The Secret Saturdays



A Cartoon Network action/comedy original series created by Jay Stephens, an underground comic book artist whose work led to the Emmy-winning program Tutenstein, as well as Annie-nominee Jetcat

The Secret Saturdays is about a family of cryptozoologists who are but one sector of a globe-spanning network of "Secret Scientists" that work to protect mankind from the hidden horrors of our world and beyond. Often traveling the world, not only must Doc, Drew and Zak Saturday deal with the problems caused by various cryptids, but they must also deal with the threat of V.V. Argost. Under the guise of his popular series WeirdWorld, Argost wishes to use the power of Kur to lead a large cryptid army to Take Over the World. Think Jonny Quest crossed with The Herculoids.

An under-appreciated animated series, The Secret Saturdays quickly became the Network Red Headed Stepchild in a matter of months. It wrapped up its second and final season on Cartoon Network, then showed up on Boomerang at the end of 2011, pretty much putting the lid on whether the show was going to be continued.

Tropes:
"Zak: I thought Kumari Kandam was destroyed...that it sunk under the sea after a big earthquake?
 * Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Present in Kur Part 2, when the Nagas attack New York through the sewers.
 * All There in the Manual: Jay Stephens hangs around the Cartoon Network forms in Toonzone answering fans' questions as well as giving insights into the show.
 * Ambiguously Human:
 * Acting for Two: Corey Burton voices both Argost & Van Rook.
 * Action Mom: Drew Saturday.
 * Affectionate Gesture to The Head: Zak is the frequent victim of hair-tousling by Doyle and others.
 * Agony of the Feet: Zak, being a precocious kid star, gets to whack the villain in the shin with his weapon, and the villain hops around muttering.
 * An Aesop
 * Animal Talk: Komodo, Fiskerton and Zon seem able to understand each other. And the Saturdays, even without Zak's gift.
 * Arbitrary Skepticism: In "Paris is Melting," the assembled Secret Scientists and Grey Men express disbelief that a Mirror Universe and Evil Counterparts could possibly exist - despite all the other fantastic things encountered and experienced. Doc and Drew know better from experience, but Doyle (who wasn't around for "Black Monday") not only doesn't question the possibility but finds the persistent disbelief ridiculous.
 * Averted Trope: Several of the ones normally seen in animation:
 * Discretion Shot: We get to actually see Argost's henchman Munya change from human to Man-Spider without the camera pulling away and showing us the horrified Saturdays.
 * Expressive Mask: Van Rook's mask does not show his emotions. Played straight with Argost.
 * Parental Obliviousness: The team is the entire family so they're pretty much aware of Zak and his high-spirited hijinks.
 * All Animals Are Domesticated: The Saturdays have a pet komodo dragon. Though in all fairness, it is not a garden variety breed, what with being huge and part-chameleon.
 * That's not an unusual size for a standard, adult Komodo monitor; 8 feet and 200 pounds are considered "average".
 * Anti Anti Christ:
 * Artifact of Doom: The Kur Stone.
 * Atlantis: Not quite.

Doc: What? Who's been feeding you that garbage?"


