Clone High

Clone High is an adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence for MTV. It premiered on November 2, 2002 in Canada, and January 20, 2003 in the United States. Set at a high school populated by the clones of well-known historical figures, the series follows its central cast which includes adolescent depictions of Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Gandhi, Cleopatra and JFK. The series also serves as a parody of teen dramas such as Dawson's Creek, Degrassi, and Beverly Hills, 90210; every episode is humorously introduced as a "very special episode" with narration provided by Will Forte.
Lord and Miller first developed the series' concept, originally titled Clone High School, USA!, while at Dartmouth College in the 1990s, later pitching it to executives of the Fox Broadcasting Company during their tenure at Disney, who ultimately decided to pass on the program. The rights were purchased by Viacom International to air on their cable channel MTV, producing the series between 2002 and 2003; Disney's television arm Touchstone Television retains a production credit. The show's design is heavily stylized and its animation style is limited, emphasizing humor and story over visuals. The Clone High theme song, "Master (Clone High Theme)", was written by Tommy Walter and performed by his alternative rock band Abandoned Pools. The series was produced by Bill Lawrence, who also produced Scrubs, Spin City and Cougar Town. Many Scrubs alumni, such as Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, Neil Flynn, and Christa Miller, provided the voices of characters in Clone High for free, with Flynn also reprising his role from Scrubs as the Janitor (Glenn) in a recurring role. Writing and voice work were done at North Hollywood Medical Center, where Scrubs was filmed.
The first season premiered on Canadian cable channel Teletoon's late-night programming block The Detour on Teletoon on November 2, 2002, and MTV in the United States on January 20, 2003. It became embroiled in controversy regarding its depiction of Gandhi soon afterward, which prompted over 100 people in India to mount a hunger strike in response. Shortly after, MTV canceled the series, which had been receiving low ratings; the last episodes of the first season were seen in 2016 on MTV Classic in the United States. Clone High received mixed reviews from television critics upon its premiere, but it has since received critical acclaim and a cult following.
On July 2, 2020, it was announced that a revival of the series was in development at MTV Entertainment Studios with the creators Lord, Miller, and Lawrence returning. On February 10, 2021, it was announced that HBO Max (later Max) had ordered two seasons of the revival, which premiered on May 23, 2023. The second season of the revival (third season overall) premiered with all ten episodes on February 1, 2024. On July 26, 2024, the revival of the series was canceled after two seasons, leaving the series on another cliffhanger.
Clone High is set in a high school in the fictional town of Exclamation, US, that is secretly being run as an elaborate military experiment orchestrated by a government office called the Secret Board of Shadowy Figures. The school is entirely populated by the clones of famous historical figures who were created in the 1980s and raised with the intent of having their various strengths and abilities harnessed by the United States military. The principal of the high school, Cinnamon J. Scudworth, who wants to use the clones to create a clone-themed amusement park, dubbed "Cloney Island", has his plans for the clones and secretly tries to undermine the wishes of the Board. He is assisted by his robot butler/vice principal/dehumidifier, Mr. Butlertron, who is programmed to call everyone "Wesley" and speak in three distinct intonations.
The show centers on the clones of five famous figures: Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, JFK, and Gandhi. The central plot of the show revolves the clones going through day-to-day struggles and boundaries. The show also involves Abe either realizing and reciprocate the feelings of Joan of Arc, who is attracted to him, or stay with the vain and promiscuous clone of Cleopatra. Meanwhile, JFK's clone, a macho, narcissistic womanizer, is also attempting to win over Cleopatra and has a long-standing rivalry with Abe.
This was the only season to be created in traditional digital ink-and-paint animation by Rough Draft Studios.
