>Ever noticed that some voice acting is done by really old people
>lately?
>Kathleen Freeman, the teacher from Detention: 80 years old

She has two roles - she's also an elementary school teacher on "As
Told By Ginger".  Maybe "old-fashioned teacher types" are hard to come
by?

>Michael Bell, has 3 roles on Rugrats (Chazz, Drew, Boris): probably in
>his 70s (has been acting since 1958)
>David Doyle, Grandpa on Rugrats: was 72 when he died.
>Eartha Kitt, Emperor's New Groove's villain: also 72.
>Debbie Reynolds, who presently has a recurring role on Rugrats: 68.
>Jack Riley, Rugrats' Stu: 65 now

I'll add two: 
Henry Gibson (Merv Stimpleton on "Rocket Power"), 65
(and how old is Edie McClurg, who voices Merv's wife Vyolet?)
John Mahoney ("Atlantis"), 61

>why are voice artists suddenly skewing towards old? it might help that
>only Bell from these dudes are actually regular voice artists.

I can think of two reasons:
One, ever since "The Simpsons" became big, voice acting has become the
"in" thing, and I think a number of producers want to include "names
from TV past" - for example, an episode of "The Simpsons" had Werner
Klemperer as Colonel Klink from "Hogan's Heroes" (according to an
interview, he did it because either his daughter or his granddaughter
wanted him to - nothing new about this; this is how "Batman" got a
number of its "special guest villains").
Two, maybe these actors feel that there just aren't any other roles
out there.  (According to a TV Guide story, Jack Riley almost didn't
even read for Stu on "Rugrats", as it was raining on the night of the
casting call, but he had to go out anyway to go to the grocery store
and the reading was on the way there...)

Speaking of Riley, there's also (3) - they're cast first and then
become old; Riley would have been 55 when first cast.

>today i pondered on the question: if a contestant starts answering a
>question to win some cash before time runs out but time runs out
>before he's finished (especially when the answer is very long) --
>should the contestant be awarded? all I know is some say no (esp.
>Jeopardy!) and some say yes.

It depends on the show.  Most are lenient - "2-Minute Drill", for
example, will accept an answer even if it's started after the time
buzzer provided it was started during the buzzer.  However, some are
quite the opposite - someone on "Where In The World Is Carmen
SanDiego" lost the grand prize because when the buzzer started, he had
the final "marker" in the correct place but hadn't let go of it yet.
(Then again, PBS has an excuse to be a bit stingy with the prizes...)

>1. Exactly how on earth did Melinda Finster (biological mother of
>Chuckie) die? [...] If something is central to a story (like the
>death of Melinda), they should at least explain.

The trouble is, in order to explain how she died, first they have to
actually SAY that she died - something Nickelodeon actually told its
shows NOT to do beginning a few years ago.  (Watch the "Hey Arnold!"
episode "Grandpa's Birthday" - Grandpa says every word BUT "die".)
Okay, the word occasionally slips through, but not on the newer
"Rugrats".  (They don't seem to have much trouble with it in "I
Remember Melville"...)
Chaz does say Melinda wrote her poem "on her last day in the
hospital", so they strongly imply that she died of some disease.

>2. How on earth did that stray poodle (Fifi) come on over stateside
>for the Rugrats' 10th anniversary season?! To see why that's trouble,
>click to www.rugratonline.com/parealty.htm and go to section 2.

They never do say how much time elapsed between the "wedding" at Notre
Dame and the last scene.

>3. (though on a lesser note) Again, another victim of the "if
>something is central to a story, they should at least explain"
>syndrome... in the '93 season finale ("Moving Away") Angelica and her
>family were set to move out of town (New York City, to be more
>precise) to pick up a job (VP of the company she works at, to be more
>precise). After the main narrative (about how the Rugrats met each
>other -- Angelica sorta introduced them to each other when Tommy's
>family moved in), it was revealed at the end that some other person
>(Johnthan, assistant to Angelica's mommy) had gotten the job
>(Angelica's mom damaged her cell phone's antenna in a fit of anger)...
>without any explanation. If something is central to a story, they
>should at least explain.

Also note Jonathan apparently never did get that job!

>4. Friday October 23, 1998. Do your memories go back that far? I guess
>not... on that day, the Rugrats comic strip featured Tommy's mom
>(pregnant at the time) visiting Dr. Lucy Carmichael (a possible nod to
>"I Love Lucy" ;-)) and getting a sonogram that revealed her new baby's
>sex -- a girl. However, on November 20, 1998, Didi gave birth to a
>boy. If that was trying to throw a bone to how doctors can mess up...
>nice try.

My first thought was "they were throwing the rumor spreaders off the
scent" - but if it was printed in late October, it would have been
written long after it was common knowledge Didi was having another
boy.  (I'd probably have to see the strip to see in what context the
statement was made.)

> > The trouble is, in order to explain how she died,
> > first they have to
> > actually SAY that she died - something Nickelodeon
> > actually told its
> > shows NOT to do beginning a few years ago.  (Watch
> > the "Hey Arnold!"
> > episode "Grandpa's Birthday" - Grandpa says every
> > word BUT "die".)
>
>Never seen it, though I've read (off your Ginger site)
>that he prefers to use "expire".

Actually, there was another episode ("Monkey Business", where Helga was
scratched by a monkey) where they kept using the words "expire" and
"expiration" instead of "die" and "death".

> > Chaz does say Melinda wrote her poem "on her last
> > day in the
> > hospital", so they strongly imply that she died of
> > some disease.
>
>HAH... There, they could have slipped in whatever was
>ailing her, be it allergies, cancer... Then the
>question beckons... if she died so soon after the kid
>was born, why on earth doesn't the kid have the
>disease? Answer: "It happens... I've heard of many
>instances of HIV-free kids from HIV moms."

First of all, Chuckie is 2 years old - they never say when, or how, his
mother got the disease.
Second, even if she had it when she was pregnant, not all diseases are
passed from a pregnant woman to her child.  (Cancer, for example.)

> > >2. How on earth did that stray poodle (Fifi) come on over stateside
> > >for the Rugrats' 10th anniversary season?! To see why that's trouble,
> > >click to www.rugratonline.com/parealty.htm and go to section 2.
> >
> > They never do say how much time elapsed between the
> > "wedding" at Notre Dame and the last scene.
>
>Couldn't be too much though...
>
> > >3. (though on a lesser note) Again, another victim of the "if
> > >something is central to a story, they should at least explain"
> > >syndrome... in the '93 season finale ("Moving Away") Angelica and her
> > >family were set to move out of town (New York City, to be more
> > >precise) to pick up a job (VP of the company she works at, to be more
> > >precise). After the main narrative (about how the Rugrats met each
> > >other -- Angelica sorta introduced them to each other when Tommy's
> > >family moved in), it was revealed at the end that some other person
> > >(Johnthan, assistant to Angelica's mommy) had gotten the job
> > >(Angelica's mom damaged her cell phone's antenna in a fit of anger)...
> > >without any explanation. If something is central to a story, they
> > >should at least explain.
> >
> > Also note Jonathan apparently never did get that
> > job!
>
>Lemme guess, you saw him in later eps as mommy's
>assistant again.

Yes.  There's one episode where he has to babysit Angelica and the other
kids, and spends most of the time looking for things he can use against
Charlotte.  (He's also in one of the "Kimi" episodes, "Wash/Dry Story"
- and yes, he's still Charlotte's assistant.)

>1. According to this note from the Unofficial Rugrats
>online on the 20th anniversary of Nick:
>'"Flood Warning" is the first televised episode; "Iron
>Curtain", even though it introduced the Thornberrys,
>was the ninth.'

That sounds about right.  I do know "Flood Warning" was first.  (I remember
watching it because I read at nick.com a few months before that Herb
Scannell had said that Eliza would be their first teenage starring
character - as it turns out, she's not quite 13, although Debbie is (and if
there are any other teenage characters that appear in every episode of a
Nicktoon, they escape me at the moment).)

>Then what on earth were TWT doing for the first 8 eps
>w/o having been introduced?! (Besides adventuring and
>filming documentaries, of course!) I don't see this
>show, so you might be able to explain... (Then again,
>the Rugrats had *64* eps before we were introduced to
>how they were introduced to each other.)

I don't know what you mean by "introduced".  Iron Curtain didn't really
introduce who the Thornberrys were (although it was the first full episode
produced) any more than any other episode did.  (They don't say how Eliza
got her power or how Darwin found them until "Gift of Gab", which was in
something like the third season.)  That's one of the reasons Eliza gives
that "speech" in the opening - it explains who the characters are, what
they are doing, and why Eliza can talk to animals.

Except for "Doug", which begins with an episode where Doug's family moves
to Bluffington, Nicktoons don't really have an "order"; this is because it
makes it easier to show reruns without worrying that they're not in
order.  (You can't really mix episodes of "The Flintstones" as you have
"episodes before Pebbles", "episodes with Pebbles", and "episodes with
Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm".)

>2. Did the writers just "forget" about (or write out)
>Charlotte's pregnancy in one of the '93 eps, or was it
>just part of a nightmare (the ep was "Angelica's Worst
>Nightmare")? I'm thinking the first one, since it can
>be implied off the Unoffical Rugrats online's ep guide
>that the pregnancy's mentioned outside of her
>nightmare. (It says that the girl says something
>outside of her nightmare, out of concern for the new
>baby.) Again, I don't see this show, so you might be
>able to explain...

