The Cool Adventures of Chocodile (Johnsonverse)

The Cool Adventures of Chocodile is an American live-action television series that aired on WBC from September 15 to December 8, 1984. The series, based on the Johnsontoons series, is the third live-action TV series based on the character Chocodile, though unlike the previous series, this was done entirely in live-action. It was developed by then-Johnson Industries CEO Phil Stacker, and was produced without the involvement of either Chocodile creator Randy Perkins or original Johnsontoons director Gerald Jankowski, who had retired in 1979; after the series' end, Jankowski would come out of retirement until his death in 1996. 
Upon release, the series was derided by critics and viewers alike. It has frequently entered various "worst TV series" lists since its cancellation, and has rarely been rerun since then, with various jabs towards the series in Johnsontoons media. However, it has gained a decently-sized cult following in the years since its cancellation, and is widely considered a "so bad, it's good" television series.
== Premise ==
The series focuses on the exploits of Chocodile and his "friends" Vanillagator and Caracaiman, with Chocodile coming up with various schemes in an attempt to take them out due to his open hatred of them so he can go back to being a solo act. He also has to deal with a myriad of other characters with the help of his friends from the cartoons.
== Characters ==
=== Main characters ===
* Chocodile (voice of Mel Blanc) is the leader of the Chocodile Gang; he just barely tolerates Vanillagator and Caracaiman's presence, and is always trying to get them killed so he can go back to being a solo act, yet they always survive either through dumb luck or some other unforeseen circumstances. Even if he can't get his "friends" killed, he always gets back at everyone else in what he views as "a world gone dumb". He appears at the end of each episode watching his old animated shorts from the 1930s to the 1970s, wistfully remembering the good old days before his corporate overlords forced sidekicks on him.
* Vanillagator (voice of Don Messick) is Chocodile's so-called "best friend". He is, by all accounts, an idiot who is incredibly gullible and easily fooled. The only reason he survives Chocodile's attempts to kill him and Caracaiman is stupid luck or other factors acting against Chocodile.
* Caracaiman (voice of Tony Pope) is Chocodile's other "friend". He's every bit as stupid as Vanillagator, to the point the two are basically interchangeable. Like Vanillagator, he survives Chocodile's plans by dumb luck or other outside factors.
*Larry J. Crock (voice of Mel Blanc) is Chocodile's rival. He still runs numerous scams that Chocodile happens upon, only he actually succeeds more often because Vanillagator and Caracaiman are too stupid to understand when they're being had. Chocodile usually lets Larry finish duping them, then wallops him like usual.
*Cherridile (voice of Mae Questel) is Chocodile's girlfriend. Like Chocodile, she barely tolerates Vanillagator and Caracaiman's presence, and often helps him find new ways to be rid of them.
*Solomon (Larry Storch) is Chocodile's nemesis. Ever since the crocodile skin trade fell under government oversight, Solomon has been finding it harder and harder to turn a profit, forcing him to turn to other means. Oftentimes, he teams up with Chocodile to take out Vanillagator and Caracaiman, as even he wouldn't wish such torture on his nemesis.
*June Stanford (Melissa Michaelsen) is Solomon's little daughter, aged up to a teenager in this incarnation. Unlike in other incarnations, June is an aspiring safari hunter who continually helps her father try to hunt Chocodile.
*Bud Charles (Chad Lowe) is also aged up to a teenager. Here, he is portrayed as very “cool”, reeking with various aspects of 80’s teen culture (as a way of attempting to appeal to the show’s audience, which ultimately failed in the end); he’s also politically conservative (he absolutely loves Ronald Reagan to the point where he’ll go berserk if you even slightly criticize said President in his presence), as is he notably rather sexist towards females in this incarnation.
*Bobby Bear (voice of Mel Blanc) is a bear who
=== Recurring characters ===
*Lisandra (Drew Barrymore) is June's best friend.
* Officer Thomas Mondo (Erik Estrada) is a cop. He typically helps Chocodile with his plans. He was the only new character who was praised, to the point where he was introduced into the Johnsontoons series in 1988 beginning with "Chip Off the Block", with Erik Estrada reprising his role. He was directly based on Estrada's character in the 1970s television series CHiPs, Officer Francis "Ponch" Poncherello, and it is implied in a few episodes that Mondo is indeed Ponch, using an assumed identity to conduct more shady business.
* Darrell Dog (voice of Lennie Weinrib) is a dog. He is a washed-up, struggling actor who is trying to kill Chocodile so he can take his spot back.
* Dorothy Dog (voice of B. J. Ward) is
* Creighton Cat (voice of Hal Smith) is
* Stanley Price (Braden Danner) is a schoolboy.
