Odd Job Jack (partially lost Comedy Channel animated sitcom; 2003-2007)
Odd Job Jack is a Canadian animated sitcom that premiered on The Comedy Network (now CTV Comedy Channel) for 4 seasons from March 5, 2003 to October 14, 2007.[1] The show centers on 25-year-old Jack Ryder (voiced by Don McKellar), recently graduating with a degree in sociology, signing up for an agency called Odd Jobs, who assists the titular character with a temporary employee position every episode. These odd jobs range from being a corpse-in-a-terrorist-drill to a royal time-keeper, to a king crab fisherman. Despite the show's presence on the network, it is known for having a number of episodes that are hard to find.
The only form of official physical release was the Complete Season 2 DVD set, released in 2006 and published by Morningstar Entertainment.[2] Duopoly, the show's Canadian production company, licensed the show to the United States streaming service Hulu on January 11, 2011, amongst other various Canadian series for the service.[3] However, the show has been taken off the platform circa 2015. The show had also been available through iTunes circa 2009.[4]
32 out of 52 of the show's episodes are available online sourced from recordings of a voice-over on the Russian channel 2x2, broadcast as Джек на все руки мастер (roughly translates to Jack is a Jack of All Trades).[5] 38 out of 52 episodes of the original English language series were considered lost, while 11 of the 52 episodes remained partially found through 30-second to 1-minute recap videos directly from the show's website.[6]
On June 6, 2024 screencasts of the last two seasons from back when it was on Hulu were uploaded to the Internet Archive, although these feature multiple flaws, such as seeking, buffering, and the Hulu GUI showing at times, as well as the original ads.[7] Season 1 was never present on the service, leaving the Russian and clips still the only available options. On July 15, 2024, the last two seasons were uploaded again, this time ripped directly from Hulu via Myspleen.[8]
On July 8, 2024, 12/13 episodes from season 1 were uploaded online sourced from recordings of the show's Spanish dub on Adult Swim in Latin America, broadcast as Jack, el empleado desempleado (roughly translates to Jack, the Unemployed Employee).[9] Episode 6 (Go West Young Ryder) is still considered lost in its full form, since it was the only episode in the season not included with said recordings.
On July 15, 2024, the opening scene from Go West Young Ryder was uploaded to YouTube. Some other clips of season 1 in English have also been uploaded.[10] As of now, 12 out of 13 episodes in season 1 still remain lost in their original, full form.
Episode Guide
Season 1
# | Air Date | Title | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 3/5/2003 | Death and Life | Found (Russian) |
2 | 3/12/2003 | I Watch the Watchmen | Found (Russian) |
3 | 3/19/2003 | The Wheel Is Not Enough | Found (Russian) |
4 | 3/26/2003 | Easy Ryder | Found (Spanish) |
5 | 4/2/2003 | Waiting for Gordo | Found (Russian) |
6 | 4/9/2003 | Go West Young Ryder | Partially Found |
7 | 6/19/2004 | Fatal Extraction | Found (Russian) |
8 | 6/26/2004 | Holyland | Found (Russian) |
9 | 7/3/2004 | Broke & Broker | Found (Spanish) |
10 | 7/10/2004 | Skateballs of Steel | Found (Russian) |
11 | 7/17/2004 | Almost Wormless | Found (Spanish) |
12 | 7/24/2004 | Fantasy Atoll | Found (Spanish) |
13 | 7/31/2004 | American Wiener | Found |
Season 2
# | Air Date | Title | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 7/23/2005 | The 2 Marketeers | Found |
2 | 7/30/2005 | Lord of the 3-Ring Binder | Found |
3 | 8/6/2005 | Iron Temp | Found |
4 | 8/13/2005 | Orgy: the Musical | Found |
5 | 8/20/2005 | You Suck! | Found |
6 | 8/27/2005 | Jack Ryder Goes to War! | Found |
7 | 9/3/2005 | Odd Job John | Found |
8 | 9/10/2005 | The Ten Labours of Jack Ryder | Found |
9 | 9/17/2005 | Night of the Flesh-Eating Zombie Meter Maids | Found |
10 | 9/24/2005 | A Christmas Coma | Found |
11 | 10/1/2005 | The Biggest Bang | Found |
12 | 10/8/2005 | Close Encounters of the Uncomfortable Kind | Found |
13 | 10/15/2005 | Law & Lawlessness | Found |
Season 3
# | Air Date | Title | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 7/22/2006 | Twenty-One, You're Dead | Found |
2 | 7/29/2006 | Jack Ryder and the Fountain of Life | Found |
3 | 8/5/2006 | The Temp, the Slut, the Queen, and Her Corgis | Found |
4 | 8/12/2006 | Kindergarten Temp | Found |
5 | 8/19/2006 | Dragon Dueller | Found |
6 | 8/26/2006 | The Big Dump | Found |
7 | 9/2/2006 | 29.5 | Found |
8 | 9/9/2006 | A Candidacy of Dunces | Found |
9 | 9/16/2006 | The Great White Joke | Found |
10 | 9/23/2006 | The Man Who Smelled Too Much | Found |
11 | 9/30/2006 | Claws | Found |
12 | 10/7/2006 | Jack Ryder Gets Hitched | Found |
13 | 10/14/2006 | My Big Miserable African Honeymoon | Found |
Season 4
# | Air Date | Title | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 7/22/2007 | No One Likes a Gorilla! | Found |
2 | 7/29/2007 | Jack Ryder: Mindhumper | Found |
