The Amanda Show

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The Amanda Show
Amanda Show logo
The Amanda Show logo.
Genre Sketch comedy
Variety show
Running time 22 minutes
Creator(s) Dan Schneider
Executive producer(s) Joe Davola
Brian Robbins
Dan Schneider
Mike Tollin
Starring Amanda Bynes
Drake Bell
John Kassir (99–00)
Raquel Lee (99–00)
Josh Peck
Nancy Sullivan
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel Family (Canada)
Nickelodeon (U.S.)
Network Ten (Australia)
Original run November 6, 1999–September 14, 2002
No. of episodes 39
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Amanda Show was a live-action comedy–variety show aired on Nickelodeon (U.S.) and Family (Canada). It starred Amanda Bynes and was similar to Saturday Night Live, but shorter in length and primarily produced for a younger audience. The show was spun-off from All That, in which Bynes co-starred years earlier and consisted of many unrelated sketches that were created by Dan Schneider with executive producers Brian Robbins, Mike Tollin and Joe Davola of All That.

The show was one of the most popular North American variety programs during its 1999–2002 heyday, but was cancelled after Bynes was cast in What I Like About You with Jennie Garth. Although no episodes were produced after 2002, it spun-off Drake & Josh in 2004, which co-stars Drake Bell and Josh Peck, former cast members of The Amanda Show.

As of 2006, reruns of The Amanda Show continue to air on Nickelodeon.

