The Weekenders
| The Weekenders | |
|---|---|
 From left to right: Tino, Tish, Carver, and Lor | |
| Genre |
Comedy Slice of life |
| Created by | Doug Langdale |
| Starring |
Jason Marsden Grey DeLisle Phil LaMarr Kath Soucie |
| Opening theme | "Livin' for the Weekend" by Wayne Brady |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 39 (73 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Walt Disney Television Animation |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ABC (2000–2002) UPN (2001) Toon Disney (2002–2004) |
| Picture format | 480i (4:3 SDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | February 26, 2000 – February 29, 2004 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Project G.e.e.K.e.R. Dave the Barbarian |
The Weekenders is an American animated television series created by Doug Langdale. It centers on the weekend life of four seventh graders: Tino, Lor, Carver, and Tish. The series initially aired on ABC and UPN, but was later moved to Toon Disney.
Premise
The Weekenders details the weekend life of four ethnically diverse seventh graders: Tino Tonitini (Jason Marsden), a witty Italian-American oddball who makes bizarre and creepy obscurances of everything, Lorraine "Lor" McQuarrie (Grey DeLisle), a sporty Scottish-American tomboy who isn't the smartest person around, Carver Descartes (Phil LaMarr), a self-centered African-American fashionista who dreams of becoming a celebrity, and Petratishkovna "Tish" Katsufrakis (Kath Soucie), an artistic Jewish-American intellectual of Lithuanian descent who idolizes William Shakespeare.
The show was known for its distinctive animation style, similar to shows produced by Klasky-Csupo such as Rocket Power and As Told by Ginger. It is one of the few animated series where characters' outfits change from episode to episode. The series takes place in the fictional city of Bahia Bay, which is based on San Diego, California where the creator lived.[1]
The show's theme song, "Livin' for the Weekend", was performed by Wayne Brady and written by Brady and Roger Neill.
Production
The Weekenders premiered on February 26, 2000, as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC. From 2001 to 2002, it also aired as part of Disney's One Too on UPN on Sunday mornings.[2] In September 2002, the series moved to Toon Disney,[3] and new episodes began airing on October 19,[4] finishing on February 29, 2004.
Reruns of the series continued to air on Toon Disney from 2004 to 2006 and again in 2008, and also on Disney Channel in 2003.
Episodes
DVD releases
US (Region 1)
The entire show is now available on DVD on two volume sets sold exclusively through the Disney Movie Club[5] and Disney Movie eBay shop,[6] which makes The Weekenders the first Disney animated television show to have a full release on DVD.[7]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Weekenders: Volume 1 | 20 | March 5, 2013 |
| The Weekenders: Volume 2 | 19 | March 5, 2013 |
Reception
Critical reception
The Weekenders has received very positive reviews from critics and fans for its solid writing, upbeat energy and multi-dimensional characters.[8] It has an 8.5/10 rating on IMDB and similarly maintains an 8.7/10[9] on TV.com.[10]
Ratings
TV Guide dubbed The Weekenders as "the show that killed Pokémon," because ABC stole the ratings when they aired it at 10:00 am - the same time Pokémon aired on Kids' WB. In addition, Variety and the New York Post reported that The Weekenders took the number one rating on Saturday morning television, which knocked off Pokémon from its 54 consecutive weeks as the top spot.[11][12]
References
- ↑ "Mega Mirror: Hangin' With 4 Friends". The Mirror. 2000-11-11.
- ↑ "The Weekenders". www.bcdb.com, May 13, 2012
- ↑ Godfrey, Leigh (July 1, 2002). "Toon Disney Premieres Eight New Series In Fall 2002". Animation World Network. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ↑ "So wait there were episodes of the Weekenders that didn't air on ABC?". Toonzone.net. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
- ↑ "NEWS: The Weekenders hits DVD!". Disney Afternoon Forever. 2013-02-04.
- ↑ "Want to Buy DMC DVD's Without Joining the DMC? Now You Can!". Disney Afternoon Forever. 2013-07-14.
- ↑ "OVD Opinion Piece: What THE WEEKENDERS Means for Disney TV Cartoons on DVD". Disney Afternoon Forever. 2013-02-06.
- ↑ "DISNEY'S THE WEEKENDERS. - HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared". Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ "The Weekenders". 26 February 2000. Retrieved 28 June 2016 – via IMDb.
- ↑ TV.com. "The Weekenders". Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ Schneider, Michael (2000-05-05). "'The Weekenders' defeats 'Pokemon'". Variety.com.
- ↑ Kaplan, Don (2000-05-10). "'Pokemon Has a Lost Weekend'". nypost.com.
External links
- The Weekenders at the Internet Movie Database
- The Weekenders at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- The Weekenders at TV.com