Weird-Ohs was a short-lived computer-animated cartoon series that aired on Fox Family and YTV in 1999. Running only 13 episodes in total, with each episode containing two 10 minute stories, it was one of the early products of Rainmaker Entertainment, back when they were still known as Mainframe Entertainment. Inspired by the Hawk Model Company's 1960s line of "Weird-ohs Car-icky-tures", a series of monster-driven hot-rod and dragster caricature assemble-and-paint model kits, Weird-Ohs tells the story of a small band of crazies living in "Weirdsville", a town filled with car-obsessed monsters stated to lie just off of Route 66, revolving in particular around the hijinks of young Digger and his older, dumber partner Eddie in the face of their need for entertainment and Digger's rivalry with his older sister Portia and local jerks Wade and Louie.
The entire cast of characters consists of:
- Digger Chassis, a young Weird-Oh who has yet to pass his driving class.
- Eddie, an older teen Weird-Oh who isn't the brightest, but yearns to be a great inventor.
- Portia Chassis, Digger's older sister, who dreams of winning the heart of local hotshot biker, Davey.
- Baby Chassis, an infant Weird-Oh who drives around in a turbo-charged motorized pram, Digger and Portia's little brother.
- Mama-B Chassis, the owner of a local roadhouse diner and Digger, Portia and Chassis' mother.
- Daddy-O Chassis, genius inventor and a teacher at Digger's school, Mama-B's husband.
- Huey, Eddie's uncle, a crazy old swamp-rat who homebrews his own super-potent fuel.
- Wade, local rich kid and a huge jerk, always attended by his enormous butler/chauffeur/bodyguard, Killer McBash.
- Davey, a bike-riding Weird-Oh who is regarded as the local epitome of cool.
- Leaky Boat Louie, an ex-sailor and oddjobsman who is the local jerk.
This show contains examples of:
- All Love Is Unrequited: The Love Triangle between Wade, Portia and Davey is kept running by the fact that Portia dislikes Wade and her feelings are ignored by Davey.
- Badass Biker: Davey breathes this trope to the point of caricature.
- Big Eater: Eddie loves to gorge himself, to the point he is seen taking his hands off the wheel to assemble and consume his Trademark Favorite Food in the opening credits.
- Comically Missing the Point: Eddie's lack of brains meant he was frequently unable to follow events going around him.
- Cut Short: The series was cancelled after releasing only 26 stories in 13 episodes.
- Death Glare: Between Portia and a goose in "Getting Over Davey".
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: There's a ReBoot poster in Digger's garage.
- Gone Horribly Right: Eddie tries to create a monster truck by using Daddy-O's experimental rubberized metal and his Uncle Huey's homebrew fuel. He gets a monster truck, alright... as in, a Mechanical Monster in the shape of a truck that parasitically sucks up fuel and keeps growing bigger and bigger. It levels Weirdsville before Baby Chassis takes it down with a spare diaper pin.
- Hidden Depths: Eddie seems like a loser, a slacker and a lunk, but he deeply wants both to be a great mechanic like Daddy-O and to prove worthy to inherit his uncle Huey's recipe for homebrewing ultra-potent fuel.
- Hillbilly Moonshiner: Eddie's uncle Huey has this aesthetic, but he brews fuel, not moonshine. He even sets traps to discourage people from trying to steal it, since its sheer potency is the stuff of legend in Weirdsville.
- Hunk: Davey is seen as the most handsome young male Weird-Oh in Weirdsville, which is part of the reason that Portia is so obsessed with him.
- Made of Indestructium: Invoked in-universe in the episode "Gods and Monster Trucks", where Daddy-O attempts to create "rubberized metal" that can be used to build cars that will literally bounce back into shape, no matter the abuse they take. The result is... less than successful.
- Malaproper: After Wade tricks Digger to go the wrong way during a race:Wade: Farewell, lollipop! No, that's not right. What is it that commoners say? Oh yeah. So long, sucker! Ha ha ha!
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Leaky Boat Louie has a different occupation in each of his appearances.
- No Name Given: The youngest of the three Chassis kids is never referred to by any name other than "Baby".
- Oblivious to Love: Davey doesn't notice Portia has a crush on him (he probably doesn't even know she exist). He loves his motorcycle.
- Real After All: "Legend of the Phantom Racer" revolves around Digger and Eddie's attempts to get a picture of the titular Racer. At the end, when it seems that the mysterious vehicle they've been chasing is one of Daddy-O's remote cars driven by Baby, the real Phantom Racer shows up to flash the pair a thumbs' up.
- Rich Jerk: Wade, the richest of the Weird-Ohs and also a total jerk.
- Secret Diary: The story "Diary of a Mad Sister" is built around Digger and Eddie stealing Portia's secret diary.
- Serious Business: Two examples, both in-universe:
- Driving. Weirdsville is obsessed with driving, to the point that driving lessons are part of the basic school curriculum.
- Huey's homebrewed fuel recipe. One of Eddie's two biggest dreams, other than becoming a great car inventor like Daddy-O, is to prove worthy to inherit the recipe. He actually does obtain this dream during the series, when he inadvertently completes a sample of the fuel with the secret ingredient: sweat.
- Shout-Out: Uncle Huey's car resembles the Arkansas Chuggabug 8.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Eddie loves "hoagie" style sandwiches.
- Verbal Tic: Mama-B has a habit of saying "really" in some of her sentences. It's part of her stuck-in-the-50s aesthetic.
- You Are Not Alone: In "Getting Over Davey":Portia: I usually have self-control, but when it comes to Davey I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF!
Mama B: Portia, you are not alone.
Eddie: No kidding. We're standing right next to her.
[Digger shakes his head and Face Palms] - You Don't Look Like You: The characters are all based on the Weird-Ohs model kits, but the connection can be very hard to determine, especially for some with changed names. In particular, Mama-B and Baby Chassis are based on the "Drag Hag" model kit, with Mama-B looking very different to the Butter Face Witch Classic of her model counterpart. Then there's Killer McBash; a crazed football player in the model, a giant but elegantly suited butler in the show.
