Recess

**Recess** is an American television series created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere.

It focuses on six elementary school students and their interaction with other classmates and teachers.

The series premiered on ABC on September 13, 1997 and aired for six seasons on UPN until November 5, 2001.

## Plot

Recess portrays the lives of six fourth graders: cheeky and popular lovable rogue Theodore Jasper "T.J." Detweiler, jock Vince LaSalle, tomboy Ashley Spinelli, wise fool Mikey Blumberg, nerdy child prodigy Gretchen Grundler, and awkward new kid Gus Griswald, as they go about their daily lives in a school environment at Third Street Elementary School located in Arkansas. A major satirical point of the show is that the community of students at school is a microcosm of traditional human society complete with its own government, class system, and set of unwritten laws. They are ruled by a monarch, a sixth grader named King Bob, who has various enforcers to make sure his decrees are carried out. The society has a long list of rigid values and social norms that imposes a high expectation of conformity upon all the students.

Recess is illustrated to be a symbol of liberty, a time when children can express themselves and develop meaningful relationships. Most episodes involve one or more of the main six characters seeking a rational balance between individuality and social order. They are often defending their freedom against perceived threats by adults and school administration or social norms. The group's leader, T.J. Detweiler, tends to have the most complete vision of this struggle, though even he has times when he inadvertently leads the group too far toward an extreme of conformity or non-conformity, and needs to be drawn back to even ground by his friends.

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Theodore Jasper "T.J." Detweiler
	+ Ross Malinger (Season 1-2)
	+ Andrew Lawrence (Season 2-6)
* Rickey D'Shon Collins as Vincent "Vince" LaSalle
* Pamela Adlon as Ashley Funicello Spinelli
* Ashley Johnson as Gretchen Priscilla Grundler
* Jason Davis as Michael "Mikey" Blumberg
* Courtland Mead as Gustav Patton "Gus" Griswald

### Recurring

* April Winchell as Muriel P. Finster
* Dabney Coleman as Principal Peter Prickly
* Allyce Beasley as Miss Alordayne Grotke
* Ryan O'Donohue as Randall J. Weems
* Erik von Detten as Erwin Lawson
* Toran Caudell as King Robert "Bob"
* Michael Shulman as Hustler Kid / Singing Kid
* Klee Bragger as Guru Kid
* Francesca Marie Smith as Swinger Girl / Upside Down Girl
* Ryan O'Donohue and Klee Bragger as The Diggers
* Mayim Bialik as Kristen Kurst
* Kath Soucie as Butch

## Films

* Recess: School's Out (2001)
* Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street (2001)
* Recess: All Growed Down (2003)
* Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade (2003)

## Production

Recess first aired on ABC on August 31, 1997, as a "sneak preview", after which it transitioned to ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning programming block, premiering on September 13, 1997. The series' success spawned three direct-to-video titles Recess Trilogy: Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street in 2001, Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade and Recess: All Growed Down in 2003; and one theatrical film, Recess: School's Out, which was released on February 16, 2001. The series ended on November 5, 2001; reruns continued to air on UPN until 2003 and ABC until 2004.

Disney Channel added Recess to their line-up on September 3, 2003. Fillmore!, The Legend of Tarzan, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command were all pre-empted in favour of a 90-minute showing of the series. It temporarily ceased airing on September 2, 2005, but resumed on August 26, 2008 replacing The Buzz on Maggie, and continued until June 30, 2010.

Toon Disney aired the show from September 3, 2003 to February 12, 2009. When Toon Disney was converted to Disney XD, the series was carried over and aired from April 14, 2009 to October 27, 2011.

## Reception

### Critical Response

Television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz wrote favourably about Recess in their 2016 book TV (The Book), stating that the series is "Easily one of the smartest, most prankishly playful adult cartoons ever passed off as children's entertainment.... Recess is a highly ritualized bit of entertainment that strikes the same notes over and over again, but always in infinite variation and with a surprising eye for psychological grace notes, especially when characters you thought of as brusque and one-dimensional reveal their fears and dreams to one another."