Clone High Is Officially Dead: What Went Wrong?

[@mechajay3358]

The revival had more problems than most fans would like to admit. They had its chances and they blew it. Justice for Gandhi.

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

I disagree man. I don't think they necessarily blew it. Gandhi was set to return for Season 4, and HBO Max didn't help promote the seasons. As a casual viewer, I found the reboot pretty funny, and the 2nd season had a lot better reviews.

[@cheesyboygouda]

⁠@@BrianIsTheGOAT594 There was no reason for the character’s personality shifts (such as JFK) just cause it is a new era. JFK was funny as he was and worked amazingly as a caution sign of what not to be as a person. Also the goofy ahh new character designs

[@tessmiller7943]

Idk i thought a lot of people disliked the revival? Ik i did. Miss u Gandhi

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

​@@cheesyboygouda I didn't mind them. I think some people overreacted quite a bit.

[@Elvusmiw]

@@mechajay3358 whose to blame exactly?

[@hilotakenaka]

IMO the Clone High revival feels like it was written by people who claimed to be “super ultra mega fans” whose sole knowledge of the show was “funniest moments” compilations

[@gearguts7259]

I got the same vibes tbh. It feels like it was written by "Massive fans" whos knowledge on the show was 90% those 2020 JFK memes.

[@frog_enthusiast05]

I think a lot of the newer writers came from Tiktok😭😭 I remember hearing lots of them not understanding the original's storylines and making Abe unlikable because of the way he treated Joan in the original💀

[@cookiezcartoons3587]

Honestly I do enjoy it but it feels like junk food compared to the original show, If only it was a better follow up

[@Gaminboi2864]

We just can't always get good revivals for cult classics, typically because they often forget something major that made the original show/game/movie good to begin with. It's better to just keep something loved dead rather than revive it in the form of a decayed husk that it once was. Good things can't last forever.

[@NorthSutherland]

The best we can hope for is a movie special wraps everything up, rather than create new problem the main cast (and protagonist) never needed. Leaving shows unfinished solves nothing, and it just makes you envious of all the current shows you hate, especially in this age.

[@PhillipClearman]

The world changes constantly. Even if the artist returns to continue the art, all of the surrounding parts of them, the show, the world we live in, and us, are all different and near impossible to recapture in the exact same way they were the first time we saw the art we love.

[@ms.skeletor]

Except, for some reason unknown to anyone, the new Beavis and Butthead seems to be an exception to this???

[@Dakr2000]

“Good things can’t last forever” yea but it’s not unreasonable to expect another season before it gets stale. There are plenty of revivals that work, you can’t just say “well actually this didn’t work out the way I wanted, so it should’ve stayed dead the entire time.”

[@SecretMagician]

​@@ms.skeletorX-Men '97 is another good revival example.

[@Ash0fStars]

I feel like something that plays into the issue of it becoming what it was parodying is that what it was parodying isn't really around anymore. Teen dramas aren't the force now that they were in the 90's or 2000's.

[@fireblade696]

They should have parodied things like euphoria. There was so much potential

[@SecretMagician]

​@fireblade696, if I'm not wrong, they were produced around the same time, so they had nothing to reference to

[@blakchristianbale]

@@SecretMagicianseason 1 of Euphoria released before Clone High’s revival was even pitched

[@SecretMagician]

@@blakchristianbale huh, well then Clone High should have gotten better writers for Season 2 then since they could have taken reference from it ala South Park.

[@Elvusmiw]

Also it was modern for no reason

[@KuroKappo]

My biggest problem with the new seasons is they are way too sincere, and clearly appealing to the genz kids who care more about shipping the characters. While romance was obviously an element of the original, it was used to poke fun at romantic tropes at the time, while the reboot doesn’t have anything funny or clever to say about these characters and their relationships.

[@pigslam]

i dont think even gen z kids cared about shipping these characters

[@felixdaniels37]

​@@pigslam That's the true irony of it all. They tried so hard to pander to a crowd that didn't WANT to be pandered to begin with. The Gen Z audience got into Clone High precisely because it had an edge and irreverence that's all but missing in modern shows. It was so willing to ruthlessly tear into the inherent vapid nature of both High School and the dramas about HS that to them it looped back around to feeling more sincere than most modern media. They might not have got all the references, but they definitely got the spirit of it. Sadly the same could not be said for the writers of the reboot.

[@alpyki2588]

​@@pigslam Correct. It was made by one Twitter weirdo to appeal to the other 4 Twitter weirdos who have a psychological need to have shipping be the main purpose of any show, but for some strange reason avoid romances and soap operas like the plague. Once you start putting the dots together, it explains a lot of revivals with either controversial fanbases or shows that were straight up failures.

[@jameskowanko7574]

@@felixdaniels37they also went sincere without actually going all the way. I think if they completely doubled down, and changed the tone and humor and played acted drama completely straight, then they also could have worked. But the half and half they took didn’t do the show any favors. It made he whole show feel cringeworthy and childish

[@bigman8994]

They pandered to what they thought Gen Z liked. Gen Z doesn’t like shit like this

[@yungpm]

it’s not the 2000s anymore. As soon as I saw that multicolored eyesore OC that didn’t match the rest of the show at all, I knew the quality of the show would be pretty bad.

[@fearlesswee5036]

I really thought those garish character designs were a fan-made drawing when I first saw it. I was like "Oh, deviantart is still a thing? Neat." and then I found out it was official and for a reboot of the show. Ouch.

[@beywheelzhater8930]

Yeah those designs really read “trying to be cool with the kids without knowing what kids are like” Even in the LGBTQ+ community which I ASSUME is the audience they were trying to appeal to, the average folk don’t dress like that. I should know, I’m gay!

