Clone High is a teen-adult animated sci-fi 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 in a fictional 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 its co-creator 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 now-defunct 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 the rebranded 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 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.

Premise

Clone High is set in a high school in the fictional town of Exclamation, USA, 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 different strengths and abilities harnessed by the United States military. 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 around the clones going through day-to-day struggles and navigating boundaries. is also attempting to win over Cleopatra and has a long-standing rivalry with Abe.

Characters

Season 1

thumb|The original main characters of Clone High: Mr. Butlertron, JFK, Cleopatra, Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Gandhi and Cinnamon J. Scudworth (reclining).

  • Abe Lincoln (voiced by Will Forte) is a clone of Abraham Lincoln and the main protagonist. He admires his "clonefather" Abraham Lincoln and feels that he is struggling to live up to him. He is in love with Cleopatra, and has an awkward and honest personality. She secretly has a crush on Abe
  • Cleopatra "Cleo" Smith (voiced by Christa Miller in season 1,
  • Gandhi (season 1, voiced by Michael McDonald) |altdate= |altdateT=U.S. air date |country=US |episodes=

Season 2 (2023)

Seasons 2 and 3 were produced in Flash animation by ShadowMachine and Animation services was done by Jam Filled Entertainment.

Season 3 (2024)

Production

Development

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. 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. Later, 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.

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Lord and Miller cast actors that had backgrounds on improv and comedy. Forte was asked by Lord and Miller, who were friends with him, to voice Abe for the show. The characters have little movements when they speak, and several assets of the animation were reused. 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. 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.

Music

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.

Humor

Clone High uses two main sources of comedy: teen drama parodies and historical references. the show uses satire to appeal to MTV's male targeted demographic, aged 17 to 25. The show parodied dramas that appeared on U.S. 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,

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.

Initial reviews

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.

Home video and streaming

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.

Gandhi controversy

thumb|196x196px|The show's depiction of [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi as a party animal received negative backlash from India.]]

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". 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.

Cult following and legacy

Retrospective reviews

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 IGNs "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."

Popularity

After its initial cancelation in 2003, Clone High fell into obscurity in the United States. 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 March 2020, Lord and Miller brought the first pitch of the revival to HBO Max on Zoom, along with others. 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. 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.

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.

See also

Fictional works with a similar premise

  • "The Savage Curtain" (Star Trek episode)
  • Riverworld
  • Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
  • Night at the Museum series
  • Afterschool Charisma
  • Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln
  • Cultural depictions of Joan of Arc
  • Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy
  • Cultural depictions of Cleopatra
  • List of artistic depictions of Mahatma Gandhi
  • Dolly the sheep

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • Clone High on Max
  • Official behind the scenes website
  • (2002–2003)
  • (2023–present)