Editing Dexter's Laboratory (section)

=== Original run ===
[[File:SRM headshot.jpg|thumb|left|[[Steve Rucker (composer)|Steve Rucker]] composed music for the series with Thomas Chase and Gary Lionelli.]]
''Dexter's Laboratory'' premiered on [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]] on April 27, 1996, and the following day on Cartoon Network and [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beller |first=Miles |date=April 25, 1996 |title=TV Review; 'Dexter's Laboratory' |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |publisher=[[BPI Entertainment News Wire]]}}</ref> It became the first in a brand of Cartoon Network original cartoons, later including ''[[Cow and Chicken]]'', ''[[I Am Weasel]]'', ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'', ''The Powerpuff Girls'', ''[[Ed, Edd n Eddy]]'', and ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'', collectively known as [[Cartoon Cartoons]]. A second season was ordered, which premiered on Cartoon Network on July 16, 1997.<ref name="zany" /> This season includes "Dexter and Computress Get Mandark!", an episode created by six-year-old [[Long Island]] resident Tyler Samuel Lee, who submitted his idea to Tartakovsky as an audiotape. Lee's recorded narration is used in the episode, and Tartakovsky (who often received letters and comments from other fans) said that Lee had "a great understanding of the show and genuinely captured the imaginative kid perspective we're always striving for."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Price |first=Michael H. |date=May 5, 1998 |title=Tyler Samuel Lee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/117329705/tyler-samuel-lee/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701015612/https://www.newspapers.com/article/117329705/tyler-samuel-lee/ |archive-date=July 1, 2023 |access-date=January 27, 2023 |work=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |location=[[Fort Worth, Texas]] |page=78 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Composers Thomas Chase, [[Steve Rucker (composer)|Steve Rucker]], and Gary Lionelli provided the musical score for the series.

''Dexter's Laboratory'' went on hiatus on June 15, 1998, after two seasons, with season 2 lasting 39 episodes.<ref name="Brooks">{{Cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |author-link=Tim Brooks (historian) |title=[[The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present]] |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle |date=October 16, 2007 |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 |edition=9th |location=[[New York City]] |pages=350–351}}</ref> The series finale was initially intended to be "Last But Not Beast", which differed from the format of other episodes, in that it was a single 25-minute episode, rather than a collection of shorter segments. By this point, Tartakovsky was exhausted. His focus on the series had cost him two relationships, and he went on to joke that the process of running ''Dexter's Laboratory'' was like "giving birth to ten children."<ref name="Jubera" /> After putting the series on hiatus, Tartakovsky became a supervising producer on colleague Craig McCracken's series, ''The Powerpuff Girls''; he directed episodes of that series and worked on ''[[The Powerpuff Girls Movie]].''{{sfn|Lenburg|2006}}{{sfn|Neuwirth|2007}}{{sfn|Perlmutter|2014|p=269}} After the movie, McCracken went on to create ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' for Cartoon Network. Both Hartman and MacFarlane left Cartoon Network altogether at this point; the former went on to create ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'' and ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' for [[Nickelodeon]] while the latter went on to create ''[[Family Guy]]'' for [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] respectively.<ref name="seth" /><ref name="butch" />

In 1999, Tartakovsky returned to direct ''Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip'', an hour-long television movie.<ref name="ego">{{Cite magazine |last=Bernardin |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Bernardin |date=November 24, 2000 |title=Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip Review |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2000/11/24/dexters-laboratory-ego-trip |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206161222/https://ew.com/article/2000/11/24/dexters-laboratory-ego-trip/ |archive-date=February 6, 2015 |access-date=January 22, 2013 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |issn=1049-0434}}</ref> It was his last ''Dexter's Laboratory'' production to be involved with and was intended to be its conclusion. ''Ego Trip'' was hand-animated, though character and setting designs were subtly revised. Its plot follows Dexter on a quest through time to discover his future triumphs.<ref name="ego" /> It premiered on December 10, 1999, at 7:00 PM with a repeat broadcast on January 1, 2000, at 12:00 AM.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DeMott |first=Rick |date=December 1, 1999 |title=Cartoon Network to Air Dexter's Lab Special |url=https://www.awn.com/news/cartoon-network-air-dexters-lab-special |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203123045/https://www.awn.com/news/cartoon-network-air-dexters-lab-special |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |access-date=April 22, 2013 |website=[[Animation World Network]]}}</ref>