Megas XLR (season 1)

Megas XLR Season 1'
Megas XLR logo
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	Cartoon Network
Original release	May 1 – September 4, 2004

The first season of the American animated action television series Megas XLR aired from May 1, 2004 to September 4, 2004 on Cartoon Network, and consisted of 13 episodes. The series is created by Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic. The series revolves around two slackers, mechanic Coop and his best friend Jamie, who find a mecha robot from the future called Megas in a New Jersey Junkyard, and together with Megas's original pilot Kiva, they must defend Earth from the evil alien race called "the Glorft". The season was met with positive reception and is available at the iTunes Store and Xbox Video.

Production

The creators stated that the series was inspired by anime.

Reception

Megas XLR has been met with positive reception. Kevin Pezzano of Revolution SF said: "The best thing about this whole show is the way it takes none of it seriously. It doesn't even take itself seriously. The characters are likeable, but are often the objects of this series' humor as much as the pop-culture references are," calling it "must-see" and saying "it's clever, it's funny, it's action-packed" and "just plain messed-up at times." Matthew Anderson of DVD Vision Japan praised the show's humor and voice acting, and called the animation "fluid, and very detailed." Megas XLR was ranked at No. 4 on ToonZone's "Toons of the 2000s: Top 5 Cartoon Network Originals".^[1]

