∇
troperville

∇
tools

∇
toys

Must be Monday. New podcast! Just click on the fancy logo below.

SubpagesMain
WesternAnimation
YMMV

main index

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

random

Subpages:

Western Animation: Blasters Universe

Blaster's Universe is a short-lived Saturday morning animated series produced by Nelvana and aired from October 2, 1999 to September 9, 2000 on CBS in the USA and Teletoon in Canada. It was based on the Blaster Learning System CD-ROM series, as it was reimagined in the late 1990s. The show is in continuity with other games of the era, such as Math Blaster ages 5-7.

Set in the year 2222, it chronicles the adventures of Max Blaster, a bright, impetuous 12 year old boy obsessed with science and space, and his best friend G.C., a cool 12 year old girl who looks like an earthling but is really an alien. Also joining them is a brave and loyal Robot Dog named MEL (acronym for Mechanically Enhanced Lapdog). Together, they travel across the galaxy to stop intergalactic villains from destroying their home planet of Omega.

It only ran for one season. However, it currently airs in reruns on the network KidsCo in international countries like the UK and Australia.

Blaster's Universe provides examples of:

Adorkable: Max Blaster.
An Aesop: Often learned by Blaster or G.C.
Animated Adaptation
Badbutt / Badass Bookworm: The main characters.
Big "NO!": Major History does it at the end of "You're History" when Blaster defeats him by zapping him with the Bomb-Turned Muggle and making him disappear.
Book Dumb: Blaster, only sometimes. Other times, he's a Badass Bookworm (or reforms into a Badass Bookworm, for that matter).
Bratty Half-Pint / The Prankster: Zak in "Math Schmath".
British Accents: MEL has one.
Calling Your Attacks: Parodied in one episode, when Blaster, while trapped in a cage, attempts this by holding up MEL pretending him to be a weapon and yelling "FIRE NOSE-CONE!" before popping the dog's nose open.
Cassandra Truth: Defied in "Uncool Copycat", when G.C. doesn't believe Blaster when he tries to tell her that he saw two moons around Earth, but then finds out he's right when they discover that an evil artist named Deja Vu is making life-sized copies of everything.
Catch Phrase: Blaster's "What a blast!"
Cloning Blues: The plot point of "Uncool Copycat".
Continuity Overlap: With the 1999 version of the games.
Daydream Surprise: Sometimes done by Blaster.
Deadpan Snarker: GC.
Duck!: Happens once in the episode "You're History":
Max: Yeah! What a blast!
Pirate: What? Head's up, what?!
MEL: What? (looks up) Head's up?
Max: (panicked) IT MEANS "DUCK"!! (grabs MEL and ducks with GC as a cannon fires at them)
Edutainment Show
Evil Laugh: Often done by the villains.
Expository Theme Tune
Fantastic Voyage Plot: "Body Electric".
God Guise: Happens to Blaster, G.C. and MEL while they're in the planet Moocowzia in "Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow".
Hurricane of Puns: One of the show's main sources.
Idiot Hero: Max Blaster has shades of this.
Keet: Blaster, again.
Large Ham: Any of the villains, but Blaster as well.
Last Name Basis: Blaster, but the only characters who know him as "Max" are his parents.
Little Stowaway: Zak.
Mind Over Manners: The plot point of you-know-which-episode-whose-title-is-actually-this-trope's-name.^note"Mind Over Manners"!
Mocking Sing Song: In "You're History", the Major sings "Nya nya, told you I know everything!" at one point.
Plucky Comic Relief: Max Blaster, despite being the main character. Also, MEL.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Well, you asked for it. You're history, Major History!"
Punny Name: Max Blaster = Math Blaster.
Purple-Skinned Space Babe: GC.
Robot Dog / Talking Animal: MEL.
Saturday Morning Cartoon
Short Runner
Shorter Means Smarter: MEL.
Spiritual Successor: Let's see...sometime after the show was canceled, Nelvana made another educational science fiction series in which some kids and a robotic animal sidekick go on several adventures to stop a villain from taking over the world. And it even shares the same animation style and logo design.
Team Pet: MEL.
They Fight Crime: An energetic human boy, a no-nonsense alien girl, and a robot dog. They fight crime, but with math, phonics and other education.
Title Theme Tune: "Blaster's U-u-u-universe! B-b-BLASTER'S U-U-U-UNIVERSE!"
Too Dumb to Live: "Nowhere to Hide" has Blaster accidentally breaking a statue in the library with a football, resulting in him and G.C. getting in trouble.
Totally Radical
Tsundere: Depending on the Writer, G.C.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: Max's parents look like him.
Unlucky Everydude: Max.
Why Did It Have to Be Bugs?: Blaster in "Buggin' Out", though he eventually faces his fears at the end.
World Of Pun
You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Max has blue hair and GC has purple hair, just like they did in the Blaster games of the time.