That episode began with Charlotte thinking she was pregnant (she took a
pregnancy test and it was positive), but when it ended (and Angelica, after
having a nightmare, tells her parents she's ready to be a sister), it turns
out Charlotte wasn't pregnant after all (the test was wrong). Charlotte
was never pregnant.  (There was a rumor that she would get pregnant before
the second movie and then have a baby during the movie so new episodes
would have a sister for Angelica, but that was just a rumor.)

[Note: Ironically, this ep came full circle 8 years after it premiered
when, in 2001, there was an ep involving Angelica searching for a sibling...
at the time, she had become the lone only child on the show. Also, "shorthand"
rears its ugly head in this email here... TWT for The Wild Thornberrys. Read
on for more shorthand!]

>Ah, now it all makes sense (come to think of it, I'd
>sort of figured out that the pregnancy would be a
>"false alarm" thing)... This isn't the only time
>Rugrats have had a "screw-up" over pregnancy... as you
>remember, Didi's doc said that her new baby would be a
>girl... as you know, it was a boy.

The doctor who said that was in the comic strip, wasn't it?  I don't think
the comic strip necessarily follows the same "continuity" that the TV
show does.

>> Iron Curtain didn't really
>> introduce who the Thornberrys were (although it was
>> the first full episode
>> produced) any more than any other episode did.

> And exactly what do you mean by the first 8 eps not being "full" eps?...

I didn't say that.  "Iron Curtain" was the first full episode (as opposed
to the half-length pilot episode) Klasky-Csupo started making, but for
whatever reason, it was the ninth one shown by Nickelodeon.

>> Iron Curtain didn't really introduce who the Thornberrys were (although it was
>> the first full episode produced) any more than any other episode did.
>> (They don't say how Eliza got her power or how Darwin found them until "Gift
>> of Gab", which was in something like the third season.) That's one of the
>> reasons Eliza gives that "speech" in the opening - it explains who the
>> characters are, what they are doing, and why Eliza can talk to animals.

> by any chance, is that speech the text used in the intro of the
flash version of nick's TWT page?

Yes, but it keeps going - I'm not sure of the exact words, but it's something like:
"(Something amazing happened), and now I can talk to animals!  It's really
cool, but totally secret."

(It's secret because, in "Gift of Gab", whoever it was that gave Eliza her
power tells her that she'll lose it if she ever tells anybody about it -
when they get around to the TWT movie (if I had to guess, I'd say 2003), it
will be about Eliza losing her power and trying to get it back).

>After Cree Summer's 2nd turn as a princess (after
>being Mortal Kombat's Kitana) came to theaters (in
>Atlantis: the Lost Empire), there was news of making
>the film into a regular TV series to air next year.
>However, partially due to the film's not so stellar
>performance at the box office, the series has thus
>been scrapped. That's bad, because scripts had already
>been made, and voices had already been recorded.
>Sheena Easton had been due to make a guest spot on the
>show.

This was quite a thread at rec.arts.animation - in early July, someone who
works for Toon Disney had said the first episode's voices and storyboards
had been sent to Asia, but then in mid-July someone posted this from Ain't
It Cool News:

"More proof positive that no one is running the show at Disney TV
Animation: The word went down officially on Friday that Dis. TV is
scuttling their previously announced TEAM ATLANTIS animated series.
Reports out of the Mouse House indicate that this was a troubled project
from day one. Initially sold to both ABC Sat AM and Toon Disney, disgruntled
production folks reported that neither net could agree on what the series
should be. Toon Disney was in favor of a more adventure-driven show
like the original GARGOYLES while ABC wanted more of the usual safe,
touchy-feely ultra-PC crap they always run. A number of scripts were
written and rumor has it that a few storyboards were actually shipped
overseas for animation before the plug was pulled. 52 episodes down the
crapper. The final stake in the TEAM ATLANTIS coffin was the film's
lousy performance at the B.O., and even lousier performance as a toy and
merch. concept at retail outlets like Toys R Us. One good thing from all this,
ATLANTIS' failure hurried the expulsion of Peter "The Screamer" Schneider,
the studio head apparently hated by just about all beneath him. Word
has it his exit was widely celebrated by the few members of the animation
staff he hadn't already canned."

>BTW, Cree's current role is as a junior high schooler
>in ATBG, Miranda Killgallen. [...] This
>isn't her first time as a junior high schooler, as she
>was in the Sabrina Animated Series (though her voice
>in that show had a flavor of her most famous role,
>Elmyra).

Fame is a relative thing.  In my opinion, her most famous role is as a
college student (she was Freddie on "A Different World" for five
seasons).

[Note: I replied with mentioning that a couple of Roughnecks and Swatkats
eps had also been scrapped even though those eps' voice tracks had been
recorded. And if you're wondering where Cree Summer was in Sabrina, she was
the dark skinned kid who sounded a bit like Elmyra and whose name was Chloe.
Speaking of which, that show has just been replaced with the Olsen twins'
show In Action on weekends, but at last check still airs on weekdays. Oh
yeah, ATBG is "shorthand" for As Told by Ginger.]

>>"Except for "Doug", which begins with an episode where
>>Doug's family moves to Bluffington, Nicktoons don't
>>really have an "order"...

>For Rugrats, you have eps before Susie, eps with
>Susie, eps with Dil and now eps with Kimi. (though in
>each era, they mix eps that don't have the new
>characters so there wouldn't be any order).
>Doug, IIRC, had an ep where Patti formed a baseball
>team which was (only barely) beaten by the school team
>from whom she was rejected (over a little sexual
>discrimination) when the bully caught a fly from her
>at-bat.

It didn't hurt Patti's team any that Doug was actually a pretty good
player once he realized he was left-handed.

>And wasn't RP's first ep "New Squid in Town"?

Almost forgot about that one...and how about:
(a) "before and after Lila moved to town" on Hey Arnold!
(b) the first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, where SpongeBob starts
working at the Krusty Krab
(c) Rocko's Modern Life has both (1) before Filburt got married, after
he got married, and after he had children, and (2) a final episode that
takes place about 30 years into the future?

(Here's a thought: now that Kathleen Freeman has died, might Nickelodeon
decide to cover on As Told By Ginger by moving everybody up a year in
the third season (I'm pretty sure all of the second season episodes were
recorded) so Carl would have a different teacher in sixth grade?   Then
again, they didn't have much problem changing Arnold's fourth grade
teacher on Hey Arnold!...)

[Note: RP is "shorthand" for Rocket Power, another Klasky Csupo Nicktoon.
This one's about sports in general, like hockey, skateboarding, etc. The
original post also mentioned that in a later ep of Doug, Patti's team actually
beat some other team.]

>If I read correctly, Rugrats also made a whole ep
>about Chuckie being a lefty in "Chuckie's a Lefty".
>Know any other Nicktoon lefties?

You don't visit my websites very much, do you?  I'm notorious for
pointing out who's right-handed and who's a lefty.

Most shows don't have any sort of continuity on that sort of thing -
the characters on "As Told By Ginger" switch back and forth (Macie writes
with each hand in different scenes in one episode!), and Arnold on "Hey
Arnold!" plays baseball batting left-handed (most characters do, as the pitch
goes from left to right and a right-handed batter would have his back to the
viewers) but throwing right-handed.

The only character who's "more left-handed than right-handed" that I've
noticed is Phoebe on "Hey Arnold!", although she "slips" every now and
then.

(Actually, that should be "the only character on Nicktoons" - there's
only one cartoon character who is ALWAYS left-handed; Bart Simpson - and
this is almost certainly because Matt Groening is also left-handed.)

>1. Hey, if and when All Growed Up becomes a series,
>you think we will (or at least should) see more of
>Samantha (Laraine Newman, As Told By Ginger's Lois)
>and Emica (Adrienne Frantz of Bold and the Beautiful)?

Samantha?  Definitely.  Emica?  No, except MAYBE on things like CD
covers.  (Don't expect Adrienne Frantz to do any more "appearances", at
least not as Emica.)

Hmmm...Emica....Macie....and I thought I was the only one who
overanalyzed these things...

>2. What will they call it in the UK (and Australia)?
>Those markets already have a Rugrats video of that name.

The first question is, if they release the episode on video, what would
they call that?  (Probably "All Growed Up - The Episode".)  They'll
call it whatever it's called in the USA - they're not going to make separate
credits for other countries.

[Note: Don's 2nd paragraph is a reference to how I pointed out in the
newsgroup that Emica was an anagram of Macie.
Also, turns out UK and Australia aired the ep on TV first, and called it
"All Growed Up", like in the US, even though, as you can see above, those
markets a Rugrats video with that title.]

>Look at this pic:
>http://www.multimania.com/superyo2/bugs/107-concours-4.jpg
>(The Art Fair)
>Chuckie's drawing with his right hand.
>Now look at this:
>http://www.multimania.com/superyo2/resume/saison-8/52/gaucher/2.jpg
>(Chuckie's A Lefty)
>Chuckie's drawing with his LEFT. Hmmm...
>However, according to Superyo's site, in the episode
>"Chuckie's A Lefty", Chazz says his son hasn't chosen
>a hand yet... still, have you seen other instances
>where the red head looks like he's a righty?

I don't watch Rugrats enough to notice.
I've found there's one "real" test for lefties: watch them eat with a
knife and fork - if they hold the knife in their left hand to cut their food,
they're a lefty.  (This is how I "discovered" Phoebe was a lefty but
Helga and Arnold weren't, in "Roughin' It".)

