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| network = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
| network = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
| first_aired = [[September 13]], [[1997]]
| first_aired = [[September 13]], [[1997]]
| last_aired = [[December 9]], [[2003]]
| last_aired = [[November 1]], [[2001]]
| num_episodes = 69 ([[List of Recess episodes|Episode List]])
| num_episodes = 69 ([[List of Recess episodes|Episode List]])
| num_seasons = 7
| num_seasons = 7
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[[Category:Television shows set in California]]
[[Category:Television shows set in California]]
[[Category:1997 television series debuts]]
[[Category:1997 television series debuts]]
[[Category:2003 television series endings]]
[[Category:2001 television series endings]]
[[Category:1990s American television series]]
[[Category:1990s American television series]]
[[Category:1990s American animated television series]]
[[Category:1990s American animated television series]]

Revision as of 01:20, 3 December 2008

Recess
Created byPaul Germain
Joe Ansolabehere
StarringRoss Malinger
(1997-1998)
Andrew Lawrence
(1998-2001)
Rickey D'Shon Collins
Pamela Adlon
Ashley Johnson
Jason Davis
Courtland Mead
Allyce Beasley
April Winchell
(1997-1999)
Dabney Coleman
Ryan O'Donohue
Toran Caudell
Erik von Detten
Blake McIver Ewing
Anndi McAfee
Helen Slayton-Hughes
(1999-2001)
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes69 (Episode List)
Production
Running time20 minutes with commercials (mostly two 10-minute segments)
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 13, 1997 –
November 1, 2001

Recess is an American animated television series that was created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Recess focuses on six elementary school students and their interaction with other classmates and teachers.

Premise

The series is centered around the interaction between the six main characters of the series. Typical plots involved the group banding together in order to unravel government conspiracies, or attempting to outwit their teacher chaperons. Usually, every episode ends with one of the characters learning an important life lesson. Recess is at Third Street Elementary School, and usually focuses time the characters spend playing outdoors during recess. The outdoor environment of Third Street Elementary School is littered with typical playground equipment, and obscure structures (most notably the Ashley Clubhouse and the jungle gym, Ol' Rusty). During this time, the children are governed by a pseudo-monarchy, and required to conduct themselves according to a clichéd set of unwritten laws. The Show ends with the episode Halloween, which was just the third and last part of the TV Movie, Recess: Taking The Fifth Grade.

Production

Recess premiered on ABC's One Saturday Morning programming block on September 13, 1997. Despite coexisting with big-name Disney shows like Pepper Ann and Doug, Recess established itself as one of the most popular and successful shows of its time. Recess 's success spawned two direct to video titles and one theatrical film, Recess: School's Out, which was released in 2001.

The series was canceled in 2001, and Disney stopped airing new episodes after November 1, 2001, but still continued to show episodes on ABC's One Saturday Morning and UPN's Disney's One Too programming blocks until 2003 when both blocks were phased out. Re-runs also aired on ABC Kids until September 2005 (when the block turned into an all Disney Channel line-up). It also remained on the Disney Channel until 2003. Disney Channel has put it back in their weekday morning schedule and Toon Disney airs it also. So far, the episodes from Season 6 have not been shown again since their initial airing. [1] The cancellation led to Disney still releasing the unaired episodes to video. In 2003, two direct-to-video movies were made of Recess. Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade, one of the films, was actually made up of three different Recess episodes that take place in what can only be called a previously unreleased and unfinished seventh season where all the characters are now in the fifth grade. Reruns of the show still run everyday on Toon Disney. Canada still shows reruns of Recess on the Family channel, run by Cesar Reano [2].

Characters

Main characters

File:Recesscast.png
The Six Main Stars Of Recess (actors above, characters below).

Along with the six main characters, Recess featured a plethora of other characters from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

