My Life as a Teenage Robot

***My Life as a Teenage Robot***, or ***Teenage Robot*** (abbreviated as ***MLAATR***), is an American animated superhero science fantasy television series created by Rob Renzetti for Nickelodeon. It was produced by Frederator Studios in association with Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Set in the fictional town of Tremorton, the series follows the adventures of a robot girl named XJ-9, or Jenny, as she prefers to be called, who attempts to juggle her duties of protecting Earth while trying to live a normal human life as a teenager. Renzetti pitched the series to Frederator Studios' animated shorts showcase *Oh Yeah! Cartoons* and a pilot titled "My Neighbor is a Teenage Robot", which aired on January 5, 1999. Viewer approval ratings led to the commissioning of a half-hour series, which premiered on August 1, 2003; after airing its first two seasons, the series was cancelled in terms of production because of poor ratings. The completed third season eventually aired on Nickelodeon's spinoff network Nicktoons from October 4, 2008, to May 2, 2009, officially ending the series in terms of airing. The series totaled three seasons, each consisting of 13 episodes. *My Life as a Teenage Robot* received mostly positive reviews from critics, being nominated for numerous awards, most prominently one Primetime Emmy Award and eleven Annie Awards.

## Why It Rocks

1. Unique animation style and background design that blends Art Deco with character designs styled like old Popeye/Betty Boop cartoons.
2. Plenty of likable characters like Jenny, Dr. Wakeman, Brad, Tuck, and Sheldon.
3. Jenny is very relatable, charming, and adorable.
4. Cool and memorable villains like the Cluster and the Space Bikers. Vexus, in particular, is the series' main antagonist and is voice by the late Eartha Kitt, who also voiced Yzma from *The Emperor's New Groove*.
5. Apart from saving the world, Jenny's motives and situations are extremely relatable to teenagers, such as just wanting to hang out with friends rather than the deadly responsibilities she has to overcome that'll distract her from doing that.
6. Many funny moments, such as Jenny's temper tantrums and Smytus' "disguise" as an Ukrainian model (a shout out to Ruslana winning the 2004 Eurovision song contest).
7. Teaches morals and principals that brought fun and learning together, such as to not let drama overcome your personal life.
8. An original, exciting, and inventive plot of a teenage robot girl who has to constantly save the world while also wanting a normal teenage life.
9. Adventurous, relatable, and creative episode plots, even if they take it from high school comedy/dramas
10. Amazing and entertaining action sequences.
11. Very well-done drama and romance that is handled better than most of later Nickelodeon sitcoms.
12. Awesome, catchy theme song.
13. Good voice acting, especially from Janice Kawaye, Candi Milo, Eartha Kitt, and Steve Blum.

## Bad Qualities

1. Sometimes it can get kind of mean spirited, mostly towards Jenny.
2. There are some pretty unlikable characters like the Crust Cousins, Brit and Tiff, who bully Jenny at school, though they do undeniably make good antagonists towards her. Plus, both Brit and Tiff have good chemistry and Moira Quirk and Cree Summer are good at making very unpleasant characters.
	* Dr. Wakeman's overbearing attitude and Tuck's overly mischievous personality occasionally makes them unlikable as well.
	* Sheldon's repetitive crush on Jenny and his penchant of stalking her can also be a bit creepy and annoying.
3. Some episodes have debatably weak plots like "The Boy Who Cried Robot", "I Was a Preschool Dropout", "Last Action Zero", "A Pain In My Sidekick", and "Girl of Steal".
4. The final episode "Turncoats" was not really a good way to end the show.
5. Unfunny toilet humor from time to time, like Dr. Wakeman telling Tuck that she is not wearing pants at the end of the episode "Armagedroid".