Aliens, monsters, ghosts, and all things creepy and crawly make for just another day in Nowhere, Kansas. From 1999 to 2002 viewers tuned in each week for a trip to the mysterious Nowhere with hapless canine hero Courage, the cowardly dog. Blending the surreal, slapstick, and unnerving, the show offered young audiences an out of this world viewing experience that has yet to be replicated. Scream with laughter and terror along with Courage the Cowardly Dog...if you dare.
The story follows Courage as he faces a series of weird, wacky, and terrifying foes. Despite his open cowardice, he overcomes his fears each week in order to protect his beloved owner, Muriel. The by turns hilarious, heartfelt, and horrifying series turned a generation of young viewers on to the horror genre, and maybe traumatized a few along the way.
In the twenty-six years since its release there has never been a series quite like Courage the Cowardly Dog. The series blended existential unease worthy of The Twilight Zone with Looney Tunes slapstick to equal parts horrifying and hilarious effect. It showcased a series of weekly monsters that would leave Scooby Doo heading straight for the Mystery Machine. Rather than merely offering cheap chills, however, the series used its monster mash to explore an array of weighty topics ranging from animal experimentation, to domestic violence, to mental illness. Even as it delved into these dark topics, the series utilized humor and heart to inspire its young viewers to face the monsters under their own beds. In this way, the series provided its young viewers with a safe and entertaining medium through which to confront life's darker realities. Start your spooky season with Courage the Cowardly Dog.
The series transports viewers to the weird world of Nowhere thanks to the uproarious work of its cast. Thea White is a delight as Courage's nurturing, optimistic, but ultimately oblivious owner, Muriel. Lionel Wilson is the portrait of a curmudgeon as Muriel's selfish, stubborn, and crotchety husband, Eustace. Even in the midst of an array of vicious villains and colorful creatures the series belongs to Marty Grabstein as the most unlikely and endearing of heroes, Courage.
Unsettling, outrageous, and entirely unique, Courage the Cowardly Dog set a new standard in animated television. Through its weekly supply of monsters the series introduced a generation to the thrills and chills of horror. In its depiction of its unlikely hero's efforts to combat these villains the series encouraged young viewers to face their own fears and find the humor in life's uncertainties. Face your fears with a little bit of Courage the Cowardly Dog.
For more tales of the bond between dogs and their people be sure to check out my debut novel, A Boy's Best Comrade now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo.
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