  • Theodore Jasper "T.J." Detweiler
Main article: T. J. Detweiler
T.J. is the ringleader of his five best friends. He usually spends time planning pranks against the teachers, at which he is quite talented. His siblings include an older sister named Becky who was seen in Recess: School's Out and was voiced by Melissa Joan Hart. T.J. has good leadership skills, and has a talent for speaking in public. He was voiced by Ross Malinger from 1997-1998, and Andrew Lawrence afterward. He also has a crush on Spinelli and it is seen in some episodes.
  • Vincent Pierre "Vince" LaSalle
Known around 3rd Street as "the cool one", Vince is the most talented athlete in school. Vince is also a skilled chef. His biggest rival is Lawson, a fifth grader who regularly engages him in competitions. He was voiced by Rickey D'Shon Collins.
  • Ashley Funicello Spinelli
Spinelli is a tomboy and a wrestling fan. Spinelli hates her first name, "Ashley", because of the other 'Ashley girls'. Both of her parents often embarrass her in front of her friends and in public and once her mother forced her to attend Ballet classes to make a girl of her--thus, she does not tolerate much interaction between her parents and friends. In one episode, Don't Ask Me, Spinelli demonstrated her usage of Savate, a French Martial Art. Spinelli's mother at one point remarks that Spinelli has a crush on TJ; however, it should be noted that this assertion is never confirmed or even referred to again in the show. Spinelli was voiced by Pamela Segall Adlon. She also has a crush on T.J which is very easy to see in some episdoes. At one point Spinelli was forced to join The Ashleys. Spinelli's middle name is a parody of former Mousketeer Annette Funicello.
  • Gretchen Priscilla Grundler
Gretchen is academically talented and extremely intelligent, and is known as "Smart Girl" on the playground. She is the only female that wears eyeglasses in the series, except for Miss Finster, Miss Grotke,and Library kid. She has shown the ability to do Sixth Grade work and probably that of a higher level. She is also assisted by a calculator sized handheld machine called a Galileo (probably a parody of the Apple Newton), voiced by Eric Idle. She was voiced by Ashley Johnson.
  • Michael "Mikey" Blumberg
Mikey is chubby, mild-mannered, and philosophical. He writes poetry, performs ballet, doesn't stand up for himself, and believes in notions of peace that are often dismissed by the others.Mikey's speaking voice was provided by Jason Davis and his singing voice was provided by Robert Goulet.
  • Gustav Patton "Gus" Griswald. A.K.A El Diablo
The newest kid in Third Street, Gus is usually naive to the rules of the playground and its traditions. He is not the only male that wears eyeglasses in the series, Principal Prickly, Menlo and the Diggers also wear glasses. Gus comes from a very disciplined military family, which caused his family to move around frequently.He is also a master at dodgeball and has never been (or ever will be) beaten and is known as "El Diablo" (spanish for "The Devil") He was voiced by Courtland Mead.