Contents

[edit] Notable sketches

  • Judge Trudy - "Judge Trudy" was a parody of the real courtroom show Judge Judy, using similar names and costumes from the real TV show. Judge Trudy was played by Amanda. In the "Judge Trudy" sketches, the plaintiff was usually a child suing an adult defendant, usually for petty incidents such as an unfair grounding or an after-school detention. Judge Trudy was known for always taking the side of the kid, and always gave the adults ridiculous sentences, such as giving an elderly woman a piggy-back ride for her lifetime or trapping parents in a rocketship. At the end of each "Judge Trudy" skit, the Judge would call for the Dancing Lobsters to come out.
  • The Best of Commercials - This little clip was usually played in the beginning of the show. Wacky TV commercials advertised strange products, like a machine that made ice cream out of trash, a machine to multiply one's allowance money, red-hot candies that let people literally breathe fire, a remote control car that carried pizza, a zapper phone or even sweets that look like vegetables. Sometimes, an adult would show up and ask kids for help doing something, which would give the kids a chance to use the product being advertised (in the case of the fire-breathing candies, the father needed help to light the barbecue - the kids ate the candy and blew fire right at the grill). Others also included Meatloaf Crunch, a meatloaf cereal, and LunchBay.com, a parody of eBay.com where you could sell your horrible food to stupid people.
  • Moody's Point - A parody of teen dramas/soap operas, mainly Dawson's Creek with Bynes playing the lead role of Moody, whose mother is lost in a hot air balloon and whose father is missing a toe. Each episode had its own plot, and ended off with a cliffhanger, that was never continued after that episode.
  • Penelope Taynt - Penelope Taynt, also played by Bynes, was Amanda's number-one fan in the world. She normally wore a vest, a plaid shirt and a black skirt, as well as large framed black glasses. On the show she ran a fansite, AmandaPlease.com, which is actually an official site created for the series. Penelope also had the odd habit of interjecting the word "please" into almost all of her sentences (though in her website she puts this down to the fact that she has always been told to say "please" when she wants something, and she wants to meet Amanda). Between segments in every show, she used some harebrained scheme to try and meet Amanda, but never succeeded (although in certain episodes, she managed to temporarily get Drake or Josh to help her). In other episodes, Penelope is with her younger brother, Preston, who looks like her. Preston usually annoys Penelope by asking her to make a sandwich. Preston usually unexpectedly meets Amanda while Penelope is on one of her "schemes" to meet Amanda. Various security guards, including one particularly overweight one called Barney, attempted to stop her attempts. Ironically, in later episodes, Penelope falls in love with Barney's son. They kissed each other at the end of the show, falling on the ground together. When Amanda's show was over, she had noticed Penelope and Barney's son, kissing. Amanda just shrugged, and walked by.
  • Blockblister - A parody of video rental store chain Blockbuster. Blockblister was owned and operated by a family of foreigners with wacky accents. The family often greeted the angry customer by saying, "Yaga, how may we be helping you?" The customers were always unhappy as they found out the movies rented were just homemade spoofs of the actual movie made by the immigrant family, like if the customers wanted Stuart Little or Titanic, the family would give them a movie like Stuart Little or Titanic, but renamed "Staurt Lipple" or "Tidanic". The family often replied with "This movie better -- MUCH BETTER!" The unhappy customer commanded the family to play the video on their TV as it's not the video the customer wanted. The family often said the video was "Bravo" and "awesome", and offered the customer a hard-boiled egg. The customer would then yell "WHAT WAS THAT!" and was answered by the father saying "That was my daughter Blini and my son Biscotti!" Then the customer became angry and left the store without paying (normally two customers would come in during a skecth, three came early in the show's run). The family would then dance to polka music while holding eggs after the customer left the store..
  • Hillbilly Moment - Amanda and Drake dressed as hillbillies named Lula Mae and Eenis (respectively). Lula Mae would start a knock-knock joke. The knock-knock punch line would always result in Eenis being hit on the head with whatever was mentioned in the knock-knock joke (such as the Liberty Bell).
  • So You Wanna Win Five Dollars? - A parody of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The contestant, who wasn't very bright, was asked three questions, with the final question being worth five dollars. The questions were fairly easy, with four choices as answers. Half of the answers usually did not have anything to do with the question (i.e. Q: "How many inches are in a foot? Choices: A-12, B-97, C-pink, D-meat). Both Drake Bell's characters (Tony Pajamas & Totally Kyle) were contestants on that sketch.
  • Stranded - A parody of the hit reality TV series Survivor, this time contestants were stranded in a strange location in a certain state (such as a bathtub in North Dakota or a parked car in a parking lot in Oklahoma). The contestants were forced to stay in the place. Whoever stayed the longest would win $1,000,000. Whoever left the wacky location would summon two guards to take them out of the location, and ultimately out of the game. Among the contestants were various characters from other sketches in The Amanda Show, such as Judge Trudy, Debbie (from The Girl's room), Kyle (from Totally Kyle), and many more. In each "Stranded" sketch on the show, Mr. Gullible was the first to be eliminated, because of his vulnerable nature.
  • The Klutzes - A family who was constantly tripping and falling down shouting "HUPDEEDOO!", sometimes destroying things. Then they'd say "Not a problem!"
  • Crazy Courtney - Crazy Courtney was a wacky girl played by Bynes with large teeth and a hat. She spoke in incomplete sentences and shouted the term "MAHA!" when mad. She drove people insane by putting on ridiculous schemes such as spraying shaving cream into peoples' faces, or cutting peoples' hair. One popular Crazy Courtney sketch involved Courtney driving her piano teacher mad by doing such things as pouring soy sauce and gravy on her; when the teacher finally could take no more of it, she quickly got out of the house, then Courtney invited her friends over for a party.
