''Waynehead'' is an animated television series created by actor/comedian

Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and writer. A member of the Wayans family of entertainers, Damon performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a brief stint ...

and ran from 1996 to 1997 on

Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming block that originally aired on The WB from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006, and later on The CW from September 23, 2006, to May 17, 2008. Initially launched as a co ...

, and on YTV from 1996 to 1998. It was a co-production of Warner Bros. Television Animation and

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

, with overseas animation by Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd., and Philippine Animation Studio, Inc., while the opening sequence was animated by TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation in Japan. ''Waynehead'' lasted for 13 episodes for one season; Wayans stated that he was told by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

that the cartoon wasn't black enough nor funny enough, to which a WB executive replied by insisting that the show was merely low-rated. It is about a young boy named Damey Wayne, of unknown age, from a poor background and with a

club foot Clubfoot is a congenital or acquired defect where one or both feet are supinated, rotated inward and plantar flexion, downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. ...

. It was based on Wayans' own childhood in the Chelsea neighborhood in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Actors who provided voices for the show included

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor, known as a high-profile child star of the late 1970s and 1980s. Born in Zion, Illinois, Coleman grew up with his adopted parents, and a kidney disease; due to the co ...

, Orlando Brown, and

Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Shawn Wayans on The WB sitcom ''The Wayans Bros.'' (1995–1999) and the comedy films ''Don't Be a M ...

Voice cast

* Orlando Brown as Damey "Waynehead" Wayne * Tico Wells as Marvin * Jamil Walker Smith as Mo' Money, Jr. * T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh as Roz, Shavonne, Aki *

Shawn Wayans Shawn Mathis Wayans (born January 19, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He made his debut on the comedy television series ''In Living Color'' (1990–1993). He went on to work with his brother Marlon Wayans on The WB si ...

as Toof *

as Blue *

as Kevin * Kim Wayans as Mrs. Wayne *

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

as Mr. Wayne *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

as Tripod *

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American and Canadian actress, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and '' Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), '' Wag the Dog'' (1 ...

as Teacher

Episodes

Production

The series was first announced in 1991 as ''The Wayneheads.'' It was originally going to be a claymation series and was going to air in primetime on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

. The concept was shelved and was retooled as a traditionally-animated, Saturday morning series that took influence off of the 1992 movie ''

Bebe's Kids ''Bebe's Kids'' ( ; also marketed as ''Robin Harris' Bebe's Kids'') is a 1992 American Adult animation, adult animated comedy film produced by Hyperion Pictures, Hyperion Studio for Paramount Pictures. Directed by Bruce W. Smith in his List of ...

'', the show ran on Kids' WB from 1996 to 1997.

Broadcast

The show was aired on

from 1996 to 1997, and eventually aired reruns on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

from 1998 to 2000.

International

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, ''Waynehead'' aired on YTV from 1996 to 1998. In

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, ''Waynehead'' aired on

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

, Junior, and K-Toon under the name of ''Waynehead - Echt cool, Mann!''. In

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, the series aired on ORF 1. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the series aired on

CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

in 1998. In

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, ''Waynehead'' aired on

Arutz HaYeladim Arutz HaYeladim (, The Children's Channel; Formerly: Arutz Shesh (ערוץ 6) ''channel 6'') (no relation to the British The Children's Channel) is an Israeli children's cable television channel owned by RGE Group, through subsidiary NOGA Comm ...

. In

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, ''Waynehead'' aired on

RTÉ2 RTÉ2 (formerly branded as RTÉ 2 from 1978–88, Network 2 from 1988–97, N2 from 1997–2004 and RTÉ Two from 2004–14) is an Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched on 2 Novemb ...

. In

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, ''Waynehead'' aired on

Home media

Since April 20, 2021, ''Waynehead'' was released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

and Fandango at Home.''Waynehead''
at Fandango at Home.

References in other media

*The theme song is parodied in the ''

Pinky and the Brain ''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American animated sitcom created by Tom Ruegger for the Kids' WB programming block of The WB, as a collaboration of Steven Spielberg with his production company Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Ani ...

'' episode "Dangerous Brains". *A reel with the show's logo on it is shown in the ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...

'' episode "Huggbees".

References

External links

* *
Waynehead
' at

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

{{Portal bar, Television, United States, Canada, Cartoon, Animation, 1990s, Comedy, New York, City 1990s American animated comedy television series 1990s American children's comedy television series 1990s American black cartoons 1996 American animated television series debuts 1997 American television series endings 1990s Canadian animated comedy television series 1990s Canadian black cartoons 1990s Canadian children's television series 1996 Canadian television series debuts 1997 Canadian television series endings American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series Canadian children's animated adventure television series Canadian children's animated comedy television series Kids' WB original shows The WB animated television series YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming ProSieben original programming ITV (TV network) original programming Television series by Nelvana Television series by Warner Bros. Animation Animated television series set in New York City Animated television series about children Television shows filmed in Montreal Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows filmed in California Fictional quintets Black people in art Animation based on real people