In this episode, Patricia, Kevin, and Manic Expression member David a.k.a. Brekclub85 discuss about licensed video games. Also they discuss about possible licensed video games that they want to see, including something involving Manic Expression. Click here to see it!
Pass on by where the discussion of movies, TV shows, video games, and everything in between is non-stop.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Old School Lane Presents: Turtle Talk Episode 2
In this episode of Turtle Talk, Patricia and Kevin update on the TMNT movie, TV show, and merchandise. Also, someone makes an announcement about going to an upcoming anime/video game/sci-fi convention. Click here to listen!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Old School Lane's Not-Nickelodeon Tribute Week: Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon
Now we come to the 2000's. While we have been discussing that some of the 90's Nickelodeon shows were hugely innovated and groundbreaking when they first came out, nothing could be more given that recognition than The Ren & Stimpy Show. Back in the 80's when cartoons were either based on a toy, movie, or reboot of a cartoon from the 60's, The Ren & Stimpy Show was an homage to the classic cartoons while giving it a zany twist. The animation was eye-popping and in-your-face, the humor was off color, the jokes had a edge that both kids and adults could enjoy, and the characters were very kooky and over-the-top, but memorable and charming. The Ren & Stimpy Show was a huge game changer for animation in general and many shows from the 90's would copy its formula such as Cow and Chicken, Rocko's Modern Life, and SpongeBob SquarePants. Like it or not, The Ren & Stimpy Show was very ahead of its time and still garnered a huge amount of fans to this day.
During the 2nd season of the show, Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi was fired from Nickelodeon and the show took a slightly different town throughout the rest of the show. In 1996, Ren & Stimpy was finally cancelled from Nickelodeon, but the impact that the show left would not go away. For years, many fans were petitioning on renewing the show, but no such luck. John K. would go on to animate Flash shorts cartoon series such as The Goddamn George Liquor Show, Weekend Pussy Hunt, The Ripping Friends, and even a Ranger Smith short on Cartoon Network. But they didn't come close to been as successful as Ren & Stimpy. Around 2001, Ren & Stimpy aired on VH1 in a block called Ren & Stimpy Rocks and brought in huge ratings and big fanfare to the teens who grew up with it as kids as well as a new generation of viewers. This got the new network Spike TV interested in bringing in a new Ren & Stimpy Show for a more adult audience. John K. accepted and on June 26, 2003, Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon debuted.
Some of the episodes that was originally going to air on Nickelodeon aired on Adult Party Cartoon and a good number of the people who worked on the original show came back except Billy West. Similar to Brand Spankin' New Doug, West felt that the show wasn't as funny as the original and refused to voice Stimpy. Although West didn't bash the show as much as Disney's version of Doug, he still to this day says that the revival sucks. Instead they hired newcomer voice actor Eric Bauza as Stimpy. Once again, just like Doug and Roger on Brand Spankin' New Doug, while Bauza does a decent job as Stimpy, it's not the same and West has that talent that only he can do. Kricfalusi returns as voicing Ren and it is somewhat awful. It seems that Ren's voice changed from a impression of Peter Lorre to a person trying to impersonate Peter Lorre. It doesn't sound the same as the original and kind of disconnected me from watching it.
But the one thing that a lot of people noticed when seeing the revival was the tone and humor. If you thought that the original Ren & Stimpy was gross and vulgar, Adult Party Cartoon cranks that up by 11. It's way too vulgar and crude for its own good and tries way too hard to cater to its audience. For a lot of people, they felt the same way and the show was quickly cancelled two months after its debut on August 21, 2003. There were some moments in which I felt that Adult Party Cartoon was having crude moments just for the sake of having crude moments. The original show, while it did have its disgusting moments, had a quirky charm to it with the commercials of selling cereal made of grass, logs as toys, and powdered toast made it seem like a 1950's interstitial brought in the 90's. It had a timeless charm that anyone could appreciate with the characters going through various adventures and funny scenarios that were classic in its own right. Adult Party Cartoon does not and to many people, it's one of the worst animated shows of all time. As for me, it's hugely disappointing and a lost potential to bringing a classic show for a new generation. I don't recommend checking it out.
