No discussion of the slate of Spielberg Saturday morning cartoons would be complete without mentioning Freakazoid, the first internet generated superhero. In the early 1990s, personal computers and the internet were still in their infancy. In this story, a computer manufacturer discovers a minor flaw in its product: if exactly right combination of keys were pressed, the user would be sucked into the internet. Concluding that it would be impossible for this to ever happen, they keep the news under wraps. However, they didn't count on a cat walking across the keyboard. Computer nerd Dexter Douglass is sucked into the internet and takes on a second identity as the manic Freakazoid. All of this is explained in the opening theme.
Ricardo Montalban played the villain Guttierrez who developed the dangerous computer. This started a career in cartoon villainy for Montalban, who also played Senor Senior, Sr. in Kim Possible.
Despite his awesome powers, Freakazoid could be neutralized by poo gas.
Despite the show's cult appeal, it never really caught on. It lasted only 24 episodes over a season and a half. In the following clip, Freakazoid, Wakko and the Brain argue over who Steven Spielberg likes best only to face disappointment.
The show's finale predicted that they would return some day. This prediction has come true as Warner Brothers Video released the first season on DVD on July 28, 2008.
More information than you would ever want to know is contained in the comprehensive Wikipedia article.
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