The Ferals
The Ferals was a television series created and broadcast in Australia for 1994 through to 1995. The series was set in a nameless town somewhere in the Australian suburbs and focused on a specific house being rented by two university students, the eccentric yet affable Leonard (science student), and the simultaneously more and less grounded Robbie (medical student -- and a girl, despite the name). The show revolved around the interactions between the two students, their landlord and, the focus of the show, the motley crew of four noxious animals living in their shed -- Rattus P. Rattus (Black Rat), Modigliana (Feral Cat), Mixy (Rabbit) and Derryn (Feral Dog).
After it was cancelled, spawned a successor series: Feral TV. When it, in turn, was cancelled, Mixy would become a host for the ABC Kids programming block for some time, while Modigliana would become the puppet cohost of Creature Features.
- Batman Gambit: In one April Fools episode, Rattus claims that he's not going to bother joining the other Ferals in their usual prank celebration. After a long and complex array of events, Joe is frantically scrambling to try and get the place back in order in preparation for the "Honorable Society of the Musk Oxen", the latest snobby, uppercrust club he's tried to join... and the club turns out to have been made up entirely by Rattus, meaning every last humiliation and panic attack Joe has gone through all day, as well as all the humiliations suffered by the Ferals as they tried to prove they could pull off a prank without Rattus, is ultimately the climax of one big prank. And when it's pointed out that it's just after midnight, meaning Rattus's prank isn't "square", Rattus reveals he turned all of the local clocks forward by one day -- so it's only just turned April Fools'.
- Black Comedy: One of the reasons the show was fondly remembered was because of its macabre stance towards humor. Mixy's name, for example, is admittedly derived from Myxomatosis.
- Butt Monkey: EVERYONE.
- Comedic Sociopathy: The first episode begins with Rattus and Moddy smacking each other out through the shed window, only to run back inside and do it to the other.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Derryn, who is also an example of Dumb Is Good, being the sweetest, nicest and most naive of the Ferals.
- Jerkass: Joe, the landlord; greedy, narcisstic, self-absorbed and desperate to get more power.
- Rattus and Moddy as well.
- Mad Scientist: Leonard, or "Lenny", seems to be studying to be this. The house is full of his weird inventions and one episode revolves around his attempt to build a robotic helper, which Joe promptly tries to market without Lenny's permission.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Mixy is generally the most reasonable and sweet-tempered of the gang, yet quite capable of bullying the others into following her lead when she felt inclined to stand up for herself.
- Slapstick: The humans weren't safe either.
- Something That Begins With Boring: Mixy doesn't know anything other than "shed". But Rattus has his own way of making it fun.
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Rattus (while holding a cricket bat): I spy with my little eye... Somethin' ending in "ow"... |
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- Tomboy: Robbie (as if the name doesn't give her away), who was constantly getting into weird hobbies.
- Trash the Set
- With Friends Like These...: There isn't a scene that goes by without one of the Ferals insulting or hitting one of the others.
- Yuppie Couple: Keith (Koala) and Kylie (Kangaroo), the "Bogans from the Bush", who basically sat around mocking the Ferals and looking down on them for being noxious introduced species.