3 | 8/5/2007 | The Good Locksmith | Found |
4 | 8/12/2007 | Insecticidal Tendencies | Found |
5 | 8/19/2007 | Flight of the Bumbling Idiot | Found |
6 | 8/26/2007 | The Beauty Beast | Found |
7 | 9/2/2007 | Jack Ryder's Unofficial High School Reunion | Found |
8 | 9/9/2007 | 12 Chickens | Found |
9 | 9/16/2007 | Master of Temps | Found |
10 | 9/23/2007 | Revolving Jobs | Found |
11 | 9/30/2007 | You Almost Got Served | Found |
12 | 10/7/2007 | King Whore | Found |
13 | 10/14/2007 | Jack and the Magic Pencil | Found |
Other Lost Content
The Seen (1997 prototype short film)
- Status: Lost
Odd Job Jack, along with its production company, Smiley Guy Studios, originated in 1997 from a short film called The Seen.[11] Despite being released using a multitude of media, the short film itself has never resurfaced, with it only being known to exist as an unarchived SWF file on an old version of the Smiley Guy Studios website. Only a single screenshot of this prototype survived since then.[12]
Flash games
- Status: Partially Lost
A total of 24 Flash games were made for the official website,[13] each based on an episode of the show, and released side by side with their respective episodes, all the way up to season 2 episode 11 (The Biggest Bang). Despite the shutdown of Adobe Flash Player, the games can be played using flash extensions/emulators, and the swf file for each game can be downloaded. Most of them are known to work, but some don’t play on certain emulators, and some don’t play at all. All of them have been tested on the Ruffle flash extension on Google Chrome, as well as Flash Player 2021 on Firefox.
# | Game title | Episode | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Necrathlon | Death and Life | Found | |
2 | J'acuse | I Watch the Watchmen | Found | The game does not work on Flash Player 2021 due to constant lagging. |
3 | Hamster Wrangler | The Wheel Is Not Enough | Partially Lost | The game has 4 acts, but crashes after completing act 1. Ends after starting on Flash Player 2021. |
4 | Test Subject | Easy Ryder | Found | |
5 | Serve or Die! | Waiting for Gordo | Found | |
6 | Plant-Man | Go West Young Ryder | Found | The game ends after starting on Flash Player 2021. |
7 | Dental Damage | Fatal Extraction | Found | |
8 | Genesis Creation Sensation | Holyland | Found | The game softlocks after starting if played on Ruffle. |
9 | Market Panic | Broke & Broker | Found | Multiplayer mode does not work. |
10 | Skateball | Skateballs of Steel | Found | |
11 | Rock the Block | Almost Wormless | Partially Found | Due to a bug that automatically sets the timer to 0 after starting, the game is unplayable. |
12 | The Great Trans-Media Convergence | Fantasy Atoll | Lost | The game crashes upon trying to start any of the 3 games within it, making it impossible to go beyond the title screen. |
13 | Hot Dog Dash | American Wiener | Found | The game does not load past the loading screen on Flash Player 2021. |
14 | Bra Drop/Marketing Mind | The 2 Marketeers | Found | The game crashes upon attempting to start either game on Flash Player 2021. |
15 | The Clash of the Ivory Towers | Lord of the 3-Ring Binder | Found | The game softlocks after starting if played on Flash Player 2021. |
16 | Snatch'n'Grab | Iron Temp | Found | The game softlocks after starting if played on Flash Player 2021. |
17 | Increase Your Manhood | Orgy: the Musical | Found | |
18 | You Suck! | You Suck! | Found | The game is not fully functional on most flash emulators. Currently, it is only known to work when played on the Nintendo Wii's Internet Channel. |
19 | Sealburger Hill | Jack Ryder Goes to War! | Found | The game does not load past the loading screen on Flash Player 2021. |
20 | Railroad Boom! | Odd Job John | Found | The game does not load past the loading screen on Flash Player 2021. |
21 | Doula Ball | The Ten Labours of Jack Ryder | Found | |
22 | Fists of the Metermaid | Night of the Flesh-Eating Zombie Meter Maids | Found | |
23 | Holiday Hoser | A Christmas Coma | Found | |
24 | Lust in Space | The Biggest Bang | Found |
References
- ↑ https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/odd-job-jack/1000232664/
- ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Odd-Job-Jack-Season-Two/dp/B000HDR85A
- ↑ https://www.awn.com/news/duopoly-launches-odd-job-jack-hulucom
- ↑ https://www.tv-eh.com/2009/08/22/updated-canadian-tv-on-itunes/
- ↑ https://vk.com/video/@club153188346?section=uploaded
- ↑ https://www.oddjobjack.com/SupportingSwifs/episode06-recap.mp4
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/odd-job-jack-season-3-and-4-hulu-screencast
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/Odd-Job-Jack-Seasons-3-4
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu_MbBRmFC9PdomvIvj6TTfb1ANnvgNYP
- ↑ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pwhNCSKbNqlVHJ1S9RYcTAW4cvMcua60?usp=sharing
- ↑ http://www.oddjobjack.com/abouttheshow.php?sec=5
- ↑ https://cfccreates.com/content-hub/the-seen-odd-job-jack/
- ↑ http://www.oddjobjack.com/game_list.php