Anybody around these parts love ’90s Nick? Even more did you love NickToons? 🙋 Me! Me! Me! Well then you will be happy to know one of the very first NickToons to pioneer a decade of awesomeness just turned 20 today. Doug was cartoon genius and very much ahead of its time. Doug was the story of a plain old average boy named Doug who moves from the near by town to the city of Bluffington with his parents, sister Judy and dog Porkchop. (kind of like the Snoppy to Doug’s Charlie Brown) When he arrives in town he meets the cast of characters that live there like Sketter Valintine who becomes his best friend, Mr. Dink who is his wacky eccentric next door neighboor, Roger Clots the resident neighborhood bully & Patty Mayonnaise who was the cheese to Doug’s macaroni just to name a few. Now Doug had a journal which he would open & end each day with by saying “Dear Journal…” or “Well Journal…” He also had a very vivid imagination where he would pretend he was different movie & comic book characters like Quilman & Smash Adams the secret agent. The premise of the show was basically Doug going through life as a 11 (on Nick) & 12 1/2 (on Disney).

What made this show so special: (and no I’m not talking about the terrible Disney version only the original NickToons)
1- The characters of Bluffington where all different colors which if you read the link below you will find that he wanted to make the world more colorful and not make everything about race. Sketter was blue (although some say he was the black character), Roger was green, Mr. Dink was purple and Pattie was tan.

2- Judy was the ’90s version of a Hipster
Ok now I know you guys have seen the memos of a picture of her with some kind of hipster saying

Judy was defiantly the original 21st century hipster. She had her friends who were way cool, all liked strange new music, took drama classes and loved coffee. She was ahead her time in the literal since and was probably was the inspiration for a few hipsters out there today. Oh and let’s not forget the time Judy had a crush on Sketter and Roger had a crush on her.

3- Music
Now if you remember the show then you know this show had a rockin soundtrack. Everywhere from the sounds that were put into the show to signify a changing of scenes (which always sounded like somebody farting), to the theme song, to there very popular made up tv band the Beets. Doug eve had his own garage band with her one single “Bangin on a Trash Can”. Doug even raps in an episode lol

4-The Beets which were basically the Beatles but there was a girl on guitar but man could they rock. I still jam to some of their classics like Killer Tofu, I Need More Allowance, & Shout Your Lungs Out. They where the coolest thing in town and Doug’s favorite band he even got to meet them once. The Disney version later got rid of them which made that version all the more stink.

5- The Honker Burger
The Honker Burger (which they later got rid of in the Disney version) was the first place Doug meet all this friends and the place where he had many embarrassing moments with Pattie. It was the place you wish you could go hang out at with your friends and grab a honker burger and fries.

6- Dealing with the everyday issues of an 11 year old kid
Now when I was watching Doug I was about 3 so not every little issue pertained to me. I then went back and watched episodes much later and I see episodes that dealt with pre-teen issues. Like the party episode where they played spin the bottle and Doug got dared to tell Conny (a green slightly chubby girl who always hung around Phebby the rich girl who’s dad owned Bluff Co.) her hair was ugly. Or the one where he had to deal with his dad working long hours and not really being around (which I could relate to). They talked about love, dating, parents, siblings, family members, pets, music, friends, scary movies, money, school and doing what’s right. Doug was a flawed character who had daydreams of whatever the issue was either going horrible wrong or right. He felt insecure and afraid and that I think was what made the show such a hit it was relatable.

So cheers to you Doug for making my childhood that much more awesome because of you! And as you say on tv “ah-e-o Killer Tofu”

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5508304

Hipster Judy:

The Beets:

Bangin on a Trash Can:
Original

Remix- “Think Big/One Little Voice”

Doug Rap (“That’s Mr. D to you”):

Doug Theme Song: