I know they had to be creative and hurriedly come up with a batch of episodes to work around Kevin Sorbo's absence, but this truly is one of the worst episodes of the entire series.
Even before Sorbo's absence due to health problems, the season had offered up rubbish such as 'Beanstalks and Bad Eggs', and 'Porkules' almost serves as the straw that broke the camel's back (or should that be "pig's back"?).
In (the far more watchable) 'Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules', they joked about doing 'Chimpules The Legendary Monkey'. Apparently, they really DID look into doing this, but found the only chimp available too awkward to do as they wanted, so they went for a pig instead!
In this episode, we meet Hermes, the messenger of the Gods. This brings up another of my annoyances by this point of the series too many 'comedy Gods'. Whilst humour is a key element of the series throughout, I feel they went too far on the Gods. Hermes could have been a really interesting character, but instead, they felt need to once again down the 'comically talking in modern lingo' route, and I didn't particularly like it.
The villain of the episode, working for Ares, is Discord. I much prefer her over Strife (is he dead or not? He was killed in 'Armageddon Now' but was seen in 'Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules'!). Meighan Desmond plays the character like such a young harlot, and her relationship with the (mortal) hunter hints and some really perverted practices between them.
The reliable Michael Hurst and Bruce Campbell do their best and give it their all, but not even they can save this lame and silly episode. One of the weakest of the show's run, and one of the most embarrassing.moreless
EDIT
Episode Summary
Discord shot Hercules with Artemis' bow, turning him into a pig. Then she sent the hunter Colchis after Hercules, but the pig jumped from Iolaus' arms and ran off. After a butcher caught him and threw him into a meat wagon, Hercules was befriended by a female pig, Katherine. Autolycus and Iolaus rescued the two pigs from a slaughterhouse, where Hercules communicated with his friends through Fleevio the parrot. Retreating to Alcmene's home, they eventually got the drop on Discord. Iolaus shot the mischievous goddess with Artemis' bow, turning her into a chicken, and Hercules returned to normal.moreless
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Kevin Sorbo
Hercules
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Michael Hurst O.N.Z.M.
Iolaus
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Liddy Holloway
Alcmene
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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Trivia
ADD TRIVIA- In the previous episode, 'Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules', the writers contemplated doing 'Chimpules' to cover for Kevin Sorbo's absence. In reality, they really did look into doing this for an episode, but the chimp was too hard to keep under control, so they decided on 'Porkules' instead! Edit
- Goof: Apparently Atremis' bow changes a person's sex as well as their animal nature. When Hercules has his last scene as the pig, it's pretty easy to see that the pig that is supposedly him is a female by the double row of teats going down it's belly. And judging by the comb on that chicken who's supposed to be Discord, it's a rooster! Edit
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Notes
ADD NOTES- Disclaimer: Hermes's wings were clipped during the production of this motion picture. Edit
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Quotes
ADD QUOTES- Discord: Let me make it up to you. Ares: Oh, what did you have in mind? Discord: Why spoil the surprise? Let me just say that by the end of the day, you'll be so tickled you'll make me your second-in-command. Ares: Strife's body isn't even cold yet! You have no shame!! (pause) And I like your style! Edit
- Autolycus: (after he is caught stealing by Hercules and Iolaus) Hercules! (looks at Iolaus) Whatever your name is. What a pleasnt surprise! Edit
- Hercules: (catching Autolycus) Isn't stealing the king's gold a little beneath you? Autolycus: How good of you to notice. You see, I figure every so often a fella just has to go back to the basics. Besides, the king, ah, he's plenty rich. What about the needs of the people? Iolaus: Oh, some on! You don't care about the people! Autolycus: Course I do! I happen to be one of them! Edit
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Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS- Quakkus: (to the sheep): What you talkin' bout, Woolus?! This is a reference to the show Diff'rent Strokes, which featured the immortal line by Gary Coleman's character Arnold, "What you talkin' bout, Willis?!" Edit
- Katherine: Yeah, sure, and I'm Aphrodite! This is an in-joke, because Katherine the pig was voiced by Alex Tydings, who regularly plays the role of Aphrodite. Edit
- Discord: (after changing Hercules into a pig) Hm, the other white meat! There was an ad campaign running in the US at this time touting pork as "the other white meat", since many people were avoiding eating red meat. Edit
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