Despite all the love for Are You Afraid Of The Dark, I personally don't really remember the show and don't know if I really watched it all that much. Will do a retrospective on it eventually, but not at the moment. Been slacking for a few days, so will try to do 1-2 or more retrospectives tonight. Thinking about doing one for Doug, maybe Hey Arnold!, The Secret World Of Alex Mack, Legends Of The Hidden Temple or The Ren And Stimpy Show.

The Ren And Stimpy Show:


Ren Höek, a violent, crazy, demented Chihuahua and Stimpson J. Cat, a slow-minded, dense yet well-intentioned cat were the titular characters of this animated show, which premiered in 1991 and ran until 1996. The show was a big hit for Nickelodeon despite numerous complaints about the use of dark humor and over-the-top humor being aimed at young children.

While Ren and Stimpy were the main basis of the majority of episodes, there were numerous supporting characters, some as one-off characters and some as recurring characters.

The show's animation was a throwback to the days of Bob Clampett (who worked on Looney Tunes in what is dubbed the Golden Age of cartoons) and would have the character's emotions distort their bodies, strong character poses and unique staging and extreme close-ups, particularly when a character was in pain.

Ren Höek (originally voiced by creator John Kricfalusi, and voiced by Billy West after Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon) - a sadistic, violent, aggressive chihuahua who was fond of verbally and physically abusing his pal Stimpy. Ren would often be placed in situations in which he would lose his mind and get all temper-mental.


Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat (voiced by Billy West) - a fat, dim-witted, good-natured, simplistic cat who was content with taking the numerous abuses pushed upon him by Ren. He had an intense attachment to his litter box, which was given to him in the pilot, and is fond of saying "Oh, joy!", "joyyyyy" and "Happy, happy, joy, joy."


Mr. Horse (originally voiced by John Kricfalusi, later voiced by Billy West) - appeared in numerous episodes, usually in bits that were not directly pertaining to the plot of the episode at hand. He fell out of a skyscrapper, was a GI returning home, a dog-show judge, a tester for Gritty Kitty cat litter and numerous other one off bits.


Powdered Toast Man (voiced by Garry Owens, the voice of Space Ghost on Space Ghost [the one from the 60's], not to be confused with George Lowe, who voiced Space Ghost on Space Ghost:Coast To Coast) - a superhero of sorts, and spokesman for Powdered Toast, a breakfast food. He would fart on the powdered toast otherwise it wouldn't taste right. He would also shave toast shavings onto the powdered toast from his face. His catchphrase was "Leave everything to me."



Muddy Mudskipper (voiced by Harris Peet) - a mudskipper who hosts a daytime kids TV show. Calls everyone he meets "a lousy bum" and has a dour, angry, mean off-stage personality. Lyrics to the theme of his show:
Who's the greatest mudskipper of them all? Who can skip thru the mud with the greatest of ease? What kind of wonderful guy? Who can crawl like a dog without scraping his knees? Who's got seg-ment-ed eyes? It's Muddy Mud-Skipper! It's Muddy! Mud-Skipper! It's the Muddy! Mu-ud Ski-pper show!!!


George Liquor (voiced by Harris Peet and Michael Pataki) - Kricfalusi described George Liquor as "the greatest American" who is so conservative "that he thinks the Republicans are Commies". According to Kricfalusi, Liquor only appeared in a few episodes because those in charge of Nickelodeon at the time hated the character.


Haggis MacHaggis (voiced by Alan Young, who was Wilbur Post on Mr. Ed and is the voice of Scrooge McDuck on DuckTales) - a recurring stereotypical Scotsman, who once had a successful TV show that eventually had low ratings, leading him to living on the street


Trivia:

The first episode of the show debuted on August 11, 1991, premiering alongside Doug and Rugrats.

Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi in late September 1992. Many of the people involved in the show attribute Kricfalusi's friction with Nickelodeon to episodes not being produced in a timely manner, though who is at fault is contested by Kricfalusi, who attributed the delays to Nickelodeon, withdrawing their approval to scenes and episodes that they had previously approved. Kricfalusi points specifically to the episode Man's Best Friend, which features a violent climax where Ren brutally assaults the character George Liquor with an oar, as leading to his firing.

Billy West based the voice of Stimpy as a sped-up voice of Larry Fine, who was Larry in The Three Stooges.

