Beven & Doyle

Tom & Jerry meet Spy vs Spy & Itchy & Scratchy Show

The show features two ball boys, Beven and Doyle who are constantly warring against each other, and coming up with increasingly sophisticated ways of doing away with the other or ending up in a foiled mess.

The plots of each short usually center on Beven’s frustrated attempts to compete with Doyle, and the mayhem and destruction that ensues.

A typical plot would be one ball boy setting up a booby-trap for the other to fall into and be "killed." Sometimes the trap works, but sometimes the other player will come up with a brilliant counter plan of his own and be the final winner, or in other cases, the player uses a plan B to counter the other player’s counter.

Since the pair actually seem to get along in some of the shorts (at least in the first minute or so), it is unclear why Beven chases Doyle so much. But some reasons include normal sibling enmity, duty according to his rival team in the Blockhead All Stars League, Doyle’s attempt at ruining a task that Beven is entrusted with, revenge, Beven’s bullying of other secondary characters (such as ducks, birds, or goldfishes), or possibly competition with another rival ball player, among other reasons.

Beven rarely succeeds in catching Doyle, mainly because of Doyle's craftiness and cunning abilities, but sometimes because of Beven's own stupidity. Beven usually beats Doyle when Doyle becomes the instigator or when he crosses some sort of line.

The shorts will be famous for some of the most physically violent gags ever devised in theatrical animation since Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry: Doyle slicing Beven in half, shutting his head in a window or a door, Beven using everything from axes, pistols, explosives, traps and poison to try to murder Doyle, Doyle stuffing Beven’s foot in a waffle iron, kicking him into a refrigerator, plugging his tail into an electric socket, pounding him with a mace, club or mallet, causing a tree to drive him into the ground and so on. Despite the frequent violence, there is no blood or gore in any scenes. A recurring gag involves Doyle hitting Beven when he's preoccupied, with Beven initially oblivious to the pain--and only feeling the effects moments later, and vice versa; and another involves Doyle stopping Beven in mid-chase (as if calling for a time-out), before he does something, usually putting the hurt on Beven.

Beven & Doyle

This half-hour animated show (told in 4x 7 minute adventures) takes place in the sports obsessed borough of Two Tree Hill, where a retired secret agent of the US Farm Service has just woken up.

Moments ago… Claude Beryllium had been heading home after resigning 9 years at the bureau - now he’s a prisoner in a small, isolated, extreme neighborhood known as Two Tree Hill.  Claude Beryllium is not a sports fan...

The Authorities in control of 2 Tree Hill (whose identity and allegiance are never made clear) rename Claude, “Dirt Claude” and assign him a “Number Six” uniform.  Dirt Claude is interrogated in an attempt to find out, "by hook or by crook," why he resigned.  His resignation was recorded as a matter of principle, but that answer is simply not satisfactory, hence "a double check" is required.  The letter on record did not explain the specific cause of Dirt Claude’s decision, only the principles and sentiments that motivated him.

The exact nature of Dirt Claude’s former job is never explicitly indicated, though numerous episodes will provide clues.  

Dirt Claude is assigned a mundane routine in Two 2 Hill, involving relentless A-team baseball practices, where despite all his efforts to fail, he's a great success as the designated base slider and is traded to the Black Attas the easily the worst team in 2Tree Hill. Though passable on the field, off the field offers no respite for our imprisoned agent, as Dirt Claude's image is often tarnished by a lucky stink beetle he insists on carrying around with him. Claude's alienation confuses him. Without a nose, (Claude is unaware of his beloved pet's offending nature) – and condemned to have relationships that are only superficial with the lot of his peers.

Dirt Claude attempts to escape while defying all attempts to break his will.

He also tries to discover for which "side" his captors work and the identity of the mysterious “Number 00” (Mr.Meatcream) who presumably runs Two Tree Hill.

Characters

Employed by rival teams, the fraternal 9 year olds are athletically similar, they have distinguishing physical differences but most notably is the color of their uniforms.  The ball boys battle against eachother with a variety of complicated (sometimes ridiculously so) weapons, machines and Rube Goldberg-style props. The victor alternates roughly every other short, and neither player is portrayed as good or evil since both of them are equally ruthless towards each other.

Scarlet Flamingo: Also known as the Lady in Red (a variant on the stereotypical lady in black), a female ball-girl who appears later in the series. When she appeares, instead of either Beven or Doyle winning, Scarlet wins and they both lose. The ball boys are completely enamored with her, often attempting to rescue her as she pretends to be in distress. She is an occasional diversion for writers to explore as a tool – but once she starts to dominate the series it’s time to get rid of her.

The Blockhead All Stars Captains: The All Stars Captains are the highest ranking Junior members of the teams that the ball boys belong to. Much like Scarlet, they appear as tools to move the stories along. They are huge, barrel-chested decorated ball boys and give Beven and Doyle their missions to carry out. On more than one occasion they get fed up with their employees, and are changing all the time – eluding to the fact that Beven and Doyle have a long and bitter company ladder to climb before they’ll be captains themselves.

Other ball boys: There are as many ball boys as teams in the Blockhead’s league. There is also a robotic ball boy and a dog ball boy.