Waynehead

{{Short description|Canadian-American animated television series}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Waynehead Title Card.jpg

| creator = Damon Wayans

| writer ={{Plainlist|

Carmenita Bravo
Diane Dixon
Tim Hightower
Kevin Hopps
Brad Kaaya
W. Reed Moran
Chris Otsuki
David Wyatt

}}

| director = Paul Riley

| genre = {{Plainlist|

}}

| voices = {{Plainlist|

}}

| theme_music_composer = Stanley Clarke

| composer = Stanley Clarke
Todd Cochran
Kennard Ramsey

| opentheme = "The Party's Just Begun" performed by Orlando Brown, Tico Wells, Jamil Walker Smith, T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh and Shawn Wayans

| endtheme = "The Party's Just Begun" (instrumental)

| country = {{Plainlist|

United States
Canada

}}

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 13

| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|

}}

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Lenord Robinson
Grant Moran
Patrick Loubert
Michael Hirsh
Clive Smith

}}

| animator =

| editor = Denise Whitfield

| runtime = 22 minutes

| company = {{Plainlist|

}}

| channel = {{Plainlist|

Kids' WB (United States)
YTV (Canada)

}}

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

| last_aired = {{end date|1997|5|17}}

}}

Waynehead is an animated television series created by actor/comedian Damon Wayans and ran from 1996 to 1997 on Kids' WB, and on YTV from 1996 to 1998.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FMFTDwAAQBAJ&q=waynehead&pg=PA684|title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows|first=David|last=Perlmutter|date=4 May 2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781538103746|access-date=8 September 2018|via=Google Books}} It was a co-production of Warner Bros. Television Animation and Nelvana, with overseas animation by Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd., and Philippine Animation Studio, Inc., while the opening sequence was animated by TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation in Japan.

Waynehead lasted for 13 episodes for one season; Wayans stated that he was told by Warner Bros. that the cartoon wasn't black enough nor funny enough, to which a WB executive replied by insisting that the show was merely low-rated.{{cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/apr/26/the-call-on-saturday-is-show-me-the-wayans/|title=The Call On Saturday Is Show Me The Wayans|date=26 April 1997 |access-date=25 April 2021}} It is about a young boy named Damey Wayne, of unknown age, from a poor background and with a club foot. It was based on Wayans' own childhood in the Chelsea neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Actors who provided voices for the show included Gary Coleman, Orlando Brown, and Marlon Wayans.{{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=898}}

Voice cast

Orlando Brown as Damey "Waynehead" Wayne
Tico Wells as Marvin
Jamil Walker Smith as Mo' Money, Jr.
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh as Roz, Shavonne, Aki
Shawn Wayans as Toof
Marlon Wayans as Blue
Gary Coleman as Kevin
Kim Wayans as Mrs. Wayne
John Witherspoon as Mr. Wayne
Frank Welker as Tripod
Andrea Martin as Teacher

Episodes

{{Episode table |background=#0b24b4 |overall=5 |title=20 |writer=15 |airdate=13 |prodcode=7 |episodes={{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 1 | Title = Demon of the Dozens | ShortSummary = Damey digs for dirt when his battle with Byron the school bully turns into a "dozens" fight, a contest of insults. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1996|10|19}}

| WrittenBy = Tim Hightower, Brad Kaaya, and Carmenita Bravo

| ProdCode = 102

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 2 | Title = No Mo' Money | ShortSummary = Damey tries to earn money for the Harlem Week Festival.

Song featured: "Street Talk Rap", sung by Damey Wayne and Roz. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1996|10|26}}

| WrittenBy = Chris Otsuki

| ProdCode = 101

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 3 | Title = Brothers and Bros. | ShortSummary = Damey learns the difference between friends and family when he sneaks out of the house to run with his gang. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1996|11|2}}

| WrittenBy = Kevin Hopps

| ProdCode = 103

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 4 | Title = Botswana Aki and the Hydrant of Doom | ShortSummary = Damey's angry when he's forced to spend the day with the nerdy new kid, but when Aki is endangered by a run-in with the Hydrant of Doom, Damey sets out to rescue his unlikely friend.

Guest Star: Heavy D

Note: The song "Nuttin' but Love" by Heavy D is featured.| OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1996|11|9}}

| WrittenBy = David Wyatt

| ProdCode = 104

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 5 | Title = 3 Hats and You're Out | ShortSummary = Damey's gang catapults to coolness when his L.A. cousin, Three Hats, starts hanging with them. But the gang's loyalty is tested when their new leader demands an old member be cut. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1996|11|16}}

| WrittenBy = Reed Moran

| ProdCode = 105

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 6 | Title = Dad's a Spaz | ShortSummary = Damey asks his father to coach the gang for a basketball game against the tough St. Mary's team and soon realizes his father's a disaster on the court.

