The end line bothered me every time because it doesn’t make any sense. The chemical plant trying to find her has nothing to do with her not being so average any more that would justify a “but”. A “because” maybe. But not a “but” since not being average isn’t in contrast to the plant wanting to experiment on her. Consequently I wanted to experiment on her too back in the day. 11 year old me saw a quirky blonde with a strong sense of ethics, cute smile and super powers and fell. in. looooovvez.
The show ran on Nickelodeon from October 8, 1994 to January 15, 1998, replacing Clarissa Explains It All on the SNICK line-up. Repeats of the series aired in 2003 on The N, but it was soon replaced there. The show is currently not on the air in the U.S.
The show focuses on a teenage girl, Alexandra “Alex” Mack, who becomes accidentally contaminated with an experimental chemical substance called GC-161. This results in certain powers, such as the ability to “zap” people and objects with an electrical charge, move objects by telekinesis, and morph her shape into a silvery liquid. Throughout the series, the owners of the chemical plant which had been researching GC-161 continuously search for the local kid who was contaminated in order to conduct experiments, although their attempts are futile. Alex’s best friend Ray, and her sister Annie, help her conceal the accident and her powers from her parents and others.
Later, this already great intro was replaced by an even more slick and snazzier version below:
Differences between the animated series and live-action film:
The premise of the animated series was greatly changed from the film, to the point where one only superficially resembled the other. Where in the film, Beetlejuice is the antagonist who ends up nearly marrying a disgusted Lydia, in the series they are best friends, and Lydia, socially misunderstood in the living world, frequently visits him in the afterlife. The Maitlands, the most significant characters in the film, are nowhere to be found in the series. Unlike the mind-numbing bureaucracy of the movie, the afterlife was converted into the “Neitherworld”, a bizarre and humorous parody of the real world, with the fact of it being the afterlife only rarely mentioned.
Episode formula
Episodes generally centered around the ghostly con-man Beetlejuice, his best (and only real) friend Lydia, and their adventures together in both the Neitherworld and the “real world”, a fictional New England town called Peaceful Pines (”Winter River” in the film). Beetlejuice’s core character, that of a ghostly con artist, remained the same, although in the cartoon he did not display the adamant lechery he did in the film outside of occasionally asking for a kiss. Lydia’s character went through comparatively greater change; she became far less “goth” than she was portrayed as in the movie and was presented as an upbeat girl who simply liked “weird” things such as spiders and horror movies (although, conversely, she tends to dress more gothically in the show than in the movie.) As in the film, Lydia could summon Beetlejuice out of the Neitherworld (or go there herself) by calling his name three times or as part of a chant:
“Though I know I should be wary,
Still I venture someplace scary;
Ghostly hauntings I turn loose …
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!”
Occasionally, there are other effects of this chant (for example, Lydia’s room changing to a gothic castle, or instead of Beetlejuice appearing, sometimes she goes to the Neitherworld).
Humor:
The show’s humor relied heavily on sight gags and wordplay, some of which was fairly sophisticated for its intended target audience, making it a favorite of a wide range of age groups. Many episodes, especially towards the end of the run, were parodies of famous films, books, and TV shows. It was kept clean (figuratively) in that it didn’t involve drugs or alcohol outside of mentioning that an old western town didn’t have a saloon because of the time slot.
Throughout the series, Beetlejuice would often try to scam residents of the Neitherworld — and, sometimes, the “real world” as well (Lydia’s parents were occasional unwitting victims of his pranks) — through various means, whether it be via baby-sitting (in which he actually sits on the babies) or trying to beat them in a race. Only Lydia, it seemed, was immune to his tricks; it was explicitly stated at several points that she was the only person Beetlejuice couldn’t deceive. It is also revealed that Beetlejuice is afraid of one thing more than anything else: Sandworms. This was hinted at in a single line of dialogue in the movie but expanded on greatly here. They appear as purple and green snake-like creatures with two pairs of eyes on top of each other and stegosaurus-like spines on their backs. Beetlejuice also has a major problem with nice things.
Series run
The series was a breakout hit for ABC in its initial season, and later became one of the first animated series to air on FOX’s weekday afternoon children’s lineup. This led to a situation whereby Beetlejuice was being seen Monday through Friday on FOX while still remaining on ABC’s Saturday morning schedule, making it one of the few shows in American television history to be aired concurrently on two different broadcast networks. Beetlejuice has aired in re-runs on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, and will air on Warner Bros. and AOL’s new broadband internet channel Toontopia TV.
I’m not sure if the host was actually annoyed with Reilly when he pulled this stunt, but it certainly turned out good.
I know. I’m gay for liking this. Or anything Charles Nelson Reilly did…
The movie just wouldn’t be complete complete without Ken Page (also the voice of Oogie Boogie) as King Gator, a huge and flamboyant alligator living below the streets of New Orleans. This awful, uncatchy, unentertaining, and friggin weird musical number is a parody of the elaborate water ballets seen in Esther Williams films.
Probably the worst or at least weirdest part of the film… Charlie and Ann Marie are ambushed by Carface and his sidekick Killer. Hiding in a dilapidated warehouse, they fall through the crumbling floor and into a flooded underground cavern. There they are captured by a tribe of mice who plan to sacrifice them to King Gator. Moments from being devoured, Charlie lets out a melodic howl of anguish. King Gator, a camp character with a penchant for musical theatre-style songs, instantly develops a liking for Charlie’s voice and sets him and Anne-Marie free.
Levar runs into Kermit the Frog while in the pig section of the library in this classic clip. Busted trying to research stuff about his porcine sweetie. nice.
This aired on the episode “Perfect the Pig” (my favorite) in 1985 when Kermit was still voiced by Jim Henson and was awesome. I love the awkward ending “ye-eh, absolutely”…
The first season of ReBoot was highly episodic, with each installment being a self-contained episode. Most of the episodes established characters, locations, and story elements, such as the gigantic “Game Cubes”. When “The User” loads a game, a Game Cube drops on a random location in Mainframe, sealing it off from the rest of the system and turning it into a “gamescape”. Bob frequently enters the games, “Reboots” to become a game character, and fights the User’s character to save the sector. If the User wins a game, the sector the Cube fell in is destroyed, and the Sprites and binomes who were caught within are turned into energy-draining, worm-like parasites called Nulls.
The soundtrack version with the background music clearer, sans the cheesy underwater effect, and clearer voice is much better than the original. Still a terrible song though. Scar does a great job with it nonetheless.