Histeria!

I loved this show. I love history, and the way they played with history was one of the show's charms. It was very much in the vein of "Animaniacs," which I also loved. I'm hoping for DVDs someday! My friends and I still use some of the Lucky Bob-isms, such as "Yeth, now!" and "Heyo!" The songs and humor were top-notch, and the characters were hilarious. The kids were all distinct, and Father Time and the World's Oldest Woman were always a kick. One of my favorite episodes was a spoof of the Real World. Several famous historical people had to live together, such as Elizabeth I, who was obviously modeled on Bette Davis, and Caesar, who was Frank Sinatra. So funny!

My mother took one look at the theme song and declared that it was the stupidest thing she'd every seen! I thought she was bizarre! This show kept me laughing to no end. Even today as I sit here writing I'm still laughing at "Women Leaders in Group Therapy" as I play it in my head. I learned some interesting things that they don't bother teaching in school (The origins of the weekday names is one thing, Aztec Gods is another! You know, interesting stuff!)! I still catch this every now and then, and I laugh at reruns that I've already seen. So I recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor. As for my mother, she's living happily ever after, complaining about everything I like, from "Histeria" to "Dexter's Lab" to "Cats Don't Dance." What can I do about her? (Sell her at the next yard sale...J/K. Sort of.)

Unlike the other person who commented, I find this show both funny and semi-educational. The actors (especially Rob Paulsen, who does several bit parts on the show) do a superb job of portraying the historical characters, and the writing is creative and witty. True, it may not be completely historically accurate, but it is a cartoon that is primarily geared towards entertainment and not education. I do find Big Fat Baby a bit much, but I suppose he appeals to kids. I believe Histeria! is a wonderful show, and I recommend it to any cartoon fan.

With it's mix of semi-educational history lessons, humor, music, and spoofs of contemporary culture, "Histeria!" is quite an amusing cartoon. Episodes which spoof current and classic television shows abound here as well. The only trouble is, some of them seem over the heads of it's intended audience. Does the average young viewer understand why Thomas Jefferson is played out like "The Jack Benny Program?" Do they know that Abraham Lincoln's voice is supposed to be a parody of Johnny Carson? Are they familiar enough with the Rat Pack, to understand why Frank Sinatra & company are playing Julius Caesar, Brutus, etcetera, or Evita Peron sounds like Charo? Ernest Hemingway and Leonardo da Vinci as Batman?

Not to say that it isn't a funny, and educational show, because it is. I particularly like scenes when actual quotes, with hand-written signatures of historic figures are briefly imposed on the screen. The show only ran for one season, and that's too bad, because there's so much more ground for a show like this to cover such as the world since 1945(Okay, I know they've done it already, but not enough), and the tales of the Great Depression that our grandparents never told us about such as the 1932 Bonus March, or how communists and fascists tried to take advantage of the despair of the period.

Anti-media zealots like Peggy Charren, and Terry Rakolta, frequently complain about the content of children's television, claiming that it'll turn kids into violent, illiterate sociopaths, and urge parents to watch with their kids. This show certainly won't give people like them anything to worry about, and may even get them interested in U.S. and World History. But if you have kids, be sure to watch it with them anyhow, because some of what they see here will require more explanations from you.

As a history major, I'd just like to say that I loved this show. It was clever and silly at the same time. I've been able to use episodes I taped for school projects and my professors just loved it. Sure, it was not as much for the mainstream audience like some of the other Warner Bros. shows, but that's what I liked about it. Where else could you see a cartoon of Napoleon pointing to countries on a map and saying, "Got it. Got it. Want it. Need it!" I can see how some people would not get many of the jokes, but for the most part I felt this show painted a wonderful, fun view of history that should be used in classrooms. Kids can only take so much of text book facts and videos that had been made in the 70's.