Doug

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!

Back when I was a kid Nickelodeon used to give great shows like Doug. This show was funny and at times you could really relate to Doug which made it really fun to watch. I can still remember when I was in 3rd grade and my buddies and me talking about the latest episodes.

Most would criticize Doug as formulaic, unoriginal, and all around bad. I watched this show (and it's Disney pimped sequel) for years, and I have to say, it was one of the best cartoons produced during its time; and it still holds up well.

The premise behind the show is simple: Doug is a young boy trying to make it through life, but learning a lot of hard lessons along the way. The difference in the show is just how outlandish the accidents, mishaps, discoveries and general mayhem gets. Despite an amount of predictability (it WAS written for children) the show had great humor that surprised me, given the low age of the target audience. Most of the jokes aren't great repeatable quotations like Family Guy or Futurama's, but they were entertaining (and educational) for us as kids. The Disney sequel had more adult humor and a little more maturity about using a cartoon as social commentary, but the original Nickelodeon production is rife with memorable episodes and characters.

If you don't think Doug's fumblings with Patti or self-indulgent daydreams of Quailman were at all humorous, you don't know Funnie.

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?