[@thomasjohnson1885]

@@beywheelzhater8930As we know you speak for all gay people

[@FabioSaturno]

He's literally the designated gay spokesperson. Think before you speak, miscreant.

[@Sin_Alder]

@@beywheelzhater8930 How do you find out if someone's a part of the groomer alphabet cult? You don't have to, they'll tell you.

[@nightmarearcade2663]

I find it so fascinating that the show tried to act like a genuine teen drama because that's what a lot of the modern fan based treated it as not realizing that it was making fun of those kinds of shows. It makes you wonder if a lot of the people behind the revival also didn't realize that.

[@jakhar5]

From what the writing team have said, yeah it’s pretty evident considering they legit despised Abe.

[@John.McMillan]

Most of the writing team was entirely different, and from what I understand the creators were not at all fans of how the reboot turned out. Which only shows that they didn't have as much control over it as they should have.

[@DoodleThis]

@@jakhar5This explains a lot

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

R.I.P. Clone High you were an underrated gem that was ahead of it's time

[@Rookie_Ninja_OSC]

true

[@GravityFallsUp]

Not making it a Euphoria satire was a big BIG mistake

[@RyanRoemer8624]

Teen Mom

[@KanyeOeste911]

This is just Arrested Development all over again. They had a golden opportunity served to them in a silver platter, and it just didn’t work, instead only tarnishing the legacy of a genuinely good show.

[@ironmaster6496]

great compariso, but at least arrested development TRIED to be like the older seasns, this was just a weird mess

[@LindseyLouWho]

Or the X-files. GOD that continuation made my blood boil. Chris Carter's hubris ruined what was left of the franchise.

[@Whurlpuul]

True

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

​@@LindseyLouWhoWait they revived Xfiles? How old is that revival and geez, isnt Gilluan and David tired of playing Mulder and Scully at this point?

[@daniboy4153]

​@Thomasmemoryscentral Revival happened in 2016 and it ended in 2018 with two additional seasons.

[@CaptainAkward]

I never understood so many people's hatred for Abe, or writing him to be more of a jerk. His actions in season 1 gave me the vibes of a naive goodhearted airhead whos blinded by the allure of the popular girl/popularity and not seeing what he could easily have, never really malicious, just dumb.

[@Birdyboys]

The show had a new batch of younger writers and they all hated Abe, leading to his mischaracterization

[@puggywugbug9756]

Good lord those new character designs are hideous.

[@fearlesswee5036]

They reek of "deviantart OC donut steel"; trying way too hard to stand out and be all unique and eye-catching, to the point of just being an eyesore. Not to mention they look hilariously out of place next to the muted, restrained designs of the rest of the show's cast.

[@Little_Eris]

The only new character design that was kinda good was Tophers.

[@mufticalvinable]

Somehow the background characters of the new show look way better for some reason

[@DoodleThis]

They don’t even look real, they look like OCs from Twitter

[@dunkanbulk14]

And this is why I'm glad Ed Edd n Eddy ended and Danny Antonucci has no interest in a revival

[@NorthSutherland]

@@dunkanbulk14 The Eds (especially Eddy) put up with enough abuse, and the TV movie ending celebrated them finally gaining acceptance. Not only that, a show with only 12-13 characters (and no onscreen adults/adult characters) ran for several years, with barely any clue as to what to do outside of perpetual Summer.

[@dunkanbulk14]

@@NorthSutherland i wish Phineas and Ferb would realise the same thing

[@daveintheAM]

​@@NorthSutherlandthe sole like, major change across the regular series run was them going to school, and even then, it seemed like they didnt use it much

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

THANK. GOOD. NESS

[@gallibon1319]

Everyone talking about how they did Gandhi and Abe dirty, meanwhile I'm still pissed off that they killed Toots.

[@TheShockVox]

Eh unfortunately it does make sense. Dude was old as shit. But Donald Faison as toots would've definitely helped.

[@saulgzazueta]

Should have not even bothered seeing the other episodes the moment I heard that line 😔😔😔

[@hitfasthithard]

I'm pissed that they killed Toots too 😔 It would have been funny to see him even older but still playing the clarinet and being hilarious

[@tessmiller7943]

Now I may be a blind man, but even i know toots was the bomb.

[@Simpsonsfan1011]

Honestly I think the revival could've worked if the show parodied the melodramatic CW teen dramas like Riverdale and the like.

[@fritzyboi6390]

Answer: Don't let reddit or twitter be in charge of reboots

[@saulgzazueta]

Sounds reasonable since the "reboot" just became idk edgy Twitter furry artist Hazbin Hotel tier or something

[@TheUnmitigatedDawn]

@@saulgzazuetaNah, if the CH revival was Hazbin hotel tier then there would be good songs and it would be renewed for 3 more seasons.

[@FloofMother]

@@saulgzazuetaI genuinely think the revival would’ve been even worse if someone like you was in charge because you seem to equally not know what makes a piece of media good

[@FloofMother]

Soy opinion. The correct answer is to not let the fans in general inform what creators try to do with their art, it’s not specific to whatever site the internet is doing its two minutes hate for at this moment, it’s a problem with every fan, including you

[@misterzygarde6431]

I saw someone suggest that it should've been a period piece for the 2000's which I think could've been a good route to go.

[@Chiwowza]

I don't think it could've worked otherwise tbh. It was so heavily influenced by 2000s culture that setting it in any other time period makes it feel completely different

[@conormurnane6457]

It also would've made for a good joke that instead of being frozen for 20 years, they were only frozen for, say, two years, and we're only now getting to see it. But that wouldn't make it "relatable," I guess.

