CHOWDER (2007 - 2010)

 

Created by: C.H. Greenblatt

Starring: (voices) Nicky Jones, Dwight Schultz, Tara Strong, Kevin Michael Richardson, Liliana Mumy, C.H. Greenblatt, Dana Snyder, Mindy Sterling, Will Shadley, Elan Garfias, John DiMaggio, Tone Loc, Paul Reubens, Bob Joles, Diedrich Bader, George Takei, Steven Blum

49 episodes

(TV-Y7 - surreal humor)

PLOT:

In Marzipan City, the young, excitable food-loving Chowder is the apprentice of Mung Daal, a very old chef who runs a catering company with his wife, Truffles and assistant, Shnitzel.

season 1 - 

When Chowder accidentally puts rat poison in a dish called Burple Nurples during his first attempt at cooking something by himself, Mung must stop him from selling the tainted treats. Shnitzel goes to deposit a paycheck at the bank, but Chowder (along with some other people) prevent him from doing so. Chowder, Mung Daal, and Shnitzel make a "Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin" for a customer. They go through many dangerous steps to make it. The last one is to defeat it in a thumb wrestling match. A girl named Panini has a crush on Chowder, and he attempts to convince her that he is not her boyfriend. Unfortunately for him, trying to do so only gets him kissed, at which point Gazpacho tells him that he must marry Panini (and needs to make an "honest woman" out of her). When Chowder makes a big mistake of not sharing his gum with Truffles, his attempt to hide the mistake leads to a sticky mess of drastic proportions. When Chowder shrinks down in size and is then held captive in a tree that is home to a lonely monster, the others must beat the monster in a board game to set him free. When Mung is forced to spend a day in Certifrycation School to renew his cooking license, Mung must decide whether to stay true to his instincts or swallow his pride to pass the class. In order to cook Sing Beans, a musical food, Chowder, and the others must stay up during the night to watch the dish as it cooks. When Mung and Shnitzel fall asleep (due to Chowder telling an extremely boring joke in an attempt to pass the time), however, Chowder takes it upon himself to finish the process. Chowder and Mung go to an unfamiliar part of Marzipan City to deliver a customer's order, a sentient Roast Most, but the place is dirty and somewhat crime-infested, resulting in a dangerous event in which a large rat, who seems to have malicious purposes, chases them. Set during the events of "The Wrong Address". While Chowder and Mung deliver the Roast Most, an unexpected outlaw (who seems to be blind and deaf) uses the catering company as a hideout, leaving Shnitzel to save Truffles' life. Truffles mistake the outlaw for a customer, though, and criticizes Shnitzel for seeming to be reluctant to serve him. The police are supposed to enter the building and arrest the outlaw but are too busy deciding who goes first. Chowder attempts to eat a dish called "Meviled Eggs," no matter what it takes, even if it means ruining Truffles' game night with her friends. Mung makes a Clabbage Cobbler, which Kimchi falls in love with. To retrieve the dish, Chowder goes up to the top of a building Kimchi escaped to and keeps the stink cloud company during the night. Mung tries to control Chowder's Thrice Cream obsession by creating a living Thrice Cream Man to keep Chowder company. However, when this plan works and Chowder becomes tired of the treat, the Thrice Cream Man goes into a deep rage. When Truffles believes that everyone in the catering company is overweight, including her, she puts everyone on a strict diet of nothing but a disgusting food called Flibber Flabber, to the dismay of everyone (except Chowder, who surprisingly enjoys it.). Gazpacho has a stand-up comedy gig coming up soon, but he has no material for it. He asks Chowder to write down his jokes in a book, but problems occur when Chowder's handwriting is illegible to everyone. An all-out food fight ensues when Mung and Endive clash after they realize they have made the same dish for Marzipan City's annual street fair. Chowder eats an extremely sour piece of fruit and ends up having a bizarre journey within his mouth, with his wisdom tooth narrating the story. When Truffles' behavior causes giant fruits called Elemelons to go on strike, Mung forces her to solve the problem by staying in their cage