Doug

Doug was the first Nicktoon. It stars Doug as he attempts to survive sixth grade.
A unique trait in the show's animation is the lack of a consistent skin color. Only the Funnies, Patti Mayonnaise, the Whites, and Ned (among other minor characters) have actual human skin colors. The rest have random coloration (for example, Roger's skin is green).
==Characters==
*Douglas Yancey "Doug" Funnie- an average sixth-grader who narrates the episodes through his journal entries. He is eleven and a half years old. He has many alter-egos, doesn't like his journal being called a diary (although he referred to it as a diary in the pilot), and hates his middle name. However, Mr. Schilaki believed in one episode that "Yancey" is the "good Doug", which should replace the troublemaking Doug. Judy also referred to Doug as Yancey when she cast him as her butler upon having her boyfriend over. Doug often shows his naïveté, which is greater than you would expect for his age. He is also lefthanded.
*Mosquito "Skeeter" Valentine- Doug's best friend who is very hip and makes random sound effects. Despite his odd personality, he has a very high IQ. He has blue skin.
*Roger Klotz- the bully of Bluffington Middle School, has been in sixth grade for three years. Lives in a trailer park. He has green skin.
*Lydia Funnie- Doug's cheerful mom. She has blue hair.
*Phil Funnie- Doug's dad who works at a photo studio. He was in college during the hippie movement. He is always willing to provide advice.
*Judy Funnie- Doug's artistic, egotistical sister. She goes to a private school.
*Porkchop- Doug's anthropomorphic dog. Despite acting like a human being, he cannot talk and no one seems to find it amazing he can act like a human.
*Stinky- Roger's cat who was originally thought to be male, but turned out to be female after she had kittens. She is pink.
*Mrs. Wingo- Doug's kindly teacher. She has yellow-green skin.
*Budd Dink- Doug's goofy next-door neighbor who is always buying "very expensive" things. He and his wife have purple skin.
*Tippy Dink-  Budd's more logical wife who finds her husband annoying at times.
*The Beets- the most popular rock band in the show; a parody of the Beatles, but with a style more like that of the Ramones
**Monroe Yoder- bassist and frontman; name is almost an anagram of Ramone. He has the appearance of John Lennon with a bit of Roger Daltrey of The Who.
**Chap Lipman- "world's greatest drummer"; name is a pun on "chapped lips"; his title (mentioned by Doug) is also a common description of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, whom he resembles.
**Flounder- lead guitar. Resembles Peter Tork of The Monkees.
**Their songs are:
***I Need Mo' Allowance
***Shout Your Lungs Out
***Killer Tofu
*Mr. Schilaki- the goofy guidance counselor of Bluffington Middle School
*Mr. Swirly- the local ice cream man
*Lamar Bone- the Vice Principal and strict disciplinarian of Bluffington Middle School; apparently fears even removing a wart from his pinky; his greatest wish is to be treated like a friend by everyone. His greatest passion is yodeling.
*Bob White- the Mayor of Bluffington, always campaigning for an upcoming election
*Bee Bee Bluff- the spoiled rich girl of the school. She has a crush on Skeeter. She has pink skin.
*Patti Mayonnaise- a good friend of Doug's, and his love interest; is African American with a Southern accent; she is also blond. In one episode, it is revealed that she had moved from another neighborhood after her mother died.
*The Bluffs- a very powerful rich family, and descendants of the founders of Bluffington
*Mr. Butsavage- the unseen principal of Bluffington Middle School
*Connie Benge- a naïve girl who has a small crush on Doug
*Roger's gang
**Boomer Bledsoe-name is based on NFL quarterbacks Boomer Esiason and Drew Bledsoe. He has green, spiky hair.
**Ned Cauphee- has ten siblings. His left eye is larger than his right. He is always revealing the flaws in Roger's plans.
*Willie White- Mayor White's son. Ran for class treasurer against Doug, with heavy support from his father.
*Chalky Studebaker- an athletic type whose last name comes from a long-defunct car company. His skin is fluorescent yellow and his hair is spiky blue.
*Coach Spitz- Doug's PE teacher
*Al and Moo Sleech- nerdy twin boys with pale grey skin
*Fentruck- a foreign exchange student from Yakistonia. He is green.
==Doug's Alter-Egos==
*Quailman- his most common alter-ego. Wear's "clean underwear over his pants" along with a belt around his head with part of it sticking up like the top knot of a quail. Uses the "powers of the quail": patience, intelligence, and speed. His superpowers are flight and the Quail Eye, which renders his enemies "helpless and stupefied". Occasionally accompanied by Silver Skeeter, a parody of the Silver Surfer. Also accompanied by Quaildog, whose power is the "Quail Tail".