Kricfalusi was inspired to create Ren by an Elliott Erwitt photograph, printed on a postcard, called "New York City, 1946", showing a sweatered chihuahua at a woman's feet:


Nickelodeon and Twentieth Century Fox signed a two-year production deal in May 1993 for the development and production of animated and live-action family films, based on new or existing properties. Ren & Stimpy was mentioned as a possible property for development, along with Rugrats and Doug, however the show's "cynical and gross humor" was a poor fit for a conventional, "warm and fuzzy" family film. The deal expired with no movies produced.

Frank Zappa, Randy Quaid, Gilbert Gottfried, Rosie O'Donnell, Dom DeLuise, Phil Hartman, Mark Hamill, Frank Gorshin (the Riddler on the live action Batman TV series), and Tommy Davidson all voiced characters on the show.

Favorite Episodes:
Episode 5a from season 1, "Marooned":
After Commander Höek (Ren) and Cadet Stimpy land on a strange planet, some weird (and painful) things happen to them.

Episode 6a from season 1, "Black Hole":
Commander Höek (Ren) and Cadet Stimpy pass through a black hole and live to tell the tale, but the atmosphere has some weird effects on the duo. They have to make it to the portal bus before 3:00, otherwise they'll be stuck there until they implode. They aren't allowed on the portal bus as they don't have exact change, and so they decide to implode. At the last second, Stimpy remembers that he does have change, saying "Kinda ironic, huh, Ren?" as they start to implode.

My favorite episodes are "Ren's Toothache" and "Sven Hoek". The show's quality really fell off once Kricfalusi left.

I find Double Dare so nostalgic that I watch Good Eats on the food network just to hear Marc Summers voice.

Kinda difficult to do the style of retrospective you're doing on Are You Afraid of the Dark anyway, since it's an anthology show with few recurring characters or storylines, and little character development.

True. And like I said, I barely remember the show and don't think I really watched it that much to be honest. Will still be able to give a recap of the premise of the show and maybe some trivia/famous guest stars/etc.

Yes, those are both great episodes as well. Yeah, once Kricfalusi got fired, the show's quality greatly fell off the map. The episodes I remember the most fondly are the ones created by Kricfalusi and his Spumco animation company.

I know elisha cuthbert was one of the kids telling storys, also rachel blanchard who has done a lot of stuff.

after a bit of research I see nick swishers wife was in it too.

the early season DVDs are 150 on amazon, yikes

complete series is on piratebay

yeah theres a couple other places too you can watch everything, was really just shocked at that price

<3 that you got Powdered Toast Man in there.

"Leave everything to MEEEE!"
"Quick, man! Cling tenaciously to my buttocks!"
"Are you clinging tenaciously to my buttocks?"

I forgot to include my favorite song from Ren And Stimpy:

What rolls down stairs
alone or in pairs,
and over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack,
And fits on your back?
It's log, log, log

It's log, it's log,
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good."

Everyone wants a log
You're gonna love it, log
Come on and get your log
Everyone needs a log
log log log

*whistle*
LOG FROM BLAMMO
http://nicktoons.nick.com/videos/cli...og-song-1.html
Don't forget your International Log:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUnGXTjmc9E
Log for girls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9jnu...eature=related

Another great song I forgot about, the "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXSOD1N5lR4

Where did you see that tSWoAM was airing again?

I had the biggest crush on Larisa Oleynik in that show.

I totally forgot that Jessica Alba was one of the villain classmates.

i am not sure what part of my post you are referring to with your first sentence

Reading comprehension ftl. Downloading episodes from the internet /= these shows being on air again (even though some of them are, but don't think The Secret World Of Alex Mack is in the The 90's Are All That block of programming yet).

I was in Philadelphia one day in a small souvenir shop and who walked in but Marc Summers to buy some postcards. The lady manning the front desk got me to take her picture with him (she had a bunch of pictures with famous people behind the desk) and she kept asking me "Do you know who this is?"

So finally, I said "Yea he's that guy from old Nickelodeon shows!"

The lady looked perplexed and looked at him and he just said "Yea, I have been around for a long time."

He looked at me and rolled his eyes, not looking too entertained....




Still got a picture of him with my fiance later!

Doug:


Premiering in 1991, alongside The Ren And Stimpy Show and The Rugrats, Doug was actually the shortest-lived of these shows on Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon stopped showing new episodes of Doug in 1994, and the show was bought out by Disney and aired on ABC from 1996-1999, along with a feature-length movie.

