The Final Episode #38: Doug (1991 - 1994)

 

Today we finally start discussing Nickelodeon. No, not the weird machines that showed small video clips that were popular in like 1892 or whenever (why did they name themselves after that anyway?). We are talking about the very popular TV station, which actually has a wild and rich history that I get to sum up in like one or two paragraphs. They started out in Columbus, Ohio on a local service called QUBE. QUBE showed all kinds of Cable TV stuff but one of the QUBE stations C-3 was Pinwheel a tv show that would become incredibly popular and pretty much started Nickelodeon in April 1st, 1979. At first it was like 12 hours of Pinwheel and before anyone knew it they had to make shows. Some of the first Nick shows were Hocus Pocus, By the Way and Video Comics. 

Nickelodeon blew up in a big way after a few first rough years. They finally got what Kids really wanted in the mid to late 1980s. In fact that's when THEY wanted to make their own cartoons and live action shows which they still do to this day (The Loud House is a fun cartoon made in todays time. Yes, this nostalgia blog is saying something from now is cool and good) The three cartoons that became the first NickToons appeared on August 11, 1991. Those three cartoons were The Ren and Stimpy Show, Rugrats and today's show Doug.

Now if you read my blog you've seen me talk about YTV all the time. That was what I guess you'd probably call Nickelodeon in Canada. YTV started in November of 1988. It pretty much started with showing all kinds of reruns and stuff for Canadian kids. However the second Nickoldeon made their own cartoons YTV pumped every single one of those over here for us to watch.  I don't think there was a single Nickelodeon cartoon (or later on Cartoon Network cartoon) that didn't end up on YTV. Oddly enough except for You Can't Do that On Television (which started as a Canadian show before becoming a Canadian-Nickelodeon joint thing I think) and Are You Afraid of the Dark (which YTV helped fund!) and Nickelodeon Guts, I don't think I remember a single one of their live action shows. I don't know if they showed up here and I just never watched them or if we just didn't think The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo was all that good.

Anyway Rugrats lasted on Nick for 32,000 years. Ren and Stimpy Show lasted until like 1996. Doug was the first of the three original NickToons to be canceled in 1994. Doug was a fun show that I enjoyed watching. Not an super must see OH MAN I MISSED THIS show but nothing I always enjoyed it when I did see it. Doug started as a kids book and most of the characters were based on people Jim Jinkins knew as a kid. I'm pretty sure this show took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. First off Judy, Doug's sister is a beatnik. Like she's read every damn William S. Burroughs book. Roger is a greaser. Anyway Doug was a show about a kid and his every day life just trying to do the best that he can. There's not much else to say about the shows overall plot really.

The Final Episode is like most episodes in this series put two 9 minute segments into one episode. The first segment is Doug Graduates where Doug goes on and graduates from the 6th grade. They even had a graduation for them and everything. I didn't get a graduation for the 6th grade. Of course that school was K-12 for the longest time so it would have been weird. Doug is worried about how the new school would be and all kinds of stuff about graduating. He wants to talk to Principal Buttsavage (lol) about it but can't. He even ends up trying to sneak into his office during the graduation just to find Roger there and they end up talking it out. Roger mentions he was in the 6th grade for 3 years lol. Roger is a dumb ass. They realize there's nothing to be afraid of and graduate. Sadly we do not get to see what Principal Buttsavage looks like.

The second segment is called Doug's Bad Trip and no it's not about Doug taking LSD with his family, but a trip they take to Painted Gorge Rock or something like that. I can't say I was as into this one as I was in the first segment but anyway. His dad is really excited about this place but all Doug and Judy want to do is go to tourist traps, like Bug Ranch and some field a poet Judy loved used. They end up arguing and almost fucking dying in a car crash. They get stuck in the mud and Dad almost goes back to a gas station to get help. Doug tells him that they can get the car out without having to go back. It takes awhile but all four of them while Porkchop (Doug's dog) is driving the car. It turns out that they were RIGHT there at Painted Gorge Rock or whatever it's called. I've forgotten pretty much everything about this segment.

FINAL VERDICT: I think Doug Graduates deserved to be a longer than 9 minutes. I think they could have done a lot more with that idea. The second segment just feels like "Oh shit we need two of these for this episode" and put that out. Anyway, this is just for portnoyd. If he's a good boy Brand Spanking New Doug from Disney will be something I talk about in 50 or more posts. If he is a bad boy I will talk about a lot sooner. It's all up to you portnoyd.