*Wafflestomper- a parody of Steven Segal
*Smash Adams- a parody of James Bond
*Race Canyon- a parody of Indiana Jones. Accompanied by Skeetari, a parody of Hatari.
*The Chameleon- a master of disguise and super spy type.
*Jack Bandit- an imaginary alter-ego that Doug Funnie disguises himself as in the episode Doug Gets Busted in order to avoid getting in trouble for a faulty model volcano.
==Controversy==
* In one episode, it is revealed that Patti likes her burgers rare. The FDA strongly recommends cooking meat to at least medium to avoid foodborne illness.
* In one episode, Doug learns to like liver and onions
==Specials==
*Christmas- Doug tries to write a Christmas list while his parents are expecting a new baby. His list is strangely mistaken for suggestions for baby names, and his new little sister is named "Dirtbike".
*Halloween- Doug dresses as Indiana Jones parody Race Canyon as he and his friends go to a spooky amusement park.
==Disney==
*After Nickelodeon canceled the show in 1995, Disney picked it up with a new movie. Eventually, a new show with a twelve-year-old Doug entering Bee Bee Bluff Middle School would debut on ABC's One Saturday Morning block in 1997. Many fans believe this is when the show jumped the shark.
===Changes===
*Roger becomes rich and rivals Bee Bee
*Skeeter undergoes a growth spurt
*The Honker Burger, the popular hamburger joint in the original show, is turned into the French restaurant "Chet Honque" and subsequently replaced by ice cream parlor Swirly's as the local hangout.
*Doug turns twelve enters puberty. He approaches thirteen by the end of the show.
*Cleopatra Dirtbike Funnie, Doug's little sister, is born
*Connie loses significant weight
*The Beets break up
*Mrs. Dink becomes Mayor of Bluffington after it is revealed how corrupt incumbent mayor Bob White is.
*A new character, Guy Graham, becomes the show's antagonist.
*Patti only goes to class in the afternoons, homeschooling in the morning
==DVD==
*Viacom authorized Amazon to release burn-on-demand copies of the show for DVD.
==iTunes==
The show is available on iTunes
==Trivia==
===Pop Culture Allusions===
*In the episode "Doug Can't Dance", Roger is dressed as a hammer at a costume party, and in one scene says "It's hammer time!" This is a reference to rapper MC Hammer.
**In the same episode, Doug imagines himself as a breakdancer wearing parachute pants. This fashion was made famous by MC Hammer.
*In one episode, Doug is looking for new shoes. He tries out Sky Davis Air Jets. These are a reference to Air Jordans, an extremely popular line of athletic shoes marketed by NBA legend Michael Jordan. The "Sky Davis" name is a reference to Michael Jordan's nickname "Air Jordan".
*In one episode, Doug wins a Super Pretendo, a parody of the Super Nintendo.
**The game that comes with the console, Space Monks, is a possible reference to Star Fox, which came out a year later. This is possible because the game most likely was receiving a lot of hype at the time, as its graphics would become extremely innovative for its time, using polygonal 32-bit graphics as opposed to the traditional sixteen bit of the SNES. Also, Space Monks appears to be a space shooter, much like Star Fox.
*Doug's imaginary portrayal of Mr. Butsavage is similar to a scene from the Wizard of Oz
*In the music video for "Think Big", Doug is seen wearing a Michael Jackson outfit complete with his glove. Doug even dances in a similar manner to Jackson, and the video appears to be a parody of his Black or White video. BeeBee, interrupting Doug throughout the video, appears to be dressed as Madonna. At the end, Doug and Skeeter wear giant suits reminiscent of the big suits of new wave band Talking Heads.
*Skeeter's favorite book series is the Bucktooth Boys, a parody of the Hardy Boys
*One of Doug's depictions of Roger is "Klotzilla", a parody of Godzilla
**Another is "Dr. Klotzenstein", a reference to "Dr. Frankenstein".
*It was revealed that The Beets used to make basement tapes, a reference to folk musician Bob Dylan.
*Doug's dad played for a group called the Psychedelic Fuzz, a reference to post punk band The Psychedelic Furs. However, the Furs were an eighties band while the Fuzz was a sixties band.
*In one episode, Doug tries to lose weight by watching exercise videos starring Ronald Weisenheimer, a parody of actor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger.
*In one episode, everyone follows the latest fashions from teen soap opera Teenheart Street, a possible reference to Beverly Hills 90210
*Quailman wearing underwear over his pants is an allusion to the classic outfits of superheroes in which they appear to be wearing briefs outside their pants.
*In one episode, Doug exaggerates a memory of a pony ride into a story of his "cowboy adventures". His horse was named Tornado, likely a reference to Zorro's horse Toronado.
