Saul of the Mole Men Information & Saul of the Mole Men Links at HealthHaven.com

Saul of the Mole Men
Genre	Live action comedy
Created by	Craig Lewis
Directed by	Tom Stern
Starring	Josh Gardner
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	20 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	11 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Adult Swim
Original run	February 11, 2007 – July 15, 2007
External links
	Official website

Saul of the Mole Men was a live action show created by Craig Lewis, writer on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. The series first aired February 11, 2007 on Adult Swim. Described as "an ultra-patriotic Land of the Lost set in the center of the Earth", the series is directed by Tom Stern and stars Josh Gardner. Gardner is known for his previous collaboration with Stern on the television series, Gerhard Reinke's Wanderlust.

Craig Lewis' primary inspirations behind this comedic homage to 1970s-era Saturday morning live-action television were Sid and Marty Krofft (Land of the Lost), Doctor Who (Tom Baker-era), and the Planet of the Apes franchise.^{[citation needed]} . On October 31, 2008 Adult Swim ran a special Halloween marathon just airing shows that have ended, Saul of the Mole Men was featured in the marathon, meaning the show has officially ended.

[edit] Plot

A series promo featured brief introductions for the crew on the use of a subterranean drill module. The team, known as STRATA, included Captain Jim J. James, Lieutenant Jen E. James, Robot, Kiko the Mute Wildboy, and the "rest" of the STRATA action team (which included Saul Malone (Gardner) and Don Rogers, a man with a shovel). The main character, Saul, is seen in the background in many of these scenes. All of the characters are killed within the first few seconds of the first episode, except Saul, Robot, and a revived Johnny Tambourine.

In the season 1 finale, Saul, Clancy, and Stromulus Guandor team up to defeat the Rock Assassins, which are actually Jim J. James and Jen. E. James' bodies combined to make a rock monster. With the combined talents of the "Scream of the Birdbats","Moleman Burrowing", and "Rockmaster Tumbling", they defeat the rocks, and Saul's old captains die in peace. Suddenly, they find a spaceship, and everybody, including the floating pancake, clamber on. Clancy even lets his brother, Bertrum, on the ship, while it is still not known how he survived the rock attack in the previous episode. Once the team clambers on, Otnip stops their ship, and Clancy goes out in an apparent suicide mission to blow up Otnip and free the ship. The episode ends as they go into outer space, and the team, led by Saul and Fallopia, with Bertrum, Stromulus, Mrs. Burrows, Li'l Burrows, Nathaniel Baltimore, the floating pancake, and Chinacula the Chinese vampire is re-named Strata-Team Space. Thus ends the season.

Advertisements began airing on Adult Swim advertising the show as STRATA instead of the original title, making the series appear much like Electric Shock!! Strada 5 (電撃!! ストラダ5, Dengeki!! Sutorada Faibu^?). Subsequent advertisements, however, focus more on Saul and reveal the actual title of the show.

Saul often refers to his hometown of Buffalo, NY and reveals that he studied Geology. Saul's presence is largely funny because of his endearing use of Buffalo English. His love interest is introduced as a creature perceived by locals as hideous and nearly beaten to death by the Mole Men. The beating is interrupted and the creature is revealed to be the lovely Fallopia. The Mole Men's perception of Fallopia's appearance is not unlike the Twilight Zone episode The Eye of the Beholder.

[edit] Inhabitants

Birdbats
Mole Men
Rockhead
Gnards

[edit] Major characters

Saul Malone (Josh Gardner)
Johnny Tambourine (Josh Gardner)
Robot
Bertrum Burrows (Hugh Davidson)
Clancy Burrows (Voiced by Jeff Bennett)
Fallopia (Irina Voronina)
Lil' Lil Burrows
Stromulus Guandor, Birdbat Leader (Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui)

[edit] Minor characters

The Blob Doctor
Mrs. Burrows
Captain Jim J. James, Strata Captain (Hugh Davidson)
Lieutenant Jen E. James, Strata Lieutenant
Don Rogers, Strata Member
John Henry, the Steel Driving Man (now merged with his drill to form a steampunk cyborg, played by Tommy Lister)
Kiko, the Mute Wild Boy
Mother Rock
Otnip
Beet God
Brad, Strata Operator 1 (Gary Anthony Williams)
Strata Operator 2 (Dana Snyder)
ZaneGrey, the Healer
Princesa, Daughter of Birdbat leader
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
The Floating Pancake
Chinacula
Nathaniel Baltimore
Luas, the Sage
The Johnny Tambourine dolls

[edit] Trivia

Saul Malone is featured in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode called "Cheese A Go-Go". Frankie is carrying a package addressed to Saul Malone, whose address is 1134 Williams Street, also a reference to the Williams Street production company that produces Saul of the Mole Men. Grey DeLisle, who plays Frankie, plays "Mrs. Burrows", on Saul...'.
The STRATA headquarters building seen on the show is actually the Engineering Tower at University of California, Irvine, with a false background inserted behind it.
The show's theme song is sung by South Park co-creator Trey Parker
Jon Marchetto is referenced in code on the show several times. In episode 6 the computer reads a binary code for "Jon Marchetto had big arms". This is an unusual message and was portrayed in an odd way showing the shows "indirect humor" and use of "in office jokes." Jon Marchetto is actually a member of the clean up crew in the Williams Street office.

[edit] External links

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