My Life as a Teenage Robot

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My Life as a Teenage Robot

(left to right) Tuck, Jenny, and Brad.
Genre Animated television series
Running time 11 minutes per episode, with occasional 22-minute episodes
Creator(s) Rob Renzetti
Starring Janice Kawaye
Chad Doreck
Audrey Wasilewski
Quinton Flynn
Moira Quirk
Candi Milo
Cree Summer
Country of origin United States
Original channel Nickelodeon
Original run August 1, 2003–present (ending in 2007)
No. of episodes 28 (14 more yet to air)
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

My Life as a Teenage Robot is an American animated television series, produced by Frederator Studios for the Nickelodeon cable channel. Nickelodeon cancelled the show, though 14 episodes are still waiting to be aired.

My Life as a Teenage Robot (as abbreviated) stars a mentally 16-year-old 6-foot tall robot girl named XJ-9 (who prefers to be known simply as Jenny). Jenny lives in the town of Tremorton, in the (presumed) year of 2072. However, the appearance of the show is geared more to the 1950s. Jenny likes to go to the mall, fit in at high school, and hang out with her friends Brad and Tuck, instead of saving the world. Her creator (a.k.a. "Mom"), Dr. Wakeman, designed her as a highly sophisticated battle robot and wants her to stay away from the human race. Brad likes what Jenny does and often helps her out, but his brother, Tuck, doesn't care for action and only gets involved reluctantly. She has an ongoing rivalry with the Krust Cousins, Brit and Tiff, the popular girls in school, and even has a human suitor, a somewhat stereotypical nerd named Sheldon, but Jenny loves a robot named the Silver Shell (he was created by Sheldon, who "wears" him like Iron Man wears his suit), but then later disliked him for being a spy. Jenny is also being pursued by Queen Vexus, leader of a robot clan called the Cluster, to join the Cluster. So Jenny can't get her life evened out, but she does what she can. Though the show is based in the future, the art design is somewhat of an homage to the 1930's, with the look of the characters and the Art Deco influenced atmosphere.

The series was based on the Oh Yeah! Cartoons short My Neighbor is a Teenage Robot, and was created by Rob Renzetti. This show first aired on August 1, 2003. The show has never come to DVD on its own, though it has been paired with other Nicktoons, like Danny Phantom on the Nick Picks compilation DVDs.

In the UK no new episodes were shown after season one. After many reruns it was taken off the air. The show, however, has started airing again in November and is expected to begin showing Season 2 and later 3.

The show has lasted for two seasons, and the third season has been planned to air from late 2006-2007 on Nicktoons Network. Due to low ratings and lack of interest, there will be no fourth season. The show has since been dubbed into several languages for foreign broadcast and reruns also airs regularly on Nicktoons Network.

Contents

[edit] Characters

[edit] Major characters

[edit] Minor characters

  • The XJ Line
  • Smytus
  • Krackus
  • The Space Bikers
    • Letta
    • Olgo
    • Tammy
    • Lenny
    • Sledge
  • The Teen Team
  • Vega (and her friends)
    • Shell
    • Drab
    • Tuff
  • Cluster Ambassador

[edit] Episodes

For a full list of episodes, see List of My Life as a Teenage Robot episodes.

[edit] The Cluster

The Cluster is a society of robots controlled by Queen Vexus in a manner similar to (and probably inspired by) the Borg of Star Trek, except, unlike the Borg, they aren't a group mind; each member of the Cluster is an individual. They seek to enslave humans, and have tried many times to assimilate Jenny.

Jenny was first invited to The Cluster in a very friendly way. Since then, she was ambushed by its queen, Vexus, to join The Cluster, usually by forced control, though they only took control of Jenny twice. Vexus is not easy to point out, she comes in forms of humans and other robots. When she comes out of her disguise, she is a robot that looks similar to a queen bee and she always addresses Jenny as "Jennifer". When she is defeated, Vexus slashes something (usually electronical) which turns into the portal to Cluster. When Jenny opens it again, it is no longer the portal to The Cluster.

Vexus claims that the Cluster is a place where robots live in peace, for she feels that the robots of the universe have suffered "discrimination" and "unequal treatment" by humans. This, however, is merely a lie that Vexus uses to keep her (literal) iron fist in control of the planet. The true goal of the Cluster is to rule the universe and make the human race (among other species) their slaves. And one of the uses for human slave labor is to make "Clustard", a frozen yogurt treat concocted by the Clusterians.

Cluster Prime, the Cluster homeworld, is the capital of Vexus's empire. On the outside, it appears to be the robotic paradise that Vexus claims it is. Here, the robots work, play, and live peacefully. However, these robots may just as much be slaves to paradise as the humans are slaves to labor, as revealed in Escape from Cluster Prime. In this episode, we find out that Vexus uses lies and deception to keep her "loyal subjects" unaware of her true goals. One such scheme has Vexus hoarding the entire planet's supply of golden computer chips (for powering up a robot's weapon systems) and framing Jenny for the theft to discredit her. This way, Vexus can keep the planet from rebelling against her, and, at the same time, continue to be glorified by her people.

[edit] Trivia

For allusions in specific episodes, see List of My Life as a Teenage Robot episodes

  • The name XJ-9 is similar to X-5, the name of a robot of Teletoon-Cartoon Network's Atomic Betty.
  • It is never specifically stated exactly what year the series takes place in. The only real clue is in the episode I Was a Preschool Dropout, when Brad listed "Super Bowl 100" as one of the events Jenny missed. With "Super Bowl XL" having already taken place in 2006, it would be 2066 by the time Super Bowl 100 rolled around. The episode also states that Jenny has been activated for five years. By this evidence, it can be assumed that the year is at least 2071 when the series starts. Of course, this is up for debate.
  • This show was originally based off of the cartoon short My Neighbor is a Teenage Robot, which was featured on the Oh Yeah! Cartoons series (which Rob Renzetti once directed). In this short, Jenny appeared to look more Japanese, and the episode had a Asian appearance as well.
  • The original names for this series were My Neighbor is a Teenage Robot and also simply Teenage Robot.
  • Jenny has only appeared in two Nicktoons-based video games, Nicktoons Basketball and Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy.
  • The local soda fountain, "Mezmers", is a reference to Otto Messmer, the famed creator of Felix the Cat (a caricature of Felix also adorns Mezmer's front door).

[edit] External links


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