Tune in next time as we conclude the not-Nickelodeon tribute week with a Cartoon Network show that had a pilot short on Nicktoons Network, but was rejected to being a series. None other than Adventure Time!
Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading!
-Patricia
During the 2nd season of the show, Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi was fired from Nickelodeon and the show took a slightly different town throughout the rest of the show. In 1996, Ren & Stimpy was finally cancelled from Nickelodeon, but the impact that the show left would not go away. For years, many fans were petitioning on renewing the show, but no such luck. John K. would go on to animate Flash shorts cartoon series such as The Goddamn George Liquor Show, Weekend Pussy Hunt, The Ripping Friends, and even a Ranger Smith short on Cartoon Network. But they didn't come close to been as successful as Ren & Stimpy. Around 2001, Ren & Stimpy aired on VH1 in a block called Ren & Stimpy Rocks and brought in huge ratings and big fanfare to the teens who grew up with it as kids as well as a new generation of viewers. This got the new network Spike TV interested in bringing in a new Ren & Stimpy Show for a more adult audience. John K. accepted and on June 26, 2003, Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon debuted.
Some of the episodes that was originally going to air on Nickelodeon aired on Adult Party Cartoon and a good number of the people who worked on the original show came back except Billy West. Similar to Brand Spankin' New Doug, West felt that the show wasn't as funny as the original and refused to voice Stimpy. Although West didn't bash the show as much as Disney's version of Doug, he still to this day says that the revival sucks. Instead they hired newcomer voice actor Eric Bauza as Stimpy. Once again, just like Doug and Roger on Brand Spankin' New Doug, while Bauza does a decent job as Stimpy, it's not the same and West has that talent that only he can do. Kricfalusi returns as voicing Ren and it is somewhat awful. It seems that Ren's voice changed from a impression of Peter Lorre to a person trying to impersonate Peter Lorre. It doesn't sound the same as the original and kind of disconnected me from watching it.
But the one thing that a lot of people noticed when seeing the revival was the tone and humor. If you thought that the original Ren & Stimpy was gross and vulgar, Adult Party Cartoon cranks that up by 11. It's way too vulgar and crude for its own good and tries way too hard to cater to its audience. For a lot of people, they felt the same way and the show was quickly cancelled two months after its debut on August 21, 2003. There were some moments in which I felt that Adult Party Cartoon was having crude moments just for the sake of having crude moments. The original show, while it did have its disgusting moments, had a quirky charm to it with the commercials of selling cereal made of grass, logs as toys, and powdered toast made it seem like a 1950's interstitial brought in the 90's. It had a timeless charm that anyone could appreciate with the characters going through various adventures and funny scenarios that were classic in its own right. Adult Party Cartoon does not and to many people, it's one of the worst animated shows of all time. As for me, it's hugely disappointing and a lost potential to bringing a classic show for a new generation. I don't recommend checking it out.
Tune in next time as we conclude the not-Nickelodeon tribute week with a Cartoon Network show that had a pilot short on Nicktoons Network, but was rejected to being a series. None other than Adventure Time!
Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading!
-Patricia
Monday, May 13, 2013
Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Rugrats Mother's Day Episode
Now that Mother's Day is over, it's time to conclude it with a very well known episode pertaining to that subject: the Rugrats Mother Day special.
Debuting on Mother's Day on May 9, 1997, it came out 5 months after the Rugrats Hanukkah special. Does this Mother's Day special make you appreciate your mom even more or is it as hollow as a $1 teddy bear. This is the Rugrats Mother's Day special.
We start out with Angelica making a macaroni sculpture of her head for her mother in honor of Mother's Day. Tommy, Phil, and Lil never heard of the holiday so they decided to look around for gifts to give to their moms. Meanwhile we see Didi treating her mom Minka to a relaxing day at the spa and Stu trying out a new invention to help Didi with the house chores. However, it doesn't go very well. Didi and Minka have nothing in common and Stu's invention keeps breaking down. Betty tries to help Stu with the invention on how to become a mom.
