Entertainment
 

Doug

From Nickelodeon

Doug 
 
Creator: Jim Jinkins
Joe Aaron 
Starring: Billy West
Fred Newman
Constance Shulman
Becca Lish
Alice Playten
Doug Preis
Greg Lee 
Narrator: Billy West (1991-1994
Thomas McHugh (1996-1999) 
Number of episodes: 117 (98 11-minute episodes, 67 22-minute episodes, and 1 theatrical feature-length film) 
List of episodes: List of Doug episodes 
Runtime: 22 minutes (11 minutes per segment) (approx. per episode) 
First aired: August 11, 1991 
Last aired: June 5, 1999 
Doug at IMDB.com 
Doug at TV.com

Doug was an animated series on Nickelodeon. It was the first Nicktoon. It began as an unpublished book Doug Got a New Pair of Shoes by artist and series creator Jim Jinkins and writer Joe Aaron. It debuted on Nick 1991 and lasted until 1994. It was picked up by Disney in 1996.

Contents

[edit] The Series

The series takes place in the fictitious town of Bluffington and deals with the life and imagination of Doug, his dog Porkchop, and good friends Skeeter Valentine and Patti Mayonnaise. Most episodes started with Doug writing in his journal about recent events in his life, with the main action of the episode being a flashback of the events as Doug narrated them.

Doug's older sister, Judy, is a constant source of conflict. She is a dramatic actor (arguably a beatnik) who always wears a purple beret and sunglasses, even in the house. Doug is the supposed bane of her existence, as his childlike interests annoy her very much.

A theme in the series is Doug's alternate comic book personality, Quailman. He has a belt worn around his head, and clean briefs over his pants, but is otherwise identical to Doug. Skeeter has an analogous character named the Silver Skeeter (a parody of Marvel's Silver Surfer).

Doug's imagination as he reacts to various situations in his life helps to provide premises for the stories, ala Walter Mitty. One episode dealing with a visit to his dentist, for example, contains homages to Goldfinger and Marathon Man.

Another theme in the series regarded Doug's feelings for Patti, with whom he had fallen in love upon first setting eyes on her. Some episodes focused on this, and involved either Doug attempting to get closer to Patti, or his frantic attempts to stop her discovering his feelings (much like Helga from Hey Arnold!). The story ends on an optimistic hope for the two when Patti asks Doug out on a date.

Notable in the series' character design is the frequent use of unusual names and skin colors. Doug is of standard Caucasian tone, whereas his mother is purple, Skeeter is blue, Patti is African-American with blonde hair, and Roger is green.

Even though Nickelodeon stopped production of Doug in 1994, the original episodes were still shown on Nickelodeon untill 1999-2000 year. In 2002 it was picked up by Nicktoons Network and aired there until 2006. As of 2009, Nickelodeon's Doug airs reruns Mondays at 7:00am and 7:30am on MTV Tr3́s affiliates KBEH and KMOH-TV (as a E/I program).

[edit] Disney's Doug

In 1996, Disney bought the rights to Doug. Doug's 1st Movie acted as the pilot for the new series, originally known as Brand Spankin' New Doug, but later changed to Disney's Doug. It made significant changes to the show, which have prompted fans to believe this is when the show jumped the shark.

[edit] Changes

  • Doug turns 12 and begins to go through puberty, turning 13 by the end of the show
  • Roger becomes rich, and rivals Bebe
  • Connie loses significant weight
  • The Honker Burger goes under "noveaux ownership" and becomes the French restaurant "Chet Honque".
  • Skunky Beaumont, is now a regular character
  • Doug attends Bebe Bluff Middle School, owned by the Bluffs and shaped like Bebe herself. The former Mayor White, who lost the election to Mrs. Dink, near the end of the first series, is Principal
  • The Beets break up
  • Mr. Swirly opens a restaurant known as Swirly's, which subsequently replaces the Honker Burger as the hangout
  • Doug has a new baby sister known as Cleopatra "Dirtbike" Funnie

