Dexter's Laboratory
A pint-sized boy genius with a secret laboratory hidden in his bedroom, a fake scientist's accent, and one recurring problem: his fun-loving sister Dee Dee, who breezes in and wrecks everything by pushing the wrong button.
Dexter's Laboratory was created by Genndy Tartakovsky and began as a short on the What a Cartoon! showcase — the pilot, "Changes," aired February 26, 1995 and became the highest-rated of the shorts. That reception earned it a full series, which premiered April 27, 1996 — debuting on TNT, with Cartoon Network and TBS picking it up the next day.
The setup was simple and endlessly reusable: Dexter, a boy-genius with a vast secret laboratory concealed in his bedroom, forever pursuing some grand experiment — and forever foiled by his sister Dee Dee, who wanders in and pushes the wrong button. Dexter spoke in a mock-serious accent because, as the show explained, he considered himself a very serious scientist, and his rivalry with the villainous Mandark gave the mayhem an arch-nemesis.
The original run ended in 1998 after 52 episodes; a revival followed from 2001 to 2003, with Chris Savino taking over as showrunner while Tartakovsky moved on to create Samurai Jack. Across 78 episodes total, Dexter's Laboratory helped define Cartoon Network's original-animation era, its snappy design and comic timing setting the template for the wave of original Cartoon Network shows that followed.
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