Ruby Gloom

I hadn’t seen this many candy-colored Gothic characters bouncing around a cartoon in forever. There was a bat with a speech impediment who’s afraid of flying, Siamese twins who just wanted to eat chips and dip, and this purple thing that shuffled through scenes looking half-dead, never saying anything but flat monotone observations. And the title song was actually great.

This was kids’ TV that didn’t feel like a sedative. Not like Bob the Builder or Dora or whatever corporate thing was designed to numb parents into total silence. Just something weird enough to have a real pulse to it.

The bright side of the dark side.