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main Characters

  • Douglas "Doug" Yancy Funnie: Performed by Billy West from 1991 to 1994, and Thomas McHugh from 1996 to 1999. Often is writing his thoughts in his journal, which he lost in one episode. He does not like his journal being called a "diary", possibly finding it too feminine. Has many alter-egos.
  • Patricia "Patti" Mayonnaise: The girl on whom Doug has a crush. In some thought sequences, she is often depicted as older and/or single or married as Doug's future wife. She is apparently from the South, as she has a distinct Southern accent. She is apparently African-American.
  • Mosquito "Skeeter" Valentine: Doug's best friend, who has a genius IQ, though does not act like it. Is famous on both versions of the series for his "honk honk" sound. He has blue skin.
  • Roger M. Klotz: Doug's rival. He is the bully in the series. He lives with his divorced mother and cat, Stinky in a trailer park, they became rich in the Disney verison. His rival was Percy Femur, Lamar Bone's nephew. He has green skin. Doug has created many alter-egos for him, and he is the main antagonist in the Quailman comics. According to the final episode of the Nickelodeon series, Roger was in 5th grade for three straight years, indicating he was held back. Since the average 5th grader is 11, Roger is probably 13 in the series. This also indicates that in the Disney series, he is 14-16.
  • Porkchop: Doug's canine companion.
  • Bebe Bluff: A spoiled rich girl; friend of Patti's, Doug's, and Skeeter's.
  • Mr. Phil Funnie: Doug's dad who is a department store photographer.
  • Judith "Judy" Anastasia Funnie: Doug's artistic sister. Eventually becomes more mellowed out and relaxed in Disney's Doug.
  • Mrs. Theda Funnie: Doug and Judy's mom. Is the common housewife but is also a working mom on some occasions.
  • Mr. Buddy "Bud" Dink: Doug's spend-thrift neighbor, whom Doug often turns to for advice. Known for his obnoxious Goofy-esque laugh and frequent new purchases of strange devices, always commenting that they were "very expensive." Also was Doug's scoutmaster for many episodes.
  • Mrs. Tipping "Tippy" Dale Dink: Mr. Dink's wife, and later the mayor of Bluffington. Known for her deadpan reactions to her husband's stupidity.

[edit] Secondary characters

  • Abraham Linclon Dirk: Doug's president of "G7". Ruled on the Gospel Music Channel version.
  • Ms. Wingo: Doug's elementary school teacher.
  • Stinky: Roger's spoiled female feline companion. Orignally thought to be male, but than had kittens.
  • Mr. William "Bill" Bluff III: The richest man in town, father of Beebe, and descendant of the town founder.
  • Robert "Bob" White: The former mayor of Bluffington, who later becomes the middle school principal. Constantly asserting "Vote for Me!", even to elementary schoolers.
  • William "Willie" White: the ex-mayor's son and member of Roger's gang.
  • Albert "Al"/Moose "Moo" Sleech: Genius, yet socially inept twin brothers. Their father runs a bakery, and they have a dog named Cosmos.
  • Lamar Bone: The elementary school vice-principal, and later promoted to the same job at the middle school. Depicted as the stereotypical "mean principal" of both schools. Likes to yodel and clog-dance on occasion. Speaks with a Don Knotts-esque voice. Sometimes breaks away from the stereotype that he has developed into a more caring nature. Has a nephew named Percy Femur. Doug has created many alter-egos for him such as "Robobone" and "The Rulemeister".
  • The Beets: A band who lived in Liverpool, that Doug and Skeeter are big fans of, that later breaks up and go solo in the Disney version. The band's last album was titled Let it Beet, with an album cover parodying the Beatles' Let It Be.