[@jonathanalberto-nx6lu]

Clone Low

[@vladkornienko7889]

Not Cloney Island we wanted!

[@pepitocovid-91]

Help, this made me chuckle 😭

[@sonarchy5158]

Clone Low, my favorite Clone Rida and T-Clone song

[@saulgzazueta]

Clone Medium

[@notatranslationschannel8896]

Clone mid

[@jackmcmorrow9397]

Its almost like reviving a show whose identity was heavily steeped in MTV teen dramas of the time, 20 years later when such shows no longer exist, was a terrible idea.

[@Chiwowza]

This 1000%. They completely removed it from the cultural context that made it work in the first place

[@whatteamwildcats4033]

To be fair, the next best step would be adapting/comparing the cultural shock of Teen dramas that work now.

[@jackmcmorrow9397]

@@whatteamwildcats4033 but at that point, why even make it clone high

[@whatteamwildcats4033]

@jackmcmorrow9397 because at base it would still be clone high? It would just have adapted for the modern time.

[@jackmcmorrow9397]

@@whatteamwildcats4033 But so much of what makes clone high clone high is steeped in that 2002 MTV teen drama identity. You cant just bring them back and try to alter the dynamic to match modern shows.

[@Elvusmiw]

Lets face it. Phil lorde and Christopher miller lost their mojo. The show should've took place after the series plotwist 1 day, not 20 years. Why is season 2 modernized. Also bringing in a new writer didn't help. It's like the new writers weren't fans of the show

[@MisatoBestWoman]

Reviving old series, rebooting old movies for a “modern audience” needs to stop. I’ve never seen Clone high but if I ever decide to I’ll stick with the original. Given how far things in this modern world have changed, I strongly feel we should not be reviving, rebooting old media for a modern audience it never seems to end successfully.

[@diydylana3151]

Woah I've been saying it for so long that misato is best woman finally someone who understands

[@AmberCommentsThings]

Agreed

[@richardsphd]

Ghandi staying frozen was a blessing in disguise

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

A blessing and a curse: 1. He cant have any tainted treatment in the show 2. He's a fan favourite that can never move again

[@micjimster4845]

I think undergrads is approaching the right way to be revived, just it being a one and done movie. I think thats better for these forgotten adult shows rather than being full on revived.

[@thatguynobodywants3716]

It make take it's time but, it's coming eventually. Hopefully that MTV contract lasts for a century for how long is taking for the production of the film to even startup. At least Pete is still giving us updates.

[@Sin_Alder]

Kinda gotta agree. My favorite revival (feels weird to call a one-off movie that, but whatevs) is the Ed, Edd n Eddy Big Picture Show. Gives a nice long return for the characters, just long enough to explore some loose ends, and do some more character exploration within the main cast, then doesn't hang around to overstay its welcome. It provides a sense of closure to the series, and helps to provide context to the entire series that came before it.

[@jagerzaku9160]

I can’t wait man I love undergrads

[@sonicroachdoggjrraven3263]

Plus it's being made by the original creator.

[@darksideofevil13]

UNDERGRADS IS GETTING REVIVED? AWESOME!

[@Uay778]

I think if the fandom had to agree on one thing about the reboot. It was that topher bus was the best of the new characters

[@1Hol1Tiger]

Topher Bus was as close as it got to actually being relevant

[@jakhar5]

Topher was the best new character but they did nothing with him. He was barely in season 1 and his plot was resolved insanely quickly and terribly. Somehow their solution in season 2 was to give him even less dialogue and just make him a background character.

[@saulgzazueta]

I mean I seriously swore Topher Bus was in the original when I got shown the leak but the new animation style didn’t do justice

[@mentirosa8709]

Imagine getting a second chance after wrongfully being cancelled, only to get cancelled again and it’s all your fault this time

[@Islander_Pig]

My main gripe is that the new character don’t look anything like their historical counterparts. It’s like they didn’t even try.

[@lewissthompson2005]

Really sucks that they messed up clone high. I was one of the many that found out about it during it's meme explosion of 2020ish and watched the full OG first season, and was super hyped for it's revival, only for it to be mediocre, tragic that pieces of art can be so quickly brought back and ruined.

[@SeriousPan]

The writing on the wall for the comeback was when they did the cancel culture episode. Any time a show tries to tackle that topic they always have to make one character act erratic and out of character in order for the plot to happen and they chose Abe for this. So as Abe is not acting in character and being a lunatic in a way that he isn't normally they make the opposition, the brand new characters to the show, act in an unlikeable way to a character we all love. It basically said everything about the writing for the comeback before we even got halfway in. While the original show made the characters kind of erratic they were still written in a consistent manner. Loved Joan's new mum though, Candide, fun character. Seemed the most like a satire character that the original show would have used.

[@1Hol1Tiger]

That was pretty much why I gave up after the first episode. "Look how stupid and out-of-touch the old characters are! Don't you just love the hip new characters?" Trashing the old characters to make the new ones look good was a garbage move. Also the reboot didn't have the best character from the original Ghandi.

[@ReneeMcNeely]

I think the real issue with the cancel culture episode is that they used Abe for it and not JFK. JFK was popular in the original series despite being a misogynistic douchebag. Maybe they thought it would've been too obvious, but an episode about JFK becoming a social pariah for the same stuff that made him highly popular in the original series could've been pretty interesting.

[@velocity9OOOYT]

Funny thing about that is, they've already done that before And 20 years ahead of time too the feckin last year abe said he was 15 years old? now he claims to be 16.?? which is it, abe?????

