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 Mayonaise, 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 first episode), 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. He is also left-handed.

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.

Roger Klotz- the bully of Bluffington Middle School, has been in sixth grade for three years. Lives in a trailer park.

Lydia Funnie- Doug's cheerful mom

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

Mrs. Wingo- Doug's kindly teacher

Budd Dink- Doug's goofy next-door neighbor who is always buying "very expensive" things

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.

Patti Mayonaise- 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 naive girl who has a small crush on Doug

Roger's gang
- Boomer Bledsoe-name is based on NFL quarterbacks Boomer Esiason and Drew Bledsoe.
- 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.
Mrs. Wingo- Doug's kindly teacher.
Coach Spitz- Doug's PE teacher
Al and Moo Sleech- nerdy twin boys
Fentruck- a foreign exchange student from Yakistonia

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 stupified". 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.

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.

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.
- 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.

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.
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 indie 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

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 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.
- Additionally, Doug refers to snakes as "harmless". Many snakes are in fact venomous, although the one Doug and Roger find is a simple green snake, possibly a garter snake.
- Doug's first rank is "tendertoe", a reference to "tenderfoot", the second Boy Scout rank.
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.
In the first episode, Roger has Doug capture a "Nematoad". There is something called a "nematode", but it is microscopic.
The language and people of Yakistonia are referred to as "Yakistonesian" rather than "Yakistonian".
Judging by the traditional performance of the Bluffington Founders Day Pageant, the city was established in the seventeenth century.
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.
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.
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.
One episode references the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.