Teacher's Pet (TV series)
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| Teacher's Pet | |
|---|---|
 Spot in his disguise, as Scott |
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| Format | Saturday morning cartoon |
| Created by | Gary Baseman |
| Starring | Nathan Lane Shaun Fleming Debra Jo Rupp Wallace Shawn Jerry Stiller David Ogden Stiers |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 9, 2000 – May 10, 2002 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Teacher's Pet was a Disney animated television series about a dog who lives like a little boy. Created by Gary Baseman and directed by Timothy Björklund. Broadcast on ABC and later Toon Disney, a feature film version was released in 2004. The show ran from 2000 to 2002. The show was influenced by Gary Baseman's dog, Hubcaps. He would wonder what the dog would do while he was gone. He made this show in honor of him, with Spot portraying Hubcaps. Hubcaps died in 2002.
A similar animated short was shown on Nickelodeon's KaBlam!, called "Stewy the Dogboy." It has a similar premise, and it predates Teacher's Pet by at least 3 years. It was originally a pilot for a proposed new Nickelodeon animated series, but was turned down and was shown on KaBlam as a "special short."
Contents |
[edit] Scheduling history
The first episode aired on ABC's "One Saturday Morning" on Saturday September 9, 2000, and remained on ABC until about late 2001, then the show began airing in Toon Disney, and they used that channel to air new episodes every Friday. While still airing on ABC, it was eventually cancelled from ABC on September 24, 2002 due to a new Saturday morning block called " ABC Kids." As of 2006, it vanished from Toon Disney as well and is nowhere to be found. In Australia it aired on disney channel from 2002 to 2005 where it was pushed back to the mornings and late night spots on Disney Channel. It's spot was then replaced in 2006 by 101 dalmations and finally Recess which currently is the only One Saturday Morning cartoon now airing on Disney Australia.
[edit] Characters
- Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II: The main character. He is a very smart dog who had an ambition to go to school, and one morning he finally did. His guise is a beanie, glasses, a shirt and pants. He is the star of the classroom, and a bit of a show-off (in a good-natured sense). He is voiced by Nathan Lane.
- Leonard Helperman: Spot's master. He is picked on at school because his mother is the teacher, and is not very popular, but a good kid nonetheless. He wishes Spot would stop this whole masquerade and return home to be his dog before anyone else finds out about Spot's charade. Shaun Fleming lends Lenny's voice.
- Mary Lou Helperman: Leonard's mother, and the teacher of his fourth grade class. She is a nice, lovable person who likes to inject humor into the fourth grade class. Leonard is somewhat embarrassed about his mom being the teacher and Mrs. Helperman sometimes likes to embarrass him although by the end of the year, she's trying to quit (as evidenced in an early scene of the movie). Her voice is provided by Debra Jo Rupp.
- Mr. Jolly: The family cat. He is overweight and cowardly. He fears the outside world and takes comfort in simply watching his soap operas and eating. Mr. Jolly has a major crush on Tallulah Strickler (see below), but his fear of the outside world (and her prissy demeanor) prevents that romance from going anywhere. He is voiced by David Ogden Stiers.
- Pretty Boy: The mean hearted, cold bird of the family. He mercilessly teases Mr. Jolly about, among other things, his fear of the outside world. Pretty Boy also likes the soaps and that forms the basis of his relationship with Mr. Jolly. He is voiced by Jerry Stiller.
- Principal Strickler: The archetypal mean-spirited and yet incompetent school principal. He despises dogs due to an incident he had with one in fourth grade, and his cat, Tallulah, is more than suspicious that Scott is a dog, always hissing and scratching whenever he's near.He is voiced by Wallace Shawn.
- Leslie Dunkling: Leonard's crush. She tolerates Leonard but is more interested in Spot/Scott most of the time. Voiced by Mae Whitman.
- Ian Wazelewski: The class weirdo. Likes to do gross things, usually involving his pet snake or bodily fluids. His earwax sculptures are legendary. Usually called "Eeewan". Keeps a fake corpse in his closet. Voiced by Rob Paulsen.
[edit] Other characters
Tyler, Taylor, and Trevor: Three of the coolest kids in school. Leonard wishes he was as cool as them. They usually participate in typical slacker activities like skateboarding. Sometimes pick on Leonard, but usually he flies under their radar. Voiced by Pamela Adlon.
Younghee: Another girl of the class from Korea. She usually picks on Leonard or is mean to him, but in some instances, she cares, and even loves him secretly.
Chelsey and Kelsey: Twins of the class. They're usually stuck up and think they're more important than the rest but they always argue with each other.
Moltar: Ian's invsible friend. Usually Ian likes to do the weird stuff he does with him.
[edit] Main plot
It's Leonard's fourth grade year. His mother is the teacher of his fourth grade class, and he's already embarrassed. Spot, his dog, is sick and tired of staying home all the time, so he decides to dress up and go to school. When he arrives, he acquires his new name (from a pencil and a change of his name Spot) and makes friends immediately. He shows great intelligence and sports skill. Leonard is suspicious. In the bathroom of school, Leonard confronts "Scott" and finally learns that it is his dog, and that he can talk, along with the other pets. Leonard is shocked and doesn't want Scott to stay at school. Scott doesn't listen to him, claiming that education is his destiny. Leonard allows Scott to stay at school, but can only wish that he would just go back home. The series usually focuses on adventures at school, but with subplots of the other two household pets (Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly) having their own adventures.
[edit] Awards
Won Emmy: Best Daytime Animated Series 2000 and 2001 British Emmy (BAFTA): Best International Children's Programming. Baseman also won Outstanding Individual Achievement Emmy for Production Design on this animated series.