* Dr. Ricardo ("Captain" Lou Albano) is a mad scientist. He still gets outwitted by Chocodile and Cherridile... whenever Vanillagator or Caracaiman don't come along, that is.
* Kerry (voice of Rodger Bumpass) is a caracal.
* Mikey (Seth Green) is a TBA.
== Production ==
In 1981, Stacker & Associates acquired Johnson Industries. Phil Stacker sought to create a "more modern" take on the Chocodile character, and greenlit a new Chocodile series.
== Episodes ==
Season	Start 	End 	Episode count
1 	September 15, 1984	December 8, 1984	13
==Broadcast history==
The Cool Adventures of Chocodile premiered on September 15, 1984 at 10:30 a.m. on WBC, against NBC's Alvin and the Chipmunks. Once that series scored much higher ratings, WBC gave it as much promotion as possible, with one advert even openly insulting Alvin as "that heinous show with these annoying high-pitched voices", but ratings continued declining.
===Ratings===
The series received average ratings at first. However, once word of mouth began to spread about the series, ratings slowly went down, and soon never went above a 1.0 in the Nielsen ratings. By the show's end, its ratings were only at 0.3.
== Reception ==
Upon release, the series was decried by critics for its sets, unlikable characters, inconsistent writing, toilet humor, and overall violation of the rules set up by Perkins. The New York Times called it "a perversion of the beloved franchise", while Forbes called it "Johnson's biggest blunder yet". Future Johnson CEO Sheldon Johnson, Jr. has gone on record as calling the series "misbegotten" and unfavorably compared Vanillagator and Caracaiman to Scrappy-Doo, a character from the Scooby-Doo franchise that was also hated by many. Nearly everyone involved, including Blanc, Messick, and Pope, disowned the series as well. The book What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History has this show listed as second. It is considered one of the worst TV series of all time, and is considered the nadir of the Phil Stacker era of Johnson Industries.
It is rumored that the series was so bad, that after Stacker's resignation, Johnson burned all master copies of the series; this was denied when Johnson released the below-mentioned Save Your Money box set. It was never rerun after its cancellation. Perkins was so appalled at the show, that he personally oversaw all future live-action adaptations after this show's cancelation until his 2007 death (his son Sean Perkins has overseen all live-action adaptations ever since), though only live-action/animation hybrids were allowed. Johnsontoons creator Gerald Jankowski went on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1986 and made a six-minute rant about the series, calling it "the worst TV show I've ever seen in the 81 years I've lived" and even came out of retirement to work on Chocodile and Friends and all future Johnsontoons projects from 1987 until his 1996 death, though Jankowski did not return to voice Darrell, explaining that his voice had significantly weakened due to age; he fully approved of Lennie Weinrib's performance. 
== Home video ==
All 13 episodes of the series were released on video in various compilations after the series ended, though they were only sold in bargain bins due to the unpopular nature of the show. After the Johnson family retook control of the company, all remaining stock and most other unsold merchandise were returned and destroyed, the few remaining commanding exorbitant prices on sites such as eBay. On April 1, 2014, without any advertisement, a DVD box set containing all 13 episodes was released, entitled Save Your Money: Chocodile's Nadir, with a cover featuring Chocodile dumping a box full of tapes into a fire, with other "bad ideas" including a "Pizza Time" clock from a Chuck E. Cheese's Studio C stage, a video tape marked “Concept Unification Installation Tape”, and a drum set with The Radicals' logo on it; an early version of the cover art featured Eric Cartman from South Park urinating on the tapes (no genitalia is seen, as Cartman is shown from behind), but this was cut from the final product for censorship reasons. It contains bonus features such as commercials, interviews with cast and crew, Tim introducing each episode, etc. The Blu-ray set, released on the same day, has more bonus features and Easter eggs, such as an optional "commentary track" where characters from other Johnson shows (i.e. Monster World and Detective Jenny) riff on the episodes like they would on WBC Movie Night, as well as the current riffing team from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Emily Marsh as Emily Connor, Nate Begle as Crow, and Conor McGiffin as Tom Servo), also riffing on the episodes. Both sets were produced in secret (to the point where all boxes containing copies were unmarked, while everyone involved had to sign non-disclosure agreements) and sold exclusively in Blockbuster locations. Word of mouth began to spread on social media and various forums, and the set became one of the most-demanded items by the end of 2014. It was released worldwide on January 1, 2015.
== See Also==
*The Cool Adventures of Chocodile (Johnsonverse)/Gallery
Category:Johnsonverse