Road Rovers

Road Rovers is an action adventure / comedy cartoon written and produced by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids WB on September 2, 1996, and lasted only one season that ended on February 22, 1997. Re-runs of the show continued for a short time on Kids WB and then on Cartoon Network until 1999. Much of the humor contained in the show was derived from popular culture of the mid 1990s.

The show follows the adventures of the Road Rovers, a team of five super powered crime fighting anthropomorphic dogs, known as "cano-sapiens". The leader of the rovers is Hunter, a retriever from the United States. And their boss is a scientist known as "the Master" who oversees their operations and supplies them with equipment from their subterranean headquarters.

Despite the popularity and high ratings of Road Rovers, some sources place them as high as or higher than its contemporaries, the show was unexpectedly canceled when the WB released its schedule for the following year. No official reason has ever been given for this. A strong fan following of the show exists today, still petitioning for the show to return.

Plot

One year prior to the formation of the Road Rovers, Professor Shepherd is attacked by a man named General Parvo, who demands the professor’s experimental transdogmafier technology in exchange for his pet dog. Shepherd gives in but is tricked by Parvo, who gives him a bomb that destroys his laboratory. The next year, normal dogs begin to mutate into monsters and Shepherd knows who is behind it.

And so, Shepherd handpicks five canines from around the globe to combat this new threat. Once they arrive at his new, secret underground lab, he uses his new transdogmafier on the five, turning them into cano-sapiens. Cano-sapiens look like normal clothed humans except that they have retained all the trademark aspects of the dogs they came from like a tail, fur, distinctive ears, etc. Their personality before the transformation also remains intact. They can also speak English and possess super abilities that normal humans don not.

Professor Shepherd, or the master as the new Road Rovers address him, brief them on what has been happening. But upon hearing the dangers inherit in their mission, they begin to have second thoughts. Shepherd reassures them, and upon offering them things like meals and weekly baths, the five agree.

Their first assignment is to stop General Parvo from obtaining a Molecular Stabilizer that will allow him to make the effects of his cano-mutator permanent. The rovers nearly succeed in their task but are forced to handover the stabilizer to Parvo in exchange for one of their own. As Parvo delights in his victory he realizes the stabilizer has been exchanged for a bomb. And like he did to Shepherd a year ago, he himself has been double crossed. The bomb destroys Parvo’s ship but he vows to continue fighting.

Back at Road Rover headquarters, the Master keeps his end of the bargain. He returns the five back to their normal canine forms and places them in the homes of the leaders of their country of origin; Hunter goes to the President of the United States, Colleen to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Blitz to the Chancellor of Germany, Exile to the President of Russia, and Shag to the President of the Swiss Confederation. But Shepherd knows the Road Rovers will be called on again.

Russian Name Song Controversy

Regardless of its short run on television, Road Rovers did have one notable controversial incident. During the episode “A Day in the Life”, Exile reveals his full Russian name. This launches the rovers into a song explaining how Russian names work. The source of the controversy doesn’t appear until the last three lines in which they demonstrate middle names and their paternal source. Using the name “Sonov” as an example, they add “-ovich”, creating “Sonovovich”. And when interpreted, it is clearly a hononymic pun on the phrase “son of a bitch”.

The Russian Name Song only appeared in its initial airing and was subsequently removed following the outcries of concerned parents. The fan reaction is somewhat mixed, however the common defense is that if you didn’t actually know the word in question you wouldn’t have picked up on its meaning or the joke.

It is unknown if this event had anything to do with the cancellation of the show as it took place during the final episode.

