YMMV / Time Squad

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • A major question from "Day of the Larrys" is if the final Larry the real one or an imposter who took his place? Did the real Larry come back? According to Word Of God he does.
  Carlos Ramos: Larry is Larry forever more. I doubt deep space actually killed him.
  • Are JT Laser and Lance just pragmatic Jerkass who only try to accomplish their mission or are they straight-up villains who take pleasure in putting Tuddrussel, Larry and Otto in danger?
  • In "Ex Marks the Spot", does Tuddrussel still view Larry as a friend or does he share his feelings? Larry's last line seems to indicate they got a Relationship Upgrade.
  • Why did XJ5 help Larry ruin the dinner? Was it only because he hated Tuddrussel, or does he have, like Larry, have feelings for his human partner?
  • In "Lewis And Clark And Larry" episode, was Larry only exploring with Lewis to repair his relationship with Clark, and therefore finish the mission? Or was it because Larry took interest in him?
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: The episode "Kubla Khan't" prortrays the 13th century emperor of China and grandson of Genghis Khan as a comic book Geek. Otto actually lampshades this saying he didn't even know comic books existed in the 13th century. While Kubla's comic books take an American inspiration, which wouldn't be around for another 600 years, the origin of the manga on the other hand has roots going back to the 12th century.
• Award Snub: Was nominated for five Annie Awards between 2001 and 2002 (Outstanding Achievement in a Primetime or Late Night Animated Television Production, Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television Production^note with Time Biskup set to win it, Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production^note for Pamela Segall Adlon's work on "Eli Whitney's Flesh-Eating Mistake", Outstanding Character Design in an Animated Television Production^note for Alex Kirwan's work on the episode "The Clownfather", and Outstanding Production Design in an Animated Television Production^note for show creator Dave Wasson's work on "Keepin' It Real With Sitting Bull") and won none of them.
• Cult Classic: While it wasn't a major hit back when it was airing (it got some good reviews, but the majority of the others stated that the show was either average or awful), it became surprisingly popular after it ended, mostly because of the sheer amount of Ho Yay and innuendo that it had.
• Designated Villain: Tuddrussell in "Planet of the Flies" is treated as irresponsible because he swatted a fly in the very distant past, which leads to flies taking over the world. However, considering that they significantly alter history with no repercussions later on, it's not much of a stretch for him to assume that killing a fly wouldn't alter the later past. Later, he is chided by Larry for killing a giant fly attacking a medieval town, even though killing said fly was their mission.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Sheila and XJ5 as well as Lewis and Clark.
• Genius Bonus: Several.
  • In "Love at First Flight", Otto asks Larry and Tuddrussel, "In what year was the Magna Carta written?" Larry confidently answers 1895 (the correct answer is 1215). Why would Larry pick that year? Well, 1895 just so happens to be the year that English writer, Oscar Wilde, was convicted and put on three trials for homosexuality that spring.
  • In "Ivan The Untrainable," Otto asks Larry if he would like to play with his American Founding Fathers action figures with him. He then says that he could be Francis Lightfoot Lee, who is depicted as a toy in a powdered wig, with makeup, and rather feminine-looking hand gestures. Francis Lightfoot Lee was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and reportedly a closeted homosexual.
  • "Eli Whitney's Flesh-Eating Mistake" might seem a bit random by having Whitney create flesh-eating robots with the intent of "helping mankind", but it could also serve as an analogy for his creation of the cotton gin: Whitney was an abolitionist who hoped that his invention would reduce dependency on slavery. Instead, by only removing the most labor-intensive part of the cotton production process (and not the part of picking it), plantations simply reassigned those slaves to picking cotton, and the increased profitability allowed them to massively ramp up production, which required more slaves. As a result, the number of slaves in the cotton industry quintupled over the next 50 years, and the cotton gin is now frequently considered to be an indirect cause of the American Civil War.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The episode "Nutorious" has a relative of George Washington Carver use peanuts for evil. 4 years later, The Proud Family Movie did almost the exact same thing.
  • One episode depicted Beethoveen becoming a wrestler. Come 2016 and we have another wrestler associated with Beethoveen.
