Inspector Gadget (2015)



Inspector Gadget is a Sequel Series to the original Inspector Gadget cartoon. A few years after the first cartoon, Dr. Claw has been defeated for good, Inspector Gadget and Brain are enjoying retirement, and Penny is in training to be an agent herself. However, Dr. Claw is rescued from his icy prison by his nephew, Talon, and quickly returns to his old ways of trying to take over the world (or just ruin Gadget's day), and so Gadget eagerly returns to duty. (Brain also returns, but not so eagerly.)


 * Ascended Extra: Profesor von Slickstein, the man who gave Gadget his gadgets, is now a recurring character, being the Gadgeteer Genius for HQ.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Dr. Claw. Talon often expresses exasperation at Claw's more dramatic flourishes.
 * Catch Phrase: Gadget has "Wowsers!" and "You know, I happen to be an expert in/at..."
 * Dr. Claw has "I'll get you next time, Gadget!"
 * Competence Zone: Penny and Brain are joined by Talon on the villain's side. Talon is usually much more practical-minded than Claw (though his plans never work either, of course).
 * Continuity Nod: It's clear that the show's creators paid attention when they watched the original.
 * The intro follows the sequence of the original (and fits very well with the original theme, with some editing to make the timing match).
 * While the theme is different, it echoes the structure of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" like the original.
 * Denser and Wackier: Now that Penny is a competent agent-in-training, MAD agents aren't nearly so menacing to her as they were when she was ten. This means that her interactions with them (and especially Talon) involve less sneaking and suspense and more action and physical comedy.
 * Foil: Much as Penny has been (and remains) Gadget's competent niece, Talon is the usually-more-competent nephew of Dr. Claw.
 * Gadget and Penny also work with their Russian counterparts Comrade Multi-Use-Tool and his niece Pasha.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Professor von Slickstein invents an "armor-wear" pair of underwear which functions as the MacGuffin of one episode. It projects a powerful force field, but strips von Slickstein of the rest of his clothing.  When asked her opinion, Penny agrees that it's impressive, but says that she probably wouldn't use it herself...
 * Modern Major-General: Gadget is quite talented as a stage magician and whale-singer. Inspecting?  Not so much.
 * Sequel Series
 * Ship Tease: Penny and Talon. They're both attracted to each other, although Penny tries to ignore her feelings when on the job.
 * Shout-Out: In addition to the Continuity Nods mentioned above:
 * Gadget sings a song that sounds like the "Trololo" song. (Apparently he was part of a jazz opera group in his younger days.)
 * The MAD Deconstructor-Bot looks like a purple Maximilian, spinning claws and all.
 * Gadget once watches the "Angry Arnie" movies, about a man (and his dog) riding a car through the post-apocalyptic mutant-infested wasteland of Australia.
 * In "Back to the MAD Future", the Gadgetmobile goes back in time when it reaches 88 miles per hour.
 * Stealth Hi Bye: Chief Quimby somehow turns up wherever Gadget is to deliver the mission briefing and debriefing -- popping out of a napkin dispenser, a bucket of popcorn, a chicken on a grill, turning up on a space station...and while he usually just sticks out his head, when his self-destructing message blows up the bucket of popcorn, we see his whole body on the ground, so he's clearly "all there" in whatever he uses.
 * Strictly Formula:
 * Claw and/or Talon come up with an evil plan (or bicker about one currently in-progress).
 * Chief Quimby pops in on whatever Inspector Gadget and Penny are doing with a mission to foil said plan. No matter how hard he tries, his message (or some convenient item nearby) always self-destructs in his face.
 * Gadget gets it into his head that he's spotted a clue or a MAD agent (which he really hasn't).
 * Penny sends Brain to keep Gadget out of trouble. They get into trouble, and physical comedy ensues.
 * Penny goes after Talon, banter and fighting ensue.
 * Gadget bumbles back into the situation, foiling the plot (or making an opening for Penny to foil the plot), and saving the day.
 * "I'll get you next time, Gadget!"


 * Technology Marches On: Penny has upgraded from her computer watch and book to a "Codex", a holographic tablet that she can project in front of her face or between her hands. Brain's collar has received a similar update.
 * In "Back to the MAD Future", the Codex doesn't work in the "pre-Internet dark age", and the disk containing the 50 most evil plans of all time has nothing to read it with.
 * Theme and Variations Soundtrack: Keep an ear out for the "Go-Go-Gadget Go-oh-oh!" riff. Arranged as triumphant horns for establishing shots of HQ, quick-paced during action scenes...it's everywhere.
 * Two Shorts: The first episode was a full 22-minute-long "Gadget 2.0", but the rest have consisted of two 11-minute shorts.
 * Two Lines, No Waiting: Penny (going after Talon) and Gadget (with Brain in tow) are the two lines.