As Told by Ginger

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As Told by Ginger

As Told By Ginger Promotional Image
Genre Animated comedy
Creator(s) Emily Kapnek, et al
Starring Melissa Disney, Liz Georges, et al
Country of origin USA
No. of episodes 60 (52 aired in U.S.)
Production
Running time 22 minutes (without commericals)
Broadcast
Original channel Nickelodeon
Original run November 1999 – November 2003
Links
IMDb profile

As Told By Ginger is an American animated series that appeared on Nickelodeon in October 2000. The show focuses on Ginger Foutley and her adventures at Lucky Jr. High, as she records them in her diary. The series was noted for its storylines, character development, and the fact that the characters change outfits each time a new day comes.

In the United States, about half the episodes of the third and final season remain unaired. Also, a hand full of episodes that were once available through reruns have been taken out of the rotation. As Told By Ginger can be seen currently on Nicktoons Network weekdays at 12:30 pm (Eastern). This came as a disappointment to fans during its inital run.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of As Told By Ginger Characters

[edit] Stars

(in credits' order)

Ginger Foutley - Melissa Disney
Darren Patterson - Kenny Blank (credited as Ken Michael starting with Fair to Cloudy) (Seasons 2-3)
Carl Foutley - Jeannie Elias
Courtney Gripling - Liz Georges
Macie Lightfoot - Jackie Harris
Dodie Bishop - Aspen Miller
Hoodsey Bishop - Tress MacNielle
Miranda Killgallen - Cree Summer
Lois Foutley - Laraine Newman
Blake Gripling - Kath Soucie
Ian Richton - Adam Wylie (Season 1)
Mipsy Mipson - Sandy Fox (Season 2-3)

[edit] Notable Others

(in order of actors' last name)

Brandon Higsby - Grey Delisle
Mrs. Gordon - Kathleen Freeman
Ms. Zorski - Elizabeth Halpern
Dr. Dave - David Jeremiah
Winston Gripling - John Kassir
Joann Bishop - Susan Krebs
Chet Zipper - Hope Levy
Noelle Sussman - Emily Kapnek

[edit] Crew

[edit] Producers

Emily Kapnek (Co-executive) Mark Risley (Creative).

[edit] Supervising director

Mark Risley

[edit] Directors

Mark Risley Michael Daedalus Kenny, Joeseph Scott, Dean Criswell, Frank Marino, Anthony Bell.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of As Told By Ginger Episodes

Sixty episodes plus one pilot episode were produced for the show.

The Pilot was produced in 1999 and officially completed on September 10 of that year.
Season One was produced from November 1999-June 2000.
Season Two was produced from August 2000 - November 2001.
Season Three was produced from August 2002-November 2003.

[edit] TV Movies

There were three television movies during the series' run.
  • Summer of Camp Caprice had Ginger, Dodie, Macie and Courtney heading to summer camp, with Darren and Miranda going to military camp (where, as it happens, Miranda's father works) and Carl and Hoodsey on the trail of dog nappers.
  • Foutleys on Ice (seen in the US as Far From Home), following up on the Emmy-nominated episode And She Was Gone, dealt with Ginger winning a scholarship to an arts school, and Carl and Hoodsey making friends with a new character, the telekinetic Noelle Sussman (voiced by Emily Kapnek). This episode was released on DVD.
  • The Wedding Frame, which closed out the 3rd season and the series as a whole, and features Lois marrying one of the doctors at her hospital. Nickelodeon originally asked for the ending of that telefilm to be changed to something less conclusive in case they wished to make future TV episodes, however, perhaps due to that situation being very unlikely, the original ending was eventually retained. It was released directly to DVD in the United States in November 2004, and has not been broadcast in the US; also, the six episodes leading up to the movie were never televised or released in the US, resulting in some continuity problems.

[edit] Show airings

The show originally aired Wednesday nights at 8:00 pm (excluding the first episode, which aired on Tuesday, October 24, 2000). It moved to Sunday nights at 7:30 pm starting January 14, 2001. It remained there for most of the second season. By the third season, the show didn't have a fixed time slot. New episodes would air on any day of the week and sometimes without notification to viewers. The show was available all days of the week, but that was eventually pushed back to Sundays at 1:30 pm. It aired on Nick on CBS on September 14, 2002 at 10am ET, then ended in January 2003.