Other characters

  • Muriel P. Finster
Miss Finster is an aging but harsh assistant teacher who reminisces of her days in Guam and is the children's constant nemesis on the playground. She is feared by all and is always closely followed by her teacher's pet, the equally nefarious Randall C. Weems, who is largely disliked by the other students. Miss Finster has a crush on Hank and she's friends with Spinelli's parents.
  • Principal Pete Prickly
Principal Prickly is the irritable head of Third Street School, though his personality may have been influenced by his older, nastier brother who is also an elementary school principal. In the episode featuring a hypnotist it is revealed that he was born in the month of June.
  • Randall C. Weems
Randall is the resident snitch of the playground. He is at the beck and call of Miss Finster, who rewards him with various confiscated items. He pesters T.J. and his pals and seems to enjoy his position on the playground. He is hunched over and almost always seen with a notepad or recording device, waiting to report trouble makers. He bears a strong resemblance to Moe from The Simpsons.
  • Theresa "Cornchip Girl" LaMaise
Cornchip Girl is a sweet, loving girl who always thinks of other people, and also gives people lots of useful advice. Gus is Cornchip Girl's friend and although Gus's dad and Cornchip Girl's dad were rivals during their military academy years, they now get along and are good friends.
  • Menlo
Menlo is Miss Lemons' filing assistant, a very organized boy who wears a shirt and tie to school and spends most of his time inside Principal Prickly's office, rarely going outside to Recess. Before the current timeline he was a rowdy kid, and T.J.'s best friend. Although Menlo is sometimes an antagonist to the main characters, T.J. still attends Menlo's birthday party every year.
  • King Bob
King Bob is the unibrowed current ruler of the Third Street playground and the former prankster prince, whose throne sits atop the jungle gym. He is one of the school's older students (in sixth grade). Bob is regularly depicted with a number '8' hockey jersey, and carries a hockey stick as a scepter.
He rules fairly in the hopes of being remembered when he has left the school, though does occasionally take things too far, such as building a pyramid by forcing the playground to build it, but later has to apologize to those he wronged. He is said to be a 6th grader, though he appears in T.J.'s class in at least one episode.
He was known as the former Prankster Prince, a role that he personally bequeaths to T.J. after the latter pulls a prank on him. He initially grows jealous of the attention T.J. receives after gaining the role, but the two later bury the hatchet. King Bob later is shown to be quite fond of T.J., personally inviting him to a roast with the other Elementary School Kings. He later calls T.J. and the gang "his most loyal subjects."
  • Earwin Lawson
Lawson, as he is always known, is the fifth-grader archenemy of T.J. and his gang. Like T.J. he usually wears a baseball cap, but unlike him, Lawson's visor sticks out in front and he is tall and lanky. He bullies Gus and athletically competes with Vince. When against Vince he always loses but still thinks he is better than him.
  • Alordayne Grotke
Miss Grotke is the somewhat mystical, hippie-like fourth-graders' teacher. She is adored by her pupils and performs magic tricks at clubs as a hobby. Miss Grotke loves to meditate and she has an over bite like Gretchen.
  • Miss Lemon
Principal Prickly's old and miserable secretary. Her voice was done by Tress MacNeille. She is always seen at her typewriter and co-ordinates Menlo's schedule.
  • The Ashleys
The Ashleys are a secretive group of the students named Ashley A., B., Q., and T., four gossip girls who are known to shout "Scandalous!" in unison. In the playground, their secret club house on the outside is a pile of tires, with a lavish interior.
They each also have a younger brother and two sisters, all of which are named Tyler, Brittany, and Megan, respectively. Like The Ashleys, The Tylers and The Megans both have catchphrases which they say in unison. The Tylers say "Notorious" while the Megans say "Ludicrous."
As an in-joke by Disney, Ashley A. once referred to the creators of the show by expressing her horror at the thought of dating boys named "Paul" or "Joe". The Ashleys are some what thought to be a parody of the girls of the Golden Afternoon from Alice in Wonderland.
  • The Kindergartners
Making up their own unique group among the students, the kindergarteners live as uncivilized and even dangerous little urchins that wear face paint, carry tribal weapons, and harass the older children. Most of them are voiced by Elizabeth Daily, Pamela Segall, and Kath Soucie.
  • Gelman
Gelman is one of the bullies in school. He mainly likes to pick on Gus and even though Gus has stood up to him, Gelman continues to mess with him.
  • Brandon the Singer
Brandon is the boy in a red sweater and slicked back hair. He is the prized vocal performer in school. He often sings instead of speaking, much to the annoyance of his fellow students.
  • Sam and Dave the Diggers
Two boys, looking like twins but are not, who enjoy digging holes. They are close friends with T.J.'s gang and often have fairly large roles in episodes.
  • Swinger Girl
A girl who likes to play on the swings every recess. She wears her trademark pilot's costume.
Her ultimate goal is to swing so high that she loops the swingset bar, but has never yet achieved it. She nearly made it once, but jumped off before she made it because she left for a vacation, causing Spinelli to think she went into another dimension.
  • Phil the Woodchuck Scout
A woodchuck scout, who is known for his trademark Scout like costume. At one point, Mikey and Gus decide to join the troop and Phil puts them through extremely difficult trials to get them to give up wanting to be scouts. When the high scout master demands to know why he denied Mikey and Gus membership to his troop, he admits he likes being the only Woodchuck Scout at Third Street and yields to letting Mikey and Gus join.
  • Upside Down Girl
A girl who hangs upside down on the monkey bars every recess. As a result, her pigtails always stand up.
  • The Hustler Kid
Francis, the Hustler Kid, is a kid that offers the children of the playground trivial toys and food, often discreetly.
  • Hector
Red headed kindergartner who calls Gus "Safety Man." He was part of a group that the kids mentored.
  • Butch
Bearer of bad news, he tells the kids horror stories from when his brother was in school. He has a white streak in his hair caused from seeing his brother kiss a girl. He was voiced by Kath Soucie.
  • Wendall
The only kid who does not like T.J. despite the fact that when they were in detention, T.J. tried his best to force Gordy to like him.
  • Knarf
The nerd who usually hangs out in the school basement during recess with his three nerdy friends playing RPG games, reading comic books, and collecting trading cards. He is friends with T.J. whom he refers to by his name backwards as J.T. He was voiced by Eddie Deezen.
  • Geoffery
The perfect boy who can beat everyone at everything. At first everyone hates him, but then they start to like him. He appeared for only one episode because the president of the UN requested his help.
A boy who offers wisdom to kids who seek his advice. He wears a pair of striped shorts and his shirt on his head as a turban. Spinelli takes his place at recess one day so he can use the bathroom and starts giving advice to the kids of the playground as they ask for it and Guru Kid returns from the bathroom to find the kids like her advice more than his. However, Spinelli's combative attitude reflects in her advice to the kids and leads to an all-out playground brawl causing Guru Kid to take back his position and bring the playground back under control. His real first name is Jimmy.
  • Bob and Flo Spinelli
Spinelli's parents who have the marked tendency to embarrass her in public. Also, they are secret agents a fact unknown to all other characters.
  • Tubby
Tubby is an overweight kindergartner who has red hair and is really fast as shown in "The Kindergarten Derby". He is one of Mikey's best friends. Upon seeing Mikey for the first time, another kindergartner asked Tubby if Mikey was his "daddy". Tubby is good at burping.
  • King Sticky
King Sticky is the king of the kindergartners and has purple around his lips from eating candy and wears a paper crown.
  • Skeens
Greg Skeens is known around the playground as graffiti kid. He hangs out behind the school with his 4 friends Sleepy Kid, Mundy, Sue Bob Murphy and Kurst the Worst. He was kicked out of Kelso's for stealing. He is the 3rd worst kid in the school.
  • Conrad Mundy
Mundy is a bad kid. According to Gretchen, he's the second worst kid in the school. He makes frequent visits to the principals office. He was kicked out of Kelso's for stealing. Mundy's insecure due to having a gap in his teeth.
  • Sleepy Kid
Sleepy Kid is a bad kid who hardly gets any sleep. He's the 5th worst kid in school. He was kicked out of Kelso's for stealing.
  • Sue Bob Murphy
Sue Bob Murphy is a bad kid who is seen in the principal's office a lot. She is the 4th worst kid in the school. Presumably, she was also kicked out of Kelso's for stealing.
  • Kurst the Worst
Kurst the Worst is commonly seen as the worst kid in the school. She is commonly found stealing food from the cafeteria.

