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The X's

The X's is an American animated television series created by Carlos Ramos for Nickelodeon. The series centers on a nuclear family of four highly trained spies who must conceal their identity from the outside world but normally having trouble in doing so. The show consists of a single 20-episode (38 segments) season, running from November 25, 2005, to November 25, 2006. Although it was compared to The Incredibles and Alias, Ramos has stated that the show takes inspiration from the James Bond film series, the 1960s TV series Get Smart, and the 1960s TV series The Avengers.

Premise

The X's is set in 2006. The X's work for SUPERIOR, a covert agency sworn to defend Earth from evil. Mr. and Mrs. X have their daughter named Tuesday, their son named Truman, and many gadgets at their disposal. An organization called S.N.A.F.U. (short for Society of Nefarious and Felonious Undertakings) led by the evil Glowface is continually trying to cause trouble for the X's and other SUPERIOR agents through their plans to take over the world.

Characters

SUPERIOR

  • Mr. X (voiced by Patrick Warburton) is the family patriarch and leader of the X's. Although a competent spy, he struggles with everyday issues, such as remembering his civilian name, which is Tucker. He is also an excellent cook and very strict and stern.
  • Mrs. X (voiced by Wendie Malick) is the second-in-command, combat specialist, and matriarch of the X's. Mrs. X is fully trained in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts, but is a horrible cook. She's a very caring and protective mother to Tuesday and Truman. Her first name is Trudy.
  • Tuesday X (voiced by Lynsey Bartilson) is Mr. and Mrs. X's 16-year-old teenage daughter and missions investigator. Tuesday is the most normal of the team, despite her rather extreme punk-rock garb and frequently changing hair-color. She is also the most knowledgeable of "real-world" behavior which the other family members either misunderstand or ignore outright.
  • Truman X (voiced by Jansen Panettiere) is Mr. and Mrs. X's 10-year-old son and technology expert. The enfant terrible of the "X"s, Truman can sometimes be a nuisance and make trouble.
  • Rex X (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker) is Truman's dog who he received from Sasquatch on his 10th birthday. Rex was meant to kill Truman, but was freed from Sasquatch's mind control and became an honorary member of SUPERIOR.
  • Home Base (voiced by Stephen Root) is a computerized brain that runs the X family's house. Seen from above, Home Base is shaped like an X.

Villains

  • S.N.A.F.U. (short for Society of Nefarious and Felonious Undertakings) is an evil organization that the X's fight.
  • Glowface (voiced by Chris Hardwick) is the X's' archenemy, the leader of S.N.A.F.U., and the main antagonist of the series. Glowface's head is encased in a glass globe with electrical discharges. He wears a rubber suit and gloves to contain his vast energies. He is megalomaniacal, arrogant, psychotic, loudmouthed, and delusional, and believes himself to be much more of a threat than he actually is.
  • Lorenzo Suave (voiced by Tom Kane) is Glowface's right-hand man and butler. Lorenzo is stylishly and impeccably dressed with a mustache, goatee, a scar along one cheek, and both an eyepatch and a monocle. Lorenzo is much more intelligent than Glowface and sometimes has to maneuver him into completing his plans.
  • Sasquatch (voiced by Randy Savage) is a member of S.N.A.F.U. who resembles his namesake and seeks to return the animals to their rightful place as masters of the planet. His roar can brainwash animals to do his bidding.
  • Brandon (voiced by Jason Schwartzman in "The Spy Who Liked Me", David Hornsby in later appearances) is Glowface's nephew who works at an intern for S.N.A.F.U. He and Tuesday are dating much to the dismay of Mr. X and Glowface.
  • The Scream Queens are a duo of banshee-esque cheerleaders who possess sonic screams.
  • The McVampires are a family of hillbilly vampires. The family consists of an unnamed father, an unnamed mother, an unnamed son, and an unnamed grandmother. The McVampires' name is a spoof of the McCoy family.
  • Bio Harold (voiced by Chris Hardwick) is a buff guy in a hazmat suit. His name seems to be a pun on the term "Bio Hazard".
  • Missing Link is a dirty guy who looks like a chimpanzee/human hybrid. He seems to have an unhinged and primal demeanor.
  • Some Old Guy (voiced by Tom Kane) is an old man. He is not an actual member of S.N.A.F.U. and became involved with the group after believing that the photo shop that Glowface tricked the X's into entering was a nickel store.
  • The Rubber Colossus (vocal effects provided by Carlos Ramos) is an elastic rubber monster created by Glowface. Glowface built the Rubber Colossus out of stolen pink erasers and brought it to life with his electrical powers.
  • The S.N.A.F.U. Minions (voiced by Carlos Ramos) are Glowface's minions and foot-soldiers of S.N.A.F.U. They wear uniforms with their heads encased in globes.
  • Jody (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is Brandon's personal S.N.A.F.U. minion and cook.
  • Copperhead (voiced by Tom Kenny) is an elusive cyborg villain who can manipulate magnetism and is not associated with S.N.A.F.U. He never stays in one place for long. Copperhead runs on batteries, with a large battery being located on his back.
  • The Y's are an Indian-American family of spies and rivals of the X's.
  • Mr. Y (voiced by Ronobir Lahiri) – He is similar to Mr. X as he is the leader of the Y's. He appears polite on the surface, but he has malicious intentions. Mr. Y likes to mock the X's in subtle ways.
  • Mrs. Y (voiced by Susan Pari) – She is similar to Mrs. X. Mrs. Y supports her family's malicious intentions. She enjoys outdoing the X's in any way she can.
  • Seven Y (voiced by Soleil Moon Frye) – She is similar to Tuesday. She received the most development in the series of all the Y's. Seven appears to be a laid-back teenage girl, but she is actually quite nasty. She specifically has an intense sibling rivalry with Tuesday.
  • Scout Y (voiced by Laura Marano) – She is similar to Truman, but is a girl instead of a boy. She is deceptively sweet, but she is actually quite destructive like Truman
  • Fortress (voiced by Marlene Sanders) - An artificial intelligence that runs the house the Y's live in. Fortress is similar to Homebase, but is violent and more advanced than Homebase.

