The X's

''The X's'' is an American animated television series created by Carlos Ramos for Nickelodeon. The series centers on a nuclear family of four highly trained spies who must conceal their identity from the outside world but normally having trouble in doing so. The show consists of a single 20-episode (38 segments) season, running from November 25, 2005, to November 25, 2006. Although it was compared to ''The Incredibles'' and '' Alias'', Ramos has stated that the show takes inspiration from the James Bond film series, the 1960s TV series ''Get Smart,'' and the 1960s TV series '' The Avengers''.

Premise

The X's work for SUPERIOR, a covert agency sworn to defend Earth from evil. Mr. and Mrs. X have their daughter named Tuesday, their son named Truman, and many gadgets at their disposal. An organization called S.N.A.F.U. (short for Society of Nefarious and Felonious Undertakings) led by the evil Glowface is continually trying to cause trouble for the X's and other SUPERIOR agents through their plans to take over the world.

The series takes place in 2006, according to the episode: "X Takes a Holiday". The location of the show is in a coastal city, likely somewhere in the United States, as Mr. and Mrs. X have used the country's currency in the episodes "Secret Agent Manual", "Wealth vs. Stealth", and "Train Rex".

Development and production

The series was pitched in 2002, with development from 2002 to 2003. Production ran from May 2004 to September 2006. The end credits of each episode reveal that in production order, the first ten episodes were completed by 2005, while the last ten were completed by 2006.

Jim Smith, alumni of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', was a prominent storyboard artist on the series; he alongside Vincent Waller were instrumental in the formation of Nickelodeon Animation Studio, having refused to join the studio after Spümcø was terminated from the series. His longtime work partner John Kricfalusi makes a cameo appearance in an episode, despite defaming the production company at its earliest years.

After production wrapped in late 2006, Carlos Ramos and director Dave Marshall moved on to work on '' Ni Hao, Kai-Lan''s pilot and series. Ramos left Nickelodeon in June 2007 after working as a character designer. CG supervisor Ernest Chan, along with voice director and writer Doug Langdale, moved to providing 3D special effects and writing episodes of '' El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera'' respectively.

Broadcast

The series aired on Nickelodeon and premiered in the United States on November 25, 2005, with three back-to-back episodes. The final episode aired on November 25, 2006. As of 2007, "Theater of War" / "Breaking Camp" remain unaired in the United States.

Foreign broadcast

''The X's'' premiered in multiple countries throughout Latin America in 2006, along with Germany on February 10, 2007, and in South Korea from 2008 to 2009.

Streaming and home media

Streaming

In 2018, series director, Dave Marshall released nearly the entire series on his Vimeo account (with the exception of 2 episodes).

''The X's'' is available on Pluto TV and Apple TV in Mexico (however, a few episodes are missing).

Home Media

While the series never saw any official complete series releases, there were two Nick Picks volumes that each included an episode in 2006 and 2007. The episode "To Err is Truman" was to be featured on the Nick Picks Vol. 6 DVD, with a release date for August 7, 2007. The DVD and the Nick Picks series overall were cancelled for unknown reasons.

Characters

SUPERIOR

* Mr. X (voiced by Patrick Warburton) is the family patriarch and leader of the X's. Although a competent spy, he struggles with everyday issues, such as remembering his civilian name, which is Tucker. He is also an excellent cook and very strict and stern.
* Mrs. X (voiced by Wendie Malick) is the second-in-command and combat specialist of the X's. Mrs. X is fully trained in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts but is a horrible cook. She's a very caring and protective mother to Tuesday and Truman. Her first name is Trudy.
* Tuesday X (voiced by Lynsey Bartilson) is Mr. and Mrs. X's 16-year-old teenage daughter and missions investigator. Tuesday is the most normal of the team, despite her rather extreme punk-rock garb and frequently changing hair-color. She is also the most knowledgeable of "real-world" behavior, which the other family members either misunderstand or ignore outright.
* Truman X (voiced by Jansen Panettiere) is Mr. and Mrs. X's 10-year-old son and technology expert. The enfant terrible of the "X"s, Truman can sometimes be a nuisance and make trouble.
* Rex X (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker) is Truman's dog, who he received from Sasquatch on his 10th birthday. Rex was meant to kill Truman, but was freed from Sasquatch's mind control and became an honorary member of SUPERIOR.
* Home Base (voiced by Stephen Root) is a computerized brain that runs the X family's house. Seen from above, Home Base is shaped like an X.