Cast

Major cast

Minor cast

Episodes

Main article: List of Recess episodes
Season Ep # First Airdate Last Airdate
Season 1 13 September 3, 1997 January 10, 1998
Season 2 13 September 9, 1998 April 10, 1999
Season 3 7 September 11, 1999 January 22, 2000
Season 4 21 September 12, 1999 July 17, 2000
Season 5 5 September 9, 2000 January 6, 2001
Season 6 3 August 21, 2001 November 21, 2001
Season 7 3 (released as Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade) December 9, 2003 December 9 2003

TV-Movies

Recess: School's Out

Recess: School's Out is an animated filmdirected by Chuck Sheetz based on the television series. This film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and released to movie theaters by 2001.

Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade

Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade is a Disney direct-to-video animated film.

DVD Releases

Recess: School's Out

(Released August 7, 2001)[3]

It is an animated film based on the television series. This film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and released to movie theatres by 2001.

Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street

(Released November 6, 2001)[4]


It is s a Disney direct-to-video animated film. It compiles four unrelated episodes, including the program's Christmas special "Yes Mikey, Santa Does Shave".

Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade

(Released December 9, 2003)[5]

It is a Disney direct-to-video animated film.

Recess: All Growed Down

(Released December 9, 2003)[6]

It is a Disney direct-to-video animated film.

  • Episodes
    • The Legend of Big Kid
    • Wild Child
    • The Kindergarten Derby
    • All Grown-Up (un-aired episode)
  • Bonus DVD Episodes titled as "Fans' 3 Favorite Episodes"
    • The Challenge
    • The Story of Whomps
    • One Stayed Clean

References

  1. ^ Recess Season 6
  2. ^ http://www.tv.com/recess/taking-the-5th-grade/episode/320506/summary.html Taking the 5th Grade on TV.com
  3. ^ Amazon.com: Recess - School's Out: Rickey D'Shon Collins, Jason Davis, Ashley Johnson, Andrew Lawrence, Courtland Mead, Pamela Adlon, Dabney Coleman, Robert Goulet, Melissa Jo...
  4. ^ Amazon.com: Recess Christmas - Miracle on Third Street: Andrew Lawrence, Rickey D'Shon Collins, Jason Davis, Ashley Johnson, Courtland Mead, Pamela Adlon, Allyce Beasley, Apri...
  5. ^ Amazon.com: Recess - Taking The Fifth Grade: Ross Malinger, Andrew Lawrence, Justin Shenkarow, Elizabeth Daily, Andrea Martin, Tress MacNeille, Katey Sagal, Kath Soucie, Joel ...
  6. ^ Amazon.com: Recess - All Growed Down: Ross Malinger, Andrew Lawrence, Justin Shenkarow, Elizabeth Daily, Andrea Martin, Tress MacNeille, Katey Sagal, Kath Soucie, Joel Morgan,...
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