How It Begun (which
happens to be the title of the German translation of "Reigning Cats and
Dogs")
A (storyline-wise) chronology of the Road Rovers from "Reigning Cats and Dogs" and "Let's
Hit the Road":
It started when Prof. William Shepherd was inventing the transdogmafier,
which would change dogs into humanoids (cano-sapiens). He meant it for
the good of the world (don't ask), and he'd also chosen 5 potential candidates from
around the world (Hunter, Colleen, Exile, Blitz and Shag) for testing.
However Jeffrey Otitus, a colleague of his, wanted to profit from it, so
he pretty much "betrayed" him by building a transdogmafier from memory. He used it to
transform a cat into a humanoid (Parvo). However when he tried it on
Shepherd's dog (Muzzle/Scout), it went insane.
They held him hostage in order to force Shepherd to hand over the
plans for the transdogmafier, with the help of Parvo. Since Scout later escaped,
when they did the exchange, Parvo instead gave him a bomb. He survived (don't ask how),
but was changed to the person we all know as the Master. 1 year later, he then called upon the candidates
he had selected (again, don't ask how). Then, after battling with some Cano-mutants
(a result of Parvo's Cano-mutator which he built from the plans he got)
they retrieved an experimental gene splicing device called the Molecular
Stabilizer which would make the effects of the transdogmafier last.
Now if I got anything wrong in the chronology (and I'm positive that
I didn't), email me at rover_wow@yahoo.com
Obviously, someone's gonna argue that Parvo's existence is a temporal
loop (quick run down: Parvo had planned to go back in time to get rid of
Shepherd, but via a Rover attack he got turned into a cat, before he ended
up getting sent back in time anyway), but like the
MST3K theme says, "It's just a TV show and
you should just relax". Still, I've come up with an
idea about how even that could have been avoided.
Now, how's about a little real-life chronology? Here are some key dates
in the show's life (plus a couple "personal" dates):
Sept 7, 1996: "Road Rovers" premiered on the WB, with "Let's Hit the
Road".
Dec 31, 1996: First signs of trouble: "Road Rovers" was not aired during
the WB's New Year's celebrations, apparently, it had been pulled late.
Jan 1997: It was announced that "Road Rovers" would not be on the WB's
Saturday morning schedules as of Fall 1997.
Feb 22, 1997: The final new ep, "Day in the Life", aired.
Aug 1997: I had my first exposure to the show. It was the 2nd ep. (I'd
missed the first since I was at a party at the time, though I would later
get to catch it.)
Sept 6, 1997: The final airing (a rerun of "Day in the Life"). The WB
promised new footage, but there wasn't any. WB's given excuse cited
the coverage of Princess Diana's funeral. Also, one scene was removed since
there was a complaint that one line sounded like a swear word.
1998: The WB's cable network, Cartoon Network, picked up reruns of the
show and aired them for approximately 2 years.
July 1998: My site went online for the first time, and it's been
expanding ever since.
Oct 12, 1998: Road Rovers Appreciation Day... I was one of 100+
signatures on a letter sent this day to various execs responsible for
the show.
2000: Cartoon Network stopped airing the show, and it hasn't been
broadcast in the US since.
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