>3. Ronney Abramson's "Rugrat Rock" album somehow never
>released in US, even though it was supposed to be.
>How would you feel if, after winning a music award in
>your country for a certain album, you plan to release
>said album in the US, having press material prepared
>etc. only to find out that the name of the album
>infringes a copyright and thus can't be released?
>(...) (Rugrat Rock) was supposed to
>be released in the US and press material was prepared
>etc. But, due to some very bizarre and unfortunate
>events which were beyond our control, the records
>never came out there. I think we were a bit before our
>time, before kids records were considered a viable
>market."
>Though he never said what these "very bizarre and
>unfortunate events" were here's my "personal" theory:
>They were sued by whoever owned the rights to the
>Rugrats name at the time (either TV network
>Nickelodeon, production company Klasky Csupo, or maybe
>even Viacom).

Viacom owns the name, although I think Nickelodeon's legal department
would have been on the lookout for things like this.  It works both ways; an
upcoming episode of As Told By Ginger had to have its title changed
because it was the same as a recently-released mystery book.

>4. Bowie's song removed from movie soundtrack album.
>(...) Apparently, this song was
>supposed to be that film's obligable Oscar bid (like
>"When You Love" and "I Want a Mom" from "Rugrats in
>Paris", that film's sequel).  To this day, Skylife
>still remains unreleased, as it doesn't appear on The
>Rugrats Movie DVD (and we all know how movie DVDs
>usually include cut stuff), and there were also rumors
>that it was going to pop up in "Rugrats in Paris" but
>the song never showed up.

Even the "Rugrats in Paris" DVD includes two "alternate endings".  I
have a feeling they're saving the song for another movie; if it's released in
any other form first, it won't be eligible for an Oscar.  (Remember Whitney
Houston's "I Will Always Love You" from "The Bodyguard"?  Not many
people remember Dolly Parton's version from 10 years earlier - but the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did.)

[Note: This was actually a reply to an email on unexpected mishaps that
happened to certain music artists. I also mentioned the deaths of Aaliyah
and Selena as the first 2 examples. By the way, check out the scoop on the
changed title of the Ginger ep at Don's site.]

>I noticed that in 4 of the 5 pics of Nadine you got,
>she has brunette hair, but she has brown in the "bad
>hair day" pic. This "mistake" is the first slip-up at
>slipups.com under Hey Arnold. Why on earth would they
>keep switching her hair color? (Don't argue that's
>because she doesn't appear often, otherwise wouldn't
>hair color switching, or other dumb mistakes, happen
>to the other minor characters too?)

They happen quite a lot, especially with Ms. Slovak, whose hair has
switched between gray, brown, and (in "Mugged") red.
My best guess to why Nadine has dark hair sometimes: the concept of a
black person with blonde hair is, if you'll pardon the expression, "foreign"
to a number of Korean and Chinese animators.  (On the "Clerks: The Animated
Series" DVD commentary track, there are a number of mentions of the
mistakes that show's Korean animators made under the impression that
they felt "the Americans must have made a mistake".)  Usually, when
something like this happens, the episode is sent back for corrections, but it
gets to the point where they have to say "hey, either we live with it or we
delay this episode until next season".  ("It's only a kids' show; who's going
to notice?")

>And speaking of dumb between ep mistakes, here's a
>post I posted about Rugrats

I saw that.  You left out one episode - I can't remember which one -
where Chuckie's father is sitting next to a woman who looks quite a bit like
him (at a barbecue, I think); the assumption is that she was supposed to be
Chuckie's mother before somebody decided that Chuckie's father lived
alone.

1. Mother's Day (conflicting with various 1st season eps)
In earlier episodes of "Rugrats" Chazz doesn't appear to be griving
the loss of a wife, and in fact even hinted at in "My Friend Barney"
that he was divorced: "You know what Chuckie? You mother never did
like this (mounted fish) much, now I can put back up."
Also Chuckie himself had said in "Special Delivery" his mom told him
he came from a hospital, and he even said in "Weaning Tommy" that it
was his Mom that took away his bottle, but according to "Mother's Day"
Chuckie was far too young to be weaned or even have his mom tell him
where babies come from, and he said that he only dreamed of having a
mom, not that he remembered her. (She died soon after his birth, says
the "Mother's Day" ep.)
2. Moving Away (conflicting with Showdown at Teeter Totter Gulch)
In "Moving Away", Didi and Stu moved from Akron. But Drew, annoyed
that Chaz calls him "Mr. Pickles," reminds Chaz that they went to high
school together. In "Showdown At Teeter-Totter Gulch", when Tommy goes
to stand up to the bully Prudence, this is what is said (quotes from
Unofficial Rugrats Online):
Belinda: That Tommy; he's not like other babies.
Chuckie: Nope; I met Tommy for the very first time when he was 8 days
old. I don't remember what happened during his first 8 days, but what
he doesn't like to see is other people being pushed around.
This would make no sense per "Moving Away" (in that ep the two
supposedly meet for the first time).
3. Chuckie's A Lefty (conflicting with The Art Fair)
This one's from Super Yo's page (more specifically, its mistakes
section)... In "Chuckie's A Lefty", they made a big deal of Chuckie
being a lefty. However, on Super Yo's page (under the mistakes
section, DUH) there's a pic that clearly shows Chuckie drawing with
his right hand from "The Art Fair".
4. Chuckie's Complaint (conflicting with Chuckie vs. The Potty)
Again from Super Yo's mistakes page. In that ep the mommies can be
seen changing everyone's diaper (including Chuckie's)... problem is,
Chuckie doesn't wear diapers (at least not since "Chuckie vs. The
Potty"), he's even seen wearing undies in "Clan of the Duck".

>And BTW, I've made some USENET research... it looks
>like, after soaps, Recess is the first show ever to
>have at least 2 recurring characters with the same
>first name.

No - I definitely remember at least one sitcom (it's been such a long
time that I can't remember which one; I think it was "Angie") that had three
(unrelated, but friends) characters named Mary.  It's probably not THAT
uncommon, especially in cases where characters are almost always
referred to by last name.

(And you need to add "unrelated" to "recurring characters"; quite a few
shows have fathers and sons with the same name, but the son has
"junior" at the end, so they have the first names.)

[Note: He was right, "Angie" indeed had a Mary Mary (Vali Bromfield), a
Mary Grace (Susan Duvall), and a Mary Katherine (Nancy Lane). If you're
wondering, "Recess" had an Ashley Armbuster (Anndi McAfee, Phoebe on Hey
Arnold!), an Ashley Boulet (Francesca Smith, also on Hey Arnold! as Helga),
and an Ashley Spinelli (Pamela Segall). The show also boasted an ep about
these 3 Ashleys (appropriately titled "First Name Ashley")... Even one
of the voice performers on that show was Ashley Johnson (who played a
yo-yo playing nerd named Gretchen Grundler).]

[...]
>Here's what I think might have a chance at next year's Emmys:
>Outstanding Animated Program (More Than an Hour)
>As Told By Ginger -- "Summer of Camp Caprice"
>The Wild Thornberrys -- "The Origin of Donnie"

It depends on whether there are enough entrants in that category to
prevent what happened this year with "Daria" and "CatDog" - if there aren't at
least five entrants, the Academy can decide that one or more of the
entrants not be accepted as a nominee.

>Outstanding Animated Program (An Hour or Less)
>Rugrats -- "All Growed Up"
>Outstanding Children's Progam
>Rugrats (they've been nominated who knows how many times in this category)

I don't know if they can enter in both categories this way.  Since "All
Growed Up" is an hour show and the series is normally a half-hour, I
think it's considered just a "double-length episode".

>Nick News special on the WTC disaster

This may be entered in one of the "non-fiction programming" categories
as well.

>Outstanding Song
>The one from "All Growed Up"

Maybe, but it doesn't sound like the kind of song the Musicians branch
likes (especially since they changed the rules from "ballot of all
musicians branch members" to "screening committee" to decide the
nominees).

>So, do you think next year might be Nick's biggest
>Emmy year ever? Looking at the early run, it looks so.

Somebody said that something called "Jack" is supposed to be the next
big thing.  I haven't heard anything about it - have you?
And if the Jimmy Neutron series airs in prime time, what about its
chances?

Actually, I would be surprised if any Nick show is nominated for
Outstanding Animated Show (Family Guy should get in next year in place
of As Told By Ginger), unless there aren't any new episodes of "The
Powerpuff Girls" made - and even then, there are 13 new "Dexter's Laboratory"
episodes that could take its place.

> > Somebody said that something called "Jack" is
> > supposed to be the next big
> > thing.  I haven't heard anything about it - have
> > you?
>
>Yes, it's a show called "Samurai Jack" made by the
>same guy as Dexter's Lab. It'll air on the Cartoon
>Network... and that's all I know.

Samurai Jack - I should have guessed.  It's already started airing on
Cartoon Network (and I think there was a 90-minute premiere, so it's
got a chance in the "longer than an hour" category).  (Emmy rule
clarification: if an episode is more than twice as long as it usually is, it can be
entered separately.)  It's not nearly as popular or "mainstream" as
shows like "The Simpsons", so I doubt it could actually win in the shorter
episode category.

> > And if the Jimmy Neutron series airs in prime time,
> > what about its chances?
>
>Don't judge it just yet. Wait till you actually SEE
>it!

