Line #15 WesternAnimation/SpaceGoofs


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/candy_etno_bud_gorgious_and_stereo.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Not exactly intelligent life forms.[[note]]Clockwise from top left: [[MultipleHeadCase Stereo]], [[TheDitz Bud]], [[BigEater Gorgious]], [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Etno]], and [[CampGay Candy]]. [[/note]]]]
3
4
5	-> ''"Five little monsters were ridin' through space''\
6	''Their spaceship broke and they fell into this place'' \
7	''They've gotta get out but they don't know how'' \
8	''So they're waitin' and waitin' in a creepy, creepy house..."''
9	-->-- [[Music/IggyPop Iggy Pop]], "Monster Men"
10
11	''Space Goofs'' (''Les Zinzins de l'espace'' in French, and originally ''Home to Rent'' in Britain) is a French animated series produced by Creator/{{Xilam}} (previously known as Gaumont Multimedia) for France 3 that first aired in 1997.
12
13	It tells the story of five aliens; the intelligent Etno, couch potato Bud, clean freak Candy, gluttonous Gorgious, and two-headed Stereo, who have crashed on Earth and have taken residence in the attic of an old house. Their main tasks are to chase away anybody who takes residence in the old house and try to get back home.
14
15	Most might remember this played on Creator/FoxKids during the late 90's; as such, it was part of the first batch of programming seen on the newly-formed [[Creator/ABCFamily Fox Family Channel]]. The show's main theme was written and performed by Music/IggyPop, of all people.
16
17	The series was renewed for a second season that premiered on May 20, 2005, and it also aired on Nicktoons in the UK under the show's official English title in November of that year. Stereo was also PutOnABus in this season ([[TheBusCameBack save for two episodes]]), and their existence was retconned. The show ended with 104 episodes on May 12, 2006.
18
19	''Stupid Invaders'', a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvLDP4FCVKU video game]] based on the series was released in 2000.
20	----
21	!!Lalalala, lalalalala, we like monster tropes!
22
23	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: The aliens have no problem talking to humans, even when they're not disguising themselves.
24	* AllJustADream: "Rip Van Etno" is revealed at the end to be Etno's dream.
25	* AmusingAlien: The premise of the show - watch five silly aliens get into all sorts of hijinks on Earth.
26	%%* {{Animesque}}: Parodied in the episode "Manga Mania".
27	* ArtEvolution: Between the first season in 1997 and the second in 2005, the increase in quality is really obvious. The main cast were given slight redesigns to appear somewhat more rounded, and human designs were overhauled entirely to better match the updated visuals. They did reuse characters from the first season as background characters, some were given a different voice and personality. (For example, the bespectacled wart-ridden British-accented TV gardening show host became a professional-sounding news anchorman.)
28	** Additionally, the animation for season 1 changed within production. The earlier episodes are much more loose and "cartoony" and have a similar style to Creator/BobClampett, whereas by the second half, the animation becomes a bit tighter.
29	* TheArtifact: The show's ExpositoryThemeTune still retains the "Five little monsters were riding through space..." part in the Season 2 intro even though Stereo [[PutOnABus no longer appears in the show]], to the point that he's not even in the intro where they're shown crashing into Earth.
30	* BadFuture: The future in "Rip Van Etno" is this. Candy, Gorgious and Stereo are all dead, cockroaches have become the dominant species and humans have regressed to cockroach-like lifeforms. Bud and Etno are forced to be the golf caddies for a group of angry cockroach men.
31	%%* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Averted in "Maybe Baby".
32	* BigEater[=/=]ExtremeOmnivore: Gorgious. Candy's flower from "Flora and Feast" had an appetite that outdid Gorgious, even eating the house and ''[[BreakingTheFourthWall part of the screen.]]''
33	* BittersweetEnding: The ending to ''Stupid Invaders'': [[spoiler:The aliens ''finally'' get to go home, but all life on Earth is destroyed via the planet exploding. Oh, and Candy doesn't get the sex change operation (not yet anyway).]]
34	* {{Bowdlerise}}: While the Latin American Spanish dub for season 2 reverted [[ShesAManInJapan Candy's gender back from female to male]], the dub also went out of its way to remove most, if not ''all'', of Candy's CampGay moments. This is particularly noticeable in the episode "Other World Champs", where Candy's initial fear, followed by intrigue of showering with "big, sweaty thugs", as well as him flirting with the basketball team's manager, and his comment near the end of the episode of how he's "always been attracted to bad guys" are all cut from the Latin American Spanish dub of the episode.
35	* ButtMonkey: Poor Candy! If you count Bud, Gorgious, and Stereo as well, Etno might be the only character who ''isn't'' a Butt Monkey.
36	* TheCameo: In the episode where Etno becomes a PhonyPsychic, the antagonists from the video game make an appearance in the line to get their reading.
37	** The show also isn't shy about characters from Xilam's other shows getting cameos. A show that Bud watches on TV in an episode is ''clearly'' WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroaches, right down to using the theme music, and Joey, Marky and Dee-Dee make a quick cameo at the start of "Space Sailors". Bud also briefly transforms into Razmo from {{WesternAnimation/Ratz}} near the start of "Buffalo Blues".
38	* ChristmasEpisode: "Holiday Heave Ho" is set on Christmas Eve.
39	* ColorCodedCharacters:
40	** Bud: Orange
41	** Candy: Green
42	** Etno: Purple
43	** Gorgious: Blue
44	** Stereo: Red
45	* ContrivedCoincidence: In the second season, whenever they needed Stereo in the plot, he would happen to crash-land back on Earth again.
46	* DarkerAndEdgier: The ''Stupid Invaders'' game produced by {{Creator/Ubisoft}} is noticeably a lot more serious on top of being RuderAndCruder compared to the show it was based on, despite still retaining its wackiness. The five aliens are constantly hunted by an assassin hired by an [[Area51 Area 52]] MadScientist that wants to dissect them for his twisted experiments. [[TheManyDeathsOfYou There's also numerous ways to die in the game as well]].
47	%%* DerangedAnimation: And that's putting it lightly.
48	%%* DenserAndWackier: The second season takes it even further than the first one.
49	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: At the start of "Buffalo Blues", Candy describes a sudden protrusion on some sheets that he's hung up as "[[FreudWasRight big, throbbing and wet]]". [[spoiler:He thinks it's Gorgious, blowing his nose on the sheets in question, but it's quickly revealed to be a buffalo instead, kickstarting the episode's plot.]]
50	* DontTryThisAtHome: In the ChristmasEpisode, the aliens are trying to drive Santa Claus away. He tries to slide down the chimney but they shock him with electricity. Before they do, they all (including Santa) urge the viewer not to try this at home.
51	* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Several episodes end with this, especially during season 1. Examples include "Short Changed", "Maybe Baby", "Rebel Without a Brain", "Neighborhood Watch", and "Party Time in Hell", among others.
52	* ExposedExtraterrestrials: None of the aliens wear any clothes unless they are wearing a disguise. Candy wears an apron, but that's about it.
53	* ExpositoryThemeTune: By none other than Music/IggyPop. It's titled "Monster Men".
54	** ThemeTuneExtended: There's an extended version of "Monster Men" that runs just under four minutes.
55	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: In "Our Ancestors the Humans", the aliens encounter a tax collector who threatens to take the house's furniture, saying that they owe 23 years of back taxes. They use Etno's time machine to teleport to certain time periods, only for the tax collector to follow them every time. The episode ends with the tax collectors from all four depicted time periods showing up at the aliens' door, [[MassOhCrap much to their chagrin]].
56	** Similarly, in "Time for a Change", in an attempt to escape their latest tenants (a group of bikers), the aliens (except for Bud) use a time machine to escape to the past. However, they find that the humans in that era are no better than the ones in the present, so they end up traveling back to their own era. The episode ends with them looking out the window in despair while the bikers prepare to move in, as they reluctantly sing "No Place Like Home".
57	%%* FMinusMinus: Combines with only 1 trope below this in the school episode, but technically not showing a grade.
58	* {{Flanderization}}: The characters went through this to some degree in season 2. In the French dub, this is especially noticeable with the change of voice actors (except for Gorgious).
59	** Etno becomes more self-absorbed and manipulative in season 2. In the French dub, he also loses his English accent (due to changing voice actors).
60	** Bud becomes more dumber and addicted to TV than he was in season 1.
61	** Candy has gone through this the most, becoming more of an exuberantly moody and panicky ButtMonkey (compared to season 1, where he tries to keep the peace amongst the group). Also, his effeminate traits are dialed up to the maximum.
62	** Gorgious mostly remains the same, although his greedy BigEater behaviors are slightly toned down, depending on the episode writer. He also becomes a bit more of a {{Jerkass}} compared to the first season, arguably being more fully aware of his actions.
63	** Also, in the two episodes he does appear in, Stereo's only character trait seems to be arguing with his other head (a trait established in only a few episodes of season 1).
64	* FourFingeredHands: Because of the characters being aliens. Even lampshaded in the school episode:
65	-->'''Teacher:''' How much is 5+5?\
66	''(Candy is nervous)''\
67	'''Random Girl:''' Use your fingers.\
68	'''Candy:''' Hmmmm. EIGHT!
69	** Also lampshaded near the end of the episode "Don't Monkey With Me!", where all of the aliens, sans Gorgious, panic and freak out over humans potentially touching them with their five-fingered hands.
70	* HairyGirl: In "Bollywood Aliens" an Indian woman stays in the house and in one scene she can be seen shaving her legs in the bath.
71	* HaveAGayOldTime: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsX_3Sm4G3w&t=6m52s Poopy The Bear's catchy little ditty.]]
72	* HeartBeatsOutOfChest: Happens to Bud after falling in love with the broken-up lady from the episode "First Love".
73	* HighPressureEmotion: Including having set up during the moment Candy becomes DrivenToMadness from "Bats in the Belfry”.
74	* HumansAreBastards: Just about every human that comes to the house is either stupid, a jerk or both. Not that the aliens are much better.
75	* InelegantBlubbering: Candy often does this whenever he's upset, especially during season 2. In "The Thing from Beyond", he dissolves into less than a minute of this when the aliens get lost in the woods.
76	* KubrickStare: "The Flyling" has Stereo, Candy, Gorgious and Etno pull off these twice: the first time is when Bud struggles to turn off his TV, and the second time occurs when they see Bud and his fly friend (who had been causing trouble for them) breaking down in tears when the fly has to leave.
77	* TheLastStraw:
78	** In "Bats in the Belfry", Candy snaps after being bullied enough by bats. When he chases them away, he chews out the other aliens as well. This moment also counts as a BerserkButton, UnstoppableRage or a DrivenToMadness example.
79	** In "Buy Now, Pay Later", Etno snaps near the end of the episode, after constantly paying the salesman to get rid of several pests in the house.
80	** From the PrisonEpisode, the aliens attempt to get out of the prison built around their house. One attempt involves the aliens making a bridge. When Ernie comes, he is holding an anvil, which is enough for the alien-bridge to collapse and fall.
81	* MarketBasedTitle: The 1997 season was retitled ''Home to Rent'' in the UK. When the show was revived and aired on Nicktoons, they retained the original title.
82	* MultiPartEpisode: The episodes "Once Upon a Time" and "Toon In, Drop Out" are split into two parts.
83	* NegativeContinuity: Not much seems to stick with this shows in terms of what continues or not. Several episodes end with the alien’s house being severely trashed or destroyed while other episodes end with the aliens being permanently changed into a different form like gnomes or vampire dust only to be inexplicably fine in the next episode. Then there is the issue with Stereo, who was with the other aliens in season one but his involvement was retconned and only makes two appearances in season 2.
84	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
85	** A bat talks like John Travolta.
86	** When a rock band invades their house, Etno disguises as [[Music/MickJagger Slick Stagger]].
87	* NoOSHACompliance: The video game adaptation features ''very'' few stairs and ledges that have actual railings. Most notable is the second act, which takes place in a huge factory and has plenty of unsecured platforms over huge drops.
88	* NoShirtLongJacket: Bud's biker disguise from the episode "First Love". Here he wears shorts, a green hat and a black small jacket, but no shirt.
89	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: The episode "Doodle" features a boy in a different art style. Considering he was drawn by someone else InUniverse, it's {{Justified\|Trope}}.
90	* PrecisionFStrike: At the end of "Doodle", Gorgious flat-out says, "This is such a ''retarded'' idea!" after getting roped into cheering up Bud.
91	** Also, in "Time for a Change", when Bud tries to warn his friends that using a time machine to escape tenants will "juggle the eggs of fate", they all just laugh at him, with Gorgious adding, "That Bud always says the funniest ''crap'' in his sleep!"
92	** In "Once Upon a Time", Candy exclaims "Intergalactic ''damnation''!" in response to learning that the group has landed on the human-populated Earth. Not long after, Etno refers to Earth as a "God-forsaken planet".
93	* PutOnABus: Stereo in the second season, [[TheBusCameBack although he then came back in 2 episodes]].
94	* {{Retcon}}: The opening for the second season shows the aliens crashlanding sans Stereo, even though he comes back in other episodes.
95	* RunningGag: When one or more of the main characters use the transforming machine to become humans or whatever, they always pass three different forms before the final transformation--with the third usually being something outrageously over-the-top. In an episode they remain aliens, but Candy becomes huge and muscular with the others looking in awe, in another, Gorgious becomes an egg laid by a chicken who came out of nowhere, in another, the whole group becomes a color coded set of vacuum cleaners ''and'' in another they become four stereotypical Chinese men stacked on each other... the list goes on.
96	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Candy is essentially the Sensitive Guy to Gorgious's Manly Man. Candy acts like a [[LargeHam hammy]] house-wife, while Gorgious is usually the {{Jerkass}}.
97	** Similarly, Bud tends to fall into the Sensitive Guy to Etno's Manly Man.
98	* {{Slapstick}}: Extensively utilized in the episode "Toon In, Drop Out" as part of its homage to classic cartoons.
99	* TheSongRemainsTheSame:
100	** All dubs except for the Māori dub keep the opening theme song in English. Although the show had first premiered in French and English, Iggy Pop (the artist) never recorded a French cover. Only the original Italian dub featured an AlternativeForeignThemeSong for the first season.
101	** Foreign dubs of season 2 combine this with NonDubbedGrunts.
102	%%* SphereEyes
103	* SpringtimeForHitler: The aliens try making the house look as much a dump as possible to dissuade people from moving in. [[spoiler:A farmer and his animals then take interest.]]
104	* StatusQuoIsGod:
105	** The aliens never manage to return home. [[spoiler:Except in the adventure game, where they manage to escape Earth. But that one's dubiously canon, so take it with a grain of salt.]]
106	** "Get Off My Couch!" has the aliens seeing a therapist who manages to get them to drop their obsessive quirks: Candy stops cleaning and decides to write a novel, Gorgious becomes a healthy eater and sheds a lot of weight, and Bud stops watching TV and becomes a musician. Eventually, Etno drives the therapist out of the house and manipulates the other three into going back to the way they were before.
107	** Both episodes where Stereo came back in the second season ended with him accidentally being launched off the planet while testing a ship.
108	* TeamMom and TeamDad: Candy and Etno, respectively. To top it off, whenever the aliens go into disguise as humans, Candy and Etno literally disguise themselves as a couple in their respective roles.
109	* TeensAreMonsters: In one episode, Bud befriends a rather obnoxious human teenager.
110	* TemporalDuplication: In "Who's Who?" Etno attempts to teleport back home and accidentally sends himself back in time just before he used the teleporter, resulting in two Etnos being there at the same time.
111	* ThemeTuneRollCall: Not the normal theme tune played on the show, but the extended version of "Monster Men" has lyrics naming the aliens and quickly summing up their personalities.
112	->''Poor old Stereo he ain't sure just what he knows\
113	Etno is intelligent he's quite a super-head\
114	Gorgious is a great big guy but he's fat from too much pie\
115	Bud is cool of course it's true but he's a TV fool''\
116	...\
117	''Candy is the sweetest one cleans and cooks and acts like Mom''
118	* TheyLookLikeUsNow: The gang have a machine that makes them look like humans, Earth animals, or even inanimate objects.
119	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: A common plot is that there's a new tenant in the house that the aliens need to somehow drive away.
120	%%* VocalEvolution: Compare how Candy sounds in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3c_8OHOdmk season 1]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01NIUIS5FIk season 2]].
121	* WhatDoesThisButtonDo: In "Arctic Intelligence", when aliens are just about to leave Earth, [[TheDitz Bud]] presses a button on their spaceship that releases a disco ball and more disastrously, another one that freezes everything, preventing the aliens from going home once again.
122	* WifeHusbandry: In "Time Traveler", Candy begins to treat the evolved caveman Ug as his own son. When Etno evolves Ug further into a knight, Ug mistakes Candy for a woman and asks for his hand in marriage. When Etno informs him that Candy is his parent and not a fair maiden, Ug gets mad at Candy for his "deceptions" and declares war on the aliens.
123	-->'''Candy:''' Is it illegal to... marry your own son?\
124	''[Everyone but Candy laughs.]''
125	* WorthlessYellowRocks: In "Short Changed", a family of robbers make the aliens' home their hideout, stashing their stolen cash there. Not knowing what it's for, the aliens try to find uses for it: Gorgious eats it, Candy uses it as wallpaper, Bud uses it for kindling, Stereo makes paper airplanes out of it and Etno ends up transmogrifying it into toilet paper.
126	* YouCantGetYeFlask: Happens in the episode "We Robot", where all of the other aliens want Etno's robot, even though at first he says it is programmed only for him. To get out of this trope, Etno's robot does what they wanted.
127	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Part of the trope's name is used for an episode title. Averted at the end of ''Stupid Invaders'', but played straight at the end of "Welcome!", where it's revealed that [[spoiler: all of the humans that the aliens have inadvertently or intentionally sent away using one of Etno's "failed" spaceships ended up sending them to their home planet. Needless to say, the humans are ''not'' amused, prompting the aliens to return to earth, instead]].

Context WesternAnimation / SpaceGoofs