Throwback Thursday: Sealab 2021 ‘Casinko’

sealab_2021

Ah, spring time. A time of new beginnings, warmer weather, overly hopped spring time beers, and a profound sense of optimism that kinda makes me wanna punch some people in the face. It’s a good
thing I get to write a weekly article about cartoons of airings past, and this week I had the pleasure of diving into the briny deep of yesteryear and dredging up Sealab 2021.

You know, I didn’t think too much of Sealab when it first aired, but the more I watched the show the more enamored I became with it. As a kid, I used to watch all the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons like Johnny Quest and Yogi Bear so it was obvious that I would love Sealab 2021 just as much as those old stand-bys.

Blabberbuddies, I won’t mince words here. I love Sealab. Maybe it’s the animation, or maybe it’s the irreverence of the writing, but I love it. I won’t get too deep, as the show doesn’t warrant a deep
philosophical discussion like my previous King of The Hill Article (Aisle 8A), because it’s a simple, short show, and the situations are so extreme that you don’t really get the chance to love the characters as deeply as say Hank Hill or Homer Simpson. That being said, the situational randomness packs a comedic wallop that is well worth your time. The Episode I chose for this Throwback is called Casinko.

Long story short, the Sealab is sinking because it was built on an ancient Indian burial ground (physics be damned!) and it’s up to John Bear, the apparently Native American crew member, to fix the problem. He’s asked to do a magical Native dance in order to stop the sinking. His payment? A casino in the mess hall “with real Vegas style gambling. Like my ancestors had.”

So the Mess is transformed into the Buffalo Chips Casino. The Sealab crew go overboard (no pun intended,) and start gambling, Hesh (who stole this episode for me,) loses all of his money and can’t
find the right words to ask a group of elderly ladies on the prowl if he can use their slot machine, and Dolphin Boy doing his best Wayne Newton as a lounge act.

Eventually though, the Lab sinks because everyone is too busy enjoying the half-assed casino and its discovered that John Bear is actually a white man who is actually a Native American, who then tears
his face off. The episode, I guess, is supposed to teach us about racism and how it’s bad. There’s even a musical number in the middle of the episode to slam-blast the message down your gullet!

Sealab 2021, you magnificently Hanna-Barbera homaged bastard of a show, I love you, but this episode could have been better, you substituted what could have been a sharp witted and slick episode with
cheap jokes and a tawdry, tired message. MC Chris’s Hesh redeemed it for me, though, Which is why I rate Casinko a

6 out of 10.