Characters

• Hunter (Jess Harnell) – A yellow Labrador Retriever mix from the United States; Hunter is the leader of the Road Rovers. His naivety and literal thinking aside, he is a confident and serious leader who finds time to add humour to a situation. His superpower is super speed and two of his catch phrases are “I would not have predicted this” and “Yet another unexpected twist” which he uses during plot clichés.
• Colleen (Tress MacNeille) – A collie from the United Kingdom; Colleen’s skill of the martial arts is unparalleled. She, like Hunter, throws in quips during a fight. Colleen has also displayed keen medical abilities. There is currently a bit of a one-sided relationship with her and Hunter while at the same time receives endless confessions of love from Blitz.
• Blitz (Jeff Bennett) – A Doberman from Germany; Blitz is definitely the strongman of the team. His super sharp teeth and claws and cut through anything and his courage, or lack thereof, often causes problems for them all. Blitz is very showy and has an uninhibited fondness for Colleen. During one mission, the team is nearly killed and he confesses his love to her. Unfortunately, in the hurry of the moment, the message is directed at Exile instead, whose response is “Please get therapy!”
• Exile (Kevin Michael Richardson) – A Siberian husky from Siberia; Exile is the master of fixing and unfixing things. His superpowers are heat, freeze and a kind of x-ray vision. He does however have a tendency to completely butcher everyday American expressions.
• Shag (Frank Welker) – A sheepdog from Switzerland; Shag is a kind of fluke as far as the transdogmafier process goes. Instead of becoming a complete cano-sapien, he is stuck at someplace in between. Shag cannot speak English and is only vaguely human looking. He is also a complete coward and only redeeming quality is that he always has the equipment the rovers need to escape a situation in his massive amounts of fur.
• Professor William F. Shepherd (Joseph Campanella)– The geneticist behind the transdogmafier and the Road Rovers. He is the team’s boss and supplier for all their gear. He is known as “the Master” to the rovers. He always appears before the rovers as a figure with glowing eyes, something he attributes to "Special effects".
• Muzzle (Frank Welker) – Formally Professor Shepherd’s pet Rottweiler, Scout, a failed experiment with the transdogmafier turned him into the mad and foaming mess he is today. He is always restrained in a strait jacket and mask and is only let out as a last resort. The result is usually beneficial to the rovers. He was rescued from animal control officers by Hunter.
• General Parvo (Jim Cummings) – The Road Rover’s main antagonist who is out to destroy Professor Shepherd and conquer to world.
• The Groomer (Sheena Easton) – The Groomer is the equally nasty assistant to General Parvo.

Episodes

1. Let's Hit The Road (7 September, 1996) - Only the Road Rovers can save the planet from the mutants of General Parvo.
2. Storm From The Pacific (14 September, 1996) - Disgraced Captain Zachary Storm seeks revenge on the United States.
3. A Hair Of The Dog That Bit You (21 September, 1996) - Packs of werewolves takeover London.
4. Where Rovers Dare (12 October, 1996) - Eisneria and Katzenstok are prepairing to go to war over an ancient scepter.
5. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (26 October, 1996) - The Road Rovers must protect ancient artifacts from unknown ninjas.
6. Hunter's Heroes (2 November, 1996) - Parvo and his cano-mutants are at it again.
7. The Dog That Knew Too Much (9 November, 1996) - One dog has the answers to a rash of human and canine kidnappings.
8. Dawn Of The Groomer (16 November, 1996) - The Groomer gets delusions of grandeur involving taking over the world with cats.
9. Still A Few Bugs In The System (23 November, 1996) - Some mutant bugs have plans for a nuclear winter.
10. Reigning Cats and Dogs (1 February, 1997) - What's a statue of General Parvo doing in the tomb of King Tut?
11. Gold and Retrievers (8 February, 1997) - Gold begins to flood the world's markets at an alarming rate.
12. Take Me To Your Leaders (15 February, 1997) - Zachary Storm is back again and some aliens are intent on making trouble.
13. A Day In The Life (22 February, 1997) - A pretty ordinary day for the Road Rovers.

Trivia

• The opening scenes of “A Hair of the Dog That Bit You” featured Prince Charles and Princess Diana finalizing their divorce before being attacked by werewolves. This was edited out of syndication following Diana’s death on 31 August, 1997.
• Two episodes featured a modified opening theme song that contained slightly different lyrics.

External Links

• Road Rovers at the Internet Movie Database.
• Road Rovers at the Big Cartoon Database.
• Road Rovers Fansite.