I was listening to Norm MacDonald’s Marc Maron interview when I remembered this bizarre opening scene from his ABC sitcom Norm. Aired in 1999, it’s a three minute Pokemon fantasy sequence so nerdy and well-researched that it I can’t watch it without constantly checking over my shoulder to make sure there aren’t any popular high school girls behind me. 

Could jokes about Water vs. Electric Pokemon and Team Rocket possibly have made sense to a late 90s studio audience?  Was Norm secretly a huge Pokemon fan? Did some producer tell him this would get his ratings up? Was this show actually for 12-year-old boys and I just forgot? Was it a misguided attempt at product placement? Where in God’s name did they get a Charmander costume with a working fire tail? If you know the answer to any of these questions, call me as soon as possible. Seriously. I’m not going to be able to sleep until I figure this out. 

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