*It is likely that Swirly's was based on Foster's Freeze
*One of Doug's fantasies is a rap video that was a parody of Gonna Make You Sweat
*In Doug's Babysitter, Doug is forced to watch "Top Prison Guard", a parody of America's Most Wanted
*In one episode, Doug tries to look different because every time he tries a new attempt at looking original, television celebrity Dylan Farnum (a parody of Beverly Hills 90210 actor Luke Perry) would already be wearing it
===Remarks===
* In the episode "Doug Takes a Hike", Doug joins the Bluff Scouts. While they are supposed to be a parody of the Boy Scouts, earning a badge is done in a contest form. In reality, merit badges are earned individually through complex requirements. Also, the task required for the badge is easy and would be more appropriate for Cub Scout belt loops.
**Doug's first rank is "tendertoe", a reference to "tenderfoot", the second Boy Scout rank.
**Doug and Roger encounter a "simple green snake", which Doug somehow identifies as harmless and is able to communicate with using dog trick commands despite having never met it before. Also, snakes cannot hear but only react to vibration.
*In one episode, the Funnies take a trip to the Painted Gorge, which is based on the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert.
**In the same episode, Doug and Judy somehow convince their parents to take them to ultimately pointless tourist traps. The attractions are hundreds of miles away, so it's odd that they were able to do everything in one day.
*The language and people of Yakistonia are referred to as "Yakistonesian" rather than "Yakistonian".
*During his Nickelodeon month, popular internet reviewer Nostalgia Critic dedicated one review to Nicktoons. His impressions of Doug included the fact that his childhood was ruined by the fact that he had the same name and the criticism of the music "farting" (it is actually beat boxing). He also mistakes the show for taking place in high school when in fact it is clearly stated that Doug is eleven and in sixth grade. He would make the same mistake when reviewing Doug's First Movie. He also criticizes the fact that most of the characters have unusual skin color and how all the last names are strange.
*In the first episode, Doug is unable to order at the Honker Burger because he does not know the jargon of the restaurant. Most fast food places only use the nicknames for the orders when speaking from one employee to another. Customers can usually make general orders. Also, this instance is a reference to a practice that even today has not been seen in several decades.
**Also in the episode, Doug orders four grape sodas. This may indicate that the Honker Burger is not a chain, as fast food places usually have a tap for customers.
*In one episode, Doug enters the Ponzi Puzzle contest, only to move into round after round, paying more and more money each time.
**The word "ponzi" is associated with ponzi schemes, whereby investors' returns are paid for directly by later investments, giving the false impression that the investment is viable
**When Doug becomes a "grand superbonus finalist", Doug's father asks "Along with how many others?". Doug responds "I don't know. A couple?". His father responds "I'm glad you see my point, son.". Clearly, he doesn't.
===Other===
*In the graduation episode, Roger claims he's been in sixth grade for three years. Since the average sixth grader is eleven years old, that would make him thirteen years old.
*Doug and Skeeter met the Beets three times. They first jammed with them at the Honker Burger, receiving official tour jackets (while Roger went to their concert, "almost seeing them" from the last row using his binoculars). They also helped the Beets set up their equipment and watched from the stage at another concert. The Beets also performed at Bluffington Middle School with Lamar Bone's group, the Bluffington Yodelers, as the opening act (the group being the inspiration for The Beets to perform "I Need More Allowance", which features yodeling).
*In the first episode, Roger has Doug capture a "Nematoad". There is something called a "nematode", but it is microscopic.
*Judging by the traditional performance of the Bluffington Founders Day Pageant, the city was established in the seventeenth century.
*In one episode, Roger falls in love with Judy. In an attempt to woo her, Roger recites a passage from Romeo and Juliet, albeit overacting (even trilling the R in "arise"). He also makes a mistake in saying that the envious moon "is already sick and peeling grapes". The correct line is "already sick and pale with grief".
*In one episode, it is discovered that Skeeter is a genius. One of the books Skeeter reads is A Critique of Pure Reason. This book was published in 1781 by Immanuel Kant. When Doug tries to read it, he has trouble with the word "apodictic". This word means "Clearly established or beyond dispute".
*The name "Weisenheimer" would also be used in an episode of Rugrats.
*One episode references the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
*In the vacation episode they go to the "poetic Blythe Field", named after a famous poet. While there is no such field, there is a poet named Ronald Blythe.
*In one episode, Doug takes up magic. His magic words are "veni vidi vici". This is Latin for "I came. I saw. I conquered." and is commonly attributed to Julius Caesar.
Since Doug is eleven at the time of the shows debut in 1991, that means he was born in 1980. 
Category:Nicktoons