Song featured: "We Got Chocolate on The Wall", sung by Toof.| OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1996|11|23}}

| WrittenBy = Kevin Hopps

| ProdCode = 106

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 7 | Title = Be Mine...or Else | ShortSummary = Roz accidentally falls in love with Damey when he rescues her from junkyard dogs.

Note: The song "I'll Be Good to You" by Brothers Johnson is featured. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1996|12|31}}

| WrittenBy = Dianne Dixon

| ProdCode = 108

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 8 | Title = To Be Cool or Not to Be | ShortSummary = Damey's desperate to keep his opera role a secret from the guys, but circumstances conspire against him. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1997|2|1}}

| WrittenBy = Chris Otsuki

| ProdCode = 107

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 9 | Title = Special Delivery | ShortSummary = Damey and his friends struggle to get his mother to the hospital when she goes into labor at the library.

Song featured: "NBA Finals Montage (Instrumental)"| OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1997|2|15}}

|| WrittenBy = Dianne Dixon

| ProdCode = 110

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 10 | Title = Quest for Fireworks | ShortSummary = When Toof and Damey happen to find a firecracker the night before the 4th of July, the gang thinks they've got a secret course for illegal fireworks.

Song featured: "I Got the Firecracker", sung by Toof. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1997|4|19}}

| WrittenBy = Tim Hightower, Brad Kaaya, and Carmenita Bravo

| ProdCode = 109

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 11 | Title = A Friend in Greed | ShortSummary = Damey's broke when Marvin gives him a Ken Griffey, Jr. autographed glove with the money he stole from the gang. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1997|4|26}}

| WrittenBy = Kevin Hopps

| ProdCode = 113

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 12 | Title = Bummed Out | ShortSummary = Damey helps a homeless DJ who works on his guilt over a prank they'd pulled just before the man was fired. | OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1997|5|3}}

| WrittenBy = David Wyatt

| ProdCode = 111

| LineColor = 0b24b4}} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 13 | Title = Rebel Without a Paw | ShortSummary = Damey tries to help Tripod find a new owner after he is accused of mischief in a convenience store, which proves difficult because of his missing paw.

Song featured: "It's Called the Blues", sung by The Blues Man.| OriginalAirDate ={{Start date|1997|5|17}}

| WrittenBy = David Wyatt

| ProdCode = 112

| LineColor = 0b24b4}}

}}

Production

The series was first announced in 1991 as The Wayneheads. It was originally going to be a claymation series and was going to air in primetime on Fox.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/22/news/abc-and-fox-announce-fall-plans.html|title = ABC and Fox Announce Fall Plans|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 22 March 1991|last1 = Lev|first1 = Michael}} The concept was shelved and was retooled as a traditionally-animated, Saturday morning series that took influence off of the 1992 movie Bebe's Kids, the show ran on Kids' WB from 1996 to 1997.

Broadcast

The show was aired on Kids' WB from 1996 to 1997,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtPdNsGjGw8C&q=damon+wayans+waynehead&pg=PA128|title=Nickelodeon Nation: The History, Politics, and Economics of America's Only TV Channel for Kids|first=Heather|last=Hendershot|date=1 February 2004|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=9780814736517|access-date=5 September 2018|via=Google Books}} and eventually aired reruns on Cartoon Network from 1998 to 2000.

=International=

In Canada, Waynehead aired on YTV from 1996 to 1998.

In Germany, Waynehead aired on ProSieben, Junior, and K-Toon under the name of Waynehead - Echt cool, Mann!.

In Austria, the series aired on ORF 1.

In the United Kingdom, the series aired on CITV in 1998.

In Israel, Waynehead aired on Arutz HaYeladim.

In Ireland, Waynehead aired on RTÉ2.

In Netherlands, Waynehead aired on Cartoon Network.

Home media

Since April 20, 2021, Waynehead was released on iTunes, Amazon Video and Fandango at Home.[https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/waynehead-season-1/id1560745594 Waynehead] at iTunes.[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091XPR1BK/ref=sr_1_1 Waynehead] at Amazon Video.[https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/details/Waynehead-Season-1/1717991 Waynehead] at Fandango at Home.

References in other media

The theme song is parodied in the Pinky and the Brain episode "Dangerous Brains".
A reel with the show's logo on it is shown in the Teen Titans Go! episode "Huggbees".