Irresistible
Cartoon Network original created by
Danny Antonucci, his first "
kid's show" (which, of course, like many
CN Cartoon Cartoons, has a strong
teen and
adult following).
The show centers around three young pariahs of an anytown cul-de-sac, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, united by their unpopularity and their love of jawbreakers. Ed is a moron with a penchant for monster movies but no such inclination for hygiene. Edd is Ed's polar opposite, an obsessive-compulsive genius obsessed with cleanliness whose life is governed by cold parenting (via sticky notes). Eddy is the leader of the group, a greedy, loathsome fellow who needs the brains of Edd and the brute strength of Ed to carry out his schemes to cheat the other cul-de-sac kids out of money (to get jawbreakers), the invariable failures of which serve a great deal of frustration for Eddy.
The fellow cul-de-sacers are as beautifully crafted as the Edboys. Kevin is the "cool" one who hates the Eds with an unbridled passion. Jonny 2X4 is generally a nice kid...but his best friend is a wooden plank with a face drawn on it (appropriately named "Plank"). Rolf is the odd foreign fellow, always employing odd phrases and tending to his farm animals (and he is voiced by Peter Kelamis, a one-time VA for Dragonball Z's Goku). Sarah is Ed's bratty bitch of a sister. Jimmy is a delicate baby with elaborate dental work and a propensity for getting himself hurt. Nazz is Kevin's cute (and congenial) female friend, and the Eds works themselves into a sweat whenever she's around.
And then there are the three Kanker sisters, unmistakable trailer trash who are obsessed with the Eds (one time they locked them up just to play footsies with them).
And in true cartoon tradition (cf "Peanuts"), we never see any adults. Ever. We don't even hear them (not even in "wah-wah-wah" form). We only see and hear these twelve classic characters.
The utter hilarity of the script is enhanced by the quizzical aspects of the show. We'll never see Eddy's mysterious older brother (who apparently molded Eddy into the greedy bastard he is). We'll never find out why Ed is so slavishly devoted to his sister, or why she hates him so much, or why she and Jimmy are inseparable. We'll never find out why Eddy is cut from the cloth of the 1970's (he's got a lava lamp and turntables and a Tom Jones poster in his room, for Christ's sake). We'll never find out how Jonny 2X4 got Plank.
And unlike other cartoons based around a salient premise, "Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy" has room for plot variation. That is to say that not every episode (in fact, a good half of them, I'd say) is based around getting money from the neighborhood kids. For instance, one of the best Ed-isodes features Nazz babysitting for Eddy, while Eddy (and his Ed cohorts) are under the impression that he and Nazz are on a date. This ends in terrible embarrassment for Eddy, who ends up naked in a bathtub in the living room with all five of the other neighborhood kids present and in hysterics (and even Ed, who probably doesn't even know what's going on) while a flummoxed Eddy asks Nazz, "My parents paid you to go on a date with me?" To which she replies "Date? Uh, no, I'm the babysitter, dude." Amid all the laughter, a well-intentioned Edd hands Eddy a towel and offers, "Gee, Eddy, if I were you I'd be so embarrassed...", and before he can continue, Eddy jumps him. A classic moment of animation.
There's a lot of Ed-bashing going on. Some people are vituperative when it comes to "Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy". They claim they don't "get" the show. But if you can't identify with the premise of the show, or the trials of the titular characters, or one of the titular characters themselves...except maybe Ed (I personally identify with Eddy, a greedy, unpopular guy who never gets his way, who never gets the girl, who strangely prefers the music of a different era, and who is prone to embarrassment), you're not deserving of the genius of "Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy".
Those jawbreakers on the show barely fit in their mouths; how's Double D going to fit one under his hat? And more disturbing than the sock enigma is this: why is Eddy's tongue green in the opening and yellow in the episodes?!