The Secret Saturdays

The Secret Saturdays
File:SecretSat logo.jpg The Secret Saturdays logo
Genre	Animated Action/Adventure
Created by	Jay Stephens
Directed by	Scott Jeralds
Starring	Phil Morris Nicole Sullivan Sam Lerner Diedrich Bader Fred Tatasciore Will Friedle Corey Burton
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	17 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer	Fred Schaefer Scott Jeralds
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Production company	Porchlight Entertainment
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	October 3, 2008 – present

Template:FixBunching Template:FixBunching The Secret Saturdays is an American animated television series created by Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens (creator of the Emmy-winning cartoon Tutenstein) for Cartoon Network. It debuted on October 3, 2008 in the United States. The series follows the adventures of the Saturdays, a family of cryptozoologists that work to keep the truth about cryptids from getting out, in order to protect both the human race and the creatures themselves. The Saturdays travel the world searching for cryptids to study and battling twisted villains like the megalomaniac V.V. Argost. The series is influenced by the style of 60s-era Hanna-Barbara action series (such as Jonny Quest), and is combined with Jay Stephens' own personal interest in cryptozoology. The series also airs on Teletoon in Canada.

Origin

When Stephens first pitched the show, it was called cryptids, after the monsters undiscovered by science. It involved a crack team of globe-trotting cryptozoologists that were uniquely qualified for the job because they were once cryptids themselves. Okapi, Komodo, and Megamouth, along with their nine-year-old human mascot, Francis, served as a sort of anti-detective team. They scooted across land, sea, and air in what Stephens called a Campercopter, and their goal was to preserve the mystery of the world’s strangest creatures before they were exposed by humans or destroyed by the cryptids' nemesis, Monsieur Dodo. This version got him nowhere with many networks, though they all did show interest for some time.

Months later, the show was picked up by Cartoon Network, due to the network (at the time) wanting more action shows due to the success of Ben 10. Nine-year-old Francis became 11-year-old Zak Saturday, and many of the original characters were canned. For a time, the network wanted the show's name to be The Secret Adventures Of Zak Saturday, but it was later changed. Unlike most mystery shows, the goal of the heroes of The Secret Saturdays is not to reveal the existence of cryptids, but to hide it. The art style of the show was influenced by the artwork of Alex Toth and 1960s Hanna-Barbara action cartoons, such as Jonny Quest and The Herculoids.

In July 2008, Cartoon Network started a viral campaign for the show. Several commercials for a website called CryptidsAreReal.com aired on Cartoon Network. Each commercial featured a pet of the Saturday family: one showed Komodo, another Fiskerton, and a final one showed Zon. One area of the program's website also held a "secret" document; while most of the words on it were blacked-out, the names of Drew and Doc (two of the main characters) were revealed. The document also talked about a creature discovered outside of Nottinghamshire, England. Though the first word was blacked-out, the paper said a "phantom" had been the newly-discovered creature. It was implied that the creature was the Fiskerton Phantom, a cryptid reported to have lived outside of Nottinghamshire, and commonly done by this website, would be Fiskerton, a main character in the show. To back this conclusion up, Zak stated in one episode that Fiskerton was lucky because he was saved by Doc and Drew, also stated in the document. Typed at the bottom of the document was the name "Agent Epsilon". This is a character in the show. The website also showed a blueprint of the Saturdays family's airship. Another site was linked to CryptidsAreReal.com: the page for an organization called Ten Hero Tusk, which states that its explorers are "D. Blackwell, B. Finster, and L. Van Rook", all of which being characters in in the show. During San Diego Comic-Con 2008, booklets about a show called Weirdworld (the show-within-a-show) were given out, with the website for it on the back of them. Unlike CryptidsAreReal.com, this one couldn't be traced back to Cartoon Network. Later, commercials for Weirdworld aired on Cartoon Network for a few weeks before a commercial for The Secret Saturdays itself was aired on August 14, 2008.