I didn't judge it, although Nickelodeon USA is showing one-minute
cartoons with the shows' characters during some of its commercial
breaks.  (Examples: one of Jimmy's friends throws a Buzz Lightyear-type
action figure into a tree, so Jimmy tries to hypnotize the squirrels in
the tree to think it's a giant acorn and get it down; Jimmy uses a
time-travel device to go back in time 10 seconds over and over again so
he can get his mother to give him "just one" cookie multiple times.)
[...]

[Note: The shorts described by Don were "Ultralord vs. The Squirrels" and
"Cookie Time" respectively. See them at http://www.jimmyneutron.com.]

>And ever noticed that they all came in the original run?

It happens a lot in the newer ones as well - it's just that somebody
figured out that the kids who watch it like it better if the culprit is
Angelica.  (A number of parents probably do as well - it gives them
someone to point to and say "see what happens when you act like that?")

[Note: In the original email, I mentioned Graham Canyon, Ice Cream
Mountain, The Bank Trick and King Ten Pin, all of which aired between 1991-
1993, the show's original run, and all of which involved the 'Rats looking
for candy or other sweet stuff... and ending up stopping a fraud.]

>Dude, you might have missed the whole point of the
>post... The 'rats were doing, in the words of John
>Cleese, something completely different when the
>baddies were apprehended.

I understood perfectly well.  If you want another example of what you
were referring to, in the episode where Tommy was taken to a child
psychologist and ends up loose in the building, he stumbles into a lawyer's office
where he crawls over a law book which conveniently turns to the page needed
to save the lawyer's client.

>[The song from "Camp Caprice" is] probably not eligible. Judging from the
>current trends, only the I Spy a Witch songs and
>"You're a Friend to Me" are going to have a shot. BTW,
>you do know they're on the new CD from Rhino... Nick
>are probably thinking, ooh, free publicity! But if I
>had to pick in the early run... Adrienne Frantz should
>better get ready to pick up an Emmy.

Uh, she's not eligible - only Mark Mothersbaugh and Nancy Ferguson (who
wrote the song) are.  (Besides, Adrienne already has an Emmy.)
Besides, I doubt that it would win - it's not the kind of song the musicians'
branch of the Academy tends to go for.  (True, neither is "We Put The Spring
In Springfield", but at least Alf Clausen has "paid his dues", as it
were.)

[Note: This was a reply to a post on ATBG's Halloween musical special
where I asked about the ep's chances of landing a song next year and he
said that a song from "Camp Caprice" (a telefilm special, see above) might
be sent, but he also noted it wasn't very long. I picked it up from there.]

> > only Mark Mothersbaugh and
> > Nancy Ferguson (who
> > wrote the song) are (eligible).
>
>Yeah, I thought it would be something like that. Same
>way Mariah and Whitney weren't up for "When You
>Believe" huh?

You mean for the Oscars?  Yes, and even if performers were eligible, it
would be a stretch to allow Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston for "When
You Believe" when you consider neither sang the song during the movie
itself, just during the closing credits.  (This trend of having the "popular"
version during the closing credits probably started with "Beauty and
the Beast".  Imagine if Angela Lansbury would have been told, "Yes, you DID
sing 'Beauty and the Beast' during the film itself, but the closing
credits version (I can't remember who sang it, but it was a male/female duet)
is the one that everybody is familiar with, as it's the one that's on the
radio, so we're giving THEM the Oscar nomination instead".)

> > I doubt that it would win - it's not the kind of song
> > the musicians' branch
> > of the Academy tends to go for.
>
>And what DO they go for, then? I'm guessing, the same
>thing the Oscars go for in their song category.

Not quite.  Oscar tends to go for "love songs".  Emmy tends to go for
more "celebration songs".  It may be because while only musicians are
involved in all aspects of the Emmy voting, once the Oscar nominees are named,
all of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' voting members make
the final choice.

>Who on earth gave Helga the same last name as the Governor of New York
>State?! (Coincidence? I don't think so! By the time HA! premiered,
>George E. Pataki had already been governor for about 2 years.) You
>DON'T give one character the same last name as a well-known
>politician. Next thing you know, they'll probably give that football
>head Giulani as his last name...

I wouldn't be surprised if she's named after Michael Pataki, who was
George (on the Nickelodeon version) or George Liquor (on the MTV
version) on "Ren & Stimpy".

> > I wouldn't be surprised if she's named after Michael
> > Pataki, who was
> > George (on the Nickelodeon version) or George Liquor
> > (on the MTV
> > version) on "Ren & Stimpy".
>
>George Liquor as in the "The Goddamned George Liquor
>Program"? You know, a controversial toon that kicked
>off shockwave animation...

That's the one.  He's the owner of Ren and Stimpy in "Dog Show" ("but
I'm a cat" - Stimpy).

>Why on earth does Susie and her family get so little screen time?

Because they're "minor characters" - especially Susie's parents.
Susie exists mainly to be a foil to Angelica.  According to "Still
Babies After All These Years", there's going to be a little more
emphasis on Susie in new episodes, as they're going to show Susie and
Angelica at the same pre-school.

>And speaking of Susie's taunt, what exactly does she say anyway? All I
>know is that she says "Au revoir" (Goodbye) at the end of the taunt.

Strangely enough, in the French soundtrack on the USA/Canada version,
the French taunt is still there (it does seem strange, everybody
speaking French, then Angelica not understanding what Susie says when
she's speaking French), but it ends with "Bon Voyage" instead of "Au
Revoir".
The taunt is subtitled: "I feel sorry for the French people who will
hear you".

[Note: From an email by some French guy who runs this Rugrats site, Susie
says this: "Mais j'ai mal aux oreilles pour les Français qui vont t'endendre".]

>[Would it be unethical] if I put some of your more "informational"
>exchanges on a page for the world to see? Don't worry,
>none of your more "personal" stuff (the
>between-you-and-me type of stuff) are going out.
>[...]


It's only unethical if you don't ask (or if you do ask, are told "no", and
do it anyway).

Can you do me a favor?
In addition to mentioning "Hey Arnold!" and "As Told By Ginger", mention
that I've been active on the Simpsons Archive site (and include a link to
it:  http://snpp.com (there's no "www" in there - it still works)) since
about 1995 (if you've ever seen a list of Bart's blackboard quotes or calls
to Moe's, chances are I designed that list).
[...]

Also add that whatever appears, appears with my permission. (Otherwise,
E-mails are supposed to be private.)

[Note: this was a reply to a question basically asking permission.]

>What do Anna Chlumsky, Christine Cavanaugh and one of
>the Olsen twins have in common? These three women
>portray people who we find out that their mom died
>right when they were born.
>
>2. Christine played the only boy (and the youngest) of
>the bunch, Chuckie Finster of Rugrats in Paris (as
>well as The Rugrats Movie, though his mom's death
>wasn't mentioned in that one). While that film
>"explicitly" mentioned mom's death, it had already
>been hinted at in the Emmy-nominated "Mother's Day"
>and a brief scene of one ep where his dad was seen
>standing at her grave.

Did he actually say that she died in childbirth?  That contradicts a number
of episodes where Chuckie remembers things his (first) mom told him...

[Note: see above for the scoop on all that. And for those of you who are
wondering just what I'm talking about, Chlumsky's role was in My Girl 2 and
the Olsens roles were in It Takes Two.]

>In Dec. 1998, it was originally announced as a program
>slated for Nickelodeon...
>However, on Sept 21, it ended up premiering on
>Disney's Zoog block. According to some guy on the
>newsgroup, here's why: "When Nick saw the pilot for
>Proud Family, they were concerned about the images the
>show was putting forth of an African-American family
>(depsite the fact that show is created by
>African-Americans).  There was a lot of internal
>controversy at the network about it, and, in typical
>Nick fashion, they decided to chicken out.  The Proud
>Family creators then took the show to Disney and they
>bought it."
>Anyways, tell me if you've seen it, and if so, please
>give your opinion on whether Nick might have made a
>wise decision in cutting the Prouds loose (sorta like
>Doug, which actually had some time on Nick before
>going to Disney).

I've never seen the show itself, but from what I've heard about it, the
main problem might not be the fact that it's about an African-American
family (otherwise how did, say, "Cousin Skeeter" get made?), but the
main character is 14 years old.  Nickelodeon tends to target pre-teens.  I
remember Herb Scannell (back when he was head of Nickelodeon) being
asked why there weren't any teenage characters on Nicktoons, and he responded
that there was an "upcoming show" (which turned out to be "The Wild
Thornberrys") where the lead character was a teenager.  Of course, Eliza is
only 11 - her sister Debbie is a teenager, but she's not really the
focus of the show.  I wouldn't be surprised if the original plan was for
Eliza to be older, but somebody at Nick decided it wouldn't play as well with
the target audience.

>Which do you think is more interesting? An ep that
>discusses profanity without the viewers actually
>hearing any bad stuff (Word of the Day), or an ep that
>discusses death without saying the d-word (Mother's
>Day)?

[...]

It depends on what you mean by "interesting".  "Word of the Day"
was played for laughs, so it didn't exactly "discuss profanity", while
"Mother's Day" covered death relatively seriously.  Not as seriously as the
shadow of somebody unsheathing a machete, mind you, but you would expect
your average "The Wild Thornberrys" viewer to be slightly more mature.

[Note: I presume that Don was talking about the recent TWT special that
showed how one character's "parents" bit the dust.]

>[...]
>1. Who sung the theme song in the first 10 episodes b4
>Macy Gray?

