"Down in the Valley where a chemical spill Came from the people living up on the Hill There's a family by the landfill with hazardous foam In their happy, glowing home"
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 Valley portion of Hill Valley - where the air is toxic and the land befouled. 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.The series covers the family's day to day lives, e.g. Bob working at Globocide, Milo, Biff and Chip getting mocked by the popular people, and Pickles stumbling in and out of intoxication and the occasional lusting over of her husband. The show pops up from time to time on [adult swim], and is also available on DVD.Apparently, series creator Angus Oblong hated the final version and claims show runner Jace Richdale and the rest of the writers froze him out of his own show. Despite this, he agreed to appear on the DVD release, albeit with his face obscured and his voice digitally altered for reasons known only to Oblong himself. On said DVD, Oblong claimed that while he actually thought the finished show was Ok, he had such little involvement that he would prefer people say that it was "based on his work" than "his show." Whether this is true or he was just being nice was anyone's guess.
The episode where Milo secretly takes care of Helga after Helga reveals that she's been abandoned by her parents and Hill Valley hires a Bible-thumping old lady named Mrs. Hubbard to act as the town's Moral Guardian following a minor act of vandalism
Actor Allusion: In one episode, Milo states that he's "not quite right." Milo was voiced by Pamela Segall Adlon, who also voiced Bobby Hill (whom Hank Hill always labeled as being "not right" whenever Bobby had a hobby that was considered unmanly or totally stupid).
Ambiguously Gay: Biff, until Milo just went ahead and pointed it out: "You're a latent homosexual!"
Ditto for bullies Jared and Blaine. Again, it's Milo who says what everyone's thinking: "Everyone says you have sex with each other!"
Audience Murmurs: Subverted in "Heroine Addict": Pickles keeps saying things that cause the audience to gasp. However, it's revealed that the gasps are actually coming from Milo's friend, Mikey, who has asthma.
Balls of Steel: Painfully subverted when Mayor Bledsoe, whilst doing a number of macho exercises, dares Mr. Klimer to hit him in the testicles with his golf club. Once the blow is made, the mayor stands perfectly still before saying, in an even voice, "That hurts more than I thought it would."
And Pamela Segall Adlon, who voiced Milo (using the voice she would later use for Otto Osworth on Cartoon Network's short-lived series, Time Squad).
Deadpan Snarker: Pickles owns this trope (particularly when she's dealing with her old friend, Pristine, who hates her for marrying Bob and giving up her life of being rich, pretty, and popular). Milo has his moments too. Creepy Susie does it in her own morbid way.
Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Pristine in the first episode says to Pickles "Well, gotta run. I don't want my daughter and her friends exposed to a drunken hosebag. Oh my gosh! Did I say that out loud?"
Goth: Creepy Susie seems to be a parody of the Gloomy Goth subtrope.
More like Existentialist French i.e. Sartre.
Groin Attack: Bob went to a strip club to celebrate a co-worker's Bachelor Party,and wound up on stage with a dancer. Despite warnings that "My boys are on the ground floor"...
Another SNL cast member who does voice work on this show is Laraine Newman (the female member from the original 1970's cast who wasn't a Weekend Update anchor like Jane Curtin or a crowd-pleasing Genki Girl like the dearly departed Gilda Radner). Newman voices Mrs. Hubbard (an old, white Bible thumper who was hired to crack down on juvenile delinquency as seen in "Milo, Interrupted") and the school nurse (or as Jawless Peggy calls her, "a godless butcher without a shred of legitimate medical training.")
I'm a Humanitarian: Helga's parents were forced to eat the other passengers of their plane after it crashed and the food ran out. Her mom even made Helga a necklace from their teeth. Helga gets noticeably freaked out when her dad mentions she "looks good enough to eat".
Though, in "Disfigured Debbie," one of the Debbies got shredded up in the thresher after beating Milo in student council elections. She did get what she deserved (even though she later got plastic surgery to fix her face, returned to her circle of friends, and learned nothing from the experience).
Another episode has a Debbie mauled by a bear during a nature hike through the city.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Willy the exercise instructor in "Heroine Addict" is an obvious stand-in for Billy Blanks, founder of the then-trendy Tae Bo.
No Mouth: Beth has no visible mouth, except when she's talking.
Noodle Incident: Milo was suspended from school for doing something "unspeakable" with a fish stick. Pickles was about to spank him, but somehow it turned into a Hawaiian lu'au.
Milo's story involving panda bears getting into a Dairy Queen and Milo needing a lawyer.
Same with Yvette, the alien girl, who was able to completely hide the fact that she was a Grey by wearing sunglasses.
Parental Abandonment: Helga's parents went on vacation and were stranded on an ice floe for a year (until Milo rescued them to save Helga from being adopted by Mrs. Hubbard).
Screwed by the Network: Canceled in its original run after five episodes on the WB. Attempts to keep it alive failed, though all 13 episodes eventually aired on [adult swim], and a revival is said to be in the works.
Tag Team Twins: Biff and Chip compete in the same sports at school.
Although one episode had one of them competing in a wrestling tournament one-armed while another was bandaged up from injuries he incurred earlier in the episode (remember, they're conjoined...)
Take That: Mayor Johnny "The Mayor" Bledsoe, a dig at pro-wrestlers-turned-elected-officials.
A few subtle ones are done toward The Simpsons (the scene in "Heroine Addict" with the family getting their picture taken at the mall has them dressed as The Simpsons [with Pickles as Marge, Biff and Chip as Homer, Bob as Maggie, Milo as Bart, and Beth as Lisa) and the WB frog (the scene in "Flush, Flush Sweet Helga" where Helga sees a spider advancing on a frog in a top hat that's trapped in a spider web).
You Are The New Trend: The family's lack of funds force Milo to go to school on a rainy day wearing a bucket on his head and a trash bag as a raincoat. The hill kids make fun of him, until the Fonzie stand in says he likes his bucket. Milo shows up at school the next day to find all of the hill kids wearing buckets and accusing him of copying them. The rest of the plot focuses on his mother helping him stay one step ahead of them.
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