Villains

* S.N.A.F.U. (Society of Nefarious and Felonious Undertakings) is an evil organization that the X's fight.
** Glowface (voiced by Chris Hardwick) is the X's' archenemy, the leader of S.N.A.F.U., and the main villain of the series. Glowface's head is encased in a glass globe with electrical discharges. He is megalomaniacal, arrogant, psychotic, loudmouthed, and delusional, and believes himself to be much more of a threat than he actually is.
** Lorenzo Suave (voiced by Tom Kane) is Glowface's right-hand man and butler. Lorenzo is stylishly and impeccably dressed with a mustache, goatee, a scar along one cheek, and both an eyepatch and a monocle. Lorenzo is much more intelligent than Glowface and sometimes has to maneuver him into completing his plans.
** Sasquatch (voiced by Randy Savage) is a member of S.N.A.F.U. who resembles his namesake and seeks to return the animals to their rightful place as masters of the planet.
** Brandon (voiced by Jason Schwartzman in "The Spy Who Liked Me", David Hornsby in later appearances) is Glowface's nephew, who works at an intern for S.N.A.F.U. He and Tuesday are dating.
** The Scream Queens are a duo of banshee-esque cheerleaders who possess sonic screams.
** The McVampires are a family of hillbilly vampires. The family consists of a father, a mother, a son, and a grandmother.
** Bio Harold (voiced by Chris Hardwick) is a buff guy in a hazmat suit. His name seems to be a pun on the term " Bio Hazard".
** Missing Link is a dirty guy who looks like a chimpanzee/human hybrid. He seems to have an unhinged and primal demeanor.
**The Rubber Colossus (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is a rubber monster created by Glowface.
** Some Old Guy (voiced by Tom Kane) is an old man. He is not an actual member of S.N.A.F.U. and became involved with the group after believing that the photo shop where Glowface tricked the X's was a nickel store.
** The S.N.A.F.U. Minions (voiced by Carlos Ramos) are Glowface's minions and foot-soldiers of S.N.A.F.U. They wear uniforms with their heads encased in globes.
**Jody (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is Brandon's S.N.A.F.U. minion and cook.
* Copperhead (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a cyborg who can manipulate magnetism.

