Mike, Lu and Og

the hidden and forgotten gem of the cartoon cartoon era of cartoon network cartoons. it takes place when this 11 year old girl named mike mazinsky signs up for a foreign exchange program to an island. on this island there are the survivors of the cr-ss of the good ship betty anne whom are british but live mostly like one would expect people stranded on an island would live. there is the self-proclaimed princess of the island lu who is arrogant, full of herself, manipulative and selfish, but very much good for a laugh, and og a boy genius who invents things that mike tells them about her life in new york to round out the main characters. the island is called the isle of albonquetine and has about six people living on the part of the island mike knows about at the beginning of the story. there is also another village on the other side of the island with more villagers and a group of turtle-soup obsessed pirates of the coast of the main island. witty, dead-pan humor abounds and the whole thing somehow never gets old.

unfortunately, it only lasted two seasons until it was cancelled, and it is next to impossible to find these days. the original pilot for the show is completely missing in action (at least in english).
mike, lu and og, typical plot
the three children are on the beach sitting around doing nothing as usual. mike is daydreaming about life back in manhattan and suddenly she remembers how much she loves radio stations

“you know what this island needs, is a radio station.”

lu, laying under the shadiest area under a palm tree and raises an eyebrow questioningly

“oh what is this time?”

“it plays music all over the city, rap, rock, pop, jazz, you name it. and there are the djs who are these big angry guys who say who makes the song and that you can get free concert tickets if you can answer some trivia question a five-year old could answer. and there are commercials for car mechanics, lawyers and tons of stores you’ve never heard of before. but the best part, is that radio is on all day and all night seven days a week!”

lu is not impressed and rolls her eyes at the foreign exchange girl’s ramblings.

“that sounds like the dumbest thing i’ve ever heard. if you want music go talk to old queeks (old guy who lives in a mountain and acts sorta like a witch doctor/ therapist/ cranky old guy) he’s always chanting some stupid song or another.”

meanwhile og has been pondering what mike was saying and was silently lost in thought. the boy mutters incoherently to himself then flicks his nose ring and takes mike by the hand. mike is delighted and says.

“let me guess, your gonna make one?”

og mumbles and leads her to his shop/lab/shack to make the radio. it goes horribly wrong.