In July 2008, it was speculated that the "Montauk Monster" that washed ashore in Long Island could have been a viral campaign for The Secret Saturdays.

Plot

Main article: List of The Secret Saturdays episodes

Zak Saturday and his parents, Doc and Drew, are a family of world-saving scientists called "The Secret Saturdays." Living in a hidden base, they are part of a secret organization of scientists known as The Secret Scientists who protect mankind against the hidden and terrifying things of the world. In the series, folktales aren't just legends, but actual mysteries that the Saturday family must solve. Traveling all over the world, the Saturdays explore ancient temples and bottomless caves, and battle with villains which includes the evil V.V. Argost (who hides his evil plans under his TV show Weird World) and rival cryptozoologist Van Rook. Scouring the globe in search of cryptids, the Saturdays attempt to keep the existence of these unusual beasts secret, to protect both mankind and the creatures themselves. The Saturdays and their exotic cryptid pets are a loving bunch, trying to work through everyday family matters and squabbles in-between their adventures.

Creator Jay Stephens has stated that the first 26 episodes will have a story arc, most likely based on the Kur Stone first mentioned in the pilot. The series was later picked up for an additional 10 episodes in January 2009.

Characters

Saturday family

File:Saturdays.jpg

Promotional image released for the series when it was first announced at the CN Upfront 2007. From left to right, top to bottom: Doyle, Zon, Fiskerton, Zak, Doc, Drew, and Komodo. Doyle and Doc look slightly different in the actual series.

• Zak Saturday (Sam Lerner) - Zak Saturday is the 11-year-old son of Doc and Drew Saturday who jumps right away into every adventure. Zak has an unorthodox upbringing that has taken him around the world and placed him in the face of danger since the day he was born. Since Zak was born the same year the Kur Stone was found, he has a special bond with cryptids, which allows him to calm weaker ones. He may hold the power to stop the cryptid Kur, if it is ever unleashed. Tamer cryptids seem to trust him instinctively, and even fiercer ones can tell that Zak is different from other humans. Despite the fact that madman V.V. Argost is his enemy, he seems to be a fan of his show Weird World. Ancient artifacts seem to respond to Zak and allow him to amplify his ability. Zak's primary weapon is the Claw, a combination staff/grappling hook. The hook is a three-fingered claw called the Hand of Tsul 'Kalu, which acts as a focusing device for Zak's powers. He's of mixed-race heritage (having a Black father and a White mother) and has some appearance of both, like dark skin from his father and caucasian features and a white streak of hair like his mother. Zak also seems stronger and more durable than a normal child his age, as he was able to climb a radio tower carrying a full grown man in "The Vengeance of Hibagon" and gets back up immediately after being thrown against a vent in "Black Monday".

• Solomon "Doc" Saturday (Phil Morris) - Solomon Saturday, or "Doc" for short, is the patriarch and the "Indiana Jones"-like character who has spent his whole life studying cryptids. His appearance is reminiscent of Doc Savage. His right eye is blue (indicating he is blind in that eye) with a scar over it and he has a broad white streak in the middle of his hair, though he didn't have these traits before Zak was born. He is a genius, having built many of the gadgets the family uses. A man who takes science very seriously, Doc is one of the world's leading experts in the field of cryptozoology. A loving father, he often tries to teach his son Zak responsibility. Doc is trained in fourteen different forms of martial arts. He fights with the Battle Glove, which is able to channel power into his right fist. The four crystals on the knuckles also have individual powers: freezing, heating, shocking, and sonic vibrations.