 * Backstory:
 * We know that Drew has some with Van Rook.
 * We saw some with how Drew grew up to be an Action Girl, and how her Long Lost Relative became long lost.
 * Badass Adorable:
 * Zak - tiny and cute with that star shaped mop of hair, but he gets badass right as the first season comes to a close.
 * Fiskerton - fluffy and cuddly and comical, but do not get between him and the family unless you want a world of hurt.
 * Badass Bookworm: Abby
 * Badass Family: the titular Saturdays, and even moreso after the Long Lost Relative shows up and increases their number.
 * Bad Powers Bad People: There are several signs in the second season that Zak's power is in and of itself evil, such as
 * He's certainly trying to make his powers a force for good, despite the entire cryptid world being scared to death of him.
 * Berserk Button: DON'T. TAKE. WATER. FROM. THE. CURSED. LAKE!
 * Big Applesauce:
 * Big No: By the entire family.
 * Bittersweet Ending: The Season Two finale..
 * Body Count Competition: Reverse example. Done with a count of saved people.
 * Body Swap
 * A Boy and His X: Zak and Fiskerton appear to be an inseparable pair.
 * Broken Record: Doc Saturday's Evil Twin. "Bad copy bad copy bad copy bad copy bad copy!"
 * Brought Down to Normal: In the final episode, this happens to Zak. He's not choked up about it, though.
 * Brown Note: The Flute of Gilgamesh, capable of playing a sound that kills anyone with Kur powers.
 * Building Swing: Zak can and does do this with the Claw on multiple occasions.
 * But for Me It Was Tuesday:
 * Catch Phrase:
 * Drew: "My baby boy!"
 * Doc: "Be smart."
 * Argost: "Greetings and bienvenue."
 * Cat Suit: Drew Saturday's normal outfit.
 * Charm Person: Zak can control cryptids, but only to do things that at least a small part of them already wanted to do.
 * The Chosen One: Zak was born, his parents theorize, to counter the Kur Stone, so he can save the world if need arises.
 * It ends up subverted later when it turns out that.
 * Then again, He is still the Chosen One...
 * Classy Cat Burglar: Wadi.
 * Clear My Name: Fiskerton is framed by for a bunch of attacks on the Secret Scientists. Though technically, he really was guilty, just.
 * Cloning Blues:
 * Clothes Make the Superman: Doc has a glove that has Power Glows, and some combat use.
 * Conspicuous CG: The CoolShips tend to be animated thusly.
 * Cool Ship: Both sides have one.
 * Convection Schmonvection: Displayed throughout the episode "Twelve Hundred Degrees Fahrenheit". Taken to a ridiculous extent when both Argost and Drew swim through the volcano (wearing fireproof lizard-skin and a heatproof suit, respectively, but still!). Particularly Egregious in Argost's case, as the lava should have seeped in through the openings in the skin (eyes, mouth).
 * The Cruella: In "The Return of Tsul 'Kalu", Doyle has to protect a black market cryptid dealer who eats panda dumplings.
 * Cut Argost A Check: Argost was already fairly wealthy due to the fame from his show and the money brought in by the marketing of toys connected to Weird World.
 * Dating Catwoman: Zak and Wadi early on. Also
 * Deal With the Devil:
 * Deadpan Snarker: Doyle. Everyone usually has a turn, but he does it the most and to hilarious effect.
 * Depraved Kids Show Host: Argost, though he's pretty much the same on-camera...
 * Dramatic Chase Opening: "Guess Who's Going to be Dinner?" starts with Fiskerton running through a forest while being threatened by dangerous plants.
 * Mr. Fanservice: Doyle (and doesn't he know it?)
 * Even Evil Has Standards:
 * Everythings Better With Spinning: The holograms studied by the Saturdays spin in one plane.
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: V.V. Argost's home, Weirdworld.
 * Evilly Affable: V.V. Argost.
 * Evil Twin: The team accidentally gets duplicated by a magic mirror, sorta. The duplicates were actually alternate reality versions of them.
 * Exact Words
 * Exotic Entree: One villain only wants to eat cryptids.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fish People: The people of Kumari Kandam.
 * Flaming Sword: Drew's sword is a solar powered fire sword.
 * Flash Back: Flashbacks to some of Doc and Drew's earlier adventures.
 * Flying Seafood Special: Flying Electric Jellyfish plague the family in one episode.
 * Foe Tossing Charge: In pursuit of a mere thrown ball, Komodo clears a hallway of dangerous airborne jellyfish cryptids when the family had been having a hard time just holding them at bay.
 * Foe Yay: Zak and Wadi had this going on when they first met. Also
 * Friend to All Living Things: Subverted. Zak is an 11 year old boy, so he is a straight portrayal of the innocent bit, but the animals that all snuggle and cozy up to him are cryptids that would give ordinary virgin girls pause.
 * GASP
 * Genre Savvy: Zak faithfully watches V.V. Argost's TV show, and thus knows a lot of the moves and weapons Argost uses in combat, to the surprise of his parents.
 * This also comes in handy when
 * Genius Bruiser: Doc Saturday.
 * George Lucas Throwback: Just look at the shows it's compared to above.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Zak's eyes glow when he uses his powers.
 * This is also true for Munya, Argost's henchman.
 * God of Evil: Implied with Kur.
 * Good Scars Evil Scars: Doc has a scar over one eye. Argost's henchman has scars on his face.
 * Go Out With a Smile:

