Strap in, folks — we’re heading straight into the Cousin Oliver Zone!
You know the place! That strange, shimmering stretch of television history where perfectly fine shows suddenly decided, “Hey, what if we added… one more guy?”
This week, Ben, Gregory, and Tom chart the strange history of characters who arrived late to the party and somehow stole the spotlight! In other words, we dig into the great (and sometimes disastrous) tradition of late-arrival sidekicks, mascots, and spotlight thieves!
We’re talking:
- Scrappy-Doo crashing Mystery Inc. like an uninvited chihuahua at a Great Dane party
- Cousin Oliver moving in with the Bradys, bringing a bowl cut and the kiss of death
- Urkel turning “Family Matters” into “The Steve Urkel Show” without even trying
- The Great Gazoo, proving “prehistoric” doesn’t mean “alien-free”
- Wario, evolving from tennis court menace to Mario’s most profitable frenemy
And because this is us, we go further:
- Fonzie’s hostile takeover of Happy Days
- Tommy Oliver singlehandedly becoming the Power Ranger
- Popeye muscling into Thimble Theatre like he owned the place
- Wrestling factions that just… kept… adding… members (looking at you, NWO)
We also detour through:
- Sailor Moon’s sudden “cute mascot” phase
- Sonic the Hedgehog’s ballooning friend list (do we really need Big the Cat?)
- Blondie’s pivot from a comic about a flapper to a strip about her sandwich-obsessed husband
- The politest vaudeville trio ever — Alphonse, Gaston, and Leon
It’s part nostalgia trip, part pop-culture autopsy, and part “Wait, who remembers Orbity?”
By the end, you’ll be asking yourself: “Am I a main character… or did I just show up in season 5?”
