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The Terrible Thunderlizards
Genre	Animated segment
Created by	Savage Steve Holland Bill Kopp
Written by	Savage Steve Holland Bill Kopp Kati Rocky
Directed by	John Halfpenny Jamie Whitney
Starring	Savage Steve Holland Bill Kopp Jason Priestly Corey Feldman Curtis Armstrong Charlie Adler Kurtwood Smith Brad Garrett Cam Clarke Jaid Barrymore Gary Owens
Theme music composer	Dee Snider
Composer(s)	Nathan Wang
Country of origin	United States  Canada
No. of episodes	36 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Savage Steve Holland
Producer(s)	Patrick Loubert Michael Hirsh Clive A. Smith
Running time	11 minutes
Production company(s)	Savage Studios Ltd. Nelvana Fox Children's Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox (Fox Kids) YTV
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original run	November 20, 1993 – July 28, 1997

The Terrible Thunderlizards is an Canadian segment that aired in Canada on YTV and in the United States as part of the Fox Kids programming block. It ran from November 20, 1993 to July 28, 1997. The series was spun off from Eek! The Cat. The show was forced to tag along with Eek! The Cat a week after the first two episodes of the series aired. In 1994, The Terrible Thunderlizards had its own show once again, only for an episode. Later that year, The Terrible Thunderlizards was canceled as a series, but had returned as a supporting segment on Eek! The Cat, which had to change the show name to Eek! Stravaganza. Like Eek!, this series was also a Nelvana and Fox Children's Productions in association with Savage Studios Ltd.

The series chronicled the misadventures of a trio of dinosaur mercenaries released from incarceration and charged with the task of eliminating two primitive human beings. However, despite their superior size and firepower and the obliviousness of their targets, the mercenaries always fail with comic results. ^[1] Dee Snider, from the band Twisted Sister composed the show's theme song.

The show was unusual for a children's program at the time because it had a fairly decisive ending, similar to the Disney-channel show Dinosaurs shown one year later, in which the main characters accidentally cause the Ice Age.

Contents 1 Characters 1.1 Doc Tari 1.2 Kutter 1.3 Squat 1.4 General Galapagos 1.5 Mr. T-Rex 1.6 Bill & Scooter 1.7 The Thugasaurs 1.8 Cast 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Characters

[edit] Doc Tari

Doc Tari (human codename Doctor), is the leader of the team. He is based on a Parasaurolophus only with a hole in the center that contains many gadgets, including a buzz-saw. The team's most focused member; but is every bit as unfocused as Kutter and Squat when not chasing the humans or performing missions. He talks in a voice similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger in his film Commando. His catchphrase is "We move!" Voiced by Savage Steve Holland, the co-creator.

[edit] Kutter

Day Z. Kutter (human codename daisycutter) is the second in command of the team. He is based on a Styracosaurus, although he was mis-addressed as a Triceratops. As his name suggests, he is good with knives, being the master of the knife fight, and wears a skull T-shirt. Kutter is not as smart as Doc, but not as stupid as Squat. Voiced by Bill Kopp, also the co-creator.

[edit] Squat

Bo Diddly Squat is the third member of the team. He is based on a theropod. He is the cliché "dim-witted clumsy screw-up" (ala Curly Howard). His voice and mannerisms are similar to Bill Paxton's character from the film Aliens^{[original research?]}. Squat is often used as the volunteer to assess dangerous situations. His catchphrase is "Blast 'em all and let the archeologists sort 'em out!". Voiced by Jason Priestly and later by Corey Feldman in the fifth season of Eek! Stravaganza.

[edit] General Galapagos

General Galapagos is the boss of the Thunderlizards. He is a green bad-tempered Tyrannosaurus. He wears a Blue General military uniform with a gold starred blue cap. He oversees the missions of the Terrible Thunderlizards to hunt down the humans. They never have any luck at accomplishing their mission, which often angers him. He was the one who foresaw that, given the trio's overall performance, their race is doomed. He also has a wife and son. Voiced by Kurtwood Smith.

