The Recess Gang

File:Recess.png  **The Recess Gang** is the name given by fans to the group of six Third Street School students that act as the main protagonists of Disney's *Recess*. The group are all best friends, always hanging around with each other, with its leader being TJ Detweiler, and unofficial seconds-in-command being Ashley Spinelli and Vince LaSalle.

The group originally only contained five people. However, with the arrival of Gus Griswald in the second episode, "The New Kid", it became six. Often, the group will join up with other kids who take part of the gang's plans.

 File:Recess Gang's Orgin.png

## About

The gang is six peerless elementary school students who are all friends and pull pranks, solve problems, etc. around the Third Street School. Although there were originally five members, they became a group of six with the arrival of Gus in "The New Kid".

## Members

### Official

#### **TJ Detweiler**

TJ Detweiler is the protagonist of the series. He is the ringleader of the Recess Gang. T.J. is usually a mischievous young boy, and often enjoys playing pranks on Miss Finster, Principal Prickly, and Randall Weems.

#### **Vince LaSalle**

Vince's superior athletic abilities compared to those of his friends often made him egoistic. However, deep down, he knows how important his friends are to him. He and Spinelli are considered T.J.'s right hand.

#### **Ashley Spinelli**

Spinelli is the tomboyish substitute ringleader of the Recess Gang. She is the most aggressive and antagonistic kid in the gang. She watches wrestling and is known as the toughest kid on the playground.

#### **Gretchen Grundler**

 File:The-gang-after-the-trial-in-the-biggest-trouble-ever.png
Gretchen is an academically talented and extremely intelligent student. She has a big heart, as seen when she helps tutor her friends and sometimes even those, she dislikes such as Randall Weems.

#### **Mikey Blumberg**

Mikey is the most sensitive and most kind in the group. Many think that Mikey is a bully just because of his height, but, as once described by T.J., "He wouldn't hurt a fly".

#### **Gus Griswald**

Gus is the newest member of the Recess gang. Gus is a good-natured, if occasionally naive, boy, as his recent attendance at Third Street made him aware of the school's traditions such as the kindergarten derby.

### Unofficial

#### **Cornchip Girl**

In a few episodes, it is shown that Cornchip Girl will run over to the gang to alert them of any mishaps going on the playground.

#### **The Pale Kids**

After T.J. befriends the Pale Kids in "Lord of the Nerds", they have helped the gang out on different occasions, such as "Spinelli's Masterpiece" - where they were able to take a satellite image of Spinelli's chalk drawing

#### **The Kindergartners**

The Kindergartners, mainly King Sticky, Hector, and Tubby, sometimes look up to the gang and will assist them in some of their schemes.

#### **Randall**

Although he's one of their primary enemies, Randall has turned to the gang for help on occasions and vice versa, usually to benefit only one side, and they return to their rivalry by the end.

#### **Menlo**

Menlo is another kid of the school the gang is not fond of, and he shares the same feelings towards them. However, there have been a few occasions where one side has turned to the other for help. It is revealed in one episode he and T.J. were best friends in preschool but drifted apart. T.J. made a promise to him that no matter what happened between them, he would attend his birthday party every year. Menlo is usually treated as the "guy on the inside".

## Lawson's Crew

In the 20-minute special episode "Lawson and his Crew", Lawson organized his own crew after being jealous of T.J. and the gang making things better, getting all the glory and getting rewards from King Bob. His crew was another version of the protagonist gang. Lawson's crew, however, became better than its rivals and took care of everything first, so then they ended up getting all the glory, took care of all the problems and made everything better. The Gang, though, did not really care about glory; they were just happy being friends, and being friends was the only thing T.J. and his crew had that Lawson, and his crew did not. Because Lawson and his crew were only team members and not friends, they did not remain a crew permanently like T.J.'s crew. Eventually Lawson's crew dissolved, and Lawson went back to hanging out with his two friends, Jocko and Cheay, as he realized, "Maybe a kid needs friends more than glory".

## Trivia

* The gang in the pilot episode (re-made into "The Break In") had the same personalities as they do in the series proper, but not the same appearances. The "beta" gang can be seen on a preview to the series on the 1997 VHS tapes of the live-action *101 Dalmatians* and *Doug's Birthday Blues*, as well as on certain station IDs for ABC during Disney's One Saturday Morning (also using clips from *101 Dalmatians: The Series*, *Disney's Doug*, and *Pepper Ann*), depending on the station's area.
* Each member of the main group specializes in at least one certain sport:
	+ T. J. is skilled at baseball and kickball.
	+ Spinelli is into full contact sports like wrestling and boxing.
	+ Vince is good at almost every sport.
	+ Mikey is an ace soccer goalie.
	+ Gus specializes in dodgeball.
	+ Gretchen is a skilled competitive yo-yo player.
* With the exception of Gus, The Recess Gang are the only characters to appear in every episode of the series.