Dexter's Laboratory

Original Air Date: 1996-2003

Network: Cartoon Network

Originally appearing as shorts on Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons (later known as What a Cartoon! Show, now known as The Cartoon Cartoon Show),Dexter's Laboratory introduced the world to its creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, who would later become known for his creations Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. The star of the show was Dexter, a young boy in a normal American family who happens to have a thick European accent, a secret laboratory, and the intellect of a mad genius. Dexter's elaborate experiments were often interrupted by his flighty older sister, Dee Dee, who had a knack for getting into his lab despite his best efforts to keep her out.

While aimed at and immediately accessible to children, Dexter's Laboratory was part of a new generation of animated series that played on two levels, simultaneously fun for both kids and adults. The humor often revolved around Dexter and Dee Dee's fights, but also delved into absurd situations, regularly leaving things completely bizarre at the end of an episode (e.g., clones of Dee Dee and Dexter running around, a giant tentacled monster attacking the house, Dexter's lab being destroyed) -- but everything would be back to normal at the start of the next episode.