Below is a list of how many episodes premiered on what days, since the show never had a truly fixed day to air new episodes. It is out of 61 episodes (1 of which is the pilot).

Day Number of Episodes
Sunday 24
Monday 3
Tuesday 5
Wednesday 10
Thursday 1
Friday 3
Saturday 6
Unaired in the U.S. 9

The show's only 2005 airings on the main Nickelodeon channel in the US were on January 2 with "Blizzard Conditions" (the only non-holiday airing in 2005), March 27 with "The Easter Ham" (it was Easter Sunday), May 8 with "Mommie Nearest" (shown as part of a Mother's Day marathon), October 30 with "I Spy A Witch" (a Halloween special), and December 25 with "An Even Steven Holiday Special" (it was Christmas Day). At this point, "Heat Lightning" was the last episode to have premiered on Nick US, on June 27, 2004. Seven episodes (plus one telefilm, see below) remain unaired on Nick. ("Ten Chairs", the show's Thanksgiving episode, was aired on the digital Nicktoons Network on Thanksgiving 2004, however.) However, Nickelodeon gave the show a regular slot, at 6:30 a.m. weekdays, in late 2005, starting with Fast Reputation. By March 2006, Nickelodeon began repeating episdes.Those airings were in turn pushed to 6:00 am on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays after a few months, but starting May 29, Dora the Explorer took its place. The show had a regular slot on at 5:30 p.m. on Sundays during this time, but again the show was replaced by TeenNick shows. Nickelodeon, however, would still air holiday-themed episodes during the appropriate season and aired An 'Even Steven' Holiday Special on Christmas Day in 2006.

Starting on November 13, 2006, Nicktoons Network began showing the show every weekday morning at 7:30 a.m. ET. The first episode to air was About Face. Nicktoons originally planned to air the remaining episodes on November 17 and November 20-November 23 but were replaced at the last minute (but they did air one, Stuff'll Kill Ya). On January 3, 2007, episodes began repeating, starting with Stuff'll Kill Ya. Since this episode remained in the rotation, it proved that Nicktoons had no problem with the high school episodes, but the others still have yet to air. Some episodes of the series (Cry Wolf, The Right Stuff, Piece of My Heart, Gym Class Confidential, Fast Reputation, Losing Nana Bishop, and Next Question) that has been shown on Nicktoons and Nickelodeon before had been taken out of the rotation. This may be due to the fact that they all deal with mature themes (such as death, puberty, and high school parties). By April, these episodes gradually started to air again. Starting on March 5 of 2007, the show moved to a new timeslot on Nicktoons: 12:30 p.m. eastern. Nickelodeon soon began airing early episodes of the show at 6:00 a.m. on Saturdays starting on April 7.

[edit] Character development and continuity

As Told By Ginger has been recognized by fans and Nickelodeon alike for its character development, most of which is unusual for a cartoon.

In the first season, Ginger's age group is hinted as being in seventh grade. By the second season, they move up to eighth grade rather than remaining the same age. They graduate Jr. high in the third season and move on to becoming freshman in high school. Carl's age group works in a similar way, as they become Jr. high students by the third season. Also in the second season, Darren had his unwieldy orthodontia that he had been wearing for the entire first season removed, which resulted in rising popularity. Also, many episodes (mostly seasons two-three, although season one did this too) have references to previous episodes, giving the episodes a definite order.

One of the more noticeable development is the fact that the characters change clothes each time a new day comes. Many cartoons have their characters remain in the same outfits to save time and money. The girls in Ginger's age group (Dodie, Courtney, Macie, Miranda, and herself) were at first the only ones to do this. But after Darren got his orthodontia removed, he changed clothes as well. Carl's age group only changes clothes so often, most of the time with little changes. Hoodsey's coat rack has identical purple hooded-sweatshirts, mocking cartoons that always remain in the same outfits. Also, while live-action show characters only wear an outfit once, As Told By Ginger characters wear their outfits in rotation, and new outfits are added every few episodes.

The show also deals with many deep themes. In Wicked Game, Ginger's two best friends betray her after feeling jealousy toward her new boyfriend, Darren. In And She Was Gone, the staff and students at school think Ginger is depressed after she writes a disturbing poem. Also in that episode, Carl's pranks cause his teacher to retire. After she agrees to come back, Mrs. Gordon passes on. In actuality, the voice actress, Kathleen Freeman died and the episode was dedicated to her. A Lesson in Tightropes has Ginger going through an emotional break-up with Darren while, at the same time, having to get surgery for her acute appendix.