Cree Summer

>2. What Nickelodeon characters does that person do
>voice-overs for? HINT: Theres one in As Told By Ginger

Susie on "Rugrats" (although there are some episodes where E.G. Daily
voices Susie - one of VERY few times where a Nicktoon character is voiced
by a person of a different race); Miranda on "As Told By Ginger"; if you
want to get technical, Elmyra on "Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain" (and "Tiny
Toon Adventures", as soon as Nick has the rights to show it)...and if Nick
ever showed "Inspector Gadget", she was Penny in a few of that show's
episodes as well.

>3. What's Dodie and Hoodsey's moms name, and what does Carl tend to
call her?

Joann Bishop - "don't call me Jojo"
[Bonus trivia: Dodie and Hoodsey's father's name is Dave]

>4. What does Sasha name the bull in Camp Caprice?

Ian

>5. What color is Macie's friendship bracelet to Jed?
>(Jed, Jett, Jedd- the male counselor that she has a
>crush on. the one with the accent)

I'm pretty sure it's "Jed"...and I'll guess it's red [...]

>6. What's the name of the movie that the girls watch in Camp Caprice? (The
>horror movie)

Swamp Creature II?  (It doesn't actually say, but at the end it gives a
title that's obviously meant to be the sequel)

>7. How old does Melanie say she is in Camp Caprice?

I want to say eight, as I'm pretty sure she's younger than Carl, who's
nine, but older than Blake, who's 7 3/4.

>8. Who says "Seal Girl Lives On!" In Come Back Little Seal Girl?

Macie

>9. What is the name of Ginger's poem in Hello Stranger?

"Hello Stranger" is the name of the poem

>10. What's the name of the girl that Jean-Pierre looks
>at and remarks about (besides Ginger) in Stealing
>First?

Rebecca?

>11. What is the title of the episode that was planned
>for this season, bu tis playing in season 2 where
>Courtney has an allergic reaction to the schools
>mystery meat?

"Deja Who?"

>12. This could be a science question as well: what
>type of writing utensil does Ginger use in science
>during the lab in The A Ticket?

A pen - they don't break (in reality, however, you should use a pencil -
and have at least one spare handy - as chances are very good you're going
to have to erase something; using a pen in science is about as smart as
using one in math)

>13. What are the names of the people on the "Lice List" in Of Lice and
>Friends?

Besides Courtney, I don't remember

>14. Describe the way that Chet does announcements.

He...speaks in a monotone voice...and...tends to pause a lot

>15. What was the dessert that Carl didn't get because
>he kept grossing out his sister in Come Back Little
>Seal Girl?

German Chocolate Cake

>16. How does Carl like his baked potato and cranberry sauce?

Tough one...

>17. What state does Ginger supposedly live in?

Nothing "supposedly" about it - Connecticut (it's on the envelope of the
card from her father in "Hello Stranger")

>18. What does Blake have for lunch in Sleep on It?

I know he has a steak in "The Right Stuff"...

>19. How many fingers does Carl break off the mummified
>hand in Come Back Little Seal Girl?

Two ("Carl Foutley, wait 'til I get my hand on you!")

>BONUS: 23. What's wrong with the exhaust coming out of
>Lois' car after Winston drives off with Courtney and
>Miranda during the opening?

There shouldn't be any exhaust - she's being towed.

[Note: I found this quiz under the Blab section of the Nick website. The
skip from 19 to 23 is due to the fact that those questions were about the
Macy Gray version of the theme. I guess those were a bit too hard...]

As for Lois' car in the "As Told By Ginger" opening: I just noticed that
the smoke isn't coming out of the car's exhaust, but from the engine itself
(it's not uncommon for an engine to keep smoking after the ignition is
turned off).  What may be confusing is that it's coming from the rear, but
that's where the engine is on the old-style Volkswagen.

>A few days ago, I posted at the newsgroup about a
>similarity between a storyline on Full House and RP
>(you've probably gotten a similar email). Here's what
>some guy named Raskell replied:
>"Sounds like you didn't watch the entire episode.
>Reggie dropped out of the Junior Triathlon because
>she, Otto, and Twister had messed up the kitchen with
>the chocolate syrup.  She'd been training all year for
>the triathlon, and, knowing that she would not be
>allowed to participate in it if she got "busted" and
>eventually grounded, sneaked out through the kitchen
>window, leaving Otto and Twister to face the heat and
>get grounded. She suffered quite a guilt trip after
>that, then dropped out and decided to face the music."
>
>You think I'm shallow for thinking that by my
>interpretation, Reg pulls out of the event she's been
>training all year for... all because she sprayed
>chocolate syrup?

No, she did it because she let Otto and Twister get punished for it.  It
sounds like a famous episode of "The Brady Bunch" (if  you've never
seen it: Peter accidentally breaks a vase when he was playing with a basketball
in the house, but he's afraid he'll be grounded and he's supposed to go
on a big camping trip that weekend, so he gets the others to take the rap;
his parents figure it out, but play along, but make Peter hand out really
severe punishments, and just before he's about to leave, he confesses -
and yes, he's grounded after all that).

[Note: In case you were wondering how it was similar to Full House: Well,
Reggie pulled out over this trivial thing, right? The final Full House saw
Michelle (AKA the Olsens) pull out of her first horse-jumping competiton
along with another competitor over a dispute between Michelle's dad
(AFV's Bob Saget) and her competitor's mom... ironically, over who was
better.]

>You said RP "borrowed" from Brady Bunch for "Banned on
>the Run", huh? Well, I've been told that the "Driving
>Ms. Angelica" ep of Rugrats also "borrowed" from an ep
>of this show.

Yes, although the "you saved my life so I'll be your slave" storyline had
been done before - on "Gomer Pyle, USMC" for example.  (And it's been
done since, on "Hey Arnold!", which I think was the only instance where it
didn't end with the saved person saving the original saver and then they
call it even - although on Gomer Pyle, what happened was that Sergeant
Carter pretended he had been knocked out by gas so Gomer would "save"
him, only for Gomer to get knocked out himself and the Sergeant had to save
him and then say that Gomer had done the saving and then forgot about it.)

[Note: At least, I *thought* it was "Banned on the Run" where the above
storyline was from, later Don told me it was from "Rainy Days and Sundaes".
(Reggie's brother Otto makes a sundae, and guess what goes on top? Yes,
chocolate syrup.)]

>if I had to
>guess some more, one of the few, if any, RP eps which
>doesn't see a Rocket compete in something (or against
>someone).

There are quite a few non-competing episodes of Rocket Power, although
I'm hard pressed to think of one where there's no extreme sports of any
kind - "The Night Before", maybe (the one that takes place on the night before
Halloween, which is "mischief night" on the show - no, it's not a
nationwide or even a Southern California-wide thing); also, "Double-O
Twistervision" (they make a movie), although the movie contains some
"action".

>When it comes to their films (mostly made for TV
>anyway), there are only 2 types:
>1. Those whose main plot would work even if they
>weren't twins
>2. Those whose main plot WOULDN'T work if they weren't
>twins, or lookalikes, at least not without serious
>retooling

Hmmm, that kind of limits the field to pretty much every film ever made
with two girls in it, now doesn't it?

>When you break down these options you get this: in the
>first case, you have a film that doesn't capitalise on
>the fact they're twins (and thus makes it rather
>pointless to cast the Olsens)

"Name recognition" - just as the same movie will make more money with Julia
Roberts or Brad Pitt in them than without them (which is why they not only
demand so much per film but get it with no questions asked), "kids movies"
do better with the Olsen Twins in them.  I can only imagine how popular
"Spy Kids" would have been had Mary Kate & Ashley starred.

>Ever noticed that one of the twins is a bit taller
>than the other? I noticed that in the last shot of
>Switching Goals, which shows them side by side, you
>can clearly see a height difference. (This is also how
>the Paris boys tell them apart in Passport to Paris
>BTW.) This is because they're fraternal. (Sorta like
>Phil and Lil.)

I certainly hope Phil and Lil are fraternal - otherwise there's something
we're not being told (especially with "All Growed Up")!  However, height
differences can be explained with environmental reasons - it depends on how
much difference there is.

[...]

[Note: My take on "if the Olsens were in Spy Kids": it would NOT have
been popular as it is. Thanks to their massive telefilm output, just
about nobody in their right mind likes them anymore.]

[...]

>OK, you say this over ATBG: The episodes seem to have
>a definite order, or at least "Ginger the Juvey" is
>meant to be first; Ginger's crime results in community
>service in "Carl and Maude", and Carl gets the
>detached eye he lost back in "Sleep On It" (he also
>mentions Maude in that episode).
>
>And now that we have Maude haunting Lois in "I Spy a
>Witch"... do you think the writers are trying to
>string the storylines together in a loose fashion?
>Ginger steals sign (Ginger the Juvey) --> Ginger does
>time... at the old folks' home (Carl and Maude) -->
>Younger brother Carl meets Maude old folks' home (Carl
>and Maude) -->
>1. --> Maude kicks the bucket at dinner table (Carl
>and Maude) --> Maude haunts Lois (I Spy a Witch)
>2. --> Carl loses a detached eye --> Carl gets it back
>(Sleep on It)
>You think we can expect more of this as ATBG
>progresses?

Sort of.  Every show has some continuity, even if nobody gets older.  (Just
about every Sideshow Bob episode of "The Simpsons" has references to
previous Sideshow Bob episodes, even though it's getting to the point where
Bart would have gotten Bob thrown into jail the first time before Bart was
even born.)  An episode of "The Wild Thornberrys", for example, features a
return to the location of a previous episode (and Eliza meets an animal she
had met before - a llama, I think).

