High Noon Toons was a three-hour programming block of

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

hosted by two cowboy

hand puppet A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hand or hands that occupies the interior of the puppet.Sinclair, A, ''The Puppetry Handbook'', p.15 A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppetee ...

s named Haas and Lil' Jo (a Bonanza reference) shown on Cartoon Network in the mid-1990s. The series was made by Matt Thompson and Adam Reed, who later went on to create adult-themed cartoon series such as ''

Sealab 2021 ''Sealab 2021'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before ...

'' and ''

Frisky Dingo ''Frisky Dingo'' is an American adult animated cartoon series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The series revolves around the conflict between a supervillain named Killface and a superhero named Awesome X, alias billionaire ...

'' for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

and ''

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

'' for FX. Often the show had special themes, such as "''

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasion ...

'': Pure Mustang". Haas and Lil' Jo also hosted Cartoon Network's "Spring Break '95", with the two on a beach setting with bikini-clad Barbie dolls, and which showed Spring Break-related cartoons. They also hosted the Thanksgiving Cartoon Parade in 1995.

Creation and cancellation

Matt Thompson had been working for

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

for a while already in the early 1990s, when his boss at Cartoon Network liked his sense of humor. Thompson was then asked to come up with some funny interstitial material for a new three-hour block of cartoons. When it came time to present, he was so hungover from the night before that he had actually failed to come up with any ideas, so he simply started making his hand talk like a puppet. The hand puppets were a hit, and Thompson was ordered to write 500 jokes to fill 10 to 15 seconds of filler time from the noon to 3pm time slot. He recruited his friend Adam Reed for the other hand puppet and the show was complete. Thompson and Reed were often

drunk Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ...

while making the show, and were eventually reprimanded for drinking on the job after setting a prop spaceship on fire.

References

Cartoon Network programming blocks Cartoon Network original programming {{CartoonNetwork-stub