for a night. Feeling that Chowder has been spending too much time in the kitchen, Mung forces him to play sports with other kids. Upset by Panini's kisses and Gorgonzola's taunts, Chowder has to figure out a way to escape the game and get back to the kitchen. After Mung forgets his and Truffles' wedding anniversary, Truffles gives him the cold shoulder. Seeing that Mung is depressed by this, Chowder decides to use advice from Gazpacho to help out. When Chowder accidentally messes up a drink, Mung goes into a deep sleep, leaving Chowder and Shnitzel to find something to awaken the chef. After accidentally letting a mold creature out of its bottle, everything Chowder touches becomes covered in mold. After realizing what has happened, Mung tries to solve things before the entire city becomes moldy. Mung and Chowder are forced to work for Ms. Endive to receive a rare fruit from her. Chowder must take a consumer on tour around Marzipan City with a balloon named Mr. Fugu, but to his dismay, Mr. Fugu can eat more than he does and does not get any of the food. Chowder, Mung, and Shnitzel accidentally lock themselves in the bathroom when they are about to go on a vacation. After he has a midnight snack, Chowder's internal clock goes haywire and he becomes a monster at night. Chowder must now survive an entire night without eating anything to become normal again. When Chowder accidentally bruises one of the bluenanas at Gazpacho's fruit stand, Panini gets the idea for her and Chowder to be its temporary parents and take care of it until it heals. Eventually, Chowder gets tired of this and has Gazpacho dress up as the bluenana's mother to fool Panini, but later the bluenana's real mother comes to take it home. After becoming soft and weak, Shnitzel must train to regain his strength and lift the heaviest object in Marzipan City: "The Lead Farfel". Chowder and Shnitzel must race against the clock when delivering an order to a man that lives on top of a giant since he gets it free if it comes before sunset. The gang tries to get rid of Reuben, an annoying pig who is extorting the company by using his pet rat after he uses the rat to frighten paying food stall customers to get free food when he should have done what he was supposed to do and pay for food. In the end, Reuben calls the rats, but Chowder leads them in a rebellion. The rats kick Reuben out while he is in bed, who shouts that they're all off of his birthday calendar. For a reward, all of the rats get sandwiches, ending with Reuben's old pet rat doing the same trick, but with a "dead" roach. When Chowder loses his hat to Chestnut, he must travel across town to trade the items needed to get it back. When Mung attempts to make Chowder smarter using a food called "Brain Grub", Chowder soon becomes aware that their universe is simply an animated series, and changes it into a talk show. Mung tells him about how without Chowder, life is worse than it used to be. When Chowder realizes his mistake, he smashes his big brain and eventually destroys the Chowder universe. When Shnitzel feels that he is not getting enough respect from Mung and Truffles, he quits the catering company and decides to work for their rival, Ms. Endive. He soon discovers that she is actually in love with him, however, and sees him as more than hired help. When Chowder accidentally breaks Mung's new feet-making machine, he is forced to go and buy a new part for it, but Chowder becomes easily distracted while in town and ends up having to find a way to make money after wasting the money Mung gave him. When Mung has to make a dish that requires a certain fruit that he fears due to an experience with it, he sends Chowder and Shnitzel in his place to retrieve it. Gazpacho bans everyone (including himself) from his fruit stand after a quarrel with Mung and must find a way to fix the problem he has caused. When Chowder's hands inflate after a cooking accident, he suddenly becomes very helpful to the people of Marzipan City, but his hands soon become a liability when Chowder starts to go crazy, believing that he is useless without his huge hand. Chowder and Gorgonzola are forced to team-up for the Marzipan City Apprentice Games but are kicked out of the competition by their masters after they lose several events. The duo must now get back into the games to reclaim their dignity. 