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboarded by	Original air date [2]
1	1	"Test Drive"	Chris Prynoski	George Krstic	Chris Prynoski and Kelsey Mann	May 1, 2004
In the future, the Earth Coalition is fighting a losing war against the Glorft Imperium, a highly advanced extraterrestrial race with an insatiable hunger for conquest who are currently trying to recover a stolen mech codenamed "Avatar Prototype". Skilled 'mech pilot Kiva wants to send said mech, now renamed "Megas", back to a crucial part of the conflict, but accidentally sends it too far, and Megas winds up in the hands of couch potatoes Coop and Jamie. Worse, Kiva is stuck in the past with these boneheads, not to mention a Legion of really angry Glorft intent on capturing the Megas, even if they have to resort to using the giant UMD Mech to do it, which is at least 20 times bigger than the original Glorft mechs. Note: In this episode, some scenes are reanimated from "Lowbrow".
2	2	"Battle Royale"	Chris Prynoski	Alain Matz	Chris Prynoski and Kelsey Mann	May 8, 2004
A floating alien head named Magnaminous(Voiced by Bruce Campbell) sees Coop's fighting skills and invites him to the Galactic Combat Federation to fight various other powerful robots. Coop agrees, but maybe it would have been better if he had stayed home because, after a couple of fights, Magnaminous reveals he wants Coop to lose so Magnaminous can make a fortune. Coop refuses to accept those terms, so Maganaminous resorts to some dirty tricks to this end.
3	3	"All I Wanted Was a Slushie"	Chris Prynoski	Jack Monaco	Kelsey Mann and Bob Miller	May 15, 2004
It's a hot day in the city, and Coop just wants a big old thirst quenching Megaslush. However, he accidentally causes a highly destructive robot named the Replicant Engineered for Galactic Infiltration and Sabotage (R.E.G.I.S.) Mk V to fall to Earth. Every time Coop gets close to getting his slush, the R.E.G.I.S. shows up and causes the store to be destroyed. Coop is tired of R.E.G.I.S.' continuous desire of destruction and shop-ravaging, but how is he supposed to stop a robot that gets bigger and stronger every time you smash it?
4	4	"The Fat & the Furious"	Chris Prynoski	Michael Kramer	Kelsey Mann, Jeff Hua, and Renato Otacan	May 1, 2004
Coop begins a bad day by accidentally creating a giant cheese monster and has to stop it, but the method he uses gets cheese in Megas's CPU core. Unaware of this, Coop enters Megas in an auto show, and is putting up a very good showing until Megas breaks down and nearly destroys the building. Fortunately, he's able to stop it, but now the Glorft see an opening to attack and invade the city, hoping to capture Megas. But first they need to find the CPU core.
5	5	"Buggin' the System"	Chris Prynoski	George Krstic	Juno Lee and Rick Del Carmen	May 29, 2004
Coop, Jamie and Kiva discover an ancient Ringworld while training. They discover it is actually a giant interstellar library with information on almost every species in the universe. Kiva is excited, because this could contain the key to defeating the Glorft and traveling back to the future. However, this Ringworld is infested with robotic, worm-like, energy loving bugs. Coop, in the end, ends up destroying the entire Ringworld when he destroys the worms' Queen.
6	6	"Bad Guy"	Chris Prynoski	George Krstic	Rick Del Carmen and Juno Lee	May 22, 2004
A group of crime-fighting teenagers, called the S-Force, think Coop's the ultimate villain, so they come to Earth to try to "stop" him. Coop tries to fight them off and explain he's actually a hero, when darn the luck, Ender, a dangerous intergalactic criminal and The S-Force's Arch Nemesis, shows up to help him. Coop needs to defeat Ender, but the S-Force (and Ender) still don't get it.
7	7	"Breakout"	Chris Prynoski	Jack Monaco	Rick Del Carmen and Juno Lee	June 5, 2004
Coop buys a game cartridge from a garage sale, thinking it's a video game. In reality, it's an inter-dimensional prison for the galaxy's most dangerous criminals-the most dangerous of which is Grrkek The Planet Killer. So, naturally, Coop unleashes Grrkek first, but is able to beat him with a cool looking laser that traps Grrkek. However, he proceeds to unleash all the other prisoners (including one that looks like a robotic Gamera), which show their gratitude by trying to destroy the city. Naturally, Coop must clean up another one of his own series of messes.
8	8	"DMV: Department of Megas Violations"	Chris Prynoski	Jack Monaco	Enrique Del Carmen and Juno Lee	June 7, 2004
An intergalactic bounty hunter arrives, and soon after Megas is impounded due to parking regulations. Coop needs to get it back in order to save Kiva, who is the target of the bounty hunter. Unfortunately, Coop's license has expired, so now he has to pass for a new one at the DMV. As Kiva battles with the evil bounty hunter, Coop has to deal with an even scarier villain - the red tape of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
9	9	"Dude, Where's My Head?"	Chris Prynoski	Michael Kramer and Alain Matz	Jeffrey Hua, Kelsey Mann, and Renato Otacan	July 31, 2004
In order to impress a girl, Jamie borrows Coop's car to take her for a ride. Unfortunately, Warmaster Gorrath arrives piloting a deadly replica of Megas (dubbed Mecha-Megas) who's destroying Jersey searching for Megas; naturally, everyone thinks that the fake is just Coop being destructive. So Coop must use his secondary command bridge to control Megas. However, this method is much more difficult, so Coop does rather badly. Even worse, Jamie accidentally activates the car's connection to Megas, so now he's in control of Megas, but he has no idea - he's just trying to have a date.
10	10	"Junk in the Trunk"	Chris Prynoski	Jack Alvino	Jeff Hua and Kelsey Mann	August 14, 2004
Coop accidentally damages a vital part of Megas, the photonic stabilizer. Without it, Megas will go up in a blaze of fiery glory and explode, which will not only destroy Megas, but also, everything within a 100-mile radius. Fortunately, Coop found a junk planet that probably has just about everything. Unfortunately, Varshin the Dealer wants Megas' time drive to complete his own robot and sends various "zombie" robots to retrieve it. Even more unfortunate, Goat has come along for the ride, and is thoroughly annoying Kiva, not to mention he's fantasizing about a personal robot of his own without any idea how to get or build one properly.
11	11	"TV Dinner"	Chris Prynoski	Alain Matz	Renato Otacan and Jeff Hua	August 21, 2004
In an attempt to fix the television, Coop accidentally causes a blast of concentrated television waves to go out into space and attracts a giant, radio-wave eating monster to Earth. Due to the fact it is eating all the TV-satellites, it is impossible for anyone to watch any TV. Coop needs to stop this thing at all costs, but there's one major snag - how do you stop a monster the size of a planet that eats television waves, not to mention that it has a bunch of killer boogers inside its body?
12	12	"Coop D'Etat"	Chris Prynoski	Alain Matz	Jeff Hua and Juno Lee	September 4, 2004
Coop accidentally destroys a sacred treasure of the Halcyon Worlds, a robotic, alien empire - the Flame of Azeroth. The Emperor declares whoever captures Megas and bring it to judgment will be named as the new Emperor, so now Coop has to fight off a bunch of Halcyonites in the deep, dark reaches of the final frontier, all of which are, if necessary, willing to destroy each other to become the Emperor.
13	13	"The Driver's Seat"	Chris Prynoski	George Krstic	Kelsey Mann	August 28, 2004
Coop accidentally teleports himself directly into the Karrajor, the Glorft Mothership, and now Kiva and Jamie have to figure out how to pilot Megas to save him. They do okay at first, but eventually crash into the Glorft mothership and get themselves - and Megas - captured. Fortunately, Gorrath foolishly lets Coop get the car, so Coop tears through the ship, intent on rescuing his friends and Megas. Now Coop must rescue everyone while finishing off the Glorft invasion once and for all, but how is he supposed to do that when the sheer amount of Glorft mech's overpowers even Megas and tears off several vital parts? Even worse, the Glorft have a new mech, the Karrajor in Mech mode, which is at least 7 times larger than the UMD, which raises the question: how will Coop defeat this new threat with a critically damaged Megas?

References

1. The Huntsman (November 13, 2009). "Toons of the 2000s: Top 5 Cartoon Network Originals". ToonZone. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
2. "iTunes - TV Shows - Megas XLR, Season 1". iTunes. Apple. Retrieved April 1, 2014.