[edit] Trivia

  • Originally the theme song was sung by Melissa Disney, the voice of Ginger. She was soon replaced by voice artist/singer Cree Summer, who also does the voice of character Miranda Killgallen for the show. She was later replaced by R & B Artist Macy Gray.
    • In the US, the Melissa Disney version of the theme was never used; the first several episodes had the Summer version. Later, when the Gray version became available, Nick used it in all episodes, including those that had the Summer version previously. Overseas and Canadian airings featured all three versions regularly.
  • The three schools in the series are Lucky Elementary, Lucky Jr. High, and Lucky High. They all share Lucky Auditorium. All four buildings are located next to one another. It's not clear whether these are the only schools in the district. However, the fact that Lucky High is much bigger than the other two suggests that it has more than one 'feeder'-school. Also there are a lot of new faces when Ginger starts high school (see "Stuff'll Kill Ya").
  • The Foutley family, along with Dodie and Macie's families, live in Sheltered Shrubs. Courtney lives in the gated community of Protected Pines. Ginger's father, Jonas, lives in a town close nearby called Brittle Branches. The towns are fictional, but are set in the state of Connecticut. Sasha, Ginger's crush from Summer of Camp Caprice lives in a town called Heathered Hills, approximately 120 miles away.
    • It was originally stated (not on the show) that Courtney lived in Secluded Shrubs.
    • It is rather unusual for a cartoon to be situated in a particular US state.
  • In 2005, Cooltoons released their annual April Fool's newletter stating that a live-action As Told By Ginger movie was in the works. It said that it would star Paris Hilton as Courtney. But, being the April Fool's edition, this story was fake.
  • Since Ginger's Junior High School graduation, as according to the No Turning Back movie and the time of cancellation, occurred in 2004, this would make Ginger and the older kids a part of the High School Class of 2008.
  • It was rumored on the internet that Nickelodeon was going to air all the remaining episodes plus some unseen episodes of All Grown Up on New Years Day in 2006. By mid-December 2005 when no word was announced officially by Nickelodeon, all rumors faded.
  • It is one of few cartoons to have different attires almost every episode.
  • The character of Miranda was originally white. The creators thought that one black character (Darren) was enough, but they changed that when Cree Summer got the role of Miranda.
  • This show contains another example of an extremely wealthy girl (Courtney) who seems to attend a public school for reasons not revealed (another example is Rhonda from the show Hey Arnold). Courtney's brother, Blake, also attends a public school.
  • Hoodsey has also been referred to as Robert or Robert Joseph (his first and middle names), most of the time by his mother. Dodie, his sister, is often called Deirdre Hortense by her mother.
  • In the first episodes Courtney is calling Dodie "Potie" and Macie "Stacey" or "Kacie", this disappears as she gets to know them better. Miranda usually refers to them by their last names, Bishop and Lightfoot, respectively. Early on, Blake also refers to Hoodsey as "Woodsey".
  • Mipsy started becoming a more featured role in the second season and had a big impact in early season three episodes.
  • Dodie and Hoodsey's mother attended Lucky Jr. High back in her day, meaning she's lived in Sheltered Shrubs her whole life. Their father implies he attended the school as well.
  • The girls in Courtney's inner circle (not all at once) have included Courtney, Miranda, Mispy, Missy, Mindy, Traci, Stacey, Kacie, Donna, Diva, Dinah, Heather, Lonnie, and Hope.
  • Emily Kapnek, the creator, based the character of Ms. Zorski off of one of her own teachers. Kapnek also provided the voice of Carl's girlfriend, Noelle Sussman.
  • Macie's parents are named Bobby and Bobbie, and they are Ph.D's.
  • Ginger considers herself one-fourth Jewish.
  • The older lady with whom Carl loves is similar to that of Harold's - from the movie - Harold and Maude.
  • This was the first cartoon series to depict an interracial relationship.
  • The pilot episode, entitled The Party, had a similar plot to the first episode, Ginger the Juvey. In the pilot, Ginger is invited to her first Courtney party, but is worried about making a good impression. In Ginger the Juvey, Ginger is invited to her first Courtney party, and is worried about what to get her as a gift. Obviously, the pilot's plot was further developed to make the first episode.
  • The pilot also featured different looks for the characters.