Minor

* Kimla Meeks (voiced by Ashley Johnson) is Tuesday's friend. She is a huge fan of science fiction and is also very knowledgeable about sci-fi movies, comics, etc.
* Skipper Swenson (voiced by Lindsay Sloane) is Tuesday's friend. Skipper is generally stuck-up and is rude to Tuesday. She doesn't like Tuesday very much and only came to her slumber party because Mrs. X apparently promised to pay her fifty dollars. Skipper is very popular and is also shown to have an interest in beauty and boys.
* Annasthesia Montiho (voiced by Soleil Moon Frye) is Tuesday's friend. She is a goth girl and notices the strange occurrences at Tuesday's slumber party. She also likes to talk about boys.
* Wally (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a friendly neighbor of the X's. He is a devoted father with a wife and child. Wally is very nice to the X's when ever he sees them. While he's suspicious of the X's at times, he never catches on that they are spies.
*Mrs. Wally (voiced by April Kaplan) is the wife of Wally. She is a devoted mother and wife, and she has a friendly demeanor.
*Wally Jr. (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is the baby of Wally and "Mrs. Wally." Truman refers to him as simply "Junior."
*Andrea (voiced by Laura Marano) is a violent girl who picks on and beats up Truman due to having a crush on him.
*Pork E. Bacon (voiced by Will Arnett) is the mascot of the Pork E. Bacon restaurant that Truman and Andrea go on a date to.
*Mayor (voiced by April Winchell) is an unnamed mayor of the city that the X's live in, and she seems very proper and civilized.
* Reaper Kid (voiced by Paul Butcher) is a disguise used by Glowface in "The Haunting of Homebase".
* Miguel (voiced by Paco Jimenez, later by Flaco Jiminez) is a character from a Spanish soap opera that the X's watch.
* Nita (voiced by Andrea Zafra) is Miguel's girlfriend in the Spanish soap opera that the X's watch.
*Stanley and Louise (voiced by M. Emmet Walsh and Jessica Walter) are Mrs. X's parents. The two work as police officers and do not know that the X's are spies.
*Tranquilizer (voiced by George Takei) is a man that runs a tranquility retreat that Mrs. X attends in "No More Mrs. Nice X".
*Ed (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is one of the Tranquilizer's clients at his tranquility retreat.
*Viper (voiced by Keone Young) is the host of a Japanese television program called Tokyo Video.
*Soda Jerk/Counter Guy (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is a young man with acne that has worked as a food server for a couple of different restaurants/food stands.
*Paul (voiced by Axel Alba) is a boy and Truman's friend.
*Grocerama Company Spokesmodel (voiced by Erica Luttrell) appears in "Wealth vs. Stealth." She is a spokesmodel for the Grocerama Company, a large retail chain.
*The Ambassador of Pandravea (voiced by Stephen Root) is an ambassador who the X's are assigned to protect him while he visits the Museum of Art in "AAIIEE, Robot".
*Robo-Mom (voiced by Carlos Ramos) is a robot hastily built by Truman to replace Mrs. X after she breaks her leg in "AAIIEE, Robot".
*Extreme Homebase (voiced by Shadoe Stevens) is the artificial intelligence program that runs the miniature replica of the house the X's live in.
* The Y's are an Indian family of spies and rivals of the X's.
** Mr. Y (voiced by Ronobir Lahiri) – He is similar to Mr. X, as he is the leader of the Y's. He appears polite on the surface, but he has malicious intentions. Mr. Y likes to mock the X's in subtle ways.
** Mrs. Y (voiced by Susan Pari) – She is similar to Mrs. X. Mrs. Y supports her family's malicious intentions. She enjoys outdoing the X's in anyway she can. In "Y's Up", she hands the X's an expensive cappuccino maker as a gift, with the intention of giving a better gift than they could ever give!
** Seven Y (voiced by Soleil Moon Frye) – She is similar to Tuesday. She received the most development in the series of all the Y's. Seven appears to be a laid-back teenage girl, but she is actually quite nasty. She specifically has an intense sibling rivalry with Tuesday. In "Theater of War", Seven tries to steal Brandon from Tuesday by auditioning for a play to act with him. They both fight over Brandon and the part in the play.
** Scout Y (voiced by Laura Marano) – She is similar to Truman, but is a girl instead of a boy. She is deceptively sweet, but she is actually quite destructive like Truman.
**Fortress (voiced by Marlene Sanders) - It is the artificial intelligence program that runs the house the Y's live in. Fortress is similar to Homebase. Fortress is more advanced than Homebase, as it is one of the new "9000 models" like Homebase says. Its personality is different than Homebase's, as Fortress is much more serious, hostile, and violent.
* The Z's are of Australian descent. The Z's are destroyed by the Y's. Truman stated that SUPERIOR said that their death was an accident, but the Y's hinted that their death was no mere accident, but was caused by the Y's.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2005–2006)

Dave Marshall directed every episode of the series.

The final episode, "Theater of War" / "Breaking Camp", remains unaired in the United States, but was aired in Europe and Asia.

Scrapped episode

As confirmed by Carlos Ramos on Tumblr, he had written an episode in December 2005 titled "Bro Face", which would have been about Glowface's brother coming to visit him. This story would have been a part of episode 18 or 19, given that episode 17 at that time was in production since summer 2005. Nickelodeon scrapped the episode in favor of "a more kid-centric story".

Comics

During the mid-2000s, Nickelodeon featured comics for ''The X's'' in '' Nickelodeon Magazine''. It is currently unknown how many comics were produced. However, the last known comic, "In Like Fish" (written and illustrated by Kyle Baker), was featured in the October 2006 issue.

Awards and nominations

See also

* ''Spy × Family'' – Japanese animated series also about a family of spies
*The X's Pitch Bible (modified version) - 2004 (https://archive.org/details/xs-seriesbible/mode/1up)

References

External links

*

''The X's'' at NickAnimationStudio.com
(archive)

{{DEFAULTSORT:X's
2000s American animated comedy television series
2000s American children's comedy television series
2000s American comic science fiction television series
2000s Nickelodeon original programming
2005 American animated television series debuts
2006 American television series endings
American anime-influenced animated television series
American children's animated action television series
American children's animated adventure television series
American children's animated comic science fiction television series
American children's animated science fantasy television series
American English-language television shows
American spy comedy television series
Animated television series about families
Nicktoons
Television series set in 2006