[...]

[Note: Most of the first paragrpah is lifted right from Don's ATBG page.
More precisely, its FAQ section.]

>Do you think that swerving away from story-telling
>cliches (for a lack of a better word that describes
>what the Simpsons often does) is part of the Simpsons'
>charm?... I seem to think so.
>  Here are some examples of this:
>1. Lisa's Wedding: Maggie gets no lines in the whole
>thingy. This is even how the final scene seems to set
>up (via someone saying that her voice is beautiful) a
>line (in this case, a song) for her (Amazing Grace,
>which has been sung god knows how many times on this
>show). (BTW, how would you compare this ep with, say,
>All Growed Up? This is even considering how normally
>near-mute Dil gets a good portion of lines in it.)

It's an inside joke more than anything else - you EXPECT older Maggie to
talk, but just when she's about to say something, something stops her.

>2. The Day the Violence Died: Towards the finis, Lisa
>spots something in a 1910s law book and formulates a
>plan with Bart. Now, normal storytelling would have
>them reveal this when they arrive at the studios, but
>in the Simpsons, the story's spun in a way that leaves
>the plan unrevealed... turns out some girl named Eliza
>had beat 'em to it.

Lester and Eliza are actually Bart and Lisa the way they appeared in the
first season of "The Tracey Ullman Show".

>3. Bart Star: A prime example. Normally you'd expect
>the quite lame as a QB Bart to get the winning TD (or
>at least get the advice from Namath). Instead, not
>only is he screwed out of the advice, he replaces
>Nelson in the wrong place... the police car, leaving
>Nelson to get the TD. (BTW, an interesting scene in
>that ep has, in a flashback Abe not only ruin Homer's
>gymnastics routine, but also rub salt in the wound.
>Something you'd never see in real life. That, I'm
>sure, is part of the Simpsons' charm.)

Of course - it's not just another sitcom.  (Usually.  Sometimes things turn
out the way they would on any other show after all - "Bart's Dog Gets An
'F'" (where Santa's Little Helper goes to obedience class) comes to mind.
Also, the show has a habit of having Lisa take an unpopular stand that ends
up with her being right and everybody else wrong after all.  Only recently
has she been shown to have "flaws".
[...]

> > >1. Lisa's Wedding: Maggie gets no lines in the
> > whole
> > >thingy.
> >
> > It's an inside joke more than anything else
>
>By "inside joke", you mean code-speak for "We know
>what you'd expect if this were some other show, so
>we're gonna write something that defies this." Right?

Not really.  I meant "we've been having Maggie not speak this entire time
(except for things like 'Lisa's First Word' and 'Home Sweet
Home-Diddly-Dum-Doodily' (where she says "Daddily-doodily" before turning
her head around Exorcist-style)), so she won't speak here either, but we'll
have her 'almost' speak a few times as part of the joke".

> > - you
> > EXPECT older Maggie to
> > talk, but just when she's about to say something,
> > something stops her.
>
>Just a thought: were you expecting the writers to do
>the same thing with Dil in All Growed Up?

No.  Baby Dil can talk; you just can't understand what he says.

[...]

[...]

>why would the ATBG animators
>give the girls different clothes every ep when other
>toons give them the same outfits (and why do other
>toons do just that?)

It's a LOT easier to describe a character's design if you specify specific
styles and colors for clothes - that way, different animators won't
make different versions of the same character.  I assume Emily Kapnek
decided that there were enough cartoons that did that.  (And note that, in most
cases, the boys on that show wear the same things over and over.)

>Which do you think is easier, training an OK person to
>do handicap, or training a
>handicap to do handicap?

It depends on (a) what you mean by "training a handicap to do handicap",
and (b) whether the handicap the person has is also the one being portrayed.
It HAS to be easier to train a seeing person to "play blind"; other than
that (and ignoring "mental" handicaps), I would guess it's just as easy
(although you would have to make arrangements for a deaf person to hear a
director's commands), which usually means that you hire the handicapped
person as there would be complaints from other handicapped actors if you
didn't (they would equate it to hiring a white person with a dark makeup
job to portray a black person).

>Why is it that every time I've seen the Mowrys, at
>least one of them has to play a smart guy (or gal)?

Sounds like the Sagal sisters in "Double Trouble".  It might be that one of
them simply doesn't want to play "dumb roles".

[...]

>[Mountain biker Missy] Giove's a woman (as you couldn't tell from
>the first name). Something tells me that ep will have
>"Girl Power" written all over it...
>What this really needs, though, if it wants to really
>express girl power: Pamela Zoolalian (only female
>street luger at the 2001 X-Games).

The problem with street luge: if people see Reggie or Otto doing it on "the
streets of Ocean Shores", they'll consider building their own street luge
boards and trying it themselves - and tell me what happens when they run a
stop sign and cross in front of a car that can't seem them because they're
too low to the ground.  At least with "bikes, boards, and blades", the
riders have control (and can be seen easily).

[Note: Missy Giove will be a guest star in Rocket Power soon.]

>Ever noticed that most of the 30 min. eps of most Nicktoons (except
>TWT and ATBG, which are 30 min. shows) concern holidays (at least
>initially)?

That's because most 30-minute stories of shows that normally have 2
15-minute stories per episode are date-based specials.  Here are the
ones I can think of at the moment:

(Note I'm leaving out the shows that have 30-minute episodes normally;
The Wild Thornberrys, for example, has Christmas and Thanksgiving
episodes, and while there's no Halloween one, there Dias De Los
Muertas (or whatever Spanish is for "Day of the Dead"), which is the
next day.  I'm also leaving out the "direct to video" episodes for
now.)

Christmas: Doug; Ren & Stimpy (2 of them); Rugrats; Rocko's Modern
Life (the only 30-minute story of that series, if I remember
correctly); Hey Arnold!; CatDog
Halloween: Doug; AAHHH!!! Real Monsters; Hey Arnold!; CatDog (Rugrats
and Rocko's Modern Life have had "Halloween episodes", but they
consisted of two different stories
Thanksgiving: Rugrats; Hey Arnold!; CatDog
Mother's Day: Rugrats
Veteran's Day: Hey Arnold!
Valentine's Day: Hey Arnold!
Pesach (Passover) - Rugrats (I've always wondered why Passover is
always called by its English name, while the other Jewish holidays use
their Hebrew names - it could be because "passover" is mentioned in
the Bible)
Chanukah - Rugrats

>I don't know what that tells me, but it certainly has something to do
>with how the double lengths are less about holidays. (And more about
>the "normal" lives of the show's characters. Can we say, TWT
>influenced?)

I wouldn't say so.  I think it's more along the line of "we've got a
story that won't fit into 11 minutes".

Meanwhile...notice that The Angry Beavers and Rocket Power don't have
any "specials"?  (TAB can't have a Christmas episode because one of
the stories has them celebrate it on Arbor Day - "Christmas for
Beavers", as they put it).

> > I wouldn't say so.  I think it's more along the line
> > of "we've got a
> > story that won't fit into 11 minutes".
>
>Yeah... and ever since TWT did this regualrly, the
>writers of other Nicktoons were probably thinking they
>could follow suit and make stories that wouldn't fit
>into 11 min (that weren't date-based). Thus the
>current deluge of No Place Like Home, Helga on the
>Couch, Married, Finsterella etc.

I doubt that they started doing it just because "The Wild Thornberrys"
did.  Remember, the first episode of "Rugrats" back in 1991 was a
half-hour one.

[...]

>Your talk of spelling bees brings up one question. In
>the National Spelling Bee, after all the others are
>eliminated, the remainder must spell another word
>right. No one's gotten the last word wrong since the
>Nationals started. What if the last man (or woman)
>standing does?

Everybody who missed a word in the round where only one got it right
returns.  (If everybody misses a word in a round, and this has happened
in recent years, they all return for the next round as well.)

Up until a few years ago, the rules were slightly different.  When only
two contestants remained:
(a) the spellers alternated words;
(b) if a word is missed in (a), the other speller tries to spell the
same word - if a word is spelled incorrectly by both spellers, go back to
(a) with a new word;
(c) if the second speller gets the missed word correct, that speller is
given a new word; if this word is misspelled, go back to (b), but if
correct, that speller wins.
Somebody figured out that this caused some spellers to have to spell
more words than others in order to get to the final two.

(Did you know that first place in the Scripps-Howard National Spelling
Bee is worth less than third in what is now called the National Geographic
Bee?)

[Note: Brought up when Don mentioned an ep of Hey Arnold! in his reply about
a certain cliche. Imagine a race or competition with 2 favorites, and then the
winner ending being someone totally different. That's the cliche.]

>You might remember way back in 92 that there was a
>series of Reebok ads showing two potential US athletes
>at the Olympic Decathlaton (Dan and Dave). Turns out
>one of them didn't even qualify for the games, and the
>one who did ended up getting bronze. (Reebok'd not
>only expected them to both make it, they'd even
>expected one of them to get the gold.)

Yes - Dan O'Brien missed his first three attempts in the pole vault,
which automatically disqualified him at that point (this is considered
"failing to finish an event") - even if he hadn't been disqualified, that zero
all but eliminated him from a chance at qualifying.  It wasn't a total loss
for Reebok; the eventual winner, Robert Zmelik, also had a contract with
them.

[...]

[Note: Introduction to the aforementioned cliche.]

>In the reply you said: 'The next - and, technically,
>last - time USA and USSR met, USSR won again, without
>the controversy." What do you mean "technically"?

