Doug

Doug is an American animated sitcom that was created by Jim Jinkins and produced by Jumbo Pictures for the Nickelodeon network, as the first of their successful line of Nicktoons. Later on, the series was then produced for Disney for airing on ABC's One Saturday Morning block. Doug stars 6th grader Douglas Yancey Funnie.

Plot
The series takes place in the fictitious town of Bluffington (where Doug and his family had moved from Bloatsburg) and deals with the life and imagination of title character, grade-schooler and diarist Doug Funnie, his dog Porkchop, and good friends Skeeter Valentine and Patti Mayonnaise.

Nickelodeon's Doug (1991-1994)
Doug premiered on Nickelodeon on August 11, 1991, where it continued until December 16, 1994 and in reruns until 2003, being the first Nicktoon. As of 2009, Nickelodeon's Doug airs reruns on MTV’s affiliates KBEH and KMOH-TV (as a E/I program) in the USA and on Nicktoonsters in the UK.

In the first episode, Douglas Yancey Funnie and his family (Phil, Theda and sister Judy), come to a new town called Bluffington after moving away from their former residence in Bloatsburg. There he meets Skeeter, Patti, Roger and Beebe, and his new life in a new town begins.

Disney's Doug (1996–1999)
In 1996 Disney ordered new episodes of Doug to be produced (renamed Brand Spanking New! Doug and then later Disney's Doug) which was in production from 1996–1999.

Characters

 * Doug Yancey Funnie: The title character in Doug, he is a shy, extremely insecure, somewhat clumsy, 11 (12½ in the Disney version) year old boy with a big heart, a talent for television writing, and a love for music. Doug is an avid banjo player, and can often be found writing songs underneath trees about his secret affection for Patti Mayonnaise. At some point in every episode, Doug is seen writing (and dictating via voice-over) his thoughts in his personal journal, with "Dear Journal, It's me. Doug." In some episodes, his naïveté is expressed. He has several alter egos: a superhero named Quailman (parody of Superman), secret agent Smash Adams (parody of James Bond), explorer Race Canyon (parody of Indiana Jones), crime-stopper The Chameleon, cowboy Durango Doug (parody of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood cowboys), outlaw Jack Bandit (parody of Zorro), and Wafflestomper (seemingly a parody of Steven Seagal). He is also one of a few cartoon characters to be left-handed.
 * Roger Klotz: Doug's green-skinned rival, and first-known bully of the series, he once lived in a trailer park with his divorced mother but Disney had Roger's family become suddenly wealthy, and living in a mansion. Doug uses Roger as a villain in most of his fantasies, including "Klotzilla" and "Dr. Klotzenstein". Roger has a crush on Doug's sister Judy, and owns a cat named Stinky that rivals Porkchop. Roger plays lead electric guitar for his band and is also an accomplished ballet dancer, much to Doug's surprise. In the Disney episodes, while still technically a bully, he is also portrayed as being closer to Doug than in the Nickelodeon episodes, sometimes acting more as a friend. It is also shown that while Doug is a fairly creative artist, his drawing skill and painting ability pales in comparison to Roger's who was able to draw a highly detailed picture of a sunset, without looking at the paper and using only blue paint. His voice is reminiscent of Dave Mustaine, lead singer of the thrash metal group Megadeth.[citation needed]
 * Patti Mayonnaise: An orange-skinned blonde athlete, with a southern accent on whom Doug has a crush. Her physical talents include: basketball, baseball, ballet, bowling, weightlifting, and the fictional Beetball. She notes that for all her talents she is unable to cook. She seems to like Doug to a certain degree throughout the series, but it is unclear whether she fully reciprocates his feelings (though in one episode she does reveal that, of all the friends she has, she considers Doug the one she likes spending time with most). Her father, Chad, uses a wheelchair to get around, and her mother is deceased, as we learn in one episode after Doug causes her old house to cave in by throwing rocks at it. In some episodes of Disney's Doug, she has a super heroic persona named "Supersport".
 * Porkchop: Doug's semi-anthropomorphic dog who, while not able to talk, helps Doug in certain situations. He lives in an igloo in the Funnie family's backyard and a teepee in the Disney series. Porkchop makes typical dog sounds. His personality is similar to that of Snoopy.
 * Skeeter Valentine: Doug's lanky, aquamarine-skinned best friend. He is famous in both versions of the series for the "honk honk" sound he frequently makes as a nervous tic. Skeeter comes from a family who has lived in Bluffington for quite some time. He has a mischievous two year old brother, Dale, who gives Doug a hard time when Doug babysits him in one episode. He also has an on-again/off-again relationship with Beebe Bluff, a wealthy heiress whose family gave Bluffington its name. Skeeter initially helps Doug order food from the popular Bluffington restaurant "Honker Burger" (which is later demolished in the Disney version) in the series premiere (resulting in their friendship), and later helps Doug learn how to dance. He has a superhero alter-ego, whom he calls "Silver Skeeter", based on The Silver Surfer from Marvel, and is the equal of Quailman, Doug's superhero alter-ego. It is revealed that Skeeter is highly intelligent (much to Doug's discomfort), later gaining the respect of geeky twin brothers Al and Moo. In the Disney version, the three become obsessed with catching the Lucky Duck Lake monster.
 * Judy Anastasia Funnie: Doug's tan-skinned older sister, and the oddball of the family, she is obsessed with the works of William Shakespeare, and is a wanna-be actress and artist who attends a special art school (Moody School for the Mentally Impaired) for gifted individuals. She is a rather intelligent person, but at times is embarrassed by the banality of her family. She and Doug have normal bouts of sibling rivalry, but usually team together when faced with a problem. Her usual attire consists of her signature red hair, purple beret, an over-sized purple sweater with no sleeves, black shirt and pants, purple boots and on occasion sandals, and black sunglasses. She is the stereotypical hipster.
 * Bud Dink: A slightly eccentric, purple-skinned, retired neighbor of Doug Funnie's. Doug frequently goes to Mr. Dink for advice (somewhat used as a reference to when Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor goes to Wilson for advice on the live-action sitcom Home Improvement), particularly in the Nickelodeon episodes, but the advice Dink gives usually ends up making the situation worse for instance, in an episode where Doug fears he is going through premature male pattern baldness, Mr. Dink "assures" Doug that his own full head of hair was a toupée and that he had been bald since age 13. He is often seen with various outrageous gadgets, claiming them to be "very expensive," which is one of his signature phrases. Mr. Dink's wife also appears frequently in the series as a sarcastic but otherwise friendly counterpart to her husband's goofiness; Mrs. Dink eventually becomes mayor of Bluffington in the Disney version, defeating stereotypical politician Bob White.

Episodes
Main Article: List of Doug episodes