  • Tony Pajamas- An Italian mobster played by Drake. He was known for always hitting his lackey (Josh). When his lackey asked what that was for, Tony would reply, "For being an idiot!", to which the lackey responded, as if it were fair, "Okay." When anyone mispronounced Tony's last name (mostly : puh-JAM-us), he corrects him as puh-JAH-mus. Later on in the scene, Tony's lackey would look out the window and see their enemies, the "Al Dente Brothers" and they would throw food at Tony and his lackey like jelly donuts, shrimp, eggs, or meatballs.
  • Crime Fighting Cheerleaders - The Crime Fighting Cheerleaders were a band of three high school cheerleaders (Katie, the head of which was played by Amanda, Stephanie and Meghan) who arrested various criminals (e.g. bullies). Often, before assaulting and arresting the criminal, this peppy squad would recite a "Gimme a [letter]" cheer, ultimately spelling something completely irrelevant to the situation (such asmilk, in one episode), apparently to distract and confuse the criminal into vulnerability. After the criminal's arrest, one of the victims would gratefully ask, "How can we ever thank you?" to which the head cheerleader would, with the wacky Amanda grin, energetically respond, "By keeping up your school spirit!" At the end of the skit, the crew would announce their exit with a last "Gimme a [letter]" cheer, spelling something like bye or c-ya.
  • When... Attack - "When... Attack" was a show where the host Amanda, with a different sub-name each time, such as "Bucky McBuckBuck, the World's most ticklish pony," or "Fish Daddy, The Hip-hop Halibut," explained how a group of people or things (such as "When Bradys Attack" or "When Cheerleaders Attack") attacked people. She would show the viewers two incidents of the attack. Then she shows them again in slow motion. The victims who got involved with the attack would be in interviews, and they would repeat exactly what the host said. At the end, the host will tell the viewers to call a number, usually something like "1-500-I-Just-Saw-The-Bradys-Attack-Someone-And-Now-I'm-Calling-This-Number-To-Report-What-I-Saw". Then the Bradys, or whatever group was featured in that episode, would arrive in the studio, forcing the host to run away.
  • ... Dooper - A restaurant that served different items every sketch. Whatever was offered, (i.e.: ice cream, soup, sushi, cookies), was usually gross. Examples included spider crunch ice cream (with actual spiders), and underwear chowder soup. On occasion, a customer would ask "Hey, didn't this use to be a sushi, cookie, soup, etc, restaurant?" The employees would respond that it "wasn't their thing." In later episodes, they would say things like "I'll thank you never to mention that again." At the end of the skit, the customer tries a special sample that actually tastes good -- but had a surprise. After hearing the name of the sample, they will ask why it was named that. Then they have effects from the sample. Like getting crushed by a refrigerator or being attacked by a samurai, depending on the type of sample they ate.
  • Mother Caboose - An elderly woman with large framed glasses and a large butt, played by Amanda. She only appeared on the first episode of the show, and sat in a rocking chair telling a children's story. The story suddenly became inappropriate at the end such as talking about a woman's breasts and armpits. Then, all of a sudden, she developed a heavy cough, and fell off the chair.
  • Mr. Oldman - An elderly widower (played by Dan Schneider) who was a victim of constant prank phone calls from a character played by Amanda Bynes. The character often told Mr. Oldman to do unusual tasks, like spraying whipped cream in his mouth or confirming his order of zebras or to press his nose and say "Beep!". Mr. Oldman would then complain how he hated children, scream "YOU HAVE THE WRONG NUMBER!!!" And talk nonsense.
  • Mr. Gullible - An intellectually disabled substitute teacher, with bucked teeth, who often did what the students claimed their normal teacher did: "Our normal teacher usually... (insert wacky task here)." The wacky tasks included eating chalk, drinking out of a fish tank, giving $100 to each student at the end of class, etc.
  • The Girls' Room - A TV show that took place in the girl's bathroom of a high school, but for one episode, took place in the boy's bathroom of the same school. Characters included Amber (Bynes), who was very popular and egotistical (and always made sure everyone knew she was popular); Sheila, a very aggressive tough girl who would give swirlies to girls entering the Girls' Room; Tammy, a "foreign exchange" student from Tennessee; and Debbie, an unintelligent girl who always made sure everyone knew that she liked eggs.
  • The Dare Show - A show hosted by a sister, Sharon, and her younger brother, Toby, played by Amanda and Drake. They claimed they would accept any dare, but whenever a caller suggested a dare, they would refuse. The caller would call them "Chicken", "Coward", "Liar", or something of that sort, and the hosts would give in. At the end of the show, their mother would find them doing the Dare Show after she told them not to. Then the caller would dare the mother to do something and the mother would refuse until being called a chicken. She then would perform the said act.
  • Melody & Thad - A 60's style duo who usually performed songs that were offensive to the occasion. For example, in a restaurant, they sang a song about an unpleasant experience in a restaurant that included vomiting and snot and telling senior citizens that they were old. At a wedding reception, they sang a song making fun of the groom and singing that he and his newly wed wife would divorce quickly.
  • Amanda's Jacuzzi- A talk-show where Amanda Bynes was in a Jacuzzi with a guest, who was either fictional, famous, deceased historical character, or anyone random, like the "Swiss Guy". She asked them two normal questions about themselves, but the third question was ridiculous (such as "Is it true that you went broke after gambling all of your money in Las Vegas?"). The puzzled guest would reply, "No", and then Amanda asked, "How about a plate of spaghetti?" Midget waiters then served Amanda and the guest spaghetti, and the guest usually say something silly and appropriate, like, "Long live the me", when the guest is King Henry VIII for example, or "Good day!" when Benjamin Franklin was there.
  • The Literals- A family which takes things quite literally. On one episode, the daughter Leslie was told to chill, so she put ice down her top. Likewise, her parents were asked to "hold a glass for a second", so they drop it after one second. On another such episode, when the Literals were with another family, the father of the other family says, "You guys kill me!" after which the Literals slowly approach him to kill him, but the cameras fade out before anything happens.