By 1992, the USSR no longer existed, but the former nations were
allowed to compete together as the "Unified Team" (it may have also been called
the "Commonwealth of Independent States"), as it would have been unfair to
except the smaller states to have trained "teams" in such a short time;
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia competed separately.  The 1994 Winter
Olympics was the first time Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and so on all
competed independently.  (This turned out to be not such a good thing
for Nancy Kerrigan; when there was a delay in the Ladies' Figure Skating
medal ceremony in 1994, she said something like "it's because Oksana Baiul is
off crying somewhere again", whereas the truth was that nobody knew where
the recording of the Belarus National Anthem was.)

[...]

[Note: This thread started when I noticed that Don replied to my post
in rec.sport.olympics on big showdowns that never actually
materialized. Mine were "Dan and Dave" in 1992 (above), Freeman and Perec
in 2000 (Perec left the competition), and Don's was 1976's US-USSR hoops
rivalry (USSR won in 1972 in contorversial fashion, in 1976 they were
defeated -- by Yugoslavia).]

> > >In the reply you said: 'The next - and,
> > technically,
> > >last - time USA and USSR met, USSR won again,
> > without
> > >the controversy." What do you mean "technically"?
> >
> > By 1992, the USSR no longer existed, but the former
> > nations were allowed to
> > compete together as the "Unified Team".
>
>OK. Lemme get this straight. 1972: USSR over US in
>controversy. 1976: Yugo over USSR, thus NOT setting up
>a US-USSR rematch. 1980: US boycott. So: What about
>1984 and 1988?

1984 - what planet were you on?  Here on Earth, there was a USSR
boycott.

1988 - USSR beat USA in the semi-finals (that was the time I mentioned
in the original post...and now I see that I never did bother to include
the year, did I?).  USA did beat USSR in women's basketball (a blowout, if
I remember correctly) and men's volleyball.

[...]

> > 1984 - what planet were you on?  Here on Earth,
> > there was a USSR boycott.
>
>I was only 1 back then. (And yet, I've seen the
>controversial finis to the Munich game on TV. Talk
>about a showdown 16 years in the making!)

In that case, you might be interested in the full story:

1979 - the USSR "is invited into" (i.e. invades) Afghanistan. President
Carter goes on national TV and announces that, unless the troops were
withdrawn, the USA would not attend the 1980 Summer Olympics in
Moscow.  The USSR did not exactly help their own cause by later casting
a UN Security Council veto against a resolution calling for sanctions
against Iran for invading the USA Embassy in Teheran and holding 52 Americans 
hostage.  (Ironically, Iran was the first country to announce they
would join the USA's boycott.)

1980 - the USSR attended the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and was
"greeted" with a stadium of boos at the opening ceremony.  Other
countries announce that, while they are "officially" boycotting the Summer
Olympics, they will let their athletes attend as "individual athletes" (similar
to how athletes from East Timor were treated in Sydney - they couldn't fly
their own flags or play their own anthems).  President Carter announces
that any American who tried that all visas to the USSR during the time
of the Olympics would be denied, just to make sure our athletes didn't try
the same thing.  (Little-known fact: NBC had the TV rights, but of course
couldn't show any of the events...meanwhile, ABC got another country to
supply it coverage and showed highlights of the opening ceremony,
promising daily coverage on its news coverage before NBC reminded ABC that
NBC still had all broadcast rights.)
(Another little-known fact: because of the USA not attending in 1980,
only four countries - Greece, the UK, and two I can't think of at the moment
- have attended every Summer Olympics.)

1984 - claiming things like "security problems" (but pretty much everybody
believes it's "you didn't go to our Summer Olympics so we're not going to
yours"), the USSR announces a boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympics.  Although you would expect the other "iron curtain" nations to
join in, almost certainly under the implied threat of an invasion of Soviet
troops, Romania decided to attend.

[Note: The other 2 nations who attended every Summer Olympics:
Switzerland and Australia.]

[...]

>In recent news, Nick had dropped Craig Bartlett's plan
>for a 2nd HA! film (otherwise called the Jungle
>movie).

It's not entirely "dropped" yet - just "on hold" until they can solve 
some issues involving a show Craig was asked to do for Cartoon Network.  (If 
things were THAT bad, Nick would have pulled the first movie as well, 
as it hasn't been advertised anywhere yet, and probably turn it back into a 
TV-movie.  Supposedly, if the first movie does well - which, between 
you and me, depends on how you define "well"; I expect it to get "Recess: 
School's Out" or "Doug's First Movie" numbers, but nowhere near what 
the Rugrats movies got - then they'll let Craig work on the second movie.)

>This is the 2nd time Nick has screwed Craig...
>remember "The Patakis" and how Nick said it was too dark?

They were right.  I figured that there was NO chance for "The Patakis" 
to air on Nick, especially as the target audience wouldn't be interested 
in animated high school kids.  I think they actually showed it to somebody 
at MTV (Nickelodeon is an "MTV Network"), although MTV probably noticed 
how similar it would have been to "Daria", which didn't exactly get high 
ratings.

>My question for today: Which loss is worse?

The movie, probably.

>Perhaps maybe Craig could truck ("The Patakis") to CBS?
>They're a Viacom network, aren't they?

Yes, they are (sort of - they merged, but I'm not totally sure of the 
details).  But when would CBS show it?  Saturday mornings?  Doubtful - 
the target audience wouldn't be interested.  Prime time?  It would do about 
as well as "Clerks".  (If you're not familiar with "Hey Arnold!", you miss 
the basic point of the show.)

>3. And of course, there were also plans to make
>spinoffs involving older versions of the show's
>characters ("All Growed Up" will actually make it,
>however).

They said that about "The Carmichaels" - and "Chalk Zone", for that 
matter.

[Note: Loads of background info to explain... First, "The Patakis" is
Craig Bartlett's plan for a Hey Arnold! spinoff. "Clerks" was a show
that was pulled after just 2 of 6 eps... all of them were later put
out on DVD. If the name sounds like a movie by Kevin Smith... that's
because it was based on the film. "The Carmichaels" is a planned 
spinoff for Rugrats, and "Chalk Zone" was a short on Oh Yeah! which
decided to become a series... after airing on New Year's Eve 1999,
it didn't air again until late March 2002.]

>A "did you know": David Lynch's critically acclaimed
>"Mulholland Drive" was originally intended as a TV
>show pilot (and became a cinema film only after Lynch
>was able to raise more funds for what was once thought
>to be a "sure thing").

It wouldn't be the first time; an unaired TV pilot, "Dear Diary", went 
on to win an Academy Award (live action short subject).
[...]

[Note: It ended up getting nominated for Best Director, but that's it.]

>While Moulin Rouge's Come What May is nominated for
>Best Song at the Golden Globes, it won't be even
>considered come Oscar time. Why? Because since the
>song was originally written for Luhrmann's earlier
>Romeo + Juliet, and thus makes it ineligible by Oscar
>rules.
>What this means is that if someone undusts David
>Bowie's Skylife for a film, it might be up for a
>Golden Globe, but not the Oscars (it was written for
>The Rugrats Movie, and its being edited out was a big
>news story at the newsgroup).

I had to check the Academy Award rules on that, as I wasn't sure if a 
song written for a film but not actually used (and not released in any form) 
could be used in another film and still be eligible, but rule 16(A)(II) 
puts the words "written specifically for the film" in bold letters (and 
it is reiterated in 16(B)(1)).

[...]

There's nothing new about making drastic changes to a show: "I Love 
Lucy" had Lucy move to Connecticut in its last season, and if you're familiar 
with "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", Dobie's mother would have had a 
baby had the show lasted one more reason.  Also, had "Gilligan's Island" 
lasted one more season, there were definite plans to have everybody rescued in 
the last episode.  And needless to say, "Happy Days with Richie" and "Happy 
Days without Richie", or "M*A*S*H when it was funny" and "M*A*S*H when 
William Christopher played the priest but Alan Alda did the preaching".

Of course, sometimes it becomes an entirely new show (compare the Des 
Moines "Double Trouble" with the New York one), even to the point where 
the title changes ("Second Chance" / "Boys Will Be Boys").

>2. Speaking of shows that don't make the cut, why is
>it that primetime cartoons never do well? Outside of
>Fox and cable, that is.

Easy.  Ratings.  What is acceptable on Fox and cable is not tolerated
anywhere else.  I think the two episodes of "Clerks" that aired pulled
somewhere between 2.5 and 3.0 in the ratings; ABC figured they could do
better with things like "Dharma & Greg" reruns.  (And not all animation
makes the cut on Fox; need I mention "The PJs" and "The Critic"?)

>Simpsons hasn't changed its opening titles (not
>counting the gags that bookend the opening titles, and
>those shortened intros) in more than a decade. Rugrats
>had the same opening for the first 9 (give or take a
>few) seasons. What's the longest an opening title
>sequence has remained the same?

If you want to get technical, probably "The Jetsons", which used the 
same opening for its mid-1980s episodes as it did for its original 1962 
ones.  It's hard for live-action series to keep the same opening for 
too long, as the characters noticeably age.  (Also, when an opening makes 
significant changes, it can be submitted for the Opening Titles Emmy 
award.)

If you're counting seasons or episodes...I wouldn't be surprised if it 
was "The Simpsons" after all.

>Now, they're sort of treating Jimmy Neutron the same
>way, with an "isolated" premiere in April with the
>series launching this fall.
>Just that, since when has it been practice to have an
>"isolated" premiere and only start its regular run a
>couple months later? (Or rather, did anyone do this
>before Chalk Zone? I seriously doubt that.)