Recurring

  • Kimla Meeks (voiced by Ashley Johnson) is Tuesday's friend. She is a huge fan of science fiction and is also very knowledgeable about sci-fi movies, comics, etc.
  • Skipper Swenson (voiced by Lindsay Sloane) is Tuesday's friend. Skipper is generally stuck-up and is rude to Tuesday. She doesn't like Tuesday very much and only came to her slumber party because Mrs. X apparently promised to pay her fifty dollars. Skipper is very popular and is also shown to have an interest in beauty and boys.
  • Annasthesia Montiho (voiced by Soleil Moon Frye) is Tuesday's friend. She is a goth girl and notices the strange occurrences at Tuesday's slumber party. She also likes to talk about boys.
  • Wally (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a friendly neighbor of the X's. He is a devoted father with a wife and child. Wally is very nice to the X's whenever he sees them. While he's suspicious of the X's at times, he never catches on that they are spies.
  • Mrs. Wally (voiced by April Kaplan) is the wife of Wally. She is a devoted mother and wife, and she has a friendly demeanor.
  • Wally Jr. (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is the baby of Wally and "Mrs. Wally." Truman refers to him as simply "Junior."
  • Andrea (voiced by Laura Marano) is a violent girl who picks on and beats up Truman due to having a crush on him.

