Clone High Creators Finally Address The Ghandi-Shaped Hole

Now that the new season of Clone High (20 YEARS IN THE MAKING!) has finally premiered its first two episodes, we can openly talk about what everyone has pretty much known since an unfinished edit of Season 2, Episode 1 got out a few months ago: Ghandi’s not in it.

Or, rather, he IS sort of in it but not really. There’s an in-universe explanation for his absence: when Scudworth unfroze all the original clones and resumed his plan, he absentmindedly left Ghandi in the freezer. There is one shot of his frozen body and that’s probably all we’ll get.

Ghandi is, of course, the whole reason this brilliant show got cancelled in the first place in 2003: there were protests in India over his portrayal, so MTV pulled it off the air before all its episodes could finish running. The fact that he’s not in the revival may not be much of a surprise, but who made the decision to do this — Paramount (who owns and made the show) or Warner Bros (who paid for these new seasons and is showing them)?

Turns out, neither. It was series creators Phil Lord and Chris Miller themselves who removed Ghandi — they confessed to it in a short interview with TV Line this morning. “The reason the show was canceled in the first place was because of Gandhi, so we didn’t want to have it canceled again before it even started,” says Phil. “We’re stupid, but not that stupid,” says Chris.

Since Ghandi was one of the show’s funniest characters, this leaves a hole that won’t be easy to fill. Lord and Miller say they ended up splitting Ghandi into two new characters, Confucius and Frida Kahlo. “They take care of a lot of the things that Gandhi would do,” Miller says. “But they’re also their own unique characters. Frida is much cooler than Gandhi ever was. She has a similar energy, but it’s effortless, whereas Gandhi is trying too hard at all times. Vicky Martinez, who voices her, is just effortlessly interesting and cool and funny.”

I’d tell you how well they did, but “Max” didn’t launch at midnight on the West Coast like it was supposed to, so I could not see the finished product yet. It should be live now though and new episodes of Clone High will be released two per week over the next month. If you want more, watch the current season and tell your friends.