season 2 - 

Mung, Chowder, and Shnitzel need a special syrup from an annoying tree to complete a pancake recipe, but soon the tree and his family end up taking over the catering company, leaving them to find a solution. Chowder starts eating his stuff sold at Mung's garage sale. When Panini declares herself as the new president of the apprentice's society, Gorgonzola (through Chowder) ends up competing against her the title. While babysitting Chowder, Gazpacho believes he has accidentally killed Chowder. Convincing Chowder that he's dead, they both attempt to get his "spirit" to pass on to the other side. After Chowder eats a group of hot peppers to keep them from escaping the kitchen and burn down the city, he begins to breathe fire whenever he opens his mouth, whether he wants to or not. Quickly becoming an inconvenience to Mung and the others, he runs away to go live with dragons but returns at the end. While helping Mung make a giant bread bowl for a traveling circus troupe, Chowder becomes obsessed with being a member of the Flying Flinger Lingons and runs away to join them. Chowder worries that he will not receive the gift he wants on Knishmas when he sees Mung attempt to make a perfect Schmingerbread house and fail several times. Upon seeing this, he recruits Panini and Gorgonzola to help him make Knish Kringle like Mung's house. Against Mung's wishes, Chowder secretly starts his own catering company for a bunch of trash-dwelling vermins. However, when these vermin attempt to kill Mung, Shnitzel, and Truffles, Chowder must choose between his friends and his dreams. When a celebrity chef takes Marzipan City by storm, and wins the admiration of Chowder from Mung, Mung must come up with a catchphrase to win back Chowder's adoration. Sergent Hoagie prepares to go on a blind date, but must first deal with a crime committed at Ms. Endive's swimming pool caused by herself. When Truffles becomes sick, Mung, Chowder, and Shnitzel are left in charge of the company's money box. However, they become tempted by a large amount of money and go on a huge shopping spree, leaving no money left in the box. The gang must now find a way to stop Truffles from noticing the missing money--as soon as they receive enough money to continue animating the show, anyway. Mung takes Chowder and Shnitzel to go fishing, but end up on a cruise ship falsely owned by Reuben. When Mung's old cooking master comes to visit and tells a story about Mung's greatest failure to all of Marzipan City, humiliating him and turning everyone against him, Chowder and Mung travel back to the past to fix his failure. Truffles tries to impress the members of The Big Hat Biddies, and the others try to help by making a big feast for the club. Mung's old apprentice Gumbo traps Chowder within a huge maze so he can get rid of Mung but soon finds himself lost within it also, not knowing the way back. To make things worse, an over-professional Bird-headed body-builder named Jeffery, hired to destroy Chowder threatens Gumbo. Chowder and Gumbo must work together to defeat him and escape the maze. When Chowder must pass the upcoming "Basic Learning Test" (B.L.T.'s) or he'll be left unable to cook anymore, Mung is forced to take matters into his own hands and attempt to stop the test. Truffles gets a new voice after Mung tells her that her old one scares customers away. However, her new voice is so relaxed and non-threatening, so Chowder, Mung, and Shnitzel no longer take her seriously, get carried away, and turn into feral primitive cavemen, leaving Truffles to decide between her new voice and her old one. Mung's Catering Company has a mystery-themed theater show called "Who Dunit? T'was Not Me: A Victorian Romp Through The World of Barbershop Farce" to earn more money, but due to his stupidity, Chowder believes that the play is a series of real events and that Gazpacho will act out the play in real-life as Baron Von Bon-Bon and kill the others. Chowder is then forced to go to Gorgonzola and Ceviché's help to stop him. Shnitzel tires of his adult responsibilities and decides to act like a child, much to Mung's chagrin. Forcing Shnitzel's responsibilities on Chowder, Chowder then decides to act like a baby and Shnitzel follows suit, forcing Mung to send them to the baby pound only to be trapped by the Warden, Frau Broten. In the end, after Frau changes Shnitzel's diaper, she discovers that Shnitzel is actually a man. Inspired by his bravery, the other "babies" reveal that they were actually men trying to get out of work. They decide that a baby's life is not as exciting as they hoped for and want to go back to work. Then Frau runs away, crying out, "I feel so used!!". When an intimidating woman bullies Gazpacho into giving her free produce, he and Chowder must think of a way to fight back, by going to the strongest person they know. While catering at a special sports event, Truffles, and Mung argue about the rules of the game, resulting in the two competing in the games. Chowder drinks a cool drink too fast, causing him to be frozen in a block of ice; to get back to the kitchen, Chowder must get the help of two flenguins to get the fur coat of Flazpacho, a flammoth. Mung tries to get rid of the old car for a new car, but Chowder wants the old one back, so Mung and Chowder set up a race for their cars. Chowder wrecks his teeth on purpose so he can go to his dentist, who gives out delicious "lollistops". Mung blackmails Ms. Endive with an embarrassing picture of her to gain access to her pool, and before long, everyone else begins to follow his plan. Mung, Chowder, and Shnitzel go on a camping trip, where Chowder attempts to prove to a stubborn Mung that the legendary Big Food exists. Fed up with Mung and everyone criticizing him for his screw-ups, Chowder paints his own world after discovering a blank-canvas dimension behind his bedroom. When Chowder uses too much power in the kitchen, it causes a blackout to occur. To bring back the power, Chowder (along with Gorgonzola) must go to The Tower of Power. Chowder breaks Mung's dice cycle and blames it on Ceviche under Gazpacho's command. Mung becomes cursed for 100 years after refusing to make a chain recipe. After Truffles makes the plants grow with her voice, Chowder becomes her apprentice, but a heartbroken Mung attempts to get him back. Longing for a companion, Miss Endive cooks a beefcake for a date. Unfortunately, she forgets to bake him 100% completely and, as a result, gets stuck with an ugly and undercooked beefcake named Todd with a catchphrase, "Sheboodles!" Things got worse for Endive once everyone starts to like Todd. Gazpacho leaves his mom's home and moves into the catering company over an argument. Gazpacho gradually wears out his welcome and the catering company works out a plan to get rid of him. Chowder takes Kimchi to his family's home in the swamp for an arranged marriage and worries about the future of their friendship after Chowder is accused by Porridge of kidnapping Kimchi from his family. In the end, it is revealed that Kimchi's almost-wife was actually Robert Limburger (a.k.a. The Bridal Bandit), explaining why "she" had a bag on "her" head. Mung and Miss Endive compete over who throws the best Apprentice Appreciation Day party, alienating Chowder and Panini in the process. A parasite moves into Chowder's stomach, driving away Chowder's friends, so he attempts to remove it. Chowder becomes friends with a girl named Marmalade, but Panini, very jealous about her boyfriend's new relationship, tries to get Chowder back. Chowder discovers that Shnitzel had a previous life as a samurai bodyguard.

