Men in Black: The Series

Men in Black: The Series

Series Titlecard

Men in Black: The Series was an animated series based off of the original Men in Black film, that ran for four seasons between 1997 and 2001. It ran on The WB for all four seasons. It originally aired on Saturday mornings, before moving to weekdays.

Plot/Premise

MIB: The Series was based on the 1997 blockbuster Men In Black and continued where the film left off, though with some minor changes. Agent K remained an agent and partner to Agent J (although a Marvel Comics one-shot revealed that K' was denueralized in an unseen case). Agent L was moved to the lab inside MiB Headquarters. The headquarters itself was no longer under the ventilator building of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, but now at what looked like a disused area under LaGuardia airport. These differences are possibly addressed in one episode of the series, where it is revealed that every so often some writer or Hollywood-type learns of the MIB and makes a movie about them, possibly hinting that the live-action movie was one of these incidents. There were some further differences in appearances in the characters in the cartoon. Agent L had blond hair, blue eyes and a different hairstyle, Agent J did not have a mustache like in the trilogy, Edgar the Bug (in a Flashback sequence) was given an appearance that resembled his look in the comic adaptation of the film instead of his movie appearance, and Zed in the movie had black hair and a goatee, whereas in the series he had white hair and no goatee. Zed's eyes were dramatically shaded in to give an impression of a lack of sleep. The LTD from the first live-action film is reused and serves as Jay and Kay's primary mode of transportation.

Alternative Series Logo

The show had varied writing in its episodes. Some episodes were based on the plot to the film, and brought back characters like the Bug, and the Arquillians, though these are portrayed as peaceful and benevolent. MIB: The Series itself had a long-running plot where the Men In Black fought Alpha, a former MIB chief who previously had been Agent K's friend and mentor. Eventually, Alpha had turned maverick with greed and sought to achieve immortality by assimilating rare alien body parts into his body. He returned numerous times and his appearance grew grislier each time with the help of the 'Cosmic Integrator', a device that let him combine alien appendages to his own body.

Ultimately, the basic plot formula was for the MIB to protect the Earth from harm, and this extended into keeping peace throughout the galaxy. Technology, as well as intergalactic politics and peacekeeping played a part, along with common criminal activity on a science fiction level.

Besides Agent Kay, the founding members of the MIB were Agents T, H, Q, and D (Kay's first partner from the first movie).

A cliché in the series was a scene where it seems like Agent K was killed in some terrible way, only to be proven alive later in the episode. Also, Agent J's primary weapon is the Noisy Cricket that no longer sounds like a cricket chirping and that J hasn't gotten used to the kick it creates. In the second season, Jay upgraded the weapon with a Silencer which limited the violent kicks.

Episodes

Main article: List of Men in Black: The Series Episodes

Video Game

With the success of the series, Infogrames studios decided to release a video game adaptation called Men in Black The Series: Crashdown

Cast

• Ed O'Ross as Agent K (Season 1)
• Gregg Berger as Agent K (Seasons 2-4)
• Keith Diamond as Agent J
• Charles Napier as Zed
• Adam Baldwin as Agent X
• Eddie Barth as Frank the Pug (Few Episodes)
• Pat Pinney as two Worms; Blblup
• Pat Fraley as two Worms; Bob
• David Warner as Alpha
• Tony Shalhoub as Jack Jeebs (Few Episodes)
• Billy West as Jack Jeebs (Remainder)
• terell jermaine boyd as agent j

Trivia

• Every episode title started with "The" and ended in "Syndrome".
• Only Season One has been released on DVD, however in North America, only 6 episodes of Season One were released on VHS. The entire series is currently available on Netflix.
• One episode, The Star System Syndrome, implies that the term "Division 6" is the identity of the main branch of MiB. Thus the reason they frequently uses the term.