Seasons 2 and 3 were created by ShadowMachine Animation studio.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller first met together while they were attending Dartmouth College. The profiles of Lord and Miller on the college's newspaper caught the attention to former Disney chairman Michael Eisner. Lord and Miller attended a two-minute interview with animation executives at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. The next day, they signed a development deal at Walt Disney Television Animation to create Saturday-morning cartoons. They spent a year trying to create a Saturday morning show but felt that they were not "Disney brand" enough to pitch it. They were later hired by Touchstone Television to create primetime programming, and they wrote a few episodes of Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane and Go Fish. The show was originally pitched to the Fox Broadcasting Company, who purchased the show but decided not to order it to series due to a "regime change". Miller deemed it the "easiest pitch ever," considering the show's use of famous figures. Following Fox's rejection, MTV purchased the program in May 2001. Lord and Miller met and pitched the idea to their godfather Bill Lawrence, who started working on the first season of Scrubs at the time. Having difficulty affording an office, Lawrence helped Lord and Miller to have their offices at an empty part of North Hollywood Medical Center, where Scrubs was filmed. The show was at a low, limited budget, costing approximately $750,000 per episode. According to Miller during an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2017, Clone High helped Lord and Miller learn about filmmaking, including editing and execution of timing.
The series started development after they graduated in college and landed a deal at Walt Disney Television Animation. While attempting to develop a Saturday-morning cartoon, Miller developed the show's premise with the clones attending at a university on a notebook. Lord later changed the show's setting to a high school, attempting to lean into the tropes of teen dramas, a popular genre at the time. While making lists of people "everybody [had] heard of", they found themselves limited in the number of historical figures they could depict, in consideration with avoiding "litigious estates" (such as the families of Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe) and "keeping in mind" with the viewership of MTV. The show's depiction of Gandhi was based on people in high school and college Lord and Miller knew, who were of Indian descent that had a lot of boundaries and expectations by their families. His "party guy" persona was borrowed from their research, through which Lord and Miller found out that he was a party guy when he was young and in law enforcement school.
Lord and Miller cast actors that had backgrounds on improv and comedy. Will Forte was cast as Abe Lincoln during production of the first season. His first voice-acting role, Forte was asked by Lord and Miller, who were friends with him, to voice Abe for the show. Forte had a positive feeling about the show, but felt nervous. When Forte first voiced the character, he thought that his voice performance for the role was boring, though he admitted that the emotions, the screams, and the singing of the character were "fun to do". In 2024, Forte recalled on Animation World Network that he was "terrified and overthinking it", thinking he was not good as the other voice actors in the show.
Nicole Sullivan, who was a friend of Christa Miller in her mid-20s, was convinced to visit the booth by Christopher and Christa Miller during a phone call. Sullivan had mixed thoughts due to her level of success in Mad TV, Kim Possible, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and The King of Queens. When Sullivan read the lines for Joan of Arc, Sullivan did not understand the show, feeling that the show was for a young audience. She recalled on Animation World Network that for the first five episodes of the first season, she did not "know what [she] was doing" with the character. By production of the second season, Sullivan felt more comfortable with the character, commenting that she was "just as easy to play". Phil Lord provided the voice of Cinnamon Scudworth. In The Gazette article from 2003, Lord described the experience of voicing the character as "fun", stating "It's just me screaming and pouting and being especially whiny." Lord also felt emotional when voicing the character. Allowing the voice actors to improvise while recording the lines, they occasionally make little additions in the lines, such as in the middle of a monologue.
The series also featured guest stars. Several of them were well-known celebrities, including Marilyn Manson, Michael J. Fox, Mandy Moore, Tom Green, Luke Perry, and Jack Black. Prior to the show's premiere, Marilyn Manson received the script to record his lines for the show.
The writing staff of the show were picked by the creators for their specific sense of humor. The team included Judah Miller, Tom Martin, Murray Miller, Eric Kentoff, and Erica Rivinoja. The writing staff of Scrubs were also involved in the writing process, giving them "jokes and thoughts". Several plotlines were based on Lord and Miller's experiences. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2017, Bill Lawrence stated that the writers would sometimes "stay in the psych ward [in North Hollywood Medical Center]" and make the creators laugh, which was cited as one of the reasons why many cast members of Scrubs appeared in the show.