We then cut back to the babies looking for gifts until Chaz and Chuckie come to visit. He tells Didi about keeping a box hidden that contains with former wife Melinda from Chuckie's eyes since he doesn't want him to feel sad. Chuckie greets his friends and wonders why they're looking for stuff. They explain to Chuckie about Mother's Day, but Chuckie doesn't know about it because he doesn't have a mom. Tommy asks him if he remembers having a mom. Chuckie says no, but he does dream about a nice woman whose mostly takes place outside and she's gardening. Tommy then comes up with the idea of looking for a mom for Chuckie.
With no luck, Angelica decides to jump in and offers that she can be Chuckie's mom. The babies refuse, but Chuckie accepts. He helps her make the macaroni head and does Angelica's orders while she bosses him around. She even changes his name to Blaine. With a quick misstep, Chuckie accidentally breaks Angelica's macaroni head and as punishment, she locks the babies in the closet and quits being Chuckie's mom. While looking through the closet, Chuckie finds the box containing his mother's things including a picture of her. The adults come home with Charlotte liking Angelica's present, Didi and Minka getting along, and the invention exploding due to a system overload. Chaz comes to pick Chuckie up until he finds out that he found Chuckie found the picture. Chaz, concerned that Chuckie found the picture, decides to take it away. Didi tells him that now is the time to talk to Chuckie about his mom. Chaz finally agrees.
Chaz explains about his mother and the poem she wrote before she died. The poem is about that even though she's not around, she'll always be there for him in the sky, clouds, flowers, grass, sun, and wind. Chuckie then tells Tommy, Phil, and Lil about it and the episode ends there.
Overall, for most people, this is one of the most saddest episodes from their childhood and hold it very dear in their hearts. As for me, I do really like the episode, but it's not as sad as it used it be. When I found out in the interview with Paul Germain that Chuckie's mom was originally alive and the reason why she wasn't in the show was because her and Chaz were divorced, it kind of was a buzzkill. However, there are a lot of good things about it. Firstly, it broadened Chuckie's character a lot more than just a timid, coward baby and it would be the lead up to Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. Overall, it still holds up and you should check it out sometime.
That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.
-Patricia
Debuting on Mother's Day on May 9, 1997, it came out 5 months after the Rugrats Hanukkah special. Does this Mother's Day special make you appreciate your mom even more or is it as hollow as a $1 teddy bear. This is the Rugrats Mother's Day special.
We start out with Angelica making a macaroni sculpture of her head for her mother in honor of Mother's Day. Tommy, Phil, and Lil never heard of the holiday so they decided to look around for gifts to give to their moms. Meanwhile we see Didi treating her mom Minka to a relaxing day at the spa and Stu trying out a new invention to help Didi with the house chores. However, it doesn't go very well. Didi and Minka have nothing in common and Stu's invention keeps breaking down. Betty tries to help Stu with the invention on how to become a mom.
We then cut back to the babies looking for gifts until Chaz and Chuckie come to visit. He tells Didi about keeping a box hidden that contains with former wife Melinda from Chuckie's eyes since he doesn't want him to feel sad. Chuckie greets his friends and wonders why they're looking for stuff. They explain to Chuckie about Mother's Day, but Chuckie doesn't know about it because he doesn't have a mom. Tommy asks him if he remembers having a mom. Chuckie says no, but he does dream about a nice woman whose mostly takes place outside and she's gardening. Tommy then comes up with the idea of looking for a mom for Chuckie.
With no luck, Angelica decides to jump in and offers that she can be Chuckie's mom. The babies refuse, but Chuckie accepts. He helps her make the macaroni head and does Angelica's orders while she bosses him around. She even changes his name to Blaine. With a quick misstep, Chuckie accidentally breaks Angelica's macaroni head and as punishment, she locks the babies in the closet and quits being Chuckie's mom. While looking through the closet, Chuckie finds the box containing his mother's things including a picture of her. The adults come home with Charlotte liking Angelica's present, Didi and Minka getting along, and the invention exploding due to a system overload. Chaz comes to pick Chuckie up until he finds out that he found Chuckie found the picture. Chaz, concerned that Chuckie found the picture, decides to take it away. Didi tells him that now is the time to talk to Chuckie about his mom. Chaz finally agrees.
Chaz explains about his mother and the poem she wrote before she died. The poem is about that even though she's not around, she'll always be there for him in the sky, clouds, flowers, grass, sun, and wind. Chuckie then tells Tommy, Phil, and Lil about it and the episode ends there.
Overall, for most people, this is one of the most saddest episodes from their childhood and hold it very dear in their hearts. As for me, I do really like the episode, but it's not as sad as it used it be. When I found out in the interview with Paul Germain that Chuckie's mom was originally alive and the reason why she wasn't in the show was because her and Chaz were divorced, it kind of was a buzzkill. However, there are a lot of good things about it. Firstly, it broadened Chuckie's character a lot more than just a timid, coward baby and it would be the lead up to Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. Overall, it still holds up and you should check it out sometime.
That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.
-Patricia
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Old School Lane's Top 10 Nickelodeon Mothers
It's Mother's Day and it's the time to get your gifts ready for the woman who loved you, raised you, and took care of you. Nickelodeon has had its fair share of mothers that are just as loving, fierce, and caring as real moms. There are even times in which we wished that the mothers we saw on TV were our moms. But what were some of the best? It was a tough list, but I was able to round out some of my favorite Nickelodeon moms of all time.
10. Joyce Rigley from The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Joyce a.k.a. Mom is a very typical mom who is very loving, supportive, and caring for her straight forward husband and her two sons both named Pete. She has a lively personality alongside with her understanding nature towards the weird situations that the Petes go through on every episode. However she's low on this list because the one thing that everyone is associated with the character of Mom is her metal plate. It even has its own introduction on the show. But it does come in handy from time to time picking up radio signals.
9. Stella Shortman from Hey Arnold!
Most of the parents from Hey Arnold! weren't exactly very memorable characters. When it came down to the nitty gritty, I decided to choose Stella because she's a very interesting character in the two episodes that introduced Arnold's parents. She's a doctor, she created medicines to help cure sleeping sickness for a lost civilization, she's adventurous, fearless, and kindhearted. When she gave birth to Arnold, she dedicated her time to raise him and protect him from all the dangers from the jungle. As time went on, she and Miles, her husband, left San Lorenzo and moved in with Miles' parents. She's low on this list because she only became a mom for 1 year before she left to do her final mission to help the Green Eyed People. But every Hey Arnold fan really wants to have The Jungle Movie released to find out what happened after the final episode of the show.
8. Marianne Thornberry from The Wild Thornberrys
Marianne working as a mom and shooting a nature show alongside her husband while traveling all over the world is not an easy task. Her really busy schedule of handling the camera, her children, a chimpanzee, and a crazy wild child makes her very stressed at times. Her tense, down-to-earth personality is needed when dealing with her enthusiastic, but dense husband. But there are times in which she is there for Eliza and Debbie and she works hard to make sure their lives are as normal as possible.
7. Janet Darling from Clarissa Explains it All
Janet is definitely a woman who grew up in the 60s. A free spirited woman who takes care of the environment, cooks healthy organic, yet disgusting vegetarian meals, and works as a teacher and a museum employee. However, she's the voice of reason as she helps ground her family together with Clarissa's questions of growing up, Ferguson's dedication to ruin Clarissa's life by being annoying, and her husband's carelessness towards everything going on in the house. She's the stable one in the house and keeps everything in tact.