"Isolated premiere in April" almost certainly means "sneak preview 
right after the 2002 Kids Choice Awards".  Nickelodeon did this before in 
1998 with "CatDog" (the second episode aired six months later) and in 1997 
with "The Angry Beavers" (although it wasn't as "isolated" as that series 
started its regular run less than a month later).

[Note: Indeed, Jimmy *is* having his debut after the KCAs.]

>Trivia: Chalkzone would've been EG Daily's 2nd series
>as the main character (and that's never happened
>before on Nick, still hasn't happened).

Not only did it happened, it happened on the first day of Nicktoons - 
Billy West is Doug on (the original) "Doug" and Stimpy on "Ren & Stimpy" 
(John Kricfalusi was the original Ren; when he left the show, West started 
doing both voices.)

[Note: looks like Nick is going ahead with Chalk Zone after all. There's
a "supersite" for the show at nick.com.]

>One of their past newsletters says that RP's Twister
>will get older (and thus get a changed voice... read:
>new voice actor).

On the contrary - I read it as: Ulysses Cuadra's voice is changing and 
they're NOT replacing the actor (the way they replaced Sam Satella as 
Sam, presumably when his voiced changed - now he plays one of Lars's 
friends, and the voice is much deeper).
It wouldn't be the first time a character was kept in even though his 
voice was changing while the same show got rid of someone for the same 
reason: on "Hey Arnold!", there have been three (four, if you count the pilot) 
different Arnolds, yet only one Gerald, even though you can clearly 
tell Jamil Smith's voice is changing (they even wrote an episode that uses 
his voice change, although they say that it's his tonsils that are causing 
it).

>We're all aware (well, most of us anyway) that Rugrats' Chuckie can talk 
>(but his single word vocabulary leaves much to be desired).  And the 
>latest newsletter says that Ginger's Darren will get his braces off 
soon.

That's right - it should be in the next episode.  (I guess they ran out 
of "braces jokes".)

>Well, read the subject. You get the idea.

True, but Nickelodeon won't let them get TOO radical - other than "All 
Growed Up", you don't see any of the characters getting any older.

[...]

Here's something I thought of right after sending that first reply:

>One of their past newsletters says that RP's Twister
>will get older (and thus get a changed voice... read:
>new voice actor).

 > On the contrary - I read it as: Ulysses Cuadra's voice
 > is changing and they're NOT replacing the actor

It's very possible they simply couldn't find a Hispanic actor that 
could match Twister's voice...and seeing as how Nickelodeon likes to keep its 
characters voiced by actors of the appropriate heritage, getting a 
non-Hispanic one is probably out of the question.  (I can think of two 
exceptions to this policy off the top of my head; E.G. Daily had to 
voice Susie on "Rugrats" for a short time while Cree Summer was available, 
and Jamil Smith (Gerald on "Hey Arnold!") voices a regularly-appearing 
white character on the show, known only as "Peapod Kid" (because he was 
dressed as a peapod in the first episode).  However, neither was for a 
permanent position as a major character.)

[Note: I later pointed out that Cree Summer is actually Canadian 
Indian (and thus not of the proper heritage)... he emailed me back saying 
that Cree herself once said she had part American-African heritage.]

>With 4 months remaining in the eligibility period for
>this year's Emmys, let's see what's shaping up int he
>categories I think Nick has a chance:

>Best Song: With Buffy coming out with a musical ep
>this season, it's all but certain that Buffy will get
>its first ever Emmy nod (a long wait for such a
>popularly acclaimed show)... or perhaps nods. And of
>course, we have those variety specials. Don't count
>out Rugrats though. (Well, at least for a nomination
>anyway.) Besides, Nick's most recent primetime Emmy
>was in this category, for Nickelennium in 2000. (Well,
>that's if you don't count Zim's Emmy for Individual
>Achievement in Animation in 2001.)
>(Q: With the nominations for animation split into more
>than an hour and less than an hour, where do shows
>that are an hour get nominated? Why do I ask? So I can
>place All Growed Up right.)

I'm pretty sure the categories are "one hour or more" and "less than 
one hour".

>Best Animated, More than an Hour: All I can think of
>are 3 Nick Flicks (this year: Ginger's Caprice,
>Thornberrys' Donnie and, if it's not premiered in
>daytime, RP's Race Across New Zealand), the Samurai
>Jack premiere and Daria.

Remember that this category can have more than one winner.  (Beginning 
in 2000, it can also have no winners.)

>Best Animated, Less than an Hour: Expect Jack to get
>in, and expect the Simpsons to get in too. As for All
>Growed Up, depends on where hour shows are nominated.
>Either way it has a chance.

Invader Zim may be the "dark horse" here, especially after it was 
cancelled under semi-mysterious circumstances.

[...]
[Note: And here the results for the nominations: Fairly OddParents, in for
a Christmas song. Ginger, in again for "less than an hour" animated program.
SpongeBob, Nick News and All Growed Up, in for children's program. No Buffy
nods for its musical, however, and no Nick Flicks for "hour or more" animated
program.]

>I dunno why Nick favors KC

Because Rugrats makes them money, and they probably feel that they can 
get the other characters in some sort of "package deal".  (Based on 
popularity, certainly SpongeBob would have been a better marketing choice.)

[Note: Here's the context... Nick had a milk mustache contest, and the page
pitching the contest featured Ginger, Otto and Eliza, all from Klasky Csupo
shows... I was thinking that this was because their shows feature humans 
prominently. Then again, Hey Arnold! isn't in any milk ads.]

>This year marks the very first race in the new Best Animated Film
>category. To recap, the nominees are Shrek, Monsters Inc. and Jimmy
>Neutron (making it a sweep for computer-rendered animation). 

Remember, "Atlantis" was not even submitted (almost certainly because
Disney didn't want to split any "Disney vote" - remember, the entire
Academy votes on which movie wins this Oscar, unlike for, say, the
Animated Short Subject); I think it would have received the third
nomination.
(I wouldn't be surprised if Nickelodeon similarly "loses the
paperwork" for "Hey Arnold!: The Movie" next year - after all, it was
written and originally animated as a direct-to-video - unless somebody
is afraid that there won't be eight other animated films submitted and
it's needed to make sure there is an award.)

>Here's what I think among pros and cons:

>Shrek:
>Pros-- Realistic animation, great jokes
>Cons-- Many of those jokes aren't quite clean, only film with PG
>rating

"Only film with PG rating" is almost a "pro" rather than a "con".
Remember, it's not "Best Animated Children's Feature" - and I doubt
anybody under 18 is a voting member of AMPAS.

>Monsters Inc.:
>Pros-- It's Disney... enough said (besides, it's also got Randy
>Newman's music)
>Cons-- Newman has never won an Oscar (in spite of about 15 nods) and
>is unlikely to win this year (three words: "There You'll Be")

"Randy Newman has never won an Oscar" and "movies with his songs have
never won" are two different things.

>Jimmy Neutron:
>Pros-- It was made with the least budget, and the Oscars have usually
>favored low budget films that look good; also, it has a decent
>awareness rating
>Cons-- Doesn't have any other nominations (Shrek has adapted writing,
>Monsters Inc. is in for music), its awareness rating is due to a
>rather irritating promotion campaign

Cons - it has no "word of mouth"; very few people in the Academy have
seen the movie (only a panel of, if I remember correctly, 100
animators and actors chose the nominated films), and if they go by the
TV shorts, it doesn't even compare to the other two; there aren't very
many stars doing the voices (Shrek's four main characters are known
stars; Monsters, Inc.'s two stars are known stars, Jimmy Neutron's
star is...to be honest, I can't even name an existing TV show with
Debi Derryberry in it.)

I think Shrek gets it, if for no other reason than it's almost
certainly the one the most Academy members would have enjoyed on their
own (rather than watching only because their kids wanted to see it).

[Note: My pick: Monsters Inc. And by the way, since Don has his own Hey
Arnold! page, every time someone mentions this new Oscar category, Don
*always* yarns on how Nick might not submit the movie based on the
series. And BTW, Shrek indeed won the Oscar, and Randy Newman finally
won one as well, for his Monsters, Inc. song.]

>Similarly, Nick losing KC's programmes would be like
>NBC losing Friends, Frasier AND Will & Grace.

"Nick losing KC's programmes"?  Did I miss something?  Besides, Rocket
Power and As Told By Ginger aren't exactly in the Top 15 cable ratings
week
after week.  (As a matter of fact, pretty much the only non-sports
series
that does make it is SpongeBob SquarePants - multiple times each week.)

> > >Similarly, Nick losing KC's programmes would be like
> >> NBC losing Friends, Frasier AND Will & Grace.
> >
> > "Nick losing KC's programmes"?  Did I miss
> > something?  Besides, Rocket
> > Power and As Told By Ginger aren't exactly in the
> > Top 15 cable ratings week
> > after week.
>
>But that doesn't take away from the fact that these
>shows are popular... if people can get so hung up on
>Nick cancelling Zim, imagine what would happen if Nick
>got rid of Rugrats (or RP or even Ginger).

I see - you posed a "what if" question.  Considering that KC is now one
of
Nick's de facto animation arms, that's not going to happen any time
soon.
And note that most of the people complaining about Invader Zim's
cancellation usually also complain that they DON'T cancel "the ugly
shows"
like The Wild Thornberrys or As Told By Ginger or (especially, it
seems)
Rocket Power.