[edit] Mr. T-Rex

Mr. T-Rex is Galapagos's best soldier. He is a Tyrannosaurus who is based on (and voiced by) Mr. T. T-Rex is clearly a parody of Mr. T's characters Clubber Lang from Rocky III & B. A. Baracus from The A-Team, even saying "I pity the fool" and calling the Thunderlizards "fools" or "suckas." His anger frequently gets him into trouble resulting in the Thunderlizards having to save him. His two recruits are Nate the Dragon, a Velociraptor that uses a Bo staff and is clearly based on Bruce Lee, and El Gordo, a Spanish-like Ceratosaurus with the ability to use camouflage by putting any type of plant on his body.

[edit] Bill & Scooter

Bill & Scooter are the two humans - Homo Sapiens - the Thunderlizards have to eliminate so they will never evolve into the humans we are today.

Bill (voiced by Charlie Adler) is Scooter's whiny, ill-tempered partner in the invention game. He gets to test drive the newest devices often with ill, chaotic and disastrous consequences. When he's intact from a failed experiment, Bill must watch out for a dangerous species of Jungle Slug who likes to eat him. A jungle slug once succeeded in eating part of his brain, or as Scooter dismissed it "just a tiny part of your mind". Throughout the series, he is known for his catchphrase "When does the hurting stop?".

Scooter (voiced by Curtis Armstrong) is a jolly, overly enthusiastic caveman, who loves to invent such things as a square wheel, baseball (actually "beesball" because they use a beehive as the ball), and the pogo stick.

Baps is the first female human and introduced later in the series. Bill & Scooter apparently evolved directly from apes, so there originally were no other humans. The Thunderlizard's science team, however, later took recovered genetic material from Bill & Scooter, spliced it together, then doubled the X-chromosome to create a female. The goal was to use Baps to seduce them and bring them back to the dinosaurs and their doom, but she simply abandoned her original mission and lives in the jungle. Unlike the comparable Smurfette, Baps is arrogant and manipulative and not particularly fond of Bill & Scooter. Subsequently, she only drops by when she wants to trick them into doing work for her.

[edit] The Thugasaurs

The Thugasaurs are a race of undead dinosaurs that live in the X-Zone on the outskirts of Jurassic City (a frequent target of the Thugosaurs) and are recurring antagonists in the program. Thugo (voiced by Brad Garret) is the diabolical leader of a group of black-hooded skeleton-like Thugasaurs. His vanity insists he always look good, so Thugo often spends more time trying to improve his appearance than accomplishing his evil plans - plans that would mean the end of the Living Dinosaurs once carried out. He also likes watching drama TV shows. Biff is Thugo's wimpy, flower-loving, second-in-command. He's really too dainty to be part of a villainous organization like The Thugasaurs. The notable appearances that differentiate the army from Biff & Thugo are Biff has a long snout with bucky teeth & also wears a pair of goggles while Thugo has an alternate skull-shape with sharp teeth-like bones & a rounder face. All other Thugosaurs resemble both of the villains.

[edit] Cast

• Savage Steve Holland .... Doc Tari/Additional Voices
• Bill Kopp .... Kutter/Additional Voices
• Jason Priestly .... Squatt (I, 1993-1996)
• Corey Feldman .... Squatt (II, 1996-1997)
• Curtis Armstrong .... Scooter
• Charlie Adler .... Bill/Dr.Steggy/Additional Voices
• Kurtwood Smith .... General Galapagos/Thuggo (2 episodes)
• Brad Garret .... Thuggo
• Cam Clarke .... Huckleberry (3 episodes)/Biff
• Jaid Barrymore .... Wife (1993-1995)/Marjorie (1994-1997)
• Gary Owens .... Announcer

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Terrible Thunderlizards at TV.com

Template:Eek! Stravaganza