  • The episodes I Spy a Witch, Deja Who?, An "Even Steven" Holiday Special, and Piece of My Heart were all made for the first season line-up, but aired during the second season.
  • Piece of My Heart was dedicated to Lewis Arquette, who died on February 10, 2001.
  • Never Can Say Goodbye, Gym Class Confidential, Fast Reputation, and The Nurses' Strike all aired in the same week during the TeenNick block. They aired February 11-February 14, 2002 (which were the days between Monday and Thursday.)
  • The episode No Hope For Courtney was dedicated to Kathleen Freeman, voice of Mrs. Gordon, who died on August 23, 2001. As a result of this, Mrs. Gordon was killed off the show.
  • In the TV movie, Far From Home, Mipsy claims to have a Bat Mitzvah bank account. But in Family Therapy, when Mipsy turns 13, she has a party rather than a Bat Mitzvah. Note that this may have to do with the broken continuity in the second season: it is never clear whether the girls are in seventh or eighth grade but when Chet Zipper announces their birthdays, he says they're turning "the big one-three".
  • The episode Never Can Say Goodbye ended with a song called Wrong, sung by voice actor Kenny Blank as Darren Patterson. This was one of the few times that the show ended with something other than the instrumental of the theme song. The song refers to a boy rethinking his relationship with a past girlfriend. It was then theorized and later proven that this song was about Darren's feelings for Ginger, In the episode Dare I, Darren?, Darren told Ginger he thought of her as a sister and not as a possible girlfriend.
    • More episodes have followed this pattern. The episode And She Was Gone ended with a musical version of Ginger's poem during the end credits. The episode Come Back Little Seal Girl featured the songs Courtney's World and The Little Seal Girl blended together. In About Face, the episode ends with a song called Diamonds Are Expensive, presumably sung by the engaged Lois and Dr. Dave. Next Question ended in The Teen Seal Girl song. And She Was Gone did not end a song at all.
  • In the episode Wicked Game, Ginger never patches things up with Dodie and Macie. But in the next episode, entitled The Easter Ham, the three are friends again. However Courtney does refer to Dodie's betrayal.
  • The episodes Detention, Kiss Today Good-bye, A Lesson In Tightropes, Dodie's Big Break, and Battle of the Bands are all high school episodes that have yet to air in the United States. They were originally scheduled to air during the second week of November 2006. But they were immediately removed from the schedule after the first high school episode, Stuff'll Kill Ya was aired. In most other countries they are part of the common re-runs.
  • In the TV movie The Wedding Frame, when the Foutley's are driving to their soon-to-be home, they pass a cemetery park. One tombstone reads "ATBG" while the other reads "RIP". ATBG is short for As Told By Ginger and RIP is short for Rest In Peace. This is a nodd to the fact that this movie is the series finale.
  • Ginger's Solo and Sleep On It have aired in the past, but Nickelodeon stopped showing during reruns. Nicktoons Network has yet to show them. Some believe that Nickelodeon considers them inappropriate. Hoodsey urinates on Courtney's carpet in Sleep On It, which Nick could see as being inappropriate. Why they may consider Ginger's Solo inappropriate is still unknown.
  • Piece of My Heart aired in the month of December, but since then has been known as a Valentine's Day special.
  • The series finale takes place many years in the future, some details include, Ginger and Darren are married and have a child, Dodie and Chet Zipper are married and have a daughter, Lois and Dr. Dave are still together, Ginger has become a somewhat successful writer, and Courtney Gripling's family ending up with the arrest of Prescott Gripling, Courtney's father, because of insider trading. The book cover reads As Told By Gingers: A Collection of Short Stories by Ginger Foutley and features a picture of the pilot episode model of Ginger.
    • Nickelodeon originally asked the creators to change the ending to something less conclusive in case they decided to renew the show for another season. These chances were highly unlikely, so the ending stayed.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Awards

  • Three Emmy nominations for Hello Stranger (in 2001), Lunatic Lake (in 2002), and And Then She Was Gone (in 2003) (all three times As Told By Ginger was beaten by FOX shows). They were all three nominated in the Outstanding Animated Program (Less than One Hour).
  • "Best Cartoon" at Nickelodeon Netherlands' Kids Choice Awards in 2005.

[edit] External links


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