6. Dr. Wakeman from My Life as a Teenage Robot
While still getting adjusted to the whole "mother" position, she's a remarkably intelligent scientist who has built a lot of great inventions and devices. The best one she ever created was XJ9 or Jenny, a robot made with the latest gadgets and weapons to defend the world from aliens, monsters, and natural disasters. However, she gave her a personality chip to have the personality of a teenage girl. While at first, she can't handle the fact that she's a whiny, moody teenager whose main concern is making friends, fashion, and music, Dr. Wakeman sees her as a daughter than a mere creation. There are some very touching moments between Jenny and Dr. Wakeman that we see whenever the going gets tough in the world.
5. Maddie Fenton from Danny Phantom
Alongside her husband, she fights off ghosts that attack the small town of Amity Park. Similar to Marianne and Janet, she's the voice of reason of the family as tries to keep her family in tact despite being in a strange occupation. While she is kind and level headed, she's also brave and fierce taking out ghosts with her gadgets and her martial arts skills. This is one mom you don't want to mess with.
4. Didi Pickles from Rugrats
One of the most iconic moms in Nickelodeon history, Didi is a dedicated school teacher and mom raising her two boys Tommy and Dil and being supportive to her husband Stu's inventions. She's kind, courteous, caring, and always looking up on Dr. Lipshitz's baby books on how to be the perfect mom. She does everything from taking Tommy and Dil to fun trips to feeding them healthy foods to stay strong. She's a very classic character that is still remembered for years to come both on the original Rugrats and All Grown Up!
3. Wanda from The Fairly Oddparents
Even before she became a mother to Poof, Wanda was already a motherly character taking care of her dim minded husband Cosmo and her godchild Timmy. She always was the voice of reason by telling Timmy the right thing to do, cleaning up the messes that Timmy and Cosmo causes, and being the one to be by their side. When Poof came along, Wanda worked even harder taking care of the guys even more. Regardless of being a fairy with a lot of magic, the main magic that Wanda has is dedication and a caring heart.
2. Ursa from Avatar: The Last Airbender
If there was any mother that many fans were caring and concerned of, it was Ursa, Zuko and Azula's mother. Ursa was a sweet, calm, and caring woman who had to deal with Ozai's cold, harsh personality and Azula's bitter attitude. Zuko, while not as gifted as Azula with his firebending, was always giving full support by Ursa. There were many moments in which we saw Zuko happy for the first time in the show. But what makes Ursa high on the list is the sacrifice that she did to keep Zuko alive after Ozai spoke out of term with his father Fire Lord Azulon. She murdered Azulon to assure that Zuko would live and as punishment, she was banished. Throughout the entire series, we wanted to know what happened to her. Unfortunately, we never got the answer. But as of recently, there's a new series of books that will explain the entire story of Ursa and whether she's alive or not. I can't wait to finally know what happened.
1. Lois Foutley from As Told by Ginger
If you've read my As Told by Ginger review and my top 10 favorite Nickelodeon female role models, you already knew she was going to be #1. But if you're new to my blogs, Lois is an amazing parent. She's tough but fair, especially when dealing with her son Carl, she gives great advice to Ginger, she's very assertive, understandable, and kind. Being a single mom is very hard, but being a single mom with two kids working all night shifts as a nurse is even harder. However, she makes the time to be with her kids and be with them through thick and thin. She was developed very well in the show with her meeting a doctor named Dr. Dave, eventually dating him, and marrying him in the TV movie finale The Wedding Frame. She will always be my favorite mom in Nickelodeon history.
Those are my top 10 Nickelodeon moms. What are your favorite moms from Nickelodeon? Post it in the comments below. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Happy Mother's Day!
-Patricia
10. Joyce Rigley from The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Joyce a.k.a. Mom is a very typical mom who is very loving, supportive, and caring for her straight forward husband and her two sons both named Pete. She has a lively personality alongside with her understanding nature towards the weird situations that the Petes go through on every episode. However she's low on this list because the one thing that everyone is associated with the character of Mom is her metal plate. It even has its own introduction on the show. But it does come in handy from time to time picking up radio signals.
