Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/The Siccness Network

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The Siccness Network
File:The Siccness Network Logo
Directed byArthur Rankin, Jr.
Jules Bass
Voices ofFillyacup Prop
(Too Short)
2-0-Sixx (Yukmouth)
Mac Jesus (Matt Hill)
Shea The Savage (Rappin' 4-Tay)
Dana Dane (Diana Ross)
ORO (Bret Iwan)
Nuttkase (Sir Mix-A-Lot)
Mixerr (Chris Burke)
Based Vato (Brandon McCartney)
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes23
Production
ProducersArthur Rankin, Jr.
Jules Bass
Running time30 min.
Production companiesRankin/Bass Productions
Motown Productions
Halas and Batchelor
Original release
NetworkBET
ReleaseSeptember 11, 2000 (2000-09-11) –
October 14, 2001 (2001-10-14)

The Siccness Network was a Saturday morning cartoon series produced by Rankin/Bass and Motown Productions on BET from September 11, 2000 until 14 October 2001. The show followed the adventures of an anthropological prop (Fillyacup) and his wacky friends. The series was animated mainly in Oakland, California at the studios of Halas and Batchelor, and some animation done at Estudios Moro, Barcelona, Spain.[1] The lead animator was Keith Knight, a man who considers himself to be a rapper, social activist, father and educator.[2]

Overview

The show revolves around an anthropomorphic prop, Fillyacup, and his zany pals. A typical episode started with the first Siccness story, introduced by Fillyacup and occasionally a different character. Next was a "Taco of the week" segment starting with a teaser, then after the commercial break (FUBU sponsorship), Fillyacup introduced the taco, followed by the song of the week performed by a local bay area rap artist. After that was a short joke followed by the 2nd Siccness story. All 23 half hours were presented in this format. In 2008, there was interest from Comedy Central to revive the series with Yak Ballz taking over the lead role of Fillyacup, however, due to funding issues this has yet to materialize.[3]

Setting

The Siccness Network takes place in the fictional American city of Freedom Town. Freedom Town's geography, and that of its surroundings, contains oceans, deserts, tall mountains, forests or whatever the story or joke requires. In the episode "Origin of the Mac" the shows is set in the Canadian boreal forest.

Characters

Fillyacup

Fillyacup's dominant personality trait is his giving nature and positive outlooks on life. This is in contrast to the rest of the Siccness Network characters. Generally, Fillyacup has a very unperturbed and easygoing demeanor, often accompanied by his characteristic wry and sarcastic sense of humor. He is considered a bit of an oddity. A running gag on the Siccness Network is Fillyacup's obsession with tacos. He is known for his ability to consume unusually high numbers of tacos in a single sitting without falling ill or gaining weight, though he sometimes sports a potbelly after particularly large meals. Not only does Fillyacup have a deep infatuation with and love of tacos, he is also an enthusiast of alcoholic beverages. Although an interesting fact should be noted, in that being a Mexican-American with a love of Mexican food, he is unable to consume Coronas (a popular Mexican beer) and Tequila in excessive quantities as he can with most alcoholic beverages. He is quoted as saying "I can't lie, I usually drink anything, but two I cannot mess with is Coronas and tequila. Go figure. So I understand if y'all won't fear thy brown skin anymore."

2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx tends to hold communist political positions. As well, many of his actions and aims throughout the series demonstrate his position as an atheist. For instance, his staunch efforts to ban creationism in Freedom Town and his campaign to start a union in the episode, Communist Rising. 2-0-Sixx speaks fluent Russian and Tagalog, and is competent in Spanish. He is also a member of CPUSA. He is an avid writer, having once been invited to write for Marxism Today, although he was fired once the magazine learned of his vicious cocaine addiction. Throughout the series he is portrayed as a smoker, an alcoholic and recovered cocaine addict.

Mac Jesus

Mac Jesus is Freedom Town's ONLY Canadian crusader. He has a troll-like appearance, a Jimmy Stewart-like voice, and is a known ladies man. His daytime job is running a comic book shop. He has shown great skills handling troubled youth, a great skateboarder, and is a martial arts expert. His fighting clothes are similar to what people wore back in the 70's. Mac Jesus lived in a storage unit, and would frequently practice battle weapons such as a grappling hook pick. In the last season of the series Mac Jesus confronts Freedom Town's main villain, Mixerr and is murdered by contaminated maple syrup.