"Drew: "You do realise that you just promised to buy him new butter?""
 * Gotta Get Your Head Together: Zak and  reacting to the deadly music from the flute of Gilgamesh.
 * Grappling Hook Pistol: The Claw
 * Hair Colors:
 * Drew is white-haired. So is Argost, though that might be age.
 * Doc and Zak both have a variation on Skunk Stripe.
 * Doyle is a Fiery Redhead.
 * A Handful for An Eye: Zak flings a handful of mud into Munya's face during their fight in the Amazon in "The Kur Stone, Part 2".
 * Happily Married: Drew and Doc, and for once the parents aren't dead or oblivious!
 * Hartman Hips: Drew Saturday's wide birthin' hips.
 * Heel Face Turn: on realizing he has a Long Lost Relative on the good guys' team.
 * Heroic Albino: Drew is this, with literally snow white skin and hair.
 * And much more, see: Most Common Superpower, Hartman Hips and Hot Shounen Mom.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Of all people,
 * Hot Librarian: Abby.
 * Hot Shounen Mom: Drew. On the night of the premiere, several /co/ threads on Secret Saturdays had posts that just said "MILF WITH A FLAMING SWORD"
 * Her evil twin is pretty much outright Fetish Fuel, seeing as she has.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard:
 * Humiliation Conga:
 * Impairment Shot: The eye shaped "about to lose consciousness" variation.
 * Impossible Thief: Wadi. Watch her in action, and you'll understand (starts around 4:36).
 * Infant Immortality: While Zak seems to live through every disaster that can possibly befall him,
 * Ironic Echo: In the first episode, Van Rook chastises Doyle for using several concussion grenades on Doc, claiming that "two is plenty." In the last episode  then takes back almost all of them, saying "two is plenty."
 * Jerkass: Depending on how you view him, Doc is a serious ass.
 * But then is no prize either.
 * And who really gets along with ?
 * Also Dr. Beeman, who seems to operate in perpetual Sarcasm Mode, and has no problem with the idea of killing an eleven year old boy in cold blood.
 * Jet Pack: Doyle and Van Rook's preferred mode of travel in combat.
 * Kid Hero: Zak.
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Killer Yoyo: Wadi wields one she calls "The Thieves Yoyo" in later episodes.
 * Large Ham: A few of the villains are like this, but Argost is the largest and hammiest of them all.
 * Lava Is Boiling Kool Aid: In "Twelve Hundred Degrees Fahrenheit", not only do Argost and Drew swim through lava, Drew actually dives into it.
 * Little Black Dress: Worn by Drew Saturday in "Guess Who's Going To Be Dinner" when she and Doc go on an anniversary date.
 * Long Lost Relative: Drew discovers her long lost brother is working with the bad guys.
 * MacGuffin: The opening episode's Kur Stone.
 * Mama Bear: Drew. Also an occasion of when this overlaps with Action Mom. So harming any of her "boys" will result in an epic beatdown.
 * Meaningful Echo: All the way from the start of the first season to the end of the second (and last): "two is plenty". In the pilot, Van Rook admonishes Doyle for using more than two grenades, as he's a cheapskate.
 * Meaningful Name: Zak names the Monday family such because everyone hates Mondays.
 * Mind Control: There are cryptids whose properties cause this.
 * Mirror Universe: What the Smoke Mirror of Tezcatlipoca opens a portal to.
 * Mix and Match Critters: Fiskerton, the cat-gorilla.
 * Also Argost's henchman Munya who has characteristics of spider and gorilla along with human attributes.
 * Mood Whiplash: "Into The Mouth Of Darkness", when
 * Most Common Superpower: Drew has this in spades.
 * Murder Water
 * My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: In "Into the Mouth of Darkness", Drew is less than impressed by Doc's grasp of Arabic:
 * My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: In "Into the Mouth of Darkness", Drew is less than impressed by Doc's grasp of Arabic:

"Doc: It's over. We won.
 * Never Say Die / Killed Off for Real: Mostly adhered to, but Drew's Backstory makes it clear they don't shy away from it when it enriches the story to say so.
 * This rule is still adhered to, but with Ulraj's dad, you can tell he's obviously been killed.
 * Completely subverted with
 * Nice Job Breaking It Hero: Really, Zak,
 * Non Human Sidekick: Fiskerton and Komodo. Zon is noticeably absent for most of the episodes, either off doing her own thing or with Doyle during the third season.
 * Not Even Human:
 * Only Known By Their Nickname: Doc Saturday's real name is
 * Open Says Me: How do you get to the cortex disruptors when your parents have the computer combination? Get your Fiskerton Phantom to smash the touchpad, et voila!
 * Or put a door between your Action Mom Mama Bear and a family member. That works too.
 * Papa Wolf: Doc is dedicated to protecting his son Zak at all costs, so much that he
 * Parental Abandonment: Although Zak's parents are alive and well, Drew's parents die in her Backstory.
 * The Password Is Always Swordfish: Van Rook's password is '$'.
 * Phlebotinum Overload:
 * Playing With Fire: Drew and her sword.
 * Power Glows: Lots and lots of this. Doc's eye and glove. Drew's sword. Zak's eyes and the Claw.
 * Reptiles Are Abhorrent:
 * Played straight with some of the reptilian nasties the Saturdays encounter.
 * Subverted by Komodo who is a (mostly) friendly Komodo Dragon. Same with Zon.
 * Minus the Mirror Komodo who's Affably Evil and leader of the Mondays.
 * Revenge: Drew and Doyle both want it.
 * Also Prince Ulraj when he
 * Right Behind Me: Played with in "Once More To the Nightmare Factory"
 * Right Behind Me: Played with in "Once More To the Nightmare Factory"

[Drew, Doyle and Zak motion to warn Doc of the large seagoing cryptid behind him]

Doc: No. We won. I'm not turning around and looking at it. We won."


