Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.62: Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.62: Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted

Original Air Date: November 15th, 1993

I guess I'm going to have to explain this for the younger readers in the audience, aren't I? From 1984 to 1995, there was a TV show called "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." It was a quasi-documentary series in which genteel British dude Robin Leach would show-off the glamorous homes and hobbies of millionaires and celebrities. It was, in many ways, the predecessor to the celebutante reality show genre that would take over cable in the 2000s. The show was an immediate hit but its naked celebration of capitalistic greed made it a frequent target of mockery. Or maybe people just thought Leach's catchphrases were kind of funny. The show really was a big enough meme that even a fucking "Sonic the Hedgehog" cartoon felt the need to riff on it. 

And so we discover that Mobius has its own version of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." "Lifestyles of the Very Good" is hosted by Throbbin Screech and seems to highlight the heroes of Mobius. Robotnik really wants to be on the show. When he discovers that he was passed over in favor of Sonic, he becomes enraged. Robotnik kidnaps Screech's niece and holds her hostage. He forces Screech to record him doing bad guy shit, which becomes a ratings success. After Tails is captured too, Sonic surrenders himself to participate in Robotnik's twisted television series.

This episode catches Robotnik in one of his most childish moods yet. Even though he's a world-famous supervillain/evil businessman/would-be dictator, the idea of simply being on TV makes him shout and cheer. When he's denied his dream of being a TV star, his juvenile whims veer towards the psychotic. He kidnaps and threatens to torture children in this episode. All in the name of televised fame! While this is inconsistent with the show's previous characterization of Robotnik, it does provide a frightening glimpse of the future. Here, a sociopathic man-child/failed TV star tortures children and holds a nation hostage all to satisfy his fragile ego. In one scene, he wears an ill-fitting suit and has a hideous toupee on his head. Once again, "AoStH" functions as a surreal Rorschach test reflecting the horrors of the 21st century back to us. 

Aside from accidentally predicting the Trump presidency, "Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted" is also a half-assed satire of television. Throbbin Screech is ostensibly sympathetic at first, as he has no interest in Robotnik's bullshit and just wants to make sure his niece is safe. Yet Robotnik's villainous antics – he evaporates a whole fucking lake to lure out Sonic – make for compelling television. Once that becomes evident, Screech is reluctant to stand up to Robotnik. Despite running a show originally devoted to showcasing heroics, Screech only gives a shit about eyeballs being glued to TV sets. It's a pretty cynical outlook for a kids' cartoon. And that attitude extends to the writer's opinions of viewers, who eventually abandon Robotnik's show not because it's amoral. Viewers drop off after the show degrades into Robotnik's tiresome celebration of his own ego. TV audiences don't care about what's right or wrong. They only care if they are entertained. 

If that seems like a weirdly mean-spirited joke for this show to make, it's not the only one. This whole episode is kind of like that. Robotnik is treated especially scornfully here, most notably in a sequence where he sings off-key. Scratch and Grounder beat on each other and get stuck in a doorway in one scene. There's a brief gag about a TV show apparently devoted to a barfing bumblebee. An ally of Sonic's being exceptionally ugly is an actual plot point. (Though that does lead to a surprising moment: Sonic disguising himself for actual plot reason, instead of as a running gag.) The episode concludes with Screech's niece blowing a raspberry directly at the audience. This episode seemingly hates all TV viewers, including the people watching this very program. 

This mean-spirited quality combines with the show's usual laziness. Here, all television is presented as live broadcast that play-out in real time. Throbbin acts as his own cameraman in one scene. Despite "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" being the obvious target here, I'm not sure the people writing this episode ever actually watched that show. The real program was more of a travelogue, while the parody here is depicted as a talk show. Not bothering to research anything about TV production is one thing but it would've been nice if this comedy show included more, ya know, jokes. The gags here are presented with so little energy, that they barely register as humorous. (Also, of all the joke names you could make out of "Robin Leach," Throbbin Screech is an especially desperate one.)

Then again, this was the sixty-second episode produced. Maybe the show runners were just exhausted and completely out-of-ideas. Considering I've reviewed over fifty of these fucking things now, I can relate. "Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted" is perhaps most notable for birthing one of the highest quality "AoStH"-related YouTube Poops back in the day, one so good that Ian Flynn referenced it in the comic. If only we could all have a legacy such as that... [5/10]