Whatever Happened to ... Robot Jones?

From what I can tell, this has nothing to do with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. Besides the fact that they are now both on this blog.

Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? is a two season animated show that ran on Cartoon Network from 2002-2003. It has 13 episodes, but each episode has two segments. It's a about a robot who attends a middle school.

There's apparently a girl with a prosthetic leg and braces in the school. I chose an episode that featured her.

This segment is called Rules of Dating and the concept of middle school dating becomes way more terrifying when you add robots.

This is like From Agnes With Love but with fewer cartoonish sound effects

It starts with a bus.

You can tell that this show is going for some social commentary by the word "unified."
One kid tells another kid that he asks Stephanie to Roger's party. The other kid says Stephanie is "rad."

I normally don't look up information about the movies or shows while I am watching, but this irritated me and I had already read some to determine that a character had a disability. Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? takes place in a "futuristic" 1980s.

The 'rad' kid asks Robot Jones who he is inviting to Roger's. Since this is only eleven minutes, they had to cut out the "party" and just leave the possessive. Robot Jones says Shannon.

Shannon is the girl with the disability. Namely, a prosthetic legs and braces. Shannon freaks out when she sees Robot Jones, indicating that Jones has a crush on her.

If I cared about the underlying psychology of Robot Jones, I would make some connection between the prosthetic leg and robotics.

Robot Jones attempts to asks Shannon out, but the bus stops and Shannon gets off. Robot Jones says "That was a bummer" descriptively.

We are about one minute in.

This is Robot Jones mother. I couldn't tell from the feminine or maternal signals, so that show put an apron on her.

Robot Jones has to study his "Robot code." Why is he mainstreamed if he has to learn a special curriculum? And why does he have to hook up to a computer to learn if he goes to public school? This show is confusing

The robot rules of conduct. start out as basic manners:

He has already broken this rule when talking to his mother.

Seems good, except for deaf humans

 but quickly escalate into some morally problematic suggestions,

So the lives of humans always take priority over robots? What if the crisis is two-sides i.e. a terrorist attack? Both sides are human- so which side does the robot help?

What if the rules of the establishment contradict rules 1-10? For example, say a robot is in a plane and the air masks drop done. The rule of the plane say that you must secure your own air mask before you help others. But Rule 10 says that you have to help humans before yourself. Contradiction.

Also, is "refueling port" a euphemism? Is this show for kids?

I don't know what "malfunctioning" entails in this universe, but self-destructing seems like it will not help humans, especially in the hypothetical airplane scenario

Robot Jones says he wants to get integrated with Shannon. Moving on...

This show has a lot of biting commentary on the state of public education

The guy next to Jones tells him that he has "no game" After a predictable joke involving Jones telling him he has over 50 games on his CD-ROM, he says that he need game to "get a date with the chick"

I admire this show for objectifying girls more than robots.

The teacher calls up Shannon to solve this math problem

I hate common core.

Jones remembers Rule 10 and goes up to help her in a crisis.

The teacher tells Robot to help Shannon with her math homework. Jones prints out his number.

First of all, that's incredibly biologically-privileged to call the only robot in the class "Robot." Second, that's the worst way to give a girl your number,

At Shannon's home, her mother convinces Shannon to call Jones for help because he could help her get into an Ivy League college.

Shannon calls Jones. Jones picks up but doesn't answer because a robot never speaks unless spoken to by a human.

The next day, Shannon complains to her friends that Robot Jones didn't talk to her on the phone.

Robot Jones is hiding behind her locker and says hi to her.

I don't usually like to complain about continuity errors in a kid's cartoon. But when "robots don't speak unless spoken to by a human" was a major plot point ten seconds before, and then Jones breaks that rule, I get confused.

Shannon calls Jones a loser and then tells him to be at her house at 7 pm. Mixed signals.

Robot Jones sets a timer for 7 pm.

Seems god. Jones says "Nine hours and fifty-nine seconds" But one second later

I don't see a seconds button, and there isn't even space for the hour/minutes to go past 9. So unless this is a set-up for a joke, it doesn't make sense.

Robot Jones  goes to Shannon's house and is night. So in this universe, 1 second= 1 minute.

Robot Jones offers his assistance to help Shannon with her math studies. Shannon's mother says "Aren't we the polite little man--machine" That's a micro-aggression. Also, she didn't ask his pronoun.

Shannon's mom tells Jones to have a seat. Jones scans and sees "Couch" and "Seat"

I get that this is a joke, but I fail to see how Jones can function in a school when he has this much trouble with the English language.

Jones picks up the entire seat and tells Shannon's dad in a loud voice that he has come to help Shannon with math homework

Shannon's father says that they use their indoor voices. This means that Robot Jones has violated rule number 11 and needs to go to a refueling station

Oh, It's just an outlet. That makes it seem less creepy.

Shannon gets a phone call about the party tonight. Her mother suggests that she goes to party with Jones and Shannon agrees. Robot Jones says he "got a date" with this face: 07:53

Objectification of women- now for kids...

At the party, one kid says Happy Birthday to Roger.

In the kitchen, they are playing "Mystery Rendezvous", which I assume is like 7 minutes in Heaven.

A guy brings Jones into the kitchen when it is Shannon's turn. A girl says loudly that "Robot's can't play!", which Shannon should obviously overhear. but doesn't.

The girl says that it is a against the rules, which triggers rule number 7 and Jones goes into closet with Shannon because it is a probably refueling station.

Shannon turns on the light and calls Robot Jones "Major Malfunction Robot Jones"

This triggers rule number 12 and Robot Jones self destructs. Uh...that's dark

The house explodes and robot Jones tells us the moral.

Robots and humans have different and often competing operating rules. Achieving successful robot and human integration isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when dealing with humans.


That's a great lesson. I believe kids can apply what they learn in cartoons to the real world. Let's test some out:

Girls and boys have different and often competing operating rules. Achieving successful girl and boy integration isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when dealing with boys.


Blacks and whites have different and often competing operating rules. Achieving successful black and white integration isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when dealing with whites.

People with disabilities and able-bodied people have different and often competing operating rules. Achieving successful PWD and able-bodied people integration isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when dealing with able-bodied people.

I really don't understand why this show got cancelled after two seasons.

So I didn't even need Shannon to be in this show, I could just use robotics as a metaphor for disability. And Shannon is non-binary or something.

Robot Jones tells a guy what happened and gets shoved in a locker for repair. The end.

What Ever Happened to Robot Jones? is a perfect show to teach children that robots and humans are different before they go to some liberal arts college, learn that biology is a social construct, and identify as android-ynous.