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The Sidekick – Sonic Boom Season 1, Episode 1

Title card of The Sidekick (Sonic Boom, 2014)
SeriesSonic Boom (TV series, 2014–2017)
SeasonSeason 1, episode 1 (S01E01)
Episode no.1 of 104
US premiere8 November 2014 · Cartoon Network
France19 November 2014 · Le Coéquipier
Written byStory by Mark Banker; teleplay by Mark Banker and Doug Lieblich
StoryboardJordi Valbuena & Mickael Merigot
Directed byNatalys Raut-Sieuzac
US viewers1.15 million (Nielsen, premiere)
Previous– (first episode)
NextCan an Evil Genius Crash on Your Couch for a Few Days? (S01E02)

The Sidekick is episode 1 of Season 1 of Sonic Boom, the CGI comedy series made by OuiDo! Productions with Sega of America. It premiered in the United States on 8 November 2014 on Cartoon Network, alongside episode 2.

Synopsis · Trivia · Watch · All Season 1 episodes

Synopsis

Tails, bandaged after his plane crash (The Sidekick)
Tails, bandaged after his plane crash.Screenshot: Sonic Boom (2014), “The Sidekick” · via Sonic Wiki Zone

Every hero needs a sidekick, and in the very first episode Sonic decides his is in too much danger. Eggman’s Burnbot sends Tails and his plane crashing to earth, and once his pal is bandaged up, Sonic lets him go, for his own protection.

The search for a replacement is a comedy of bad candidates. Amy juggles, Fastidious Beaver admits to cowardice, Knuckles thinks he is the one hiring, and the most promising applicant of all is Tails in a hood. Eggman applies too. Against his better judgement Sonic waves three finalists through, his old sidekick and his worst enemy among them, and sets them a hoverboard race to a flag on Mount Safety.

The doctor, of course, only wants both heroes out of the way, and Burnbot is waiting. On a frozen lake we learn the fastest thing alive can’t swim, and it is Tails who drags Sonic out of the water and flies them to safety. At sunset Sonic hands his best friend his job back, while at the shack Amy talks her way into a try-out as Knuckles’ sidekick.

The Eggmobile over the jungle (The Sidekick)
The Eggmobile over the jungle.Screenshot: Sonic Boom (2014), “The Sidekick” · via Sonic Wiki Zone

Trivia

  • Premiered back to back with “Can an Evil Genius Crash on Your Couch for a Few Days?” in the show’s Cartoon Network debut on 8 November 2014.
  • One of the first six episodes uploaded in full to NCircle Entertainment’s official YouTube channel.
  • On DVD: Universal’s UK volume The Sidekick (8 Feb 2016); in the US, NCircle’s Season One, Volume One (2019), Here Comes the Boom! (2019) and The Complete Season 1 (2021).
  • French title: Le Coéquipier. The episode aired in France on 19 November 2014.
  • About 1.15 million US viewers watched the premiere broadcast (Nielsen figures as listed by Wikipedia).

Watch the Episode

The full episode, uploaded by NCircle Entertainment, the show’s US home-video label, on its official YouTube channel (checked 6 November 2026).

Part of our Sonic Boom Season 1 guide. See the series page for the cast, the redesigns, the games and the comics.

Sources: air dates, writers and storyboard artists from Luke’s original Sonic Scene episode list, cross-checked with Wikipedia, Sonic Retro (Wayback copy) and Sonic Wiki Zone; synopsis written for Sonic Scene from the episode summaries on those sites; title card and screenshots via Sonic Wiki Zone, copied to our media library.