[edit] Guest Stars

Actress Francesca Smith on The Amanda Show
Enlarge
Actress Francesca Smith on The Amanda Show

Beverly Mitchell, Curtis Armstrong, Patrick Bristow, Ashley Tisdale, Haylie Duff, Adam Brody, A.J. Trauth, Kel Mitchell, Kenan Thompson, and Kyle Sullivan have guest starred on the show. Along with musical performances by LFO and Vitamin C, and Drake.

[edit] Trivia

  • On the final episode, there is a Moody's Point segment where we learn that Moody's real parents are circus performers. Then, a woman asks Moody if she would like to see the "real" Moody. When Moody agrees, the woman opens the door, and we see "To be Continued". The show never went onto complete the Moody saga, though it may have been intentional since it satirized teen drama that end their season in a cliffhanger.
  • Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on The Brady Bunch, made a few guest appearances as Moody's mom, who is lost in a hot-air balloon. Coincidentally, The Amanda Show made quite a few spoofs about The Brady Bunch.
  • Moody's Point is one of the only recurring segments that is shot on film.
  • The opening and closing monologues (which are actually sketches) do not actually use an audience. The "audience" is actually a number of unnamed pre-teens who were offered to play the audience. Also, the laughter from the audience is mostly adults and teens.
  • Totally Kyle once made a guest appearance on All That. The cast told him that he had the wrong show. (Ironically, this was shot after the Amanda Show ended production, so maybe that's why he wandered onto the All That set).
  • The theme song of the Amanda Show was composed by Stewart Copeland, who also composed the music for the Spyro the Dragon games. Also, the music that plays during the show's ending credits, sounds nearly identical to a tune in the first Spyro the Dragon game, from a level titled 'Wizard Peak'.
  • Amanda Bynes won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite TV actress for every year that The Amanda Show was on the air.
  • There is an actual Amandaplease.com website, it was made originally to offer advertisement for the show.
  • At the end of each show Amanda says goodbye and then says she has to do something odd ( such as 'I have to squeeze an elephant')

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links


All That
Production Cast Members | Characters | Episodes | Musical Guests | Opening Montages
Crew Joe Davola | Savage Steve Holland | Brian Robbins | Dan Schneider | Mike Tollin
Spin-Offs Action League Now! | The Amanda Show | Just Jordan | KaBlam! | Kenan & Kel | The Nick Cannon Show | Zoey 101


TEENick
Television series
100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd • 6teen • All That • The Amanda Show • Are You Afraid of the Dark? • As Told by Ginger • The Brothers Garcia • Caitlin's Way • Clarissa Explains It All • Clueless • Drake & Josh • Hangin' with Mr. Cooper • Invader Zim • Just for Kicks • Just Jordan • Kenan & Kel • My Life as a Teenage Robot • The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo • The Naked Brothers Band • Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide • Romeo! • Sabrina, the Teenage Witch • The Secret World of Alex Mack • Taina • Unfabulous • Zoey 101
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