Time Squad


Time Squad is an American animated television series created by Dave Wasson for Cartoon Network and the 10th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. It follows the adventures of Otto Osworth, Buck Tuddrussel, and the robot Larry 3000, a trio of hapless "time cops" living in the far distant future who travel back in time attempting to correct the course of history. During their adventures, they run into major historical figures such as Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, Sigmund Freud, Leonardo da Vinci, the Founding Fathers, and Moctezuma, who have taken a drastically different course of life than history dictates. The mission of the Time Squad is to guide these figures onto the correct path and ensure the integrity of the future.
The series premiered during Cartoon Network's marathon block "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" on June 8, 2001, and ended after two seasons on November 26, 2003, airing 26 episodes in total. In the course of its run, the series received five Annie Award nominations. Creator Dave Wasson described the series as "a C-student's guide to history". It is also the final Cartoon Network original series to premiere during Betty Cohen's tenure, as she later resigned due to creative disagreements with Jamie Kellner, then-head of Turner Broadcasting System. Cohen was eventually replaced with Jim Samples ten days after Time Squad premiered.
The series also marked as the very first Cartoon Network original series entirely produced by Cartoon Network Studios, but is no longer a division of Hanna-Barbera anymore, following the death of William Hanna in 2001. The show also began airing on Canada's Teletoon Detour block in 2002.

Overview

The show is set in the year 100,000,000 AD, on a satellite orbiting Earth. This future Earth is never visited directly, though it is referred to in dialogue as a peaceful utopia where there are no longer any problems to solve. All nations of the world have merged into one, and according to Tuddrussel, there are "no wars, no pollution, and bacon is good for your heart".
Despite this cheerful vision of the future, the space station on which the characters live and from which they travel to the past is remarkably dystopic. It features a shooting range, a terrarium and a prison for repeat offenders, but it is dank, outdated and unclean. Mostly this seems to be down to officer Buck Tuddrussel, a scruffy and immature perennial bachelor, who nevertheless happens to be the station's most senior officer.
The only other official member of Buck's unit is Larry 3000, a translator robot and former diplomat who was rendered more or less obsolete when all of the world's nations merged. Buck's mindless machismo clashes with Larry's effete sensibilities, and the two bicker terribly. Added to this the fact that neither of them has any great knowledge of history, they made a rather poor team together.
However, when they encounter Otto Osworth, an 8-year-old boy who happens to be an orphan from the 21st century, he is quickly recruited and added to the team. Otto is shown to be the only one on the team with any enthusiasm or competence for the job. The problem is, neither of the other two are particularly willing to listen to his advice, and he must often resort to trickery to make sure the mission is completed.
The Time Squad organization is set up to ensure that history is maintained and the future protected. According to Larry 3000, "time is like a rope", and, as it is woven at one end, ages and gradually unravels and frays at the other. In the context of the show, this often means that historical figures have made different, sometimes anachronistic, choices in life, and as such will not be able to fulfill the role that history says they fulfilled. According to creator Dave Wasson, "We started by basically knowing what a guy did in history, then found the most outlandish way he could go wrong".

Characters

Main characters

Main

Series overview

Note: All episodes were directed by series creator Dave Wasson, though Larry Leichliter co-directed "Keepin' It Real with Sitting Bull", "A Thrilla at Attila's", "Pasteur's Packs O' Punch", "Love at First Flight", "Child's Play", "Father Figure of Our Country", and "Floral Patton".

Season 1 (2001)

Season 2 (2002–03)

Timeline and world history

Awards and nominations

Promotions

Cartoon Network and Subway partnered to release five Time Squad-themed toys in Subway Kids Paks. The promotion lasted from September 30 to November 17, 2002.