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June 2003 - December 2003,
Spike TV
Grammnet Productions
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ary Andrews was a successful
Wall Street attorney. He had money, prestige and power. But in
winning the rat race, Gary had gone too far. One day while
reading the paper he was mystically transformed into a six
foot, upright, talking rat. His personality remained intact,
but his outer appearance now matched his inner nature, and
Gary was clueless as to why the change had occurred (although
at various times throughout the series it was hinted that he
would only revert to his former appearance with the
transformation of his inner self.
Gary was able to hold on to his
job at the law firm of Harrison, Camille, Beckett, & Weiss, but
he quickly discovered the new challenges he would have to face
in a world generally not accepting of giant rats. His loudmouth
and largely clueless boss, Mr. Harrison - who was never
sympathetic to his underlings - was even more inclined to
threaten Gary with being fired at the drop of a hat. Worried
about property values, the other tenants in Gary's co-op
building, The Montana, held meetings to discuss possible ways to
have
their giant rodent problem evicted. Especially obsessed with
Gary's ouster was Truman Pinksdale, president of The Montana
Tenants Association. Truman sought any means necessary to get rid of his
furry neighbor. He went so far as to call a rat exterminator,
but got more than he bargained for when he hired
Johnny Bugz to do the job. Bugz was even more obsessed with
killing rats than Truman, in addition to being stupid and highly
unethical. He continually extorted additional fees from
Truman (generally bullying him with threats of physical harm)
each time he failed to kill Gary. To the perpetual frustration
of Bugz, his elaborate plans constantly went awry and innocent
bystanders ended up being the victim of the bullet/spear/car
bumper/etc. intended for Gary. Probably smarter than Bugz was
his pet cat Boots, whose occasional "meow" could apparently
be understood by Bugz and held significant meaning.
Despite the open prejudice he
faced, Gary's values remained steadfast. To him, money had
more value than people, and ethics remained a speed bump on
the road to ever greater success. Perhaps the greatest
victim of Gary's selfishness was his mother, who called him
several times a day. Each one-sided conversation revealed
the indifference he held towards her and whatever problem
she was having (she seemed to be beset with outlandish
problems). For example, in response to one call he suggested
that if the fire reached her room she should crawl to the
window and throw herself out, then hung up because he was
busy.
If Gary had the appearance of a
rodent, he also developed some of its sensibilities. He had a
giant hamster wheel installed in his apartment and he became
something of a connoisseur of fine cheese, often ordering
specialty brands from Ye Olde Cheese Shoppe. The boy who
delivered the cheese, named Bud, was a stoner who was fascinated
with the giant talking dog who always answered the door.
Inevitably, Bud was sent on his way with a five dollar tip and
some sort of condescending instruction to go hurt himself, to
which the clueless Bud would begin asking a question concerning
talking dogs before the door was closed in his face.
As to the
ultimate fate of Gary Andrews, that question remained
unanswered. The series was cancelled after a single season of 13
episodes, with an inconclusive ending. |