9. Stella Shortman from Hey Arnold!
Most of the parents from Hey Arnold! weren't exactly very memorable characters. When it came down to the nitty gritty, I decided to choose Stella because she's a very interesting character in the two episodes that introduced Arnold's parents. She's a doctor, she created medicines to help cure sleeping sickness for a lost civilization, she's adventurous, fearless, and kindhearted. When she gave birth to Arnold, she dedicated her time to raise him and protect him from all the dangers from the jungle. As time went on, she and Miles, her husband, left San Lorenzo and moved in with Miles' parents. She's low on this list because she only became a mom for 1 year before she left to do her final mission to help the Green Eyed People. But every Hey Arnold fan really wants to have The Jungle Movie released to find out what happened after the final episode of the show.
8. Marianne Thornberry from The Wild Thornberrys
Marianne working as a mom and shooting a nature show alongside her husband while traveling all over the world is not an easy task. Her really busy schedule of handling the camera, her children, a chimpanzee, and a crazy wild child makes her very stressed at times. Her tense, down-to-earth personality is needed when dealing with her enthusiastic, but dense husband. But there are times in which she is there for Eliza and Debbie and she works hard to make sure their lives are as normal as possible.
7. Janet Darling from Clarissa Explains it All
Janet is definitely a woman who grew up in the 60s. A free spirited woman who takes care of the environment, cooks healthy organic, yet disgusting vegetarian meals, and works as a teacher and a museum employee. However, she's the voice of reason as she helps ground her family together with Clarissa's questions of growing up, Ferguson's dedication to ruin Clarissa's life by being annoying, and her husband's carelessness towards everything going on in the house. She's the stable one in the house and keeps everything in tact.
6. Dr. Wakeman from My Life as a Teenage Robot
While still getting adjusted to the whole "mother" position, she's a remarkably intelligent scientist who has built a lot of great inventions and devices. The best one she ever created was XJ9 or Jenny, a robot made with the latest gadgets and weapons to defend the world from aliens, monsters, and natural disasters. However, she gave her a personality chip to have the personality of a teenage girl. While at first, she can't handle the fact that she's a whiny, moody teenager whose main concern is making friends, fashion, and music, Dr. Wakeman sees her as a daughter than a mere creation. There are some very touching moments between Jenny and Dr. Wakeman that we see whenever the going gets tough in the world.
5. Maddie Fenton from Danny Phantom
Alongside her husband, she fights off ghosts that attack the small town of Amity Park. Similar to Marianne and Janet, she's the voice of reason of the family as tries to keep her family in tact despite being in a strange occupation. While she is kind and level headed, she's also brave and fierce taking out ghosts with her gadgets and her martial arts skills. This is one mom you don't want to mess with.
4. Didi Pickles from Rugrats
One of the most iconic moms in Nickelodeon history, Didi is a dedicated school teacher and mom raising her two boys Tommy and Dil and being supportive to her husband Stu's inventions. She's kind, courteous, caring, and always looking up on Dr. Lipshitz's baby books on how to be the perfect mom. She does everything from taking Tommy and Dil to fun trips to feeding them healthy foods to stay strong. She's a very classic character that is still remembered for years to come both on the original Rugrats and All Grown Up!
3. Wanda from The Fairly Oddparents
Even before she became a mother to Poof, Wanda was already a motherly character taking care of her dim minded husband Cosmo and her godchild Timmy. She always was the voice of reason by telling Timmy the right thing to do, cleaning up the messes that Timmy and Cosmo causes, and being the one to be by their side. When Poof came along, Wanda worked even harder taking care of the guys even more. Regardless of being a fairy with a lot of magic, the main magic that Wanda has is dedication and a caring heart.