The art design was characterized by a flat appearance with a limited animation technique known as "pose-to-pose" animation, which was used as an influence to Samurai Jack. According to Jack Coleman of Collider, the characters were bordered with thick outlines and usually made up of "strange evocative shapes" and "hard angles", a style similar to old UPA animated shows and other animated series at the time. The characters have little movements when they speak, and several assets of the animation were reused. The animation generally had a quick pace for comic timing, but the scenes with more emotional content had slower and more fluid movements. According to Lord, they never wanted the viewers to pay attention to the animation, but it was there to serve the show's sense of humor and its stories. Gandhi is the most animated character on the show; he requires twice as many storyboard poses as any other character. The characters and backgrounds were traditionally drawn, and frames and cels were frequently recycled.
Lord and Miller drew several concept drawings of JFK and Joan of Arc during development. Total Drama character designer Todd Kauffman did designs for the show's intro. Kauffman later used Clone High as an influence to design the Total Drama characters as requested by the producers. The first season was animated by Rough Draft Studios. The second and third seasons were animated by Jam Filled Entertainment.
Clone High featured a wide variety of music, usually exclusive to alternative rock, indie rock, midwest emo, hardcore punk, pop rock, metalcore, from mostly unknown and underground bands and musicians. The soundtrack included songs by Alkaline Trio, American Football, Ritalin, Catch 22, Ilya, The Gentleman, Drex, Taking Back Sunday, The Gloria Record, The Stereo, Jo Davidson, Saves the Day, Hot Rod Circuit, Thursday, Helicopter Helicopter, Owen, Dashboard Confessional, Elf Power, Abandoned Pools, The Get Up Kids, Mink Lungs, Mates of State, Snapcase, The Mooney Suzuki, Jon DeRosa, Ephemera, Jinnrall, Avoid One Thing, DJ Cellulitis, DJ Piccolo, Whippersnapper, Matt Pond PA, Mad City and Bumblefoot. The series' other background music and original score was written and produced by Scott Nickoley and Jamie Dunlap of Mad City Productions.
Clone High uses two main sources of comedy: teen drama parodies and historical references. Clone High experimented long storylines with romances and running gags, constructed with adult jokes, conspiracy theories, and melodrama. With each episode is introduced as a "very special episode", the show uses satire to appeal to MTV's male targeted demographic, aged 17 to 25. The show parodied dramas that appeared on American television in the 1990s that dealt with themes such as drug abuse, AIDS, alternative lifestyles, racism, ostracism, and consequences of prom. The show also parodied aspects of teenagers on television, centering on school narratives, including presidential elections, standardized testing, makeovers, school musicals, celebrities, the prom, school athletics, and fundraisers. A lot of the show's humor were references cited from common knowledge of the historical figures, including JFK yelling "Nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedys!" before crashing his car in the fifth episode of the first season.
Several aspects of the show parodied teen dramas. Part of the humor for this trope was that it mocked the misery of high school, tackling the issues with wit and absurdity. Themes of Dawson's Creek were used to parody the themes of homosexuality, eating disorders, sex, diseases, and morality. Plots, themes, and scenes of teen series and films were referenced: The love triangle of Abe, Joan, and Cleo parodied Dawson's Creek, the "parents-are-away" parties paid homage to Freaks and Geeks, the makeover plotline was reminiscent of teen films at the time (including Clueless), and a teen-suicide hotline subplot referenced Heathers. The idea of the characters having to live up to their expectations, an aspect common in teen dramas, was also used to style the show's humor. While Clone High includes a sexually and diverse society, other themes satirize American racial and gendered norms, including the transformation of Gandhi from a geek into "a shorter, browner Kennedy" in the twelfth episode of the first season. There is an image of a dolphin hidden in almost every episode.
Clone High was originally slated to premiere at the same time in Canada and the United States. The first episode debuted on November 2, 2002, on the Canadian cable network Teletoon. Reruns of the series were formerly aired on Teletoon's now-defunct Teletoon at Night (formerly known as "Teletoon Detour") block. Also, it briefly aired on MTV Canada, Razer (now MTV2), and Much and currently airs on Adult Swim in Canada. In the United States, the series premiered on January 20, 2003, on MTV. Clone High was a commercial failure, and it suffered low ratings during the run. After MTV publicists finished an apology to India on the show's depiction of Gandhi on its press, Lord and Miller were forced to cancel the show. The remaining episodes can be viewed on unauthorized websites in the United States. In 2016, the entire first season aired in the United States for the first time on MTV Classic.