Nuttkase

A drunken leprechaun that appears randomly in various episodes. Nuttkase often exhibits sociopathic behavior, is a pathological liar and rarely shows any empathy (his most frequent catchphrase to any bothersome person is: "Bite my tiny leprechaun ass!"). Nuttkase exhibits excessive drinking problems and this contributes to his characterization as an alcoholic. If he is deprived of alcohol, for instance during periods of depression, he ceases to function properly (such as is the case in the episode, "A Leprechauns Gotta Drink")

Drunkaholic

A severe alcoholic also known simply as Kah, who has a strong disdain for foreigners, particularly the British. He is portrayed as a violent drunk, who often verbally, and occasionally physically, assaults other Freedom Town residents. Sylvester Stallone voiced Dunkaholic in most of the episodes, and he has been quoted as saying that role was the "most demeaning" of his career.[4]

Tay Capone

A struggling artist and chess master (managed by "Green Eyes") trying desperately to hold on to a career that once flourished. Approaching his golden years, this "has-been" artist frequently would broadcast his disdain for Freedom Town, however, comically would linger to state simple mined abbreviations and catchphrases such as 'RNS', 'simple science', and 'yup yup' and #KarateBody.

AP9

An ex-track star, made famous for a legendary sprinting competition once held at the mall; now known as a professional dog groomer and "social media-attention whore", AP9 continues to tell outlandish lies in efforts to gain the attention he so desperately seeks.

Other Characters

Masked Lemon A legend amongst the fan base, Masked Lemon is loved for his unusual capri pants. Masked Lemon usually introduced the Song of the week on Siccness Network. Despite his name, Masked Lemon never actually wore a mask. Nobody can say for sure exactly how he got this name.

Four Sided Chin A character known for his unusually large chin. Four Sided is known to be a pathological liar who was shunned by the Freedom Town community after it became known that he lied about the death of his mother. In various episodes Four Sided Chin could be seen hiding in the bushes with only his chin exposed.

ASG The suave ladies-man, whom always had a reputation for having an excessive amount of money without having any known source of employment or income.

Frank The younger brother of Mac Jesus's roommate. Frank takes over the comic shop after the death of Mac Jesus and assumes his identity. Only Mixerr knows he is not the real Mac Jesus.

Mixerr The prodigal son of Dustin Hoffmans character "Raymond Babbet" in the film Rain Man; Michael "Mixerr" plays an independent music critic who specializes (emphasis on: special) on reviewing music in the rap industry by artists whom are known Chomos. Mixerr's character appears sparsely as it is discovered he has obtained a job at the Texas DMV, but it is later discovered that he is actually spending his time toying with his parents; whom he has trapped in the basement of their home, as a punishment for keeping him in a box during his childhood years.

Soundtrack

Through most of the series, the episodes featured a recurring background music which reflected the mood of the situation, as well as ID music for settings such as Freedom Town, the Open Forum, the Taco Shop, etc.. The soundtrack was composed by a collaboration of various Bay Area Hip hop artists. Yukmouth penned the theme song. To date the soundtrack has never been released for retail. Yukmouth has said he has never received any royalties.[5]

References

  1. ^ Vibe, "Notable Hip hop Cartoons" p. 32: 2001-06-20
  2. ^ Knight, Keith (2003). The K Chronicles: What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been. Top Shelf.
  3. ^ The Source, "Yak Ballz" p.27 : 2008-05-06 http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/295/scan00051.jpg
  4. ^ http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201009/sylvester-stallone-yo-michael-hainey-cop-land-rocky-rambo
  5. ^ The Source Magazine, "Yukmouth back in the game" p.47: 2003-12-04

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siccness Network, The}} [[Category:2000 American television series debuts]] [[Category:2001 American television series endings]] [[Category:Black Entertainment Television shows]] [[Category:2000s American television series]] [[Category:American animated television series]]