The show centered on Doug Funnie, an 11 year old, who has moved with his family to the fictional town of Bluffington. As such, the episodes deal with Doug's numerous trials and tribulations growing up in a new town.

Douglas "Doug" Yancy Funnie (voiced by Billy West, who was Ren and Stimpy on The Ren And Stimpy Show, Philip J. Fry, Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, Dr. Zoidberg and others on Futurama among numerous other credits on the Nickelodeon stretch, and Tom McHugh in the Disney stretch):
The titular character, Doug is a shy, insecure, somewhat clumsy 11 year old who is living in a new town. He is often writing in his diary (or his journal, as he refers to it, thinking diary is too feminine of a term) or playing his banjo. He develops a crush on fellow classmate Patti Mayonnaise. He also imagines himself as several different alter-egos.
There's superhero Quailman. Secret agent Smash Adams. Explorer Race Canyon. Crime-stopper The Chameleon. Cowboy Durango Doug. Outlaw Jack Bandit. Wafflestomper (a parody of Steven Segal).












Mr. Phil Funnie (voiced by Doug Preis, who voiced Lynx-O on the original Thundercats, Lucky The Leprechaun on Lucky Charms ads, and Jovny The Stork on Vlasic Pickles ads):
Doug's father. A stern father figure who works as a department store photographer.





Mrs. Theda Funnie (voiced by Becca Lish):
Doug's mother. She works at a recycling center.


Judith "Judy" Anastasia Funnie (voiced by Becca Lish):
Doug's beatnik sister. She is very artistic and directs most of Doug's school plays. She has a love of Shakespeare and jazz.


Porkchop (voiced by Fred Newman, voice actor in Gremlins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Grand Theft Auto 2, Harry And The Hendersons):
Doug's pet dog. Lives in an igloo in the backyard in the Nickelodeon stretch and a teepee in the backyard in the Disney stretch.


Mosquito "Skeeter" Valentine (voiced by Fred Newman):
Doug's best friend. He has blue skin and is tall and lanky. Known for his "honk, honk" sound that he frequently makes. Is very smart but does not act like it. Has a super-hero alter-ego named Silver Skeeter.



Patricia "Patti" Mayonnaise (voiced by Constance Shulman):
The object of Doug's crush, she is an athletic girl who has a distinct southern accent.


Roger M. Klotz (voiced by Billy West in the Nickelodeon stretch, and Chris Phillips in the Disney stretch):
Doug's green-skinned bully. He lives in a trailer park with his mom and cat Stinky during the Nickelodeon stretch, but in the Disney stretch they suddenly become wealthy and live in a mansion


Buddy "Bud" Dink (voiced by Fred Newman):
Doug's purple-skinned, retired neighbor. Doug frequently goes to him for advice, which usually makes the situation worse for Doug.


Lamar Bone (voiced by Doug Preis):
The vice-principal at Doug's school. Stereotypical mean/nasty principal who has a penchant for breaking out into yodeling and clog dancing.


Trivia:

The name of Doug's unseen principal, Mr. Buttsavage, was the name of Jim Jinkins' elementary school principal.

In the episode where Doug and Skeeter form a garage band, they wear oversized suits to a gig at a birthday party, a homage to the Big Suit worn by David Byrne of the Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense.

The origin of the character Patti Mayonnaise is the combination of the names of two girls Jim Jinkins (the show creator) had a crush on in school.

Judy Funnie's name may come from the poem "Shakespeare's Sister" written by Virginia Woolf. In the poem, Woolf states that if Shakespeare would have had a sister, her name would have been Judith. Furthermore, Shakespeare himself had a daughter named Judith. Since Judy Funnie is obsessed with Shakespearean plays, it is possible that this is why her name is Judy.

Doug's favorite band, "The Beets", is an obvious reference to The Beatles, most notably the lead singer (who bears a striking resemblance to John Lennon) and the drummer (who bears a similar resemblance to Ringo Starr).

Honker Burger, the frequent haunt of Doug and Skeeter and Patti, was a parody of In-N-Out (according to Wikipedia).

Such nostalgia thinking about/watching these shows. Loved Ren and Stimpy, AHHH! Real Monsters, All That, Rugrats, Doug, Weenerville, Are You afraid of the Dark?

KILLER TOFU