Kevin Spencer (TV series)

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Kevin Spencer is a cartoon television series developed by Greg Lawrence, aired in Canada on The Comedy Network and aimed at adult audiences. It takes its name from the main character.

The half-hour show takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, and revolves around the everyday happenings of the Spencer family, more frequently Kevin himself. His parents are Anastasia and Percy Spencer. Anastasia (voiced by Thomasin Langlands) is a fat, drunken, and promiscuous woman, a curious cross, it would seem, between a hoser (a stereotypical Canadian) and a hick. Curiously, she often ends up having sex, despite being immensely unattractive in just about all senses of the word. Often she receives sex because of people wishing to get back at her husband, Percy. Percy (voiced by Lawrence) is also a fat, drunken, loud, boorish and illiterate oaf, so stupid it is questionable whether he can write his own name. With parents like these, it is not the least bit surprising that Kevin is a "chain-smoking, alcoholic, sociopathic" juvenile delinquent at the age of 14.

Most of the adventures on the show revolve along illegal schemes committed by any or all three of the characters. Most of the time their motive is nothing more than the ability to acquire more money than their welfare cheques give them. Kevin occasionally goes to school, encountering other stereotypes and people who are almost as stupid as his parents.

Kevin's character is slightly more interesting in the fact that he is obviously in possession of some degree of intellect. The show never uses his voice (until recently), but suggests that he tells people rather detailed and articulate things or asks intelligent, legitimate questions when faced with an argument. Instead, the show's narrator (voiced by Lawrence) speaks for him. More often than not these arguments are dismissed by the person that hears them, and this usually causes Kevin to respond to what his environment led him to be the answer: violence.

Another frequent character in the show is Allen the Magic Goose, an anthropomorphic chain-smoking goose that is the other inspiration behind many of Kevin's misadventures, but is just a figment of his imagination. The bird is what contributes the most to Kevin's sociopathic nature, usually asking him to do illegal, indecent, and dangerous things simply for the sake of the thrill or for vengeance.

[edit] Trivia

Possibly pre-dating the God Machine in The Daily Show's "This Week in God" segment was a reference Kevin made to a "God machine" that he would use to destroy the world. This God Machine is apparently 12 hair dryers duct-taped to a dishwasher, and as Allen the Magic Goose states, it is therefore not a God Machine but just 12 hair dryers duct-taped to a dishwasher.

Episode 8 of season 1 was only aired once until it got banned from TV.

The entire series has been released on DVD, available here.

[edit] Season 8 episode summaries

8.01- The Missing Links

Due to equal doses of self-abuse, brutal assaults and plain stupidity all three of the Spencer’s end up with brutal head injuries and living like savages in a city park. Soon they are mistaken for missing links and then end up living in a cage outside of a roadside gas station.

8.02 – Killing the Messenger

Percy wins yet another contest and this time he gets to be a judge on the latest heap of reality TV bile - The International Idolatry Talent Impersonating Contest of Mimicry. In the process, he becomes a bitchy, cutting sensation. Meanwhile, Mom is angry with Percy for getting an overly exuberant lap dance and decides to defy the bikers and unionize the town’s strippers. Kevin spends this episode being courted by and eventually sort of working with a secret sect of law enforcement bent on destroying art, music and comedy.

8.03 – Hell or High Water

After getting caught practicing self-pleasure in the home of a local thug, Percy takes his family and flees to a ghost town to wait for the heat to die down. Unknown to the Spencer’s, the town is also about to become the set for Afroman and Pornman’s latest adult film opus. Finally tracked down by the bad guys, the Spencer’s, the porn actors and some shifty cowboys settle their differences with six shooters in a bloody hommage to Peckinpah.

8.04 – Die A Lot more and also once again

After stealing a mailbox full of their neighbors mail and cheques the Spencer’s stumble across an invitation to a high society black-tie and gown affair. Posing as their neighbor’s the McNaughton’s the Spencer destroy the bar and offend the guests but in the end turn out to be hero’s after thwarting some vaguely European hostage takers. Think Die Hard with more chronic alcoholism and morbid obesity.

8.05 – Air show

A bit of bookender fun as the episode opens on a ‘Kevin Spencer Writing Meeting’ where Greg asks Rick for one more episode. He’ll be too busy helping runaway teen girls at “Camp WhoosYerDaddy”. Rick heads out to the Camel Toe Inn where he hangs out nearby, eavesdropping no the real Spencer family and interrogates them for ideas. Percy invites him on a B&E because he has a lighter. The theft doesn’t go well and Percy only gets some guard dogs, which he tries to pawn at Jimmy’s. Jimmy declines, as he’s going out of business. Percy depresses Jimmy so much that he manages to pawn a .32 calibre handgun, which used to belong to Rick’s mom. Finally they have enough to attend the air show and all get some shuteye except Rick and Kevin. Rick confesses to Kevin that he’s got a rough deadline and needs ideas. Kevin makes a deal with him. Kevin will rep him if Rick will mentor his writing. Rick mooches beer and gets institutionalized, Greg’s negotiations with Kevin go poorly and Percy and Anastasia drive off into the sunset…after the destruction of several downtown city properties.

LAST EPISODE - 8.06 – See you in Hell Mom strokes out in a bar and dies, Percy slowly succumbs to necrotising faescitus, Marty fails at suicide but dies anyway and all the while Mr. Franklin (we don't really know it since in season 1 episode 8 we discover that there are 2 'twin brothers' with the same nickname Mr. Franklin), Kevin’s first psychiatrist from season one is on a manhunt to destroy the boy. Eventually those left living cross paths, and the true nature of Kevin’s brain problems are revealed.

In the end Allen the Goose enters the Morgue where Kevin took his mother's corpse (after Kevin dies by a car accident saying 'Good bye Allen' ) and is revealed that all the series and characters (even Kevin himself) are imagined by Allen due to certain Psychiatric problems.