 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Prince Ulraj.
 * Rule of Cool: The Komodo Dragon can FLY A JET. Tell me that doesn't qualify.
 * Screwed By the Network: The show was moved around on the schedule every few months, and new episodes were rarely advertised. As a result, only diehard fans could actually keep track of it.
 * Sealed Evil in A Can:
 * Send in The Clones: Played with: The Monday family.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Drew Saturday was pretty stunning in her formal gown during her anniversary.
 * Shout Out: The show's animation style is a Shout Out to 1960s and 1970s animation. It visually hearkens to Jonny Quest, The Herculoids, and Thundarr the Barbarian, as well as a lot of the action shows that came out of the Hanna-Barbera stable. Argost's henchman is a visible Shout Out to the Frankenstein monster.
 * Anyone else get a Goblet of Fire vibe near the end of "And Your Enemies Closer"?
 * Van Rook's mask and jet pack make him look very similar to another famous character.
 * Munya's transformation is very similar to another famous character.
 * Show Within a Show: V.V. Argost's Weird World.
 * Shut UP Hannibal: Drew delivers a very nice one in the Season 2 finale to Argost when he attempts to call a truce.
 * Sickly Green Glow: The Fang wielded by gives off evil green light and likewise any cryptid affected by it gets Glowing Eyes of Doom to match.
 * Soul Jar:
 * Speech Impaired Animal: Fiskerton, whose grunts are more-or-less recognizable as English.
 * Spot the Imposter: Played with, when Zack immediately starts looking for any subtle differences between his mom and her Evil Twin.
 * Stern Chase: The second season starts with this due to the Tomato in The Mirror reveal of the previous season.
 * Stock Footage: The Transformation Sequence of Argost's henchman.
 * Stock Super Powers:
 * Doc has super strength.
 * Drew has Implausible Fencing Powers.
 * Zak has Glowing Eyes of Doom and the ability to control cryptids to make them do his bidding. He seems also able to control their special abilities when they have one.
 * Stylish Protection Gear: The Saturdays have matching arctic survival outfits. What really makes it an example of this trope, however, is that this includes one for their pet Komodo dragon. With a furry bobble on the tail.
 * Team Pet: Fiskerton, Komodo, and Zon.
 * The Power of the Sun: Drew's Flaming Sword runs on sunlight. Or moonlight, but that's just reflected sunlight anyway.
 * The Reason You Suck Speech: Francis's little speech to Zak about how great the Grey Men are in "The Swarm At The Edge Of Space". Subverted when Zak shows him up.
 * Title In: For every time the location changes.
 * Time Skip: Six months take place between seasons one and two. In that time:
 * Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Drew with her fire sword in "The King of Kumari Kandam".
 * Tokyo Is the Center of The Universe:
 * Tomato in The Mirror:
 * Tomato Surprise:
 * Torches and Pitchforks: "The Kur Guardian", a flashback showing how Fisk joined the Saturdays shows him being hunted by a mob wielding torches and pitchforks.
 * Town With a Dark Secret: . Also, the town from the Owl Man episode.
 * Transformation Sequence: But not of the Magical Girl type. Argost's henchman turns into a ... er... man spider... gorilla... man who spits webbing out of his mouth.
 * The Unintelligible: Fiskerton. Word of God says that his voice actor does have a real script of what he would be saying in English, but he translates it to 'Fisk-speak'. Sometimes it's possible to make out a word or two of what Fisk is saying (usually an astonished "Say what!?"; this amounts to his Catch Phrase), but for the most part it's unintelligible.
 * Unnecessary Combat Roll: Zak does one in the first episode; entering a room after the combat had ended. Of course, he is only eleven.
 * Villain With Good Publicity: Argost has his own TV show. Apparently it's intended for children, and has a massive worldwide following.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Argost had one of these in his fight against Zak in the first season finale.
 * Visible Invisibility: The family's pet komodo dragon can turn invisible. We get the all white line art with a shimmery blue-white transparent fill.
 * Viral Marketing: Early ads for the show were just live action shakycam footage with CGI cryptids that had the URL cryptidsarereal.com at the end. Later ads used the same footage from the previous ads mishmashed together with Argost's voice-over advertising Weird World. They eventually advertised the show itself about a month or two before its premiere.
 * Wham Episode: "And Your Enemies Closer".  Not good.
 * And a Secret Scientists example: Miranda Grey calls Beeman out for going beyond the Secret Scientists promise and . She actually uses her own weapons on him to get him away from the controls.
 * What Could Have Been: The show's creator originally pitched it as the adventures of three animal heroes (all of them previously thought to be mythical in Real Life, like the okapi) as they prevented an evil dodo bird from exposing the existence of other cryptids. Nobody wanted the show like that, so he reworked it heavily into what we know today.
 * What Happened to The Mouse: It wasn't revealed what happened to Dr. Beeman after Miranda betrayed him and knocked him out. Nor what became of Rani Nagi or what her reaction was if she learned Kur is gone.
 * What Measure Is a Non Human: Subverted. Cryptids are treated with respect and protecting them is the Secret Saturday's main mission.
 * What the Hell Hero: To Zak from.
 * What the Hell Hero: To Zak from.


 * Drew was so obsessed with revenge on Argost for killing her parents that she ignored her son's advice of not letting her emotions get in the way. This led to
 * White Haired Pretty Girl: Drew Saturday.
 * Wicked Cultured: Argost, who has impeccable manners, an appreciation of the French language, and even orders his henchman, Munya, to dogfight with restraint, on the grounds that "[They're] not savages!"
 * Window Pain: Lots, starting with the first episode.
 * Xanatos Gambit: Argost's cryptid fighting ring. The Saturdays find out too late that
 * You Called Me X It Must Be Serious: Van Rook is never called anything but Van Rook -- by anyone -- until he is Drew then calls him by his first name:.
 * Yowies and Bunyips And Drop Bears Oh My: Bunyips feature in "Into the Mouth of Darkness".