• Drew Saturday (Nicole Sullivan) - Drew Saturday is the matriarch and the one who "believes in the magic," being more prone to accepting things on faith rather than empirical evidence. Drew was born to a family of adventurer-scientists and raised by monks after her family was scattered during a severe blizzard in the Himalayas. She is able to speak 31 different languages. Drew is always encouraging Zak to try new things like tribal dancing or sand painting, but when there's a risk of danger, Drew gets a little over-protective of her only son. She's a mystic who is well-versed in the world's cultures and can blend in anywhere her travels may take her. Like Doc, she is a skilled fighter. Her preferred weapon is the Tibetan Fire Sword given to her by the monks, which absorbs light and channels it into potent bursts of flame.

• Fiskerton (Diedrich Bader) - Fiskerton is a seven-foot-tall "gorilla-cat" with glowing red eyes. He is one of the last of a legendary race of cryptids called "Fiskerton Phantoms" that was adopted by the Saturday family when he lost his home in Nottinghamshire, England. Although he is the oldest and largest member of the family, Fiskerton is like an innocent brother to Zak. He may be a coward at times, but he is proven to be a great and strong ally to have, willing to risk his life for his new family. He mostly talks in grunts and mumbling which occasionally mimic human speech, though the family is able to understand him regardless. He has great strength as well, showing himself capable of ripping apart metal bare-handed and hold his own against larger cryptids. At the end of the first season it is revealed he may be connected to Kur.

• Komodo (Fred Tatasciore) - Komodo is a 250-pound, genetically-altered komodo dragon with a voracious appetite. Komodo has a chameleon-like ability to blend in with his surroundings, something that comes in handy for stealth missions. Though for the most part quite obedient, Komodo's actions are often dictated by his stomach, and he will ignore the family for a good meal. Extending from this, Komodo will often pick fights with others to get food, even when his opponent is far larger and stronger (Komodo fights with a large elephant cryptid over a piece of meat in "Something in the Water", for example). Like a rivalry between a cat and dog, Komodo often fights with Fiskerton. He seems to have a feud with Zon as well, as he attacks her at least twice. Like Fiskerton, Zak sees him as a brother.

• Zon (Fred Tatasciore) - Zon is a surviving member of a thought-to-be-extinct Pterosaur species (Ornithocheirus) that lives in a nest near the Saturday Headquarters, but isn't truly owned by them. The Saturdays anger her by crashing into her nest during the second episode, but she comes to appreciate them after Zak saves her life. She now uses the cliffs where the Saturdays live as her new hunting grounds. Unafraid of humans, she allows Zak to comb her mane and ride her, but she absolutely resists the family's domestication efforts and refuses to give up the great outdoors. She is rather hostile towards Komodo. In one episode, she is incorrectly referred to as a Pteranodon.

• Doyle Blackwell (Will Friedle) - Drew's long-lost younger brother, Doyle first appears as Van Rook's apprentice in "The Kur Stone". He helps Zak put a tribe of Amaroks back into hibernation, starting a stable relationship with him. In "Van Rook's Apprentice", he changes sides and joins the Saturdays after learning about V.V. Argost's true motives. Doc fires him two episodes later after his reckless behavior endangers Zak one too many times, paying him for his services as he does. Doyle leaves, but refuses to take the money. Though Doyle is admired by Zak, he and Drew have a small sibling rivalry, and Doc is annoyed by Doyle's tendency to show off. Doyle is something of a jack of all trades, fighting using a combination of grenades, lasers, and hand-to-hand combat. He is strong enough to lift a grown man one-handed, and is able to wrestle with cryptids much larger than himself. Doyle returned in the episode "Cryptid vs. Cryptid", helping the Saturdays defeat Van Rook. He sent Van Rook flying away into the forest where police awaited his arrival. They captured Van Rook and he was sent to jail. In "Something in the Water", Doc makes up with Doyle, offering him a place in their home should he want it. Doyle opts to continue working on his own for the freedom it provides.

Allies

• Dr. Miranda Grey (Susan Blakeslee) - Miranda is a Secret Scientist who held a piece of the Kur Stone, until Munya stole it. She's an expert at quantum physics and works on particle acceleration in Antarctica with her robot sidekick Deadbolt.