Upon the first season's premiere, Clone High initially received mixed reviews from television critics. On Metacritic, the show has a score of 60 out of 100 based on seven reviews from critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Several critics likened the "enjoyably nervy" humor to that of Curb Your Enthusiasm. In a positive review, Dakota Loomis of Flak Magazine stated that "Clone High is original, quirky and worthwhile television, head and shoulders above the endlessly replicating reality show rabble." David Bianculli of the New York Daily News gave the series three stars, praising the vocal talents as "entertaining" and listed the show's depictions of Joan of Arc and Cleopatra as the show's best central characters. He concluded, "Clone High is the highest of high concepts, a weird idea even for a season that brings us Joe Millionaire." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Rob Owen complimented the show: "Yes, Clone High has the MTV-requisite sexual innuendo, but it's more clever than much of what passes for humor in prime time today. And like Scrubs, it has heart, particularly when it comes to Abe and Joan."
Anita Gates of The New York Times opined that "the dialogue isn't always exactly funny, but it's smile worthy," observing, "the characters are intriguing in a lightweight way but could lose their appeal fast." Scott Sandell of the Los Angeles Times felt that the show's debut episode "doesn't quite live up to the obvious comedic potential behind the killer premise." The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Farkash felt similarly, writing, "The premise sounds intriguing, but what hatches in the first episode is a disappointing, weak strain of comic material, lacking the cunning, subversive quality of, say, South Park."
On January 24, 2005, Nelvana announced on Corus Entertainment's website that Clone High, along with several others, would be released on home video with the retail initiative Teletoon Presents. The series was released as "The Complete First Season" in Canada by Kaboom! Entertainment and Nelvana. The DVD contains every episode from the original first season, including the five episodes which did not originally air in the United States. As of 2023, the series is available to be streamed on Paramount+ in the United States. On April 14, 2023, the first season was added to Max, ahead of the revival's premiere. The revival, alongside the first season of the original show, was added to Hulu in October 2024.
In early 2003, an article in Maxim magazine depicting Mahatma Gandhi being beaten up by a muscular man sparked outrage in India. Clone High was caught in the crossfire when citizens in the country conducted internet searches on the Maxim article but also found out about the show's Gandhi character on MTV's website. This sparked an outrage in India over the show's depiction of Gandhi. On January 30, 2003, the 55th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, approximately 150 protesters (including members of parliament) gathered in New Delhi and vowed to fast in response to Clone High, including Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi. Tom Freston, the head of Viacom (owner of MTV), was visiting the network's India branch and was "trapped in the building". In 2014, he recalled that protestors "basically threatened that they'd revoke MTV's broadcasting license in India if they didn't take the show off the air".
MTV offered a quick apology, stating that "Clone High was created and intended for an American audience", and "we recognize and respect that various cultures may view this programming differently, and we regret any offense taken by the content in the show". Miller would later recall that executives at MTV enjoyed the show, and asked for the duo to pitch a second season without Gandhi. Lord and Miller's two potential versions of a second season included one that made no mention of Gandhi's absence, and another that revealed that the character was a clone of actor Gary Coleman. "We pitched that, and it went up to the top at Viacom again and it got a big no," he remembered. This idea has since been scrapped as Gandhi did not return in the revival.
The first season of Clone High garnered wide reappraisal and praise from television critics. Heather Marulli of Television Without Pity called the series "a mini-masterpiece of the animated genre; an opus to the primetime cartoon". David Broermann of the website Freakin' Awesome Network gave the series an "A+", saying it has "some really really good character development and depth" and an "amazing soundtrack". He notes the fantastic use of multiple running gags keeping viewers on their toes. In 2009, the show was listed as number five on IGN's "Reader Choice: Top Animated Series". In a 2014 retrospective piece on the series, Jesse David Fox of Vulture praised the premise, characters, and voice-acting, writing that "Clone High still holds up more than a decade later as a brilliantly funny, completely nuts, surprisingly heartfelt, tonally inventive masterpiece."