2. Ursa from Avatar: The Last Airbender
If there was any mother that many fans were caring and concerned of, it was Ursa, Zuko and Azula's mother. Ursa was a sweet, calm, and caring woman who had to deal with Ozai's cold, harsh personality and Azula's bitter attitude. Zuko, while not as gifted as Azula with his firebending, was always giving full support by Ursa. There were many moments in which we saw Zuko happy for the first time in the show. But what makes Ursa high on the list is the sacrifice that she did to keep Zuko alive after Ozai spoke out of term with his father Fire Lord Azulon. She murdered Azulon to assure that Zuko would live and as punishment, she was banished. Throughout the entire series, we wanted to know what happened to her. Unfortunately, we never got the answer. But as of recently, there's a new series of books that will explain the entire story of Ursa and whether she's alive or not. I can't wait to finally know what happened.
1. Lois Foutley from As Told by Ginger
If you've read my As Told by Ginger review and my top 10 favorite Nickelodeon female role models, you already knew she was going to be #1. But if you're new to my blogs, Lois is an amazing parent. She's tough but fair, especially when dealing with her son Carl, she gives great advice to Ginger, she's very assertive, understandable, and kind. Being a single mom is very hard, but being a single mom with two kids working all night shifts as a nurse is even harder. However, she makes the time to be with her kids and be with them through thick and thin. She was developed very well in the show with her meeting a doctor named Dr. Dave, eventually dating him, and marrying him in the TV movie finale The Wedding Frame. She will always be my favorite mom in Nickelodeon history.
Those are my top 10 Nickelodeon moms. What are your favorite moms from Nickelodeon? Post it in the comments below. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Happy Mother's Day!
-Patricia
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Old School Lane's Not-Nickelodeon Tribute Week: Angela Anaconda
To conclude former Nickelodeon shows from other networks in the 90's, we'll finish it with an animated series based on a cartoon short. The 1996 Nicktoon KaBlam! had a lot of classic shorts such as Sniz and Fondue, Life with Loopy, Prometheus and Bob, Action League Now!, and The Offbeats. While Action League Now! would eventually have its own spinoff series, there was another short that have its own series. That short was known as Angela Anaconda. Eventually, the short became a TV series on Fox Family on October 9, 1999.
The TV series was about an 8-year-old girl named Angela Anaconda who lived in a small town named Tapwater Springs and deals with everyday situations alongside her friends Gina Lash, Johnny Abatti, and Gordy Rhinehart. She also has to contend with her mean teacher Mrs. Brinks and her rival Nanette Manoir. Nanette, being French and stuckup, is a pain for Angela and is always trying to best her in any scenario. Also in the mix are typical problems such as school, family, and everyday life.
The show was created by Joanne Ferrone and Sue Rose. Sue Rose, the creator of Pepper Ann, was inspired by her childhood and the animation of Terry Gilliam's Monty Python cartoons to create Angela Anaconda. She even voiced Angela herself. Rose had started building a reputation of creating shows based on girls going through everyday situations based on experiences that she herself went through. She would eventually do so again with the Nickelodeon teen sitcom Unfabulous, which we'll get to eventually. The show became a program that not many people saw since it came around a few months after Digimon and every kid was going through the whole Pokemon/Digimon/Beyblade phase back in the late 90's. Even Angela Anaconda was in the 3 minute preshow of Digimon: The Movie.
The show was eventually cancelled on February 24, 2002. If you thought that Brand Spankin' New Doug was bad due to it being bland, boring, and generic, then Angela Anaconda is even worse. The show is so boring, generic, and forgettable with cliche characters, generic situations, and a redundant premise. It came out around the time of Recess and Hey Arnold! in which it delved with kids with everyday situations. Those shows did something completely different and unique to make it stand out while Angela Anaconda did nothing new. Besides the animation, the plot was very stale and there was nothing that made it special. I don't recommend checking it out.
That's all for now. Tune in next time as we go into the 2000's as we go into one of the most controversial animated shows of all time: Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon.
Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.
-Patricia
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Old School Lane Casual Chats Episode 11: Dinosaurs (ABC TV sitcom)
In this episode of Casual Chats, Patricia and Kevin talk about one of their favorite underrated TGIF programs from ABC, Dinosaurs. Hear as they talk about the show, the characters, and the episodes.
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