• Dr. Henry Cheveyo (Diedrich Bader) - Henry is another Secret Scientist who held a piece of the Kur Stone. Argost stole it, then used a cryptid parasite to extract the location of the third piece from him. He works at the Mesa Observatory in Arizona. He was seriously wounded when he took the brunt of an explosion meant to kill the Saturdays although he (miraculously) survived.

• Dr. Odele (Phil Morris) - Odele is a friend of the Saturdays who lives near Manaus, Brazil.

• Professor Talu Mizuki (Jerry Tondo) - Talu is a scientist who has invented a mind-swapping device and has tested it on a white tiger and a dog. It was targeted by crime lord and philanthropist Shoji Fuzen. His mind was swapped with that of a Hibagon when Fuzen's plan was revealed to him in order to stop the crime lord's plan but during the battle his machine was ruined, trapping him in the Cryptid's body. He sought revenge against him but was convinced by Doc Saturday to let it go. He now lives in a cave lab alongside his white tiger working on a way to reverse the process and continue his research. Apparently, he has become a member of the Secret Scientists as shown in "Eterno" where he helps the other scientists solve the Eterno crisis.

• Dr. Paul Cheechoo (Danny Cooksey) - A Secret Scientist that specializes in cold-climate research, he and a team of experts travel the world studying strange geological anomalies. He's currently stationed at Ellef Ringnes. In one episode he mentions he grew up in cold weather. Out of all of the Saturdays' fellow scientists, he seems to be the most friendly with Zak as demonstrated by his first appearance ("Hey Zak! Still growing like a weed I see.").

• Dr. Arthur Beeman (Jeff Bennett) - A Secret Scientist who studies aliens and UFOs. He used the expression "Sweet Galvan Prime!" in "Guess Who's Going To Be Dinner?", a reference to the animated series Ben 10. He is said to have saved the world from invasion at one point in his career, figuring out the 'crop circle code', as mentioned by Doc. Drew refers to him as her "least favorite". Doc and Drew called him in to watch Zak, Fiskerton, Komodo, and Zon while they were away on their anniversary dinner.

• Ulraj (Adam Wylie) - The prince of Kumari Kandam whose father was killed in an assault orchestrated by V.V. Argost. He allied with Zak to reclaim his kingdom from V.V. Argost. With help from the Saturdays, Ulraj reclaimed his kingdom, but V.V. Argost and Munya escaped with an ancient and powerful Sumerian medallion which Ulraj stated to be too dangerous to wield. In "The Underworld Bride", King Ulraj later helped the Saturdays when the Dua'a was trying to entice and drag Zon into the Underworld.

• Dr. Pachacutec (Candi Milo) - A Secret Scientist who assists in the decomposition of the salt preservation of people and water in the episode "Eterno".

Villains

• V.V. Argost (Corey Burton) - The series' main villain, main archenemy of the Saturdays, and host of the popular show V.V. Argost's Weirdworld. His show has made him "the modern master of the bizarre" of the world. His museum of cryptid relics and trinkets is really an arsenal of magical objects he plans to use to get his hands on the most powerful cryptid of all, Kur, which he believes is a source of unlimited power and everlasting life for whoever can find and capture it. Argost peppers his speech with French words and phrases, and his most common greeting to others is "Greetings and bien venue [welcome]." He uses a number of cryptids as weapons, and wears a Megatooth shark skin cape that shields him from any attack. In one episode, his strength is shown to rival that of Fiskerton.
  • Munya (Fred Tatasciore) - V.V. Argost's silent yet mysterious manservant. He has been injected with the DNA of a Papuan Giant Spider enabling him to transform into a half-human/half-spider monster in battles.