[edit] Recurring characters

  • Mr. Butsavage: The never-seen elementary school principal. Was seen as a giant floating head in one episode though, in a similar fashion to The Wizard of Oz. Much kinder in the sequence than his subordinate, Lamar Bone.
  • Boomer Bledsoe: Member of Roger's gang.
  • Ned Cauphee: Member of Roger's gang. Has 25 brothers.
  • Larry: Leader of a group of audio-visual nerds.
  • Skunky Beaumont: Often mentioned in the Nick version, but was never seen. He did not appear till the Disney version, where he is portrayed as a Jeff Spicolli-esque "dude." Says the word "torque" as an adjective and sounds like a surfer dude type.
  • Chalky Studebaker: A friend of Doug's who is a jock and all-around talented kid, although he was under tremendous pressure to match the accomplishments of his older brother, who had amassed a very large trophy collection.
  • Connie Benge: Connie is a sweet, naive, and overweight girl in Nick version while she is a slimmer, obnoxious Courtney Love-esque singer and songwriter in Disney version. Seems to have a small crush on Doug.
  • Fentruck: A foreign exchange student from the fictional country of Yakistonia. Does not make much prominence in the Disney version.
  • Coach Spitz: Only appeared in a few episodes; he was a chauvinistic baseball coach who rejected females from baseball teams.
  • Mr. Swirly- The local ice cream man. Doug saved Student Government Day by suggesting that Mr. Swirly let the chocolate chips heading for his factory's cooling fan, to "hit the fan". Doug was rewarded with some chocolate ice cream. When Mr. Swirly's candy bars were discovered to taste like cement, it was eventually discovered that cement was being mixed with the chocolate. This was later fixed.
  • Mr. Shilaki- The goofy guidance counselor at Doug's middle school. His suggestions for problems include "Take two hugs with a big glass of courage." In the "Troublemaker" episode, he claimed that he belived that Doug's middle name, Yancey, was the good Doug and to "Tell that troublemaker to flee, flee, flee!" He often uses childish phrases, such as in one episode where his computer malfunctions and he says that, "Mr. Computer had a little tummy ache." Wears a shirt that says "Hug Me".

[edit] Doug's Alter-Egos

  • Quailman- a recurring superhero equivalent. Wears clean underwear over his pants and a belt on his head. Uses the "powers of the quail": patience, intelligence, and speed. Uses the "quail-eye" to render his enemies "helpless and stupified". Accompanied by Silver Skeeter (parody of Silver Surfer). Also accompanied by Quaildog, whose only known power is the Quail Tail.
  • Race Canyon- parody of Indiana Jones, accompanied by Skeetari
  • Jack Bandit- parody of Zorro
  • Smash Adams- parody of James Bond
  • Durango Doug- parody of John Wayne
  • Waffle Stomper- parody of Steven Segal

[edit] Doug Quotes

  • "Why Hello There Douglas" - Mr.Dink
  • This is Gloria's Rock. This is the very spot where [Blythe] composed Oh Gloria, With Hair Like Granite. - Judy
  • {lying down in Blythe Field} And this is where he wrote Hello Sky. -Judy

[edit] Who owns Doug?

As for the nagging question, "Who owns Doug?" Actually, 3 companies lay claim to Doug -- the most obvious being Disney for all episodes produced since 1996, and Nickelodeon for all episodes produced for that channel, 1991 to 1994. However, Nickelodeon does not own all the rights to their version of Doug -- they only have the rights of distribution for North and South America only. Groupe Ellipse, the co-producer of the Nick version, has distribution rights for other parts of the world. nbvc

[edit] Popularity

The popularity of Doug spawned merchandise such as clothes, toys, and a number of books.

[edit] Presently

Doug is not seen on ABC, Nickelodeon, or Nicktoons Network. However, it was last seen on the Nicktoons Network in 2007 during Thanksgiving Weekend and as of 2009, Nickelodeon's Doug airs reruns Mondays at 7:00am and 7:30am on MTV Tr3́s affiliates KBEH and KMOH-TV (as a E/I program). Occasionally, it will be aired on TV.

[edit] DVD

The complete first & second seasons are available for purchase on Amazon through a burn-on-demand service.

[edit] Trivia

  • In the episode "Doug Can't Dance", Doug goes to a costume party dressed as a slug. Roger, dressed as a hammer, moves in on Doug at the party, saying "It's hammer time!", a reference to U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer.
  • Sky Davis is a parody of Michael Jordan, as Sky Davis Air Jets are a parody of Nike Air Jordans
  • The people and language of Yakistonia are referred to as "Yakistonesian" rather than "Yakistonian"

[edit] External links


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