Though billed as a show “where cartoons and comics collide,” Nickelodeon’s KaBlam! was really a kid-friendly version of of MTV’s Liquid Television. Debuting on October 11, 1996, KaBlam! was a frenetic, half-hour showcase for animated shorts done in a wide variety of styles. Each week, bantering kid hosts Henry and June—their names a seeming reference to Henry and June Miller—would introduce segments like Action League Now!, Prometheus And Bob, Sniz & Fondue, Life With Loopy, Angela Anaconda, and more.
Though it ran for four seasons, KaBlam! has languished in semi-obscurity since its 2000 cancellation. There were no official VHS or DVD releases, and even reruns have been scarce. A few episodes did turn up recently on The Splat, a late-night nostalgia block on TeenNick. Meanwhile, fans have kept the show alive by posting scattered episodes to YouTube. The show’s pilot suggests that KaBlam! might have been the weirdest, most risqué offering on Nickelodeon at the time.
The wisecracking hosts were allowed to critique the cartoons they showed. For instance, Henry calls the ending of Sniz & Fondue “sickeningly sweet.” For those who yearn for more KaBlam!-related insanity, YouTube also features some bootleg homemade Action League Now! episodes, faithfully recreating the “hyperactive kids playing with distressed action figures” aesthetic of the original.
Elsewhere, Prometheus And Bob, the stop-motion adventures of an alien and the cavemen he attempts to educate, has been the subject of some pretty intense theological speculation. Was this cartoon Nickelodeon’s sly way of brainwashing kids into believing the so-called “ancient astronaut” theory? Maybe. This blogger certainly thinks so.
At the heart of the show, though, were Henry and June. Their relationship was always something of a mystery to fans. Were these two just friends or something more? For years, urban legend had it that the green-haired boy and blue-haired girl confessed their true feelings in a “lost episode.” The mythic “Episode 29,” however, has been debunked at the KaBlam! Wiki. According to their creator, Mark Marek, Henry and June “just don’t like each other like that.” Sorry, KaBlammers.