season 3 - 

Chowder, Mung, Shnitzel, and several recurring and minor characters enter a contest to win a big mixer. The last one with their hand on it wins. Mung, Shnitzel, and Chowder agree to help deliver a bunch of explosive and dangerous Blast Raz to Mr. Fugu's house while having to put up with Chowder's crazed singing at the same time. Chowder has to make a delivery to an old haunted house across the street. A chicken ghost named Florentine takes over Chowder's body, causing problems for the gang. Chowder, Panini, Gorgonzola, and Ceviché go on a scouting trip led by Gazpacho, but Chowder thinks he has Rabie-C's since Gazpacho is going hard on them. Mung creates a guard dog out of food to protect the catering company, but Chowder adds a crazy fruit that makes it incredibly dangerous. A baking accident causes Chowder, Mung, Shnitzel, and Truffles to switch bodies. While trying to go to Mr. Fugu's fruit party, the gang's fruit costumes are destroyed. Now, they must try to get new ones before an angry mob and the police catch them. The gang finds a stash of rock candy called sugar sapphires under Endive's house and try to raid the loot before she discovers. Endive feels guilty after playing a trick on Mung. When Chowder sees the terrible effects of old age on Mung and Truffles, Chowder tries to find a way to stop Old Man Thyme from making him old and ugly. When Chowder's newspaper fails to sell, Chowder makes a new cover title known as the MIP (Most Important Person). Shnitzel has to watch Chowder over at his house while Mung and Truffles are out of town. When Chowder says his life is too boring and drags him to a parody of Chuck E. Cheese, Shnitzel falls in love with an animatronic, "Seniorita Mesquite". Pretty soon, his love goes too far and causes chaos. Mung accidentally ruins his tongue which makes him unable to taste things, so he asks Chowder to be his "taste buds". A ninja-hating friend of Gazpacho tries to help him find his mother, whom Gazpacho thinks has been captured by actual ninjas. Chowder accidentally eats a tootin' fruit and becomes a musical sensation, but his life is taken over by his agent, Gorgonzola, and soon he misses Mung and wants to go back with him. Mung tells Chowder that one day, he'll have to grow up and run the kitchen on his own once he becomes old enough. Chowder does not want to grow up and sings a song explaining why, but he kept the song going for 20 years and grows up naturally, and then he sees what all of his friends grew up to be, and he finally realizes that he should stop acting like a kid and grow up.