious that Sirena is working for Mister Moloch, GeeKeR refuses to abandon his "true love" and walks willingly into Moloch's clutches. Can GeeKeR break the chains of love and do the right thing?

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 8

| Title = In the GeeK of the Night

| WrittenBy = Jan Strnad

| DirectedBy = Audu Paden

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|11|2}}

| ShortSummary = Due to being affected by a satellite signal, GeeKeR periodically transforms into a monster while sleepwalking and wreaks havoc on Neo-Denaire. This forces him to stay awake to avoid transforming, which causes troubling sleep deprivation-induced hallucinations.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 9

| Title = Independence Daze

| WrittenBy = Richard Stanley

| DirectedBy = Toshiyuki Hiruma

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|11|9}}

| ShortSummary = Mister Moloch sets hundreds of ravenous, mechanical Cyberplants loose on Neo-Denaire to capture GeeKeR and his friends. When Becky and Noah are captured, the fuzz-brained GeeKeR must prove that he can be independent and track them down by himself.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 10

| Title = Worm

| WrittenBy = Thomas Hart

| DirectedBy = Rafael Rosado

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|11|16}}

| ShortSummary = GeeKeR gets a pet alien worm, which Becky cannot stand and ultimately has him release it into a series of underground tunnels. In this environment, it grows to an enormous size, and Moloch uses it to track down GeeKeR. Soon, both GeeKeR and Noah are captured, and the only way Becky can save them is to overcome her revulsion and team up with the worm.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 11

| Title = Noble Savage

| WrittenBy = Jan Strnad

| DirectedBy = Llyn Hunter and Audu Paden

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|11|23}}

| ShortSummary = Doctor Maston implants a tracer in Noah so that Mister Moloch can track him and capture GeeKeR. However, this affects his brain and gradually causes him to lose his intelligence. Noah soon goes off on a berserk rampage, and Becky and GeeKeR have to track him down.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 12

| Title = GeeKMan

| WrittenBy = Doug Langdale

| DirectedBy = Audu Paden and Rafael Rosado

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|11|30}}

| ShortSummary = GeeKeR gets hold of a bunch of old comic books and decides that the best way for him to be accepted by normal people is to become a superhero. Donning a garish costume with huge inflatable muscles, he becomes GeeKMan, Champion of Justice. Unfortunately, "GeeKMan's" rather destructive heroics turn the people of Neo-Denaire against him.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 13

| Title = Future Shocked

| WrittenBy = Doug Langdale

| DirectedBy = Rafael Rosado

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1996|12|7}}

| ShortSummary = GeeKeR, Becky and Noah travel a hundred years into the future and discover that Mister Moloch has gained control of GeeKeR and used his powers to conquer the galaxy. An elderly, imprisoned Noah gives them a few murky tips on how to foil Moloch's plan, and they return to the present to fight a seemingly doomed battle to change the course of history and save the galaxy.

| LineColor = 3b4165

}}}}

Credits

Executive producers: Douglas TenNapel and Douglas Langdale
Supervising producer: Richard Raynis
Producer: Audu Paden
Associate producers: Monique Beatty and Greg Chalekian
Production coordinator: Luke Wasserman
Original music: Shawn Patterson
Theme song: Terry Scott Taylor
Color designer: Don W. Kim
Music editor: Bradford Cox
Dialogue editor: Thomas Kearney
Digital compositor (Opening Titles): Andy Jolliff
Background designers: Vince Toyama and David James
Storyboard revisor: Charles Garcia
Dialogue director: Ginny McSwain

Music

Terry Scott Taylor (friend of creator Doug TenNapel) was contracted to write the main title theme for the show, while Shawn Patterson was selected to be the series score composer. Two days before the show was set to air, Columbia TriStar discovered a licensing issue with Taylor, and Patterson was asked by the producers to compose and produce a main title theme to go on the air. Shawn completed this and Project GeeKeR aired with Patterson's original main title music. Weeks into the series, the licensing problem with Taylor was cleared up and TenNapel requested that Taylor's original main title theme be reinserted into the series. Patterson's main title music was then removed from the remainder of the series.

References

External links

{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961219182719/http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/tv/geeker/geeker.html|title=Project Geeker}} at Sony Pictures
{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961220094508/http://www.cbs.com:80/cbskidzone/geek.html|title=Project Geeker}} at CBS
{{IMDb title}}

Category:1990s American animated comedy television series

Category:1990s American children's comedy television series

Category:1990s American comic science fiction television series

Category:1996 American animated television series debuts

Category:1996 American television series endings

Category:American children's animated action television series

Category:American children's animated adventure television series

Category:American children's animated comic science fiction television series

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:CBS animated television series

Category:CBS original programming

Category:Television series by Adelaide Productions