Line #49 WesternAnimation/CounterfeitCat


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/counterfeitcat2.jpg]]
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3	What would happen if someone attempted to fuse ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' and ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' into one? The result would be this.
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5	'''''Counterfeit Cat''''' is a British-Canadian animated series created by Andrew Laverey, and co-developed between Britain's Creator/AardmanAnimations and Canada's Creator/AtomicCartoons (with the latter providing the animation). It first premiered on Creator/DisneyXD in the UK on May 12, 2016, and in the US, a sneak peek played on May 31st, and then the series officially premiered there on June 20. The series premiered in Canada on Creator/{{Teletoon}}, beginning November 1, 2016. It came to an end in 2017 after a single season of 26 episodes, although 11 shorts were also produced.
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7	The show centers on two friends; [[TheDogIsAnAlien Gark]], a blue, tentacled alien with strange PsychicPowers who wears a custom-made purple cat costume to blend in, and his close friend Max, a selfish, vain housecat who live together with their doting owner [[CoolOldLady Betty]], a kind-hearted yet klutzy old woman, and their bizarre, over-the-top abstract adventures as Max occasionally ends up in weird situations or ends up misusing Gark's powers for his own benefit.
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9	Interestingly, this show marks the third Aardman TV production with a Canadian studio, having previously done both ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSketch'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChopSockyChooks'' with [[Creator/WildBrain Decode Entertainment]] in the 2000s (both of which incidentally also aired on Teletoon in Canada)
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11	!!Tropes pertaining to the series:
12	* AlienInvasion: The climax of "Betty Laser Eyes" has a [[ItMakesSenseInContext a race of multicolored extraterrestrials with googly eyes]] invade Earth after Betty's laser vision mucks things up.
13	* AliensSpeakingEnglish
14	* AnimalTalk: Aliens and most animals have no problem speaking with each other. Gark's [[TranslatorMicrobes translator]] must be on the fritz, though, because his speech comes across as a series of high-pitched mews to humans, while Throckmorton can be understood just fine.
15	* BadassAdorable: Gark. He's unbelievably powerful, and he's ''absolutely'' adorable.
16	* BaitAndSwitch: In one episode Max [[ItMakesSenseInContext falls in love with a vacuum cleaner]]. While in Betty's room with it, Max proclaims "Finally, I understand what vacuums are for", sounding like he meant the vacuum giving him a blowjob, then it zooms out to show that it's just vacuuming the bed.
17	* BodyHorror: Pretty frequent for a children's show, but "Go Viral" takes the cake.
18	* CoolOldLady: Betty is this to a limited extent, but she does make up by being nice to everyone.
19	* CouchGag: The last scene of the intro. Regularly it's the wall of Betty's apartment falling down to reveal a giant monster with a leering eye; in horror-themed episodes, Betty's head unzips like a costume to reveal a tentacle monster, and in the Christmas special, Max and Gark are frozen while Christmas decorations are hung up in Betty's apartment.
20	* DerangedAnimation: The animation can get very weird at times, with the wormhole entering/exiting scene in "Wormhole" taking the cake.
21	* EldritchAbomination: The "Power of all Creatures" in "Go Viral".
22	* FreudianTrio:
23	** TheKirk: Betty
24	** TheSpock: Max
25	** TheMcCoy: Gark
26	* {{Expy}}: Max is an overweight, self-centered feline with a big appetite. [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Remind you of anyone?]]
27	* [[TheDogIsAnAlien The Cat Is an Alien]]: Gark. Later in "Wart Attack", Wilma's dog turns out to be an alien bounty hunter looking for Gark.
28	* GiantEyeOfDoom: At the end of the first opening, the wall crashes down for no reason, and a gigantic, lizard-like eye stares at Max, Gark and Betty.
29	* GlowingEyes: In "Staring Dog", Gark's eyes shine just like a pair of flashlights as he explores Wilma's apartment in the dark.
30	* InstrumentalThemeTune: The theme music is electronic-ish, and has whistling throughout; The only words spoken are a robotic "Counterfeit Cat" at the end.
31	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Max is a self-absorbed yet cowardly layabout who frequently uses Gark's powers for selfish gain, but, deep down, he cares ''so much'' for his best friend, and when it shows, it shows.
32	* MaliciousMisnaming: Max often calls Ranceford "Rancid".
33	* MistakenIdentity: According to the show's [[AllThereInTheManual official backstory]], Gark initially mistook Max for a tiger, believing him to be the "bravest creature on Earth".
34	* NoodleIncident: How Gark crashed his spacecraft into Betty's laundry room is left unknown.
35	* NoWaterproofingInTheFuture: In "I, Maxine", Max's PoweredArmor ends up rusting when exposed to rain. This is {{justified\|Trope}} as it's made out of a material found on Gark's planet, where there is no water and it rains strawberry milk.
36	* OcularGushers: In the episode "9 Lives", Gark cried an entire deluge that flooded the city.
37	* OrganicTechnology: Bizarrely, by way of his alien powers, Gark can use his own body to interface with electronics, as in plugging his tentacle into a security camera to scrape the footage or playing back a DVD by ''swallowing it''.
38	* PaperThinDisguise: If there wasn't apparently a WeirdnessCensor, Gark's cat costume wouldn't last ten minutes, especially considering that it doesn't even match his skin color.
39	* PoweredArmor: The plot of "I, Maxine" is that Max attempts to gain respect by wearing an enormous robot suit.
40	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Gark is surpringly cute for a powerful psychic alien.
41	* RubberMan: Gark can stretch his limbs and body ridiculously far, and he can also [[PartialTransformation mold his tentacles into any tool he can think of as if they were clay]], from a rowing oar to a surgical scalpel.
42	* ShoutOut:
43	** In "The Scarlet Mark", Gark is playing detective, dressed exactly like Series/{{Sherlock}}; he even has dimples to denote prominent cheekbones.
44	** The title "28 Seconds Later" is a reference to ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' and ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater''.
45	** Near the end of "Staring Dog", Gark thinks he sees Betty in a red coat and it turns out to be Staring Dog, referencing ''Film/DontLookNow''.
46	* SlapSlapKiss: Max and Ranceford often mock and insult each other, but the [[ValentinesDayEpisodes Valentine's day episode]] showed them going on a date together.
47	* TheSpeechless: Staring Dog only communicates with a loud breathing sound.
48	* StatusQuoIsGod: In "Any Takers?" Max and Gark's friends find out Gark is an alien, prompting Max to get a device to wipe their memories. By the time Max comes back and uses the device [[NiceJobBreakingItHero everyone had grown to accept Gark as an alien]].
49	* StickySituation: The plot of "Bin Juice" is that Max is detailing him and Gark becoming a pop duo after they get stuck together with what is implied to be rain water mixed with garbage.
50	* ThousandYardStare: Staring Dog has a permanent one.
51	* WeirdnessCensor: In "Wart Attack", as Max and Gark are ''explicitly'' engaging in a laser battle against two aliens, Betty and Wilma only see a handful of small animals roughhousing on the carpet.
52	* ZombieApocalypse: "28 Seconds Later", which you could probably guess just from the title.

Context WesternAnimation / CounterfeitCat