Doug

I've been asked when I tell little kids 6 years younger than me that "Doug" was my favorite TV show, what is it about? And's the beautiful thing about this show. It's called life and Doug writes about it in his journal, almost like an adventure theme, but with kind of situations that are ALMOST out of real life. Plus, like me, Doug has a very active imagination. I really ID'd with this shoe So much so, that for a long time afterwards, I started writing my journal entries the same way.

I never thought I'd even like this show until I got suckered into watching the episode where Doug is put on a printing committee or something and well, It would take to long to describe. I hear all these questions about why people in the show are different colors? Well, I didn't even notice it at first because in a way, the color of that person simply blends in with the rest of the animated world, and (this will sound CRAZY) I think it really makes the show more realistic. No one else to my knowledge has ever done this with a cartoon. The music was very good also and along with Rugrats made for a fun hour of Cable TV.

DOUG follows the misadventures of the eponymous main character, Doug Funnie, his dog Porkchop, his best friend Mosquito (Skeeter) Valentine, and other quirky characters from the fictional town of Bluffington. DOUG was one of the 'Original 5' nicktoons on Nickelodeon, and is by far the best of them all. It is a show about an 11 year-old boy who uses his imagination a lot and gets into funny situations. The reason DOUG was so good was because it is a show that is based on reality and real people; in this case, multi-colored people. Unfortunately, Jim Jinkins and his Jumbo crew moved from Nickelodeon to Disney in 1996, and the show was completely ruined after that. not only was the title changed to BRAND SPANKING NEW! DOUG, but other aspects of the show were changed as well. Hopefully, Nickelodeon will release this show onto DVD or put it back into syndication on Nickelodeon, because it is much better than the garbage that they show now.

Doug was one of the first NICK Toons and it is still one of the better ones. Compared to the newer ones, this Doug show is much better than the newer NICK Toons. The animation is standard and normal for cartoons today. A lot of the plots seemed boring to me though, but all the episodes had their moments.

Nickelodeon's saga of adolescent and suburban angst has had a bumpy ride, but overall the quality is pretty good. An interesting concept was the idea of colouring characters' skin to colours corresponding to their personalities. What truly made the series shine, however, was the voice acting.

Billy "Ren and Stimpy" West played Doug, Roger and several minor characters. He didn't go for laughs, choosing to play Doug down and Roger up. It is also impressive to hear him have a conversation with himself.

The award, however, should go to the invaluable Fred Newman. He was Porkchop's every bark and growl, Skeeter's eccentric dither, and Mr. Dink's lisp and chuckle. Moreover, he was responsible for composing the music and sound effects. All that scat, rap, vocals, acapella vocal sounds are all him. Listen next time and you'll here what a genius this man is.

Finally, a word on Doug Preis as Mr. Bone. Am I the only one who thought it was Don Knotts?

I turned 18 in August of 2003...and I still watch cartoons. When I was growing up in the late 80's, early to mid-90's, Nickelodeon was great. Doug was one of the main shows that triggered this greatness. I just loved this show when I was a kid and I'd love to see it again.

Nickelodeon canned this great show alongside Rocko, Salute Your Shorts, Pete & Pete, Hey Dude, Clarissa and the rest of the classics. Nick has been going downhill ever since.

Nick, you want your viewers back? Bring Back Doug!