The X-Presidents

The X-Presidents is an NBC/Saturday Night Live Saturday TV Funhouse cartoon created by Robert Smigel and animated by J. J. Sedelmaier Productions.

Plot

This cartoon features the living former American Presidents at the time: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush (all voiced by Jim Morris) as a superhero team.[1] This recurring sketch debuted on January 11, 1997.[2] The four former leaders were endowed with superpowers when struck by lightning at a celebrity golf tournament. The title is a play on words, both referencing that the members are ex-Presidents, and alluding to the Marvel Comics franchise, X-Men. Their wives are also members of a similar group, The X-First Ladies, with more flamboyant powers.[3]

In the episode "Nixon," Richard Nixon and his dog Checkers are resurrected to aid the group. As of 2018, Ford, Reagan and Bush have become "Ex-X-Presidents" since their deaths, leaving Carter as the only remaining member of the original team. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama attempted to join the group after leaving office but were hindered by their lack of superpowers. The cartoons end with the X-Presidents singing a song that recounts the episode's message. The Ambiguously Gay Duo, another series of shorts created by Robert Smigel and J. J. Sedelmaier, made a special guest appearance in Episode 58 of The X-Presidents, "The Hunt for Osama". The sketch broadly parodies Hanna-Barbera/Filmation cartoons from the 1970s.

Comic adaptation

The cartoon short was adapted to a graphic novel by Random House Books.[4]

References
  1. "Comedy Central puppet show not for kids". CNN.com. 2000-12-27. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  2. Episode# 1 01.11.1997
  3. Episode# 3 02.07.1998
  4. "X Presidents 279-A, September 2000 Graphic Novel / Trade by Villard". Comiccollectorlive.com. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
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