There were so many good shows Cartoon Network put out during the late 90s and 2000s. Courage the Cowardly Dog was one of them and it was different from your typical kids’ cartoon. The show’s premise was out of this world, literally. The fearful dog named Courage (Marty Grabstein) wasn’t the bravest when it came to facing supernatural creatures in the most bizarre situations.

When you were a kid you may not have realized the show was a horror-comedy. It did a good job of scaring the bejeesus out of you with its outlandish episodes, while also just being a goofy show. Let’s take a look at the highest-ranked episodes of Courage’s misadventures in the middle of nowhere.

10  Dome Of Doom/Snowman’s Revenge

Each episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog actually has two different storylines. The show starts off with a high ranking in the eleventh episode of the third season. In the first storyline, Courage and his caretakers are in a pickle when a drought makes them unable to grow their food. A suspicious free food advertisement has their interest. Nothing is at it seems when the plants they order have a taste for meat and tries to eat them.

The second storyline a little less evil when the North Pole melts causing a snowman to invent a mitten that produces snow and ice. He freezes over Courage’s home, as well as Eustace (Lionel Wilson) and Muriel (Thea White).

9 Human Habitrail/Mission To The Sun

In “Human Habitrail” an evil gerbil doctor has his sights set on Muriel and Eustice. He shrinks them and plans to use them for experimentation. It’s up to Courage to rescue his beloved owners.

The second storyline raises some eyebrows. It’s hard to believe that Courage and his owners would be tasked with saving the sun from burning out. Things go awry as a small alien controls Muriel’s brain and want them to fail in order for aliens to take over Earth.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

8 The Curse Of Shirley/Courage In The Big Stinkin City

You may recall a small green Chihuahua who is a spiritual medium and goes by the name Shirley (Mary Testa). In “The Curse of Shirley” she lays down a mean and evil thunder cloud curse on Eustice for his bitterness and mistreatment of Courage. You can’t blame her. It’s that classic cartoon effect of a cloud over one’s head.

See also  The Bachelorette: Why Fans Suspect Chris Sutton Was A Producer Plant

Staying at a cockroach’s home doesn’t sound like a good idea. When Muriel and the family go to New York City for her performance, they are offered a place to stay by Schwick (Paul Schoeffler). The catch? Courage has to recover an “evil package” or Muriel gets hurt and eaten.

7 Queen Of The Black Puddle/Everyone Wants To Direct

Even though Eustice constantly belittles and scares Courage, Courage will always rescue him. In part one of the episode, a strange puddle forms outside the farmhouse where Courage sees a beautiful queen with malicious intent. She appears in various liquid surfaces and enchants Eustice. She eventually kidnaps him and it’s up to Courage to save him.

An alleged film director, Benton Tarantella (Peter Fernandez) is interested in filming a zombie movie in the farmhouse. A hefty payment seals the deal with Eustice and Tarantella getting to work. In reality, he is a zombie who wishes to resurrect his partner with a ritual and devour the family.

6 King Ramses’ Curse/ The Clutching Foot

Don’t steal from powerful Egyptian spirits, it always ends badly. When thieves steal an ancient slab from King Ramses (John R. Dilworth), it somehow ends up at the farmhouse. Eustice is unwillingly to let the slab go which leads King Ramses to unleash a horrific curse on the farmland.

A simple foot spray won’t help Eustice when he gets a horrid foot fungus. To make matters more bizarre, the fungus grows and becomes its own entity into a mobster. Feeling threatened, Courage is on the hunt for a cure.

5 Last Of Starmakers/ Son Of The Chicken From Outer Space

If you watched the show when you were a kid, you understood the inherent dislike for Eustice. He has no regard for common decency. A pregnant space squid, responsible for creating stars, lands in the farmhouse and Eustice has plans to sell her eggs. Courage must find a way to save the eggs from becoming military research.

See also  Why The Wolf Man Is The Most Tragic Universal Classic Horror Monster (Not Frankenstein)

The second part of the episode involves an old foe of Courage. Remember Space Chicken (Howard Hoffman)? This time his three-headed son is out for revenge against Courage. Thankfully, Courage is more prepared to take him on.

4 The Mask

No this is not in reference to The Mask starring Jim Carrey. This episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog is one of the rare few that involves only one storyline. When a dog-hating cat-like person named Kitty (Barbara McCulloh) starts hitting you with random objects, it doesn’t win any brownie points with Courage.

Miriam, thinking she is Courage’s friend invites her inside. Kitty divulges into her situation of a gangster named Mad Dog holding her best friend hostage. He plans to keep them apart forever. In order to return to his simple life, Courage decides to help her.

3 Remembrance Of Courage Past/ Perfect

The show’s final episode brings fans back to Courage’s past. Still traumatized by his parents being forced into space, Muriel and Eustice take him to see the same vet who sent his parents away. The vet has evil plans to send Courage to space and must send Muriel and Eustice with him. Courage must save his new family from evil space research.

The second half of the episode has a message for its viewers. Courage can’t seem to do anything right and his “teacher” tries to train him into becoming a perfect dog. In the end, there is no such thing as perfect.

2 The Tower Of Dr. Zalost

The final episode of season four has a deep storyline that’s a lot to unpack, even as a kid. Dr. Zalost (Paul Schoeffler) suffers from depression and becomes jealous of other people’s happiness. He shoots unhappy cannonballs on the town, plummeting everyone into depression.

See also  Hawaii Five-0: 10 Best Couples, Ranked

He tries to steal economical elements to gain happiness but refuses to rectify the error of his ways. It’s up to Courage to return the town back to how it once was. A couple of happy plums should do the trick.

1 The Demon In The Mattress/ Freaky Fred

Instead of the evil monster being under the bed, this time the evil is inside the bed. Muriel is fed up with her lumpy mattress and splurges on a new replacement. Unbeknownst to her, the bed has an evil spirit living inside it. It takes possession of Muriel and Courage must save her.

No one wants to be nicknamed “Freaky Fred,” but in the second storyline, it makes perfect sense. Fred (Paul Schoeffler) is Muriel’s odd nephew, who gives off a bad vibe. He is a barber by trade and Courage comes to learn just how much fun Fred likes to have with his job.

NextFriends: 10 Life Lessons We Can Learn From Phoebe Buffay

About The Author


Gabriela Silva
(477 Articles Published)

Gabriela Silva is a List writer for Screen Rant with experience in all things television, film and pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University with previous years experience interning for Cliché Magazine.

With her passion for movies, television and entertainment, she’s interviewed some great actors from Cress Williams of ‘Black Lightning’ to Tati Gabrielle from ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.’

Her love for entertainment reaches a broad range of interests from 90s thriller movies, guilty pleasure teen dramas, action-packed MCU movies to popular K-dramas. You’ll most likely find her binge-watching a new television show or movies on Netflix into the early morning.

More From Gabriela Silva