Other characters

  • Pork E. Bacon (voiced by Will Arnett) is the mascot of the Pork E. Bacon restaurant that Truman and Andrea go on a date to.
  • The Mayor (voiced by April Winchell) is an unnamed mayor of the city that the X's live in. She seems very proper and civilized.
  • The Reaper Kid (voiced by Paul Butcher) is a disguise used by Glowface in "The Haunting of Homebase".
  • Miguel (voiced by Paco Jimenez, later by Flaco Jiminez) is a character from a Spanish soap opera that the X's watch.
  • Nita (voiced by Andrea Zafra) is Miguel's girlfriend in the Spanish soap opera that the X's watch.
  • Stanley and Louise (voiced by M. Emmet Walsh and Jessica Walter) are Mrs. X's parents and Tuesday and Truman's maternal grandparents. The two work as police officers and do not know that the X's are spies.
  • Tranquilizer (voiced by George Takei) is a man that runs a tranquility retreat that Mrs. X attends in "No More Mrs. Nice X".
  • Ed (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is one of the Tranquilizer's clients at his tranquility retreat.
  • Viper (voiced by Keone Young) is the host of a Japanese television program called Tokyo Video.
  • Soda Jerk/Counter Guy (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is a young man with acne who has worked as a food server for a couple of different restaurants/food stands.
  • Paul (voiced by Axel Alba) is a boy and Truman's friend.
  • Grocerama Company Spokesmodel (voiced by Erica Luttrell) appears in "Wealth vs. Stealth." She is a spokesmodel for the Grocerama Company, a large retail chain.
  • The Ambassador of Pandravea (voiced by Stephen Root) is an ambassador who the X's are assigned to protect him while he visits the Museum of Art in "AAIIEE, Robot".
  • Robo-Mom (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is a robot hastily built by Truman to replace Mrs. X after she breaks her leg in "AAIIEE, Robot".
  • Extreme Homebase (voiced by Shadoe Stevens) is the artificial intelligence program that runs the miniature replica of the house the X's live in.
  • The Z's are of Australian descent. Truman stated that SUPERIOR said that their death was an accident, but the Y's hinted that their death was no accident and that they caused it.

Episodes

Dave Marshall directed every episode of the series.

The final episode, "Theater of War" / "Breaking Camp", remains unaired in the United States, but was aired in Europe and Asia.

Scrapped episode

As confirmed by Carlos Ramos on Tumblr, he had written an episode in December 2005 titled "Bro Face", which would have been about Glowface's brother coming to visit him. This story would have been a part of episode 18 or 19, given that episode 17 at that time was in production since summer 2005. Nickelodeon scrapped the episode in favor of "a more kid-centric story".

Development and production

The series was pitched in 2002, with development from 2002 to 2003. Production ran from May 2004 to September 2006. The end credits of each episode reveal that in production order, the first ten episodes were completed by 2005, while the last ten were completed by 2006.

Jim Smith, alumni of The Ren & Stimpy Show, was a prominent storyboard artist on the series; he alongside Vincent Waller were instrumental in the formation of Nickelodeon Animation Studio, having refused to join the studio after Spümcø was terminated from the series. His longtime work partner John Kricfalusi makes a cameo appearance in an episode, despite defaming the production company at its earliest years.

After production wrapped in late 2006, Carlos Ramos and director Dave Marshall moved on to work on Ni Hao, Kai-Lans pilot and series. Ramos left Nickelodeon in June 2007 after working as a character designer. CG supervisor Ernest Chan, along with voice director and writer Doug Langdale, moved to providing 3D special effects and writing episodes of ' respectively.

Broadcast

The series aired on Nickelodeon and premiered in the United States on November 25, 2005, with three back-to-back episodes. After the final episode aired on November 25, 2006, "Theater of War" / "Breaking Camp" remain unaired in the United States.

Foreign broadcast

The X's premiered in multiple countries throughout Latin America in 2006, along with Germany on February 10, 2007, and in South Korea from 2008 to 2009.

Streaming and home media

Streaming

In 2018, series director, Dave Marshall released nearly the entire series on his Vimeo account (with the exception of 2 episodes).

The X's is available on Pluto TV and Apple TV in Mexico (however, a few episodes are missing).

Home media

While the series never saw any official complete series releases, there were two Nick Picks volumes that each included an episode in 2006 and 2007. The episode "To Err is Truman" was to be featured on the Nick Picks Vol. 6 DVD, with a release date for August 7, 2007. The DVD and the Nick Picks series overall were cancelled for unknown reasons.

Comics

During the mid-2000s, Nickelodeon featured comics for The X's in Nickelodeon Magazine. It is currently unknown how many comics were produced. However, the last known comic, "In Like Fish" (written and illustrated by Kyle Baker), was featured in the October 2006 issue.

Legacy

Noah Dominguez of Comic Book Resources wrote in 2021: "For what it was, The X's was a funny and charming children's spy series -- and there's definitely something to be said about its rather star-studded voice cast. But seeing as how it was canceled after one season and aired only 19 episodes, the show has mostly been lost to time."

Awards and nominations

See also

  • Spy × Family – Japanese animated series also about a family of spies
  • The X's Pitch Bible (modified version) - 2004 (https://archive.org/details/xs-seriesbible/mode/1up)

References

External links