Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?



A Cartoon Network series created by Cow and Chicken storyboard artist Greg Miller, Robot Jones is a mix of affectionate homage and witty parody of late 1970s and early 1980s American culture.

Set in an alternate history where robots have become a major part of society, the world's most technologically advanced robot (named "Robot Jones" obviously) is given the task to attend a human secondary school to understand humanity. Along the way he befriends a trio of outcasts named Socks, Mitch, and Cubey. He also develops a crush on a nerd named Shannon, due to her Braces of Orthodontic Overkill and rather robotic-looking prosthetic leg. However, lurking in a secret base in the school air ducts, there are two evil brothers that wish to steal Robot's brain and use it to control the minds of everyone in the school.

The show was ultimately Too Good to Last, since it had little network support and no kids understood many of the jokes. Aired from 2002 to 2003, with only 13 episodes. It should be noted it was one of the finalists in the the "Big Pick" event in 2002 where viewers were allowed to pick the next show. It lost out to The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy but got picked up anyway after some time. So yeah "Whatever Happened To..." indeed.

Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? provides examples of:

 * All Love Is Unrequited: Shannon does not return Robot Jones's affections. In fact, she doesn't even consider him a friend, but more of a pest.
 * Alternate History: The series takes place in an alternate version of the 1980s, where robots have become commonplace.
 * Ambiguously Gay: The gym teacher
 * Artificial Limbs, horribly inverted: The "cyborg" love interest has a metal prosthetic that seem like clockwork peg-leg and Braces of Orthodontic Overkill.
 * Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: Shannon
 * Dean Bitterman: Principal Madman, He's the principal of Polyneux Middle School, no doubt.
 * Deranged Animation: The show looks like a bunch of rough sketches made into a flipbook.
 * The Eighties: The series features red Devo hats, sunglasses with window blinds, and Eighties Hair.
 * Funny Afro: To a certain degree. It's actually his brain.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar- Many episodes had various graffiti on the walls of the school that displayed curse words, but only during the initial few airings.
 * Also, the way the episode "Scantron Love" plays out mirrors a husband (Robot) cheating on his wife (the Scantron).
 * Robot Jones gets out his "downloading cable" in that episode.
 * The episode "Growth Spurts" had a banner in the school gym that said, "Kick Ass". It was never cut in reruns.
 * The gym teacher's line in "P.U. to P.E." after Robot Jones leaves the locker room without taking a shower: "For your own good, I am going to get you wet, Jones. One way or the other."
 * The school's initials are P.M.S.
 * "Vacuum Friend": During the montage of Robot Jones hanging with Dust Buddy the vacuum, Robot Jones gets caught passing a note to Dust Buddy by a female teacher. Dust Buddy sucks the teacher's dress clear off her body. Nothing was shown, though there was a hint of bra strap when the teacher yells, "ROBOT JONES!" and points to the detention room.
 * Karma Houdini: In "Cube Wars" the Yogman Twins cheat to win a competition and get away with it.
 * Putting On the Reich: Principal Madman's mustache resembles that of Adolf Hitler's.
 * Retcon: A very strange case. In the first season Robot Jones spoke in a robot voice like those text-to-speak voices. Then when season 2 came they gave him an actual voice actor, but also went back and changed all of the first season episodes with the new voice dub. They seemed to try and make us forget there ever was a different version.
 * Robot Kid
 * Sadist Teacher: Principal Madman. He's very tyrannical to his students, including Robot Jones.
 * Shallow Love Interest: Robot Jones appears to only like Shannon because she's partially made of metal.