• Leonidas Van Rook (Corey Burton) - A ruthless cryptozoologist who is the ally of V.V. Argost and a rival of Doc Saturday. Van Rook is interested in proving the existence of cryptids for money. Similar to Doc, he is an inventor and has many high-tech gadgets. It's implied in the pilot episode that he and Drew had a relationship in the past. When Drew hits him with a blow from her fire sword he falls down a cliff hitting many rocks and lands in shallow water, after he lands he grunts and says 'I LOVED YOU BABY!'

• Pietro "Piecemeal" Maltese (Jess Harnell) - Pietro Maltese is an criminally insane chef with an appetite for rare animals. He has a surgically modified jaw made of four metal flaps which can bite through solid metal. He has above-average strength and durability, able to knock out Fiskerton with a single punch and survive a direct blast from Drew's fire sword (coupled with smashing through a wall from the impact) without injury. He attacks the Saturday household in order to devour Fiskerton, but is repelled by Zak using his mother's fire sword. In "Target: Fiskerton", he is hired by V.V. Argost to help Leonidas Van Rook capture Fiskerton. When Pietro tried to eat Fiskerton, he was knocked by a jolt of the Neuroparasite that Argost had planeted on his back.

• Baron Finster (Rob Paulsen) - A half man/half robotic scorpion villain that Doyle once claimed to have fought. Doyle rescued a Nagni Vatu from him as shown in a flashback. Doyle later fought Baron Finster in the arctic and managed to defeat him and his henchmen.

• The Mondays - The Mondays are the Saturdays' evil antimatter duplicates from a parallel world, summoned by the Smoke Mirror of Tezcatlipoca. They are not well-liked in their world, most likely being criminals. Each Monday has a distinguishing characteristic that sets them apart from the Saturdays, and cause reality to warp when in the presence of their duplicates. The Mondays accidentally banish themselves back to their own world while fighting over the mirror. The Saturdays leave and fail to notice that Zak Monday and Komodo Monday escape from the mirror, leaving the others behind. It is unknown what their real family name is; Monday was a name given to them by Zak Saturday, since according to him his double is a "less fun version of a Saturday", hence a Monday.
  • Zak Monday - Zak Monday's hair color is a reversed version of Zak Saturday's. His claw, called the Fang, also drives cryptids insane rather than controlling them. His eyes (and by extension the Fang) emit a green glow as opposed to an orange one.
  • Solomon "Doc" Monday - Doc Monday's scarred eye is on the opposite side, and he wears an eye patch over it. He usually speaks in incoherent babbling and has a much lower intellect than his counterpart.
  • Drew Monday - Drew Monday has a long, prehensile tongue, but is otherwise similar to her counterpart. She is more rationally scientific than her counterpart.
  • Fiskerton Monday - Fiskerton Monday has horns in place of ears and is more vicious than his counterpart.
  • Komodo Monday - Komodo Monday is curiously capable of human speech and seems to be the leader of the group, when they're not fighting amongst themselves. He possess black spots on his back which he can expand to cover his entire body and harden his skin.
  • Zon Monday - Zon Monday has eye-like patterns on her wings.

Merchandise

A DVD featuring the first 5 episodes of the series (along with bonus features such as animatics) will be released on July 21st, 2009. An encyclopedia entitled The Secret Saturdays: The Official Cryptid Field Guide is planned for an August 11th, 2009 release. Graphic novels and chapter books will be released by Del Ray Manga starting in Summer 2009. A video game called The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the Fifth Sun will be released by D3 Publisher.

External links

• Jay Stephens' Blog
• Advanced Review of "The Secret Saturdays" Review of the series at AnimationInsider.net
• The Secret Saturdays Wiki
• "The Secret Saturdays": An Uncertain Finding Review of the series at ToonZone.net
• The Secret Saturdays Coming To Cartoon Network Review of the series at ComicVine.com
• CN Upfront (Go to "New Shows", then click show's logo)
• Cryptids Are Real!, viral marketing website
• Weirdworld Show, website for the show within a show: Weirdworld
• The Secret Saturdays at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com