• LGBT Fanbase: Young LGBT fans have always been at the heart of the small fandom, often focusing their attention on Larry in particular due to his not so subtle mannerisms and the Odd Couple type of Ho Yay vibes between him and Buck Tuddrussel. Then there's the fan reactions to how blatantly the writers wrote American explorers Lewis and Clark as being in a gay relationship and how they just needed to rekindle their love for each other by the end of the episode.
• Moral Event Horizon: Sister Thornly started out as a Jerkass, and quickly crossed the line when her second appearance revealed she used the orphans under her care for slave labor.
• Periphery Demographic: Par for the course for most Cartoon Network original programming, but this show stood out for only having two seasons (at the time, most Cartoon Cartoons had either three or four seasons, with certain Cash Cow Franchises getting five or six).
• Ship Mates:
  • It is not rare that Tuddrussel/Larry fans also like Lewis and Clark.
  • People who ship Tuddrussel/Larry will most likely pair Sheila and XJ5 together.
• Significant Reference Date: The first episode, "Eli Whitney's Flesh-Eating Mistake" aired on June 8th, 2001, which deals with Larry and Tuddrussel taking Otto from the 21st century to help them. A year later, on June 7th, 2002 the season 2 episode "Love At First Flight" airs. The significance? The episode deals with Otto's birthday, and could almost be regarded as the show's one-year anniversary.
• So Okay, It's Average: While still a pretty fun cartoon to watch, it's more remembered for its blatant homosexuality (It wasn't until Steven Universe and Clarence did CN have official gay couples though) and how frequently it dodged the radar in its short run than for being as good as many of its Cartoon Cartoons contemporaries with reason
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!: The show gets a lot of flak from viewers for being similar to Mr. Peabody & Sherman with a robot and a Time Cop instead of a talking dog.
• Unfortunate Character Design: A deliberate example in Larry's case, with his hourglass figure and head in the shape of a penis.
• Values Resonance: The episode "Forget the Alamo" has Larry help Tuddrussell's ancestor Jeremiah plan a party for General Santa Anna and his men by presenting a theme-park version of Mexico. When the army arrives, General Santa Anna is appalled by their insensitive treatment of his country: "This is NOT Mexican! It is an insult to our culture!"; his anger is what prompts the army to attack and set history right. As the years have passed, such stereotypical depictions of countries have been found to be incredibly demeaning to the people who live there...just what this episode demonstrates.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
  • Given the show's steady stream of demographically inappropriate humour in only a matter of 26 episodes, no sane, competent network censor would dream of airing this series without making some adjustments — but this show aired on Cartoon Network, so any argument over whether or not it's for kids is invalid.
  • In Canada, the show actually aired on Teletoon's Detour block (their equivalent to Adult Swim) and was rated PG.
• The Woobie:
  • Otto starts the series as an orphan under the care of an abusive nun, who frequently used him as slave labor. Even though his life decidedly improves after Tuddrussel and Larry "adopt" him, and they clearly care about him, they're far from ideal role models, and Otto frequently has to shoulder most of the mission by himself. Even his new guardians aren't exempt from occasional moments of cruelty or neglect, as shown in "Hate and Let Hate" and "Orphan Substitute".
  • Larry used to work with politicians, diplomats, and kings, but now is forced to cook and clean up after Tuddrussel. This would be bad enough, but Tuddrussel himself is a selfish, insensitive pig, who will go out of his way to make Larry's life a little harder or insult him for his feminine habits and hobbies.
  • One episode managed to make Al Capone into one. His particular "time mission" sees him forcing his gang to switch places with the clowns of Chicago: they'll commit the crimes, while he and his men become children's entertainers. It turns out that as a boy, he had an absolutely horrible clown named Ho-Ho come to his birthday party and ruin his special day, driving poor Little Al to tears, which ultimately drove him down his life of crime. Eventually, he became determined to make sure no child (particularly his own son) ever has to go through a similar ordeal again. This sets him apart from many of the other historical figures in the show, who had selfish or silly reasons for not fulfilling their particular role in space-time.
  • This show even made Napoleon himself into one. To explain, he has an overbearing wife who constantly nags him to no end and does not give him any time to spend on himself. Whenever he does try to go on conquests, his wife just stops him from doing so, yelling at him and at one point even punching him. This constant nagging was enough to cause a historical inaccuracy and make the Time Squad intervene.

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