The Final Episode #43: Daria (1997 - 2002)

 

Is this the first Spinoff series that I've ever talked about? I think it might be. Well Spinoffs have a history going back to the pretty damn early days of television. The first spinoff was a spinoff from the Adventures of Gene Autry. That spinoff was called The Adventures of Champion. Champion was Gene Autry's horse. Yes there were so many fucking western shows made back in the 1950s and 1960s that fucking Gene Autry's horse got a show. What a fucking waste of celluloid. No I refuse to talk about that show because it's stupid. If it isn't Mister Ed than I don't care about your horse related entertainment. 

Speaking of spinoffs, there are a whole hell of a lot of them. Did you know that the Andy Griffith Show was a spinoff? Happy Days was apparently a spinoff of a sketch show called Love, American Style. I didn't know this until I made a quick google search to learn about this stuff before I wrote these stupid articles. I just blather on about something for several paragraphs and Port says that thing is bad and I tell him he's a stupid asshole (I have a feeling he's going to trash this show, I just know it). Anyway spinoffs are a tricky thing, some are pretty good and last for seasons and some end up lasting 12 seconds and people forgot about it. There are also some that somehow last seasons and they are absolutely shitty like Young Sheldon. Fuck Sheldon.

Uh. Okay Enough discussion of spinoffs as a whole and let's talk about this one spinoff. Daria was a minor character on Beavis and Butthead, which is a a show I need to see more of. I didn't watch too much Beavis and Butthead as a child. Anyway Daria the character in Daria the show moves from Highland to Lawndale to go to high school. Daria is a very saucy lady who won't take no guff. She teams up with Jane Lane who also take no guff. Every character in this show was a lot of fun to watch. I think my favorite characters were Daria's dad and the angry teacher whos name I forget. My least favorite character was probably that Tom guy because he broke up the duo of Jane Lane and Daria. It's unforgivable to break up a duo. That's like breaking up Cheech and Chong. Fuck you Tom. Ya shitbag.

Daria was a show I watched quite a bit of when it was on YTV. I really don't know if I just gave up on it or YTV stopped showing it because I do not remember. I do know that later on I watched them thanks to the beauty of piracy.........I mean buying completely legal DVDs that I don't even know exist. Yeah this show had music issues because it appeared on MTV. Also sometimes I can get a paragraph about how I remember the show and sometimes I can't. I'm not perfect people. I'm not William Faulkner or some shit.

Anyway the Final Episode of Daria if we want to get technical was a Made for TV movie called Is It College Yet? which dealt with all the characters getting ready for college. I don't do  Made for TV movies (except for one exception we will get too because it sounded to amazing not to talk about.) This is for two reasons really. 1.) It's harder to find some Made for TV movies and 2.) It doesn't feel like a TV episode because its really bigger in scope. So look for the one Made for TV movie I will talk about because well it's the only reason why I ever wanted to talk about that show. I'm not even sure I can get a copy of said Made for TV movie.

The Final 30 Minute Not Made for TV Movie Episode of Daria was called Boxing Daria and appeared on our Television Screens on June 25th, 2001. (Is it College Yet? came out in 2002 for any interested parties) This was a pretty serious little episode that starts off with the really nice teacher man trying to get Daria to talk to a bunch of upcoming students and she doesn't want them to think Lawndale High is a good place so she refuses. Daria's mom is getting the fridge removed and during that the movers forgot the fridge box. This triggers memories in Daria's mind about a time her parents had a fight over her. She can't even get rid of the box. After a discussion with her parents she runs out and drives to see Tom (the fucker left to go to the Coast. What assholes go to the coast except rich pieces of shit. Daria you can really do better than this shitbag)

She ends up in a damn car crash, well not really a crash but an accident. She ends up talking to Jane over this entire thing and finally gets the courage to talk to her parents over this entire thing. They finally fix everything up and there's even a nice scene where Quinn, Daria's fashion obsessed sister who doesn't want people in their school to know they are related has brought the box upstairs to her room with a nice note saying "I dont know if you need this or not" or something like that. It's very nice because she spent time literally complaining about having to move a box during this episode. It ends with Daria trying to be a bit more outgoing but still being her self by doing what the Nice Teacher guy whos name I don't remember but still being the same saucy woman we all loved.

FINAL VERDICT: I enjoyed watching this show way back in the late 90s and early 00s. It was fun and charming and Daria was a great fun character. I also has a good time revisiting this episode for the blog.  If you liked Daria then this was a good send off to the show. If you didnt well you're a grumpy gus just like Portnoyd.