History WesternAnimation / TheOblongs

So the gist of ''The Oblongs'' is this: there's the eponymous family living in the extremely poor half of the town -- in this case, the [[EnvironmentalSymbolism Valley portion]] of Hill Valley -- where the air is toxic and the land befouled[[note]]This is the phrasing used verbatim by Mr. Klimer [[EstablishingSeriesMoment in the first episode]][[/note]]. There's Bob, the father, who has no arms or legs yet somehow hops his limbless torso around from place to place, handle things with his mouth, ''and'' drives a car; Marie Kay "Pickles" Oblong, the alcoholic, chain-smoking mother with a huge beehive wig who used to live in the Hills; Biff and Chip, the oldest and Siamese twin brothers; Milo, their heavily medicated little brother with a myriad of mental and social illnesses; and Beth, the youngest and only daughter, who is possibly the most "normal" of the family despite the large pinkish tumor growing out of her head.

* TheNoseless: Fitting with Angus Oblong's art style, none of the humans have noses, though some of them at least have nostrils.

** Peggy on the other other hand, has no bottom jaw and possibly her mouth is off screen which explains why she [[SpeechImpediment spits in her sentences]].

This show was originally part of Creator/TheWB's crop of shows back when the WB first started out and modeled itself after Creator/{{Fox}} Network (which explains the ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''-esque sitcom, ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter''). This show, along with ''WesternAnimation/MissionHill'' and ''WesternAnimation/BabyBlues'' were also a part of the second wave of animated adult sitcoms [[DuelingShows dueling with]] ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (and then-newcomers ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''). This show (and the other two) failed (mostly due to ExecutiveMeddling and low ratings), but have since attained cult classic status, thanks to Creator/AdultSwim airing the episodes and the entire series being released on DVD (though ''Mission Hill'' was [[ClumsyCopyrightCensorship edited to remove the copyrighted music on its soundtrack]] and ''Baby Blues'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes hasn't been released on DVD]]).

''The Oblongs'' was loosely based on characters from ''Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children'' by Angus Oblong. Despite rumors that he was frozen from the creative process and [[DisownedAdaptation hated the show]], Oblong himself claims he found it SoOkayItsAverage, but stressed that it was an adaptation of his book rather than a direct retelling.

* BloodlessCarnage:
** In one episode, a man gets his head cut off with a jump rope, but there is absolutely no blood.
** {{Subverted|Trope}} in [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Disfigured Debbie"]], when one of the Debbies fall in a thresher. Though, [[{{Squick}} thankfully]], [[GoryDiscretionShot only the blood splatters are seen]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Beth's growth caused a lot of speculation until WordOfGod had to finally say on his website "It's not a penis, guys."

** NamesTheSame as the (table-flat) Hill Valley in ''Film/BackToTheFuture''.

** Peggy on the other other hand, has no bottom jaw and possibly her mouth is off screen which explains why she [[Speed Impediment spits in her sentences]].

** Peggy on the other other hand, has no bottom jaw and possibly her mouth is off screen which explains why she spits in her sentences.

* TheNoseless: Fitting with Angus Oblong's art style, none of the characters have noses, though some of them at least have nostrils.

So the gist of ''The Oblongs'' is this: there's the eponymous family living in the extremely poor half of the town -- in this case, the [[EnvironmentalSymbolism Valley portion]] of Hill Valley -- where the air is toxic and the land befouled[[note]]This is the phrasing used verbatim by Mr. Klimer in the first episode[[/note]]. There's Bob, the father, who has no arms or legs yet somehow hops his limbless torso around from place to place, handle things with his mouth, ''and'' drives a car; Marie Kay "Pickles" Oblong, the alcoholic, chain-smoking mother with a huge beehive wig who used to live in the Hills; Biff and Chip, the oldest and Siamese twin brothers; Milo, their heavily medicated little brother with a myriad of mental and social illnesses; and Beth, the youngest and only daughter, who is possibly the most "normal" of the family despite the large pinkish tumor growing out of her head.

** In "The Golden Child", when Bob wakes up from a nightmare and decides to tell the truth from now on, Pickles abruptly confesses "I was the one who farted and ruined Christmas!"

* ClusterFBomb: Wonderfully subverted in "The Golden Child".

* OurSloganIsTerrible: From "Bucketheads": "The Restaurant That's Too Cool For a Sign." <--- "That sign doesn't count."

* ABoyAndHisX: Milo and Scottie qualify as a boy and his narcoleptic Scottie dog.

** Beth's "doll", Slowie, which is actually a redecorated bondage whip.

This show was originally part of Creator/TheWB's crop of shows back when the WB first started out and modeled itself after Creator/{{Fox}} Network (which explains the ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''-esque sitcom, ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter''). This show, along with ''WesternAnimation/MissionHill'' and ''WesternAnimation/BabyBlues'' were also a part of the second wave of animated adult sitcoms [[DuelingShows dueling with]] ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (and then-newcomers ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''). This show (and the other two) failed (mostly due to ExecutiveMeddling and low ratings), but have since attained cult classic status, thanks to Creator/AdultSwim airing the episodes and the entire series being released on DVD (though ''Mission Hill'' was [[ClumsyCopyrightCensorship edited to remove the copyrighted music on its soundtrack]] and ''Baby Blues'' hasn't been released on DVD).

''The Oblongs'' was loosely based on characters from ''Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children'' by Angus Oblong. Despite rumors that he was frozen from the creative process and [[DisownedAdaptation hated the show]], Oblong himself claims he found it SoOkayItsAverage, but stressed that it was an adaptation of his book rather than a direct retelling

So the gist of ''The Oblongs'' is this: There's the eponymous family living in the extremely poor half of the town - in this case, the [[EnvironmentalSymbolism Valley portion]] of Hill Valley - where the air is toxic and the land befouled[[note]]This is the phrasing used verbatim by Mr. Klimer in the first episode[[/note]]. There's Bob, the father, who has no arms or legs yet somehow hops his limbless torso around from place to place, handle things with his mouth, ''and'' drives a car; Marie Kay "Pickles" Oblong, the alcoholic, chain-smoking mother with a huge beehive wig who used to live in the Hills; Biff and Chip, the oldest and Siamese twin brothers; Milo, their heavily medicated little brother with a myriad of mental and social illnesses; and Beth, the youngest and only daughter, who is possibly the most "normal" of the family despite the large pinkish tumor growing out of her head.

** Also, Bob - namely the old joke about "What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs in the water?"

''The Oblongs'' was loosely based on characters from ''Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children'' by Angus Oblong. Despite rumors that he was frozen from the creative process and [[CreatorBacklash hated the show]], Oblong himself claims he found it SoOkayItsAverage, but stressed that it was an adaptation of his book rather than a direct retelling

* GaiasLament: The Valley is horribly polluted, complete with a yellowish-green sky.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Pretty much every Hills resident, though Christine Klimer takes the cake.
-->'''Christine''': Consuela, how do you say, "You're not cleaning mi casa bueno enough." There is el spot-o on el floor-o!\\