Back in the early 2000s, MTV aired Clone High, an animated series about a high school made up of genetic copies of famous boys and girls. The show was a brilliant parody of high school dramas of the time, such as OS And dawson’s bay, but also managed to become an intriguing high school story of its own, full of romantic entanglements, and one of the funniest animated shows in recent memory. Abe Lincoln (voiced by Will Forte) was in love with Cleopatra (Christa Miller), and completely ignored the love of his girlfriend Joan of Arc (Nicole Sullivan), while characters such as George Washington Carver were accompanied by a talking peanut and Jesus Christo accidentally shot himself with a nail gun in a shopping class. Clone High was strange, hilarious and surprisingly fascinating in his handling of these relationships.
However, MTV never aired the entire first season - likely due in part to criticism of Gandhi’s character (Michael McDonald) was portrayed as a party animal, but the show’s creators continued to do huge things for the next two decades. Bill Lawrence would continue to create Ted LassoBye Phil Lord And Christopher Miller will be behind some of the biggest comedy films and TV shows of the 2000s, including Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The last man on earthAnd Afterparty. Despite their success, Lord and Miller once said that their entire careers were about getting Clone High on the air again. Given the links to Clone High throughout their run since its cancellation, it may have been a joke, but it also has a touch of honesty.
Now, two decades after the series unceremoniously ended on MTV, Clone High is finally back and its second season is worth the wait. Almost immediately, it is easy to feel the absolute joy that Lawrence, Lord and Miller are visiting this world again, and twenty years later, Clone High as witty, ingenious and fascinating as in 2002.
Season (and earlier series) finale Clone High ended with a prom, at which all the clones froze. Abe was about to declare his love for Cleopatra or Joan, but moments before he freezes, he sees Joan and JFK (Chris Miller) together in bed. Now, 20 years later, the clones from the ball have thawed out, but it turns out Principal Scudworth (Phil Lord) and his robot butler/assistant, Mr. Butlertron (also Miller) maintained a cloning program with a new class that the old one could interact with.
The world around the frozen clones has changed without their knowledge. In the premiere episode “Let’s Try Again”, Abe finds himself using terms and phrases that are no longer acceptable in 2023, and since his friend Gandhi is nowhere to be seen, he has become even more of an outcast at school than he was before. Meanwhile, Abe confesses that he loves Joan, but she has now moved on and started a relationship with Kennedy. The new power couple is immediately taken over by the new clones, while JFK’s constant insinuations are now viewed as sex-positive.
Clone High also introduces us to a new class of clone students such as class president Frida Kahlo (Vikki Martinez); Harriet Tubman (ur.Ayo Edebiri) who worries about the shadow of their namesake; Confucius (Kelvin Yu) who are more interested in the FlipFlop video app and getting likes than philosophy; and Topher Bass (Neil Casey) who tries to hide the fact that he is a clone of Christopher Columbus. Also joining Scudworth’s senior management and Mr. Butlertron is Candide Simpson (voiced by Miller, as Mitra Juhari now playing Cleopatra) who is working on a covert Colon Cloning Operation Spread Eagle.
Clone HighThe first two episodes, “Let’s Try Again” and “Troubled Times at Clone High”, play on time-tested school concepts, some of which Clone High explored in the first season. For example, “Troubled Times at Clone High,” in which teenagers are haunted by upcoming midterms, there are liner notes for the SAT parody show “Dream of Faith: Awakening Street” in Season 1, and others. episodes from this second season can’t help but remind of the first season from time to time. However, it’s not like the series is digging into the past for new episodes, but rather showing a fresh take on ideas with 20 years of distance and a set of new characters to explore with.
Speaking of characters, a lot of the humor in these first few episodes relies on the original cast as the series tries to figure out how to fit the new cast into the mix. While it takes a little time for this new season to mix old and new, once it does, the new cast will feel just as important to this team. This works because while the first season was mostly about the romantic relationships of JFK, Abe, Joan, and Cleopatra, this reboot/sequel season is mostly about the friendships of these characters and how they change and develop over time. season. Romance still plays a key role in this, but by making this season about friendship, it’s a lot easier for old and new actors to figure out how to develop together. But also in this Clone High knows how to reckon with the mistakes made in the previous season, and does everything possible to correct them. This new season never seems to preach those changes, but acknowledges the opportunity to do it all over again in the way it might have been handled in the first place.
Those first two episodes also do a great job of showing that this series hasn’t missed a beat in the two decades since it last aired. From John F. Kennedy’s sexual comments getting more and more ridiculous to Principal Scudworth’s exposé of what the clones have missed in the last twenty years, Clone High hysterical as ever. This new season is the perfect combination of what has always made this show work, which is a strong mix of absurdity mixed with genuine concern for these characters and their relationships, and some of the funniest jokes on TV today. As the influence of Lord, Miller and Lawrence in film and television grew, it seemed that the world was finally ready for Clone High and the majesty it holds.
It may have taken more than twenty years. Clone High to return, but Lord & Miller’s career goal was worth the wait. After all these years Clone High remains a brilliant concept and genius comedy that both loves and parodies high school movies and TV shows, historical figures, and incredible animation possibilities. Clone High remained great after all this time and it wasn’t a show that needed to be changed - it was a world that had to grow to the brilliance of this show.
Rating: A-
First two episodes Clone High debuting on Max on May 23, with two new episodes airing every Thursday starting June 1.
Source: Collider
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