After its initial cancelation in 2003, Clone High fell into obscurity in the United States. However, it survived on the internet and gained a fanbase throughout the years. A clip of Gandhi and George Washington Carver going "Say what?" inspired parody and remix videos on YouTube. After the show was announced to have a revival in 2020, the first season of the show gained popularity, with several memes posted on Instagram. Clone High also gained popularity on TikTok, which drew new audiences to the show. In late August 2020, a tweet that included a clip of JFK went viral on Twitter, spreading memes of JFK by September. Several memes included audio clips of JFK and videos of fans cosplaying as JFK on TikTok. Several fans also cosplayed other characters, such as Joan of Arc, for TikTok.
Lord and Miller have stated that they have "considered" a live-action film adaptation of the series. In 2014, they explained that as they at that time were under contract with Fox, Lawrence had a television deal at Warner Bros. Television and the rights to Clone High were owned by MTV/Viacom, it would be difficult to resurrect the show. References to Clone High are present in their later productions: the duo admitted many jokes in 22 Jump Street were "ripped off straight from Clone High", while Forte also voices a Lego version of Lincoln in The Lego Movie (2014), and the original version of Lincoln in America: The Motion Picture (2021). In a Grantland article from 2014, the two joked that "our entire career has just been about getting Clone High back on the air". In the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, produced by Lord and Miller, a billboard, designed in parody to the original poster for 22 Jump Street, appears promoting a movie titled Clone College, starring Abe and JFK.
In March 2020, Lord and Miller brought the first pitch of the revival to HBO Max (currently Max) on Zoom, along with others. On July 2, 2020, it was announced that a revival of the series was in development at MTV Entertainment Studios, with creators Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence returning; it was also revealed that original series writer Erica Rivinoja would serve as showrunner of the series, while also co-writing the pilot with Lord and Miller. On February 10, 2021, the series was ordered for two seasons by HBO Max. On June 23, 2021, Christopher Miller revealed the title of the revival's first episode as "Let's Try This Again". On September 16, 2021, Tara Billinger, who is known for Paul Rudish's Mickey Mouse universe and created Long Gone Gulch, announced that she would be serving as art director. On October 29, 2022, Miller announced via Twitter, that the revival would premiere in the first half of 2023. On November 2, 2022, Lord, Miller, and Billinger posted teasers of the show on their Twitter pages. On January 28, 2023, the unfinished first episode of the revival was leaked.
On March 24, 2023, it was announced that a majority of the original cast would be returning, but the role of Cleopatra, who was originally voiced by Christa Miller, will now be voiced by Mitra Jouhari, while Christa Miller will now be playing Candide Simpson. Lord and Miller revealed that the character of Gandhi will not be returning in the first two seasons of the revival due to the controversy the original series faced over his portrayal, with the former stating that he may return in a potential fourth season. Joining the cast were Ayo Edebiri as Harriet Tubman (replacing Debra Wilson), Vicci Martinez as Frida Kahlo, Kelvin Yu as Confucius, Neil Casey as Topher Bus, Jana Schmieding as Sacagawea, Sam Richardson as Wesley, Mo Gaffney as Ms. Grumbles, Al Madrigal as Frederico, Danny Pudi as Dr. Neelankavil, Emily Maya Mills as Ethel Merman, and Michael Bolton, Ian Ziering, Steve Kerr, and a returning Mandy Moore as fictionalized versions of themselves. On April 5, 2023, an official teaser trailer was uploaded on the official channel for HBO Max. The final trailer was later released on May 8, 2023. The revival premiered on May 23, 2023.
In January 2024, the second season of the revival (third season overall) announced several new cast members joining the series. Consisting of Jermaine Fowler as Toussaint Louverture, Paul F. Tompkins as Professor Hirsute, Stephen Root as Schneider Snorkelle, Jackée Harry as a fictionalized version of herself based on Jack the Ripper, Hannah Simone as Lady Godiva, D'Arcy Carden as Bloody Mary, Randall Park as Mr. Kim, Jameela Jamil as Mrs. C, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Sandra Sandria and Richard Kind as Nostradamus (replacing Andy Dick). The trailer was uploaded the following week, confirming the entirety of the season airing on February 1. On July 26, 2024, it was announced that the revival would not be returning for a third season (fourth season overall), once again ending the series on a cliffhanger.