"The New Kid"

God -- what a hilarious episode! The first two acts were rapid-fire; I had to stop and rewind the tape in order to catch dialogue I kept missing -- so quickly did things go by.

While I watch and enjoy "South Park" too, I wonder why that show gets more attention in the media than "Daria" does. It's depressing to see intelligent scriptwriting and witty dialogue losing out in the media spotlight to juvenile vulgarity and crassness. Perhaps there's a tinge of sexism going on too, as "Daria" is geared toward a young female demographic.

At its best, "Daria" kind of brings to my mind a lighter-hearted, animated version of "My So-Called Life." In fact, labeling the show as an "animated teen dramedy" wouldn't be too far off. "Daria" is far more intelligent than live-action shows like "Saved by the Bell," Calfornia Dreams" and other crap that have attempted to appeal to a similar audience -- but only to patronize them.

But DAMNIT -- the second season of "Daria" is already going into repeats next week!

I missed it last night :( Do the monday night episodes get repeated later in the week?

**Must start setting VCR**

Daria kicks ass. Also count me among those who think Jane is a babe. ;)

John Bilow

To reply, remove "die.spammers.die" from my address

MTV's schedule varies a lot from week to week. This web page has the most accurate information, and even gives episode numbers:

http://www.mtv.com/mtv/tubescan/schedule/

It always has one week of listings, from Monday through Sunday. (Check the dates; sometimes the new listings aren't put in place until late Monday).

Aeon Flux, the Maxx, and collections of assorted strange cartoons have also been shown recently.

In article , "Howard Wen" wrote:

Taping the show is MANDATORY at my house. My wife and I laugh so much that we inevitably miss the follow-ups to the punch lines. Also, we like to stop and discuss what we've ust seen. I'd like to say that I thought "The New Kid" was the best episode for the die-hard Daria fans. I wouldn't show it to someone who's never seen the show (I'd probably pop in "The Invitation"), but for people into the show, TNK was brilliant and showed even more character growth. I may have to watch it again before I give a detailed analysis.

It's probably more popular.

Well, Daria was on the cover of TV Guide last year, so it's certainly not a shut out.

Oh, I found MSCL to be a pretentious politically correct bore.

That's stretching it. There's never really any drama...it's pretty much a sitcom.

Of course.

That happens, but we still haven't seen all 13 new eps.

• Don

Howard Wen wrote:

Yea, especialy in the last part of the show, that VR shot of Daria in armor is justifying the Turbo TV card I got for the computer, that and the shot of Miss Botch in the Xena costume during the end credits. One thing that does amaze me is the amount of expression they can put on Daria's face simply by using the eyes.

Never watched South Park, the show is too hyped and that always turns me off.

The other shows are basicaly plastic shows, politicaly correct but no relation to the real world, Daria at least is closer, portraying High school as a vicious jungle with all the warmth of hades.

Think of it as the Simpsons, they had a problem with too many repeats thier first season too. HMMM, that would be interesting, Daria with Bart.

Silly continuity question-- if Ted's parents were so worried about the horrors of modern living, where'd they get the little zip-lock bag to store the used gum????

In article , DebbieB wrote:

Right...and where'd they get the money for the house in Daria's neighborhood?

Yeah, there were a few inconsistencies, but the rest of the episode was SOOOOO great.

I wonder if we'll see Ted again...or if he's history?

Daria blushing as she ate pizza was pretty amazing. Did you ever think we'd see Daria blush?

• Don

Bonus Sock ([email]) wrote:

Well, sure. I just figured it would be Trent-related.

-Monty

Bonus Sock ([email]) wrote:

That wowed me too.

Did anyone think the animation was a little 'off' this episode? which I didn't understand, because I always thought they recycled the same drawings week to week, but everyone looked thinner and their heads looked bigger.

I didn't understand why Daria took the new kid to a video arcade at all. I can't see her hanging out there on her own accord, and it didn't seem to be part of an attempt at "normalising" him.

The whole gum debate seemed less impressive to me when I realised the show was partially sponsored by Wrigley 8P

In article , blaklion@best.#nospam#.com (Mikel Midnight) wrote:

I didn't notice that, but having no artistic skills, I'm not that sensitive to that.

It was established earlier in the episode that Daria was into computer video games. Remember when she bargained for a copy of a web page design program, