Gadget and the Gadgetinis (2001-2003) is a short-lived Spin-Off series to the classic Inspector Gadget. This installment featured Gadget as a lieutenant for W.O.M.P. [World Organization of Mega Powers] aided by a pair of robot sidekicks, the titular "Gadgetinis", named Digit and Fidget, built by Penny.
Character Exaggeration: Gadget is much, much more oblivious and incompetent this time around (which, considering the original, is saying something), to the point where he is actively an unrestrained menace for everyone around him, and can't do anything without putting himself and others in danger.
It gets to the point where his superior Nozzaire is genuinely shocked anytime Gadget doesn't inadvertently hurt him. It never lasts.
Characterization Marches On: While Gadget is more or less the same character but somewhat exaggerated, Penny has changed somewhat to fit the situation: she's more stern and in control of things, a bit less patient and more intense about what she's doing. Which makes sense for someone whose realized years ago she had to be in control of a whole detective operation and stop her uncle from killing himself on a daily basis.
In "Claw's Nephew", Dr. Claw's mother briefly mentions his frozen brother Dr. Thaw, who was first seen in "Ice Folly".
The episode "Face to Face to Face" features a callback to the original Inspector Gadget episode "Weather in Tibet". The episode features The Chameleon, one of the M.A.D. Agents in said episode, as the villain, albeit having a drastically modified design.
In the episode "Sasquatch Watch", Penny searches through her database and we get to see the profiles of M.A.D. Agents from some of the previous episodes.
Sometimes Gadget slips up and calls Nozzaire "chief".
Girls Need Role Models: The assembled crowd at W.O.M.P. meets G.G. for the first time: "As the lead scientist of the team who developed this innovation, may I introduce you to Super Gadget Girl! ...or, if you prefer, "Super G.G." for short, W.O.M.P.'s very own fembot. The ultimate female crimefighter, programmed under the supervision of 20 of the world's most skilled female scientists. She has superior sensory functions, incredible physical strength, and instincts beyond any human ability... but her most unique feature is her emotionality flexifier." (During the speech, the highly impressed Gadget can be seen standing and saluting.)
Dumb Is Good: Gadget, if your definition of "good" is based on intentions, affiliations and end results.
Evil Twin: One episode features the World Leaders (and Gadget) being kidnapped and replaced with evil clones of themselves.
Expy: Colonel Nozzaire is similar to Chief Quimby from the original series, if only for both having moustaches and informing Gadget on the plans of Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. Agents (the main difference being Nozzaire is far less patient with Gadget, and would be happy to see the back of him). The titular Gadgetinis Fidget and Digit both fill in Brain's role of protecting Gadget from danger and helping Penny find out M.A.D.'s scheme.
On another note, the M.A.D. Agent Wally from the episode Reality Bites shares some similarities with Coconuts from Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog (both are short with round heads, both have degrading jobs and desire promotions, and both are voiced by Ian James Corlett. Also note that both cartoons were made by DiC.)
Penny herself plays Mission Control more often in this show, instead of actually sneaking around herself as in the original. Her role is still largely the same, though.
Hollywood Genetics: According to the show, both Gadget's parents had black (as in, the same color as the lines to draw them) hair. Hair that dark is homozygous dominant regarding darkness, meaning that both Gadget and his mysterious sibling both have black hair. Fine. But it is impossible for a black-haired person to have a blonde child (Penny) because blonde hair is more recessive than dominant regarding darkness — even if Penny's other parent passed down all recessive genes, the lightest hair color she could have is somewhere in the brown area.
Hurricane of Puns: Especially evident in episodes like "Attack of the Killer Bees" and "The Ultimate Weapon".
Jerkass: Col. Nozzaire. Gadget falls under the "grossly, irresponsibly oblivious" camp, to the point where at times it seems few characters besides Penny (who, much like the original show, doesn't seem to mind his stupidity too much... most of the time) can stand to be around him for long.
To be fair, Nozzaire is a selfish jerk, but he doesn't take pleasure in seeing Gadget hurt himself in "Nozzaire's Day Off" and his dislike of Gadget stems from Gadget being a bumbling idiot and wrecking his office and/or hurting him every time he sees him rather than from some unreasonable prejudice.
Jump the Shark: Done quite literally in "Meet Super G.G.", as Gadget jumps on their heads.
My Nayme Is: Nozzaire's name is said "NO-Z-Air" not "Nosehair".
Gadget's misspelling of Nozzaire's name is kept in the Italian dub even with the name change. Nozzaire's new name is Renault, a French car brand, but Gadget calls him "Peugeot"... ANOTHER French car brand!
Kid Detective: Penny, naturally. She's less of a Snooping Little Kid this time around, delegating much of the actual leg work to the Gadgetinis most of the time, but she's still the hypercompetent detective we know and love.
Penny: "Well, it looks like it's time to call the police, so they can give Uncle Gadget the credit for all our hard work."
Magical Database: Penny's computer book has gotten an upgrade into a massive lab that can pretty much find anything she wants.
Monster of the Week: In addition to reusing the original series' formula of having several episodes featuring a one-time M.A.D. Agent distinguishable from the other generic agents, this series had some episodes with one-time villains with no connection to M.A.D. or Dr. Claw whatsoever. Dr. Claw was also absent from a few of these episodes, which had Gadget fighting aliens and dictators.
Mythology Gag: "Super Boss Gadget" contains many homages to scenes from the original's opening theme.
One episode has an explosion which is actually a complete lift of the explosion from the original's opening.
No Ontological Inertia: Destroying "The Weather Machine" causes the "default" weather to come back.
Not so Above It All: Digit is usually sarcastic and cynical, and frequently scolds Fidget for his childlike antics, but has sometimes been on the same page as him. The two even played a video game together at one point. In another episode, despite having earlier claimed that "robots don't have vacations", he is disappointed when it seems they won't be able to go.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Claw makes it clear in this series that he believes Gadget's bumbling is an act meant to taunt him.
It also leads to the Alternative Character Interpretation that Gadget knows Penny is actually the one solving the cases so he lets her do it... but he takes the credit for it since MAD would easily target Penny if they knew she was the one solving it all.
Strong Family Resemblance: Gadget's father Jules has a near identical appearance and mannerisms to his son. He has also has a hobby of inventing "Gizmos".
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Col. Nozzaire stands in for Quimby while Digit and Fidget take on the roles that would usually go to Brain.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: For a bad girl, Dr. Claw's mom Marilyn, as shown in "Erasing Gadget", was actually pretty cute once. His father, "Big Burly" Gordon Claw, was a huge, homely man with excrutiatingly bad body odor.
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