[@dhakman8765]

Considering Clone High’s Original Seasons Were niche (Not Bad but not very popular). The Popularity of the show only really continued through memes. In order for Clone High to bounce back the show’s revival would literally need to have been perfect. It’s like the executives looked at the likes on the memes and thought it translated to revenue so they thought pumping episodes out would lead to new subscribers. It’s a lot like how theaters brought back Morbius because they thought the overwhelming popularity of Memes meant the income would grow higher on a second release

[@eatatjoes6751]

The writers seemed to take the initial idea of frozen historical figures and unfroze them, only to completely fumble what to do next outside of two episodes in the revival. What a shame.

[@kennydarmawan13]

By removing Gandhi, they end up playing it safe and essentially bow down to the controversy that adult cartoons generally don't shy away from (Basically, that's like South Park making a new episode glorifying Xi Jinping after he bans the show for mocking him). Even if they planned a series-long joke, they should've just end it by the reboot season 1 finale. In fact, there are now criticisms to the real Gandhi himself, so Clone High could've easily made an episode dedicated to that and the whole Gandhi controversy the show had to show how the controversy back then was a whole load of nonsense.

[@tanmanstudios]

I loved Clone High, but I was always against the idea of a revival. The series came out back in the early 2000’s and it’s a product of that era. Too much time has passed between the original run and the revival. The world, media, and humor have all changed. That dynamic and magic could never be recaptured and just makes the revival feel like a cheap imitation

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Even Hulu Animaniacs isnt that good either. They sort of found their foot but if they cant restore half the skit characters in season 1 and half characterize the Warners right, maybe just dont do the revival?

[@tanmanstudios]

@@Thomasmemoryscentral you just can’t recapture that 90’s and early 2000’s magic. So many have tried and failed, it’s best to just move on from it and focus on new projects. That’s why I love about comic book media, there’s always something new. If it doesn’t work, they’ll try again but in a completely revamped way instead of rehashing the old

[@bronzepenguincp]

Those new character designs are so unnecessarily busy. Why do they use 8 different highlighter colors when that is the opposite of the original designs?

[@gearguts7259]

The reason given is contrast. Fashion has changed a lot and its meant to be an easy way to differentiate between old and new designs, make the OG cast feel out of place intentionally. The problem is that the narrative doesnt follow this AT ALL. Everyone in the OG group accomodates onto highschool cliques extremely easy and extremely fast, the only one who seems to somewhat struggle is Abe and even then he clicks with Topher almost instantly.

[@joggers_h]

Gotta love how they had an entire episode about religion and did jackshit with the fact that the school had clones of various religious and atheist figures and philosophers (bro, one of your main characters is LITERALLY the founder of Confucianism 😭).

[@germanlureag]

No famous person from Clone High is an atheist

[@LadyDiskette]

​@germanlureag There were a few Clone Historical Figures that were known to be atheists or have atheistic leanings though.

[@mongoose1billion]

Whelp, time to listen to Start Over by Abandoned Pools and stare out the window. What a trainwreck this whole thing was.

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

it really shouldn't have ended on another cliffhanger that will never get resolve and I doubt if it will get another revival in 20 years because once Clone High got cancelled it stays Canceled Forever

[@GinaDriedUp]

Couldn't agree more. That second cliffhanger ending was the only time in my entire life I've ever screamed at a TV without it being because I was sucking at a video game. They knew they only had a two season deal so far, and the first season was already in hot water. I'm almost convinced they were TRYING to shoot themselves in the foot, because I can't think of any other reason why they would make such a blatantly stupid decision.

[@mr.marvin]

So basically. - The Clones will never graduate high school - Abe and Joan are never becoming a couple. - Ghandi will remain frozen forever. - Scudworth and Mr. B never got to take over the world. Is there anything else I'm missing?

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

@@mr.marvin nope that's pretty much it

[@kerokerocola99]

I'm pretty sure the writers saw all the zoomers in social media being obsessed with the show for a while, saw all the comments shitting on Abe and based the new season on those comments.

[@zackcrouch6930]

Not since Young Justice have I seen a show be so fucked by a revival, the amount of character assassination in this show is insane

[@Supersurfer12]

Thank you for reminding me of the fall off of YJ.....

[@jakhar5]

It’s the unfortunate effect of the new writing team having clearly consumed the Original season in a more modern setting while taking the relationship drama 100% seriously. They obviously thought the audience they were writing for was the same TikTok audience they also came from. I personally think the main sign the show had failed was when nobody was talking about it during season 1’s airing. The only discussion posts you could find was shipping posts and fan art with next to no engagement. Everyone had already moved on and left it to die after the 1st episode got leaked.

[@DoodleThis]

I really tried to give the new series a chance. It had SOME good moments but after like ep 3-4 I just couldn’t bother to continue. I don’t know why, it just didn’t hold my attention like the OG series

[@fabiodx2]

I don't wish for revivals, reboots, sequels, or continuation just let it rest in piece

[@empeanutson]

Anyone feel like that even the crew who worked on the original show weren't committed enough to the revival? Sure, it does seem like when they did get more involved, the revival got better. But I'm still disappointed that they weren't that involved from the start, or at least delay the revival when they had more time to supervise it's overall quality.

[@LazerDisk]

I didn't bother giving the revival a chance because the design of the new characters clashed heavily with the old ones, so it felt like it was going to be some confused or uncaring person's fanfiction of the original with their OCs. Turns out that's exactly what it was lol.

[@claydogg234]

The lack of marketing for season 2 didn't help. I didn't even know it was out until the revival got canceled.

