This shlog is about Frankie and his apartment.
Frankie |
Shark Mazes by F. Chester Hobbicroft (Frankie's pen-name) |
Frankie's been called a hack and plagiarist, as well as a clown and a no-talent. When he was 6 years old, his best friend Louie told him that he was a bum and that's all he'd ever be. Despite this, everyone seems to agree that Shark Mazes, easily Frankie's biggest hit, is a powerful, exciting book, filled with super fun mazes that are shaped like sharks.
There's that slime-bucket Louie right there in the Dracula get-up. Frankie is Mickey Mouse. |
Over the years, some of the "ideas" for Frankie's books have taken on a life of their own.
These "ideas" have become Frankie's roommates and the supporting cast of his show.
Obviously, they are not traditional roommates, like how Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox are roommates on Friends.
But in the end maybe they are.
Rubbish James Garbagetruck III |
One of Frankie's roommates is an idea he had named Rubbish James Garbagetruck III, a rat who keeps an elegantly furnished room somewhere in Frankie's walls. Rubbish and Frankie have lived together since Frankie dormed at NYU, when Frankie wrote his first screenplay, The Rat Who Would Be Mayor. Lactose intolerance aside, Rubbish has a taste for the finer things in life. He still has political ambitions, is a next-level klepto and loves to talk about people behind their backs.
Computer-Head |
Sudsy using Nixon quotes. |
Frankie's Apartment has a ghost. British-born, his name is Sudsy, an obsessive compulsive neat freak, who is also bipolar, with extreme sociopathic tendencies. Sudsy claims to have lived in the space of the apartment for longer than Frankie (250 years longer), hence he believes that he is the rightful host of the show. Although Frankie thinks that Sudsy is his idea (one day he thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a ghost?"), Sudsy says Frankie's imagination holds no sway over the spectral world.
Frankie is definitely not what you would call a ladies' man. Some people have called him a lady-man, but that's just when the guys from his old gang goof on him. Can you find Frankie in the photo below?
Helen's Bar-B-Que used to be the spot! |
Magazine-Lady |
"Doctor" Bill - the Snowman |
Jolly Ol' Generous Nick |
Right above the mantle hangs Nick, Frankie's favorite Christmas decoration - a giant plastic Santa Claus head. Nick was manufactured 30 years ago in a factory out in Secaucus, NJ - and he sounds that way. Frankie's first book, "X-mas 24/7" brought Nick to life, and gave him the power to give Frankie a present whenever a plot might need a little helping hand. Despite his job as a Christmas decoration, Nick is Jewish and has never seen any of the Rankin Bass stop-motion specials.
Mr. Parfenix standing on Frankie's credenza. We love credenzas on Frankie's Apartment! |
While Frankie thinks that the show you are watching is a "children's program" and that he is a "children's show host," none of the other characters that he deals with on the show have given over to that concept. So, while the show is mostly kid-friendly, it is probably more comparable to a prime time cartoon like The Simpsons or Mad Men.
Frankie in his Apartment with one of his sci-fi novellas, Here Come The Poodles |
Frankie's Apartment is all about "creativity" and "imagination" but it also is about borderline insane characters with serious "personality disorders" and tons of "emotional baggage". It is also about putting things in quotation marks and using a lot of exclamation points!
Sometimes, though, Frankie's Apartment is just about triangles!!!
Pictured From Left: A Blue Geometry Triangle, a Red Geometry Triangle, and a Silence = Death Pinback |
Or gold teeth!!
Frankie in 2001, with his first set of fronts. |
Or frozen pizza!
pizza with worms underneath it, on paper plate |
It's nice how this kid is so happy even though he doesn't have any arms and only half a TV |
Sometimes we're gonna show you videos of the show. At other times we're gonna show you videos about making-the-show. Sometimes those two things will come together to form an even better thing and sometimes we just won't show you anything at all.
Thank you for tuning in!