[@DaWoWzer]

idk why the revival hated Abe so much, they shit on him almost constantly

[@gearguts7259]

Recontextualization of tropes throughout the years. You can see this with literally everyone in the old cast. JFK is casted as a sort of well meaning aloof jock when in the original show he was a womanizer that barely cared about anyone he fucked. Cleo has more depth and is more introspective even tho her original shtick was pretty much "Queen B". Abe is a pathetic, clueless, assholeish Nice Guy when his original trope was Nerd that gets pushed around. This is all bc of cultural context, how we shape certain tropes thanks to our current landscape. Nerd Nice Guys are much more prevalent in the culture consiousness than Nerd guy who gets stomped on, and "Golden retriever boyfriends" are way more popular and relevant than womanizer bully meathead.

[@redwolftrash]

they made the mistake of bringing in new writers

[@materialsug4r]

@@redwolftrash that. fandom pandering too.

[@Blackhawk19892]

The best thing it could have done was have them being unfrozen almost immediately and make it a retro themed show. Putting them in the modern day and endlessly referencing it was painful. Like Futurama making an NFT episode well after the market burst.

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Is The Futurama reboot on and they really criticized an nft?

[@JoelGarcia]

@@Thomasmemoryscentral It was in the Season Premiere that came out last week.

[@icecreamhero2375]

1) Making the first episode too political is what went wrong. The subsequent episodes were much better. 2) I think they ended season 3 on a cliffhanger on purpose to mess with the fans. Its funny and aggravating at the same time. They could have made it more conclusive if they wanted to.

[@ihatetomrobinson]

For your first point, two of the main characters ARE political figures.

[@SpaceShip-Orion]

I do believe fans did Frida dirty. I loved her design. That’s how frida kahlo would dress, and I like that she’s got gremlin energy

[@doubleflores8350]

How did fans treat Frida?

[@SpaceShip-Orion]

@@doubleflores8350 i just remember a lot of criticism about every new character’s design. …I liked frida.

[@superdupercoolguy69]

i haven't watched the reboot but frida's design mames the most sense to be vibrant and obnoxious because the real frida was an artist, so itd make sense for her clone to be a play on the stereotypical weird art kid. it just doesnt stand out as much with the other 2 weirdly bright designs

[@Danerboots]

Sorry it looks ugly

[@BeyondBaito]

​@@superdupercoolguy69especially when those two other characters already had designs that were fine

[@Usiic]

They banked off of nostalgia alone to carry season 2.

[@LadyDiskette]

I hated that it had a lot of potential even with the new historical clone characters but never really DID anything with them. Such as the Clones trying to live up to their historical counterparts, there were a lot of inside jokes they used to reference them being compared to their historical figures. We saw a few with Topher that were funny, but that was it. Did Frida and Harriet feel the pressure of having to live up to the historical pedestal that their OGs are now celebrated for? We don't know. We never really found out. It's just another reboot show with lost potential to be good.

[@ThelastdesertRanger]

clone high was very much a product of 90s/early 2000s pop culture. that wasn't a bad thing, it's what gave the show its character, but once they removed it from that background and into modern culture it was natural that it feels hollow

[@Walid-mk4jo]

You can blame max for cancelling the revival series knowing their reputation when it comes to animated shows and revivals its a very bad reputation..

[@thatguynobodywants3716]

If the owners themselves, Paramount, do not show any interest of doing more that's more on them than on Warner.

[@Walid-mk4jo]

@thatguynobodywants3716 Oh wait your right you know now that I'm think about it... If clone high never got pitched to MTV back in the day I fucking guarantee it that the show would have never suffered with ratings and it could have actually lasted longer with more then one season!! Like why pitch your show to a dead network like MTV that makes no sense at all I mean cmon why pitch your show to MTV just so it can suffer a slow and painful death that makes no sense at all!! This could have all been avoided if the show just aired on another network why not adult swim hmm?! I bet in an alternative universe the show lasted ALOT longer then it actually if it aired on adult swim or hell maybe even comedy central we would have gotten a true proper finale that caps off the entire series nicely and we wouldn't have to wait 20 FUCKING YEARS for the show to even get a revival just for it to have a shitty first season and a second season that's good so in reality the second season is all that you should really watch BUT THEN AGAIN ITS ONLY ONE SEASON LIKE THE ORIGINAL SERIES!! Man never pitch your animated show to MTV that's just a terrible idea I don't know why the creators did that because now the series is officially dead it could have been a huge success on adult swim back in the day but it wasn't because of one bad decision pitching it to MTV makes no goddamm sense at all this could have all been avoided and we would have gotten an iconic animated show from the early 2000s if they just made the right decision... (Sorry for that long rant I just got really pissed off and needed to get out ALOT of steam)

[@domesticdragonwaffle]

​@@thatguynobodywants3716 it's not Paramount who owns Warner, it's Discovery. Get it right

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

Hopefully it comes back and goes somewhere else.

[@Walid-mk4jo]

@BrianlsTheGOAT594 where else is it supposed to go?

[@bearlogg7974]

Sure miss when “the modern audience” wasn’t slang for “the modern coward investor”

[@TheShockVox]

Had a bad feeling about it when I heard Cleo's new voice. She lost almost all her comedic potential when they made her literally sound like a typical popular mean girl without any of the comwdic irony to her voice or lines. The second season was an improvement, but it was missing some of that sauce. Im glad Christa Miller got to stay on the show, but her comedic chops wouldve been better served on Cleo.

[@CrossoverFan4life]

Scudsworth and Mr.B were pretty much the bright spots of the revival. If the revival was more about them than the Clones it would likely have stayed alive.

[@kalo_vera]

I only watched the first few episodes of the revival (I don't have Crave/Max) but the comment war scene between Confucius & JKF vs Topher was hysterical, because that's how comment wars felt as a teenager, like actual fights where a typo could mean the end of it all If the revival did more stuff like that, making fun of the stuff teenagers do since teen dramas are next to non-existent these days, I think it could've been a lot better Maybe I'll watch the rest of it someday but at least the original is still on youtube

[@changvasejarik62]

What went wrong? We live a society that has gone downhill since the early 2000’s. Plus at the end of the day Lord and miller are not the same people they were 20 years ago.

[@deang.5636]

Sometimes things are better left unfinished or shorter in length. A lot of these early 2000 shows had different audiences with different senses of humor and creators with different mindsets. To truly emulate shows from over twenty years ago I feel like is impossible

[@MikeMiller-cq7tu]

I really hope there are no more revivals, there is no confidence left in the studios to make anything worthwhile

[@Busterbalz]

I first saw clone high after finding out about it through youtube poop fads around 2009-2010. It was so unknown back then i watched the whole show on youtube, and it wasnt taken down for years. Then Zoomers found out about it in 2020 a decade later, and when that happened, and it was announced a second season was coming out, i knew it was going to be terrible. Clone high is extremely, in every fiber of its being, its art style, its writing, sense of humor, celebrity guests, pop culture references, music, topics of episodes, social commentary, thoroughly a product of its time, firmly planted in the early 00s. Its part of the shows identity, hell the entire premise is to parody teen dramas like Dawsons creek that were huge at the time. There just was no way for them to divorce the show from its time period, and the results show it.

[@LeftyPem]

Revival was a hot mess.😢

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

yet another Cartoon revival came and went and was a HUGE Disappointment and Gandhi is pretty much Dead and Frozen Forever R.I.P. Clone High you were an underrated gem from the early 2000's

[@theotakux5959]

My question is, do the teen dramas the first season was parodying even exist anymore? I genuinely don't know, it's not my genre, but I don't remember hearing about any in, like 15 years. It feels like new viewers wouldn't even be familiar with what the show was mocking. And as for The Critic, isn't one mediocre revival that removed side characters and undid the happy ending of the original show enough? Plus Doris and Duke's actors are dead.

[@jack_stone]

They kinda still exist with shows like Euphoria but from what I see mostly faded out.

[@blakchristianbale]

There’s still plenty of them, they’re just not *as* big as they were back then

[@John.McMillan]

They do, but they got more edgy drama instead of romance drama.

[@Bothrops_Asper_89]

The style of teen drama that CH focused on, hasn't been a thing for a while. It was more in line with the dramatic but harmless shows of the late 90s like Dawson's Creek, if you suddenly put them into a super edgy environment like Euphoria, Skins or Riverdale; then the characters look extremely out of place and you'd have to shift a lot of dynamics.

[@blakchristianbale]

@@Bothrops_Asper_89 the characters already look extremely out of place in an unironic 90s-style teen drama, and they already had to shift a lot of dynamics to make it happen

[@nestormelendez9005]

This is why not everything needs a reboot some things can be left alone and well

[@fryguy9704]

I can understand why it got canceled. And now all the fans are raising their pitchforks and torches that they’ll never get the funniest character in fiction, Gandhi

[@ZiggyStarDirt-fm9ul]

"I wish for a continuation of Clone High" Monkees paw closes...

[@scottyoshihara2458]

As a fellow clone high fan, I feel like some of the reasons why continuation fell apart was because of like you said it missed the concept of being a satire of teen dramas of the time. An idea that the creators wanted was to have Gandhi actually be a clone of Gary Oldman and low viewership. I was really excited for the series when it first came out but now I don’t know how to feel about it being another cliffhanger.

[@PrincessPooonyPoona]

Finally its over.... I can die happy now

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

Why?

[@zackhruska]

The show should have picked back up a year or so later, not current day. That was the big problem. Plus they just randomly got rid of most of the clones’ foster parents, the board of Shadowy Figures, replaced Cleo’s voice actress so that she now sounds like a valley girl rather than having a unique voice. Plus the entire show was making fun of wokeness while being woke itself. Honestly they had a two season order. Ignoring Gandhi for a second, they could have kept the show as close to its original as they wanted without worrying too much about time as twenty episodes would have been plenty of time to do what they wanted to do with it. I think if they’d done that they’d have a higher chance of getting a season 4. Wasted potential. Oh yeah and adding four new characters? Really? Maybe one at most.. I found Confucius to be ok.

[@whitefox7776]

Agreed. I liked Confusious. But I felt Harriat, Frida and Topher were just unnecessary.

[@Universeknight10055]

Clone high tv series rest in peace 2002-2024.

[@uninspired000]

Yep. Just like Eric Andre show parodies talk shows, and Wonder Showzen parodies children’s entertainment. Clone high was a great parody, until it became the very thing it was poking fun at.

[@mathieuleader8601]

Instead of a TV reboot considering Lord & Miller work in Hollywood I wanted one last hurrah in the form of a movie or a cinematic trilogy.

[@TheRealBlackarrot]

Hey guy a shout-out to Undergrads!

[@Garth2the2ndpower]

Here's hoping we get to see the movie in this lifetime.

[@ossiejon-nwakalo8644]

I praying in the future this doesn’t happen to inside Job (THEY HAVE TO BRING IT BACK)

[@redwolftrash]

any netflix show getting a second wind is unlikely, especially after tuca and bertie flopped :( fwiw i never watched the reboot seasons of tuca and bertie so i'm not quite sure why it flopped but clearly something just wasn't clicking

[@elmono6299]

Gandhi getting cut was one of the reasons why the Clone High reboot failed, in my opinion. You can't remove a main character from the series for it to work. That's like removing Bender from Futurama, Bart Simpson from The Simpsons, Stewie from Family Guy, Cartman from South Park, you get the picture. Yes, it's the reason it got canceled (which is stupid), but was it even worth it? Of course not. It's never a good idea to play it safe with any revival and embrace it for what it was in the first place. If shows like South Park, Venture Bros, or Rick & Morty aren't afraid to hold their punches, then Clone High shouldn't either. Still, it goes to show that any revival or adaptation of an old IP can go horribly wrong under the wrong hands.

[@redwolftrash]

they should've tried to get the show sold to adult swim before rebooting it. a few other people are mentioning it in the comments and i agree that the show would've had a better run there since south park allowed the network to navigate PR work for a politically sensitive show. tbh with the current political unrest + violent crime problem in india, i think ghandi coming back into clone high (especially if they managed to sneak in the real life ghandi's controversies) would've been their last concern but i'm sure there was a cowardly higher-up or two involved in keeping him out of the reboot

[@JoelGarcia]

1. There was actually a revival of The Critic... in the early 2000s as a web series. It was forgettable. 2. As for the Ghandi issue, I recall they planned to retcon him into being a Gary Coleman clone, but then the real Gary Coleman passed away between the end of the original show and the revival's return, so presumably they didn't want to deal with whoever was in charge of his estate. Also, even if they did find another way to bring him back, they would have had to recast the role anyway (he was voiced by Michael McDonald of MadTV and The Loud House).

[@M30W3R]

There is a joke early on in S1 where Joan complains that the og show had no female writers and just stares at the camera and I think it destroyed any interest I had in it, as it encapsulates all the problems with modern comedies. Had it been done in the original, they would have gone as strawman as possible without even acknowledging it. In the end they just wanted to play it as safe as possible out of fear of another Gandhi situation and poured all the effort in the art direction (which is unironically leagues above the og) when they should have double down, like South Park did.

[@Armedus]

Since the show is dead, might as well dump out my Clone High movie spec script meant to wrap up the show from the initial season: _Clone U: A Sea of Sand_ The Clones are now in college, going to classes, trying out for the sports teams, shacking up with co-eds, angering _The Dean_ 😈 **hiss hiss** and pledging the frat, dawg, yai yai! At the center of it all is Abe, enjoying his freshmen year and hoping to make a freah start for himself, though he ends up making the same mistakes, especially because, due to a mix up, he is roomates with both Cleo and Joan. Oh no! But, something keeps bothing Abe, like he's forgotten something, something important.... _or someone!_ He can't seem to rememeber anything before college life, he has a feeling of loss he can't quite explain, and the janitor, old man Scudworth, keeps talking jibberish, like how everyone was captured by the Shadow Government and are now trapped in a simulation that never ends!!! But who can think about that when the big game is tomorrow and he has to win it all while keeping up his grades. What wacky antics will these clones get up to? Tune in and find out on Clon-/=

[@Armedus]

@coonylex Wait til you hear the ending: Turns out Gandhi was actually a clone of Wesley Snipes, which Mr. Butlertron secretly made as an sleeper agent meant to overthrow the government. (Side note, Mr B thought Welsey Snipes was Lawerence Fishburne, which would explain the confusing Matrix imagery throughout the movie.) He was killed off when this fact was discovered (a nod to the show's initial cancelation.) But, he re-emerges from the kidney he donated to Cleo. Now known as Wesley, he helps the clones escape the simulation. All the clones face off with the Secret Board of Shadowy Figures, expecting a titanic battle. Instead, the Board deems the experiment a failure and pushes a menacing big red button. Thinking they are doomed, the cast come together in a group hug and confess their true feeling for each other. In actuality, the button is an intercom, which summons a lawyer with several NDAs. The Board offers the clones a college degree and a good deal of cash in exchange for their silence. If they refuse, the Board simply let's them loose, to wander the world aimlessly, where the general population will mostly likely ignore the truth should they tell anyone. Abe stands up to the Board and refuses to sign, beckoning the others to do the same. Cut to a few years later and a montage plays, showing what the cast is doing, now that they are free. Joan is running for governor, standing up for the exploited and starving. Wesley became a famous movie producer and helms a successful series of movies about clones fighting Zombies (he is currently suing Netflix for poorly adapting his work.) Scudworth and Mr. B opened a Super Lemonade Factory, where he lures in terrible adults and teaches them life lessons through near death experiences. And Abe, the only one to not sign the NDA, works at a fast food place, making less than minimum wage. He glances at a few of his classmates from afar but they don't ever acknowledge him. Even Wesley, who comes in to order a meal while on the phone with his lawyers, genuinely doesn't remember Abe and leaves with his order. Only his boss, a crazy fringe thinking conspiracy theorist, believes him and tell him he did the right thing. He still makes Abe take out the trash in the end.

[@Armedus]

@coonylex Sure!

[@Armedus]

@coonylex Wow! This would be interesting to read. It's like _The X-Files_ meets _Inside Job._ If you have the capacity and means of doing so, I'd say to go ahead and make it. I'm sure the fans would appreciate some good content after the revival fell through.

[@ChurchoftheLatterDayShrek]

I thought the revival was just okay. I liked the Colombus character

[@Gat720Dua]

They had the original creators involved which would make you think the show was in good hands but it still flopped, so I'm wondering what happened? Were the creators out of touch or was there some behind-the-scenes shenanigans?

[@roxygaming5968]

I'm apparently the only person who thinks that Clone High is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Everyone says that this reboot could have been AMAZING, but I think that not only teen dramas not being around anymore kinda ruined the point of it coming back, but the show itself was a product of the 2000s and will always be a 2000s product to me. We could have just lived with the perfectly fine series that we had, but it was pushed for there to be more and so here we are, with a permanently tarnished legacy. Hope you're all happy.

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

I think you may be overreacting just a bit about the show's legacy being "ruined." From what I've seen as a new casual viewer, it was a funny show regardless, and I just wanted to enjoy the show.

[@redwolftrash]

we still have teen dramas the writers they brought on just suck 💀never heard of euphoria? riverdale? 13RW??? these series that have been very explicitly controversial for cringy writing + inappropriate, badly written scenes for teenagers for years on end yet they still remained renewed until a new cash cow took the attention away? they had everything laid out for them on a silver platter, especially with season 2 of euphoria being the utter embarrassment it was in comparison to season 1 (though i partially blame max for not stepping in and making it clear to levinson they're not a fan of him being the only writer for the show + reeling him in before he did more damage with that idol bullshit), and they just flushed it down the toilet.

[@aruce9]

I think we should admit how much of a fools errand reviving clone high would’ve been. It’s very much a product of its time and it failed to capture the magic that the og series had. I don’t doubt there being a reboot a decade down the line, but I think this original vision is dead

[@Xijor]

They did bring back The Critic once. It had some webisodes that were terrible and had completely new and original characters for God knows why. To quote Jay, ‘It stinks.’

[@Ramen-Doodlezz]

Hey, futurama was canceled and brought back multiple times. Let's see if that happens again

[@ag2731]

We hope.

[@leonardohidalgo5127]

But Futurama was never canceled because it had a low audience or because the series was bad. There were various reasons for all its cancellations, but its quality or audience quantity was never in doubt.

[@daniboy4153]

At least Futurama always did an ending for some of its finales, in case the series never got another season, which didn't happen, but they were smart enough to do an ending.

[@John.McMillan]

And the reboot was actually good. Every time. Even the new one. Why? Because they followed the "If it's not broken, don't fix it" mentality.

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

And Family Guy.

[@nickminchew8140]

One of my new favorite underrated ytbers, i was just binge watching your stuff. Cant wait to see you get a bigger audience ❤

[@NorthSutherland]

Apparently the one takeaway from all of this....

[@YermTerragon]

I really think the main issue the revival failed was due to it being a split season order. There was a lot of hype and marketing done for the first season of the revival. But a lot of that hype died down once the season ended and people decided that it just wasn't that good. Because they split the season, they did not have any of the initial hype carry over into season two of the revival, and then also did not do anything to market it. If they had just aired it as a single 20 episode season, I feel like a lot more people would have watched through to the end. They would have gotten to the parts where it got good. There would have still been marketing and hype and fans talking about the show as it got good. And then as the season ended on another cliffhanger, there would have been a lot more fan demand. A third season that resolves the cliffhanger, finally sees Abe and Joan get together, and brings back Ghandi, would have gotten people excited. The split season order killed the show.

[@bobmuzaik]

personally i would've welcomed the reboot leaning more into genuine relationship drama if it didn't throw the original's allure of recontextualizing historical figures out the window. stuff like joan thinking she heard voices the way her clonemother did

[@JohnDoe-xf8ew]

clone high euphoria was a missed opportunity

[@redwolftrash]

frrr

[@dodgsonwevegotdodgsonhere9970]

3:29 This is the exact same reason why The Simpsons became a stale, dead show: It went from being a parody of family shows and celebrity cult to being a family show with celebrity cult.

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

I think The Simpsons is still good.

[@dodgsonwevegotdodgsonhere9970]

@@BrianIsTheGOAT594 And some people think the earth is flat. Good for you, champ.

[@themegayoutuber]

No worries, we'll see it again in 2043

[@timtimothy5405]

They revived a show because memes about it were popular and left out what made it good? Shocker it didn't do well

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Companies need to learn you cant focus a lot of energy into some products just from some menes

[@Bread-nx9fo]

They didn’t need to introduce the new characters, who felt paper thin. They could’ve just continued in the plots from the first season and it would’ve been totally better

[@Garth2the2ndpower]

The 20+ year gap can make a significant difference. There's just a lot in the first season that they can't get away with in the revival. I'm honestly surprised Genghis Khan made it back.

[@Bwillis2099]

I think the problem was that clone high was too much of a product of its time and probably could really adapt with the times. 2:11

[@vivainigood]

Form the very beggining there where good things but mostly bad things in the show, but I was willing to endure. The moment I was done was during the "white confidence" song. That was the moment I realized where this revival was going.

[@roachdog5795]

Bringing it back is what went wrong

[@Cartoonist113]

In my opinion I felt like scudworth, mr b and Candide carried the revival(especially scudworth)

[@Supersurfer12]

Yeah they were actually funny

[@darksideofevil13]

Feels like every revival out of nowhere either sucks, gets really bad, or has a bad ending. This, Samurai Jack, Dexter: New Blood

[@leavemealone802]

I think the best part of clone high was... they were making fun of teen dramas, but the characters were taking it 100% serious. They were characters of a cheesy teen drama and they would live in that reality The revival just make them not take the whole thing serious. They all made fun of teen drama, and worse of all... it became a actual teen drama, not a parody Edit: I didn't watch the whole video when I saw this, glad we agree

[@Lwhale.3797]

I think it was easier to make a parody about teen dramas in 2002 when every goddamn show was this high-melodrama teenage slop like Dawson’s Creek or Felicity. But in 2022, that format hasn’t been popular in so many years, and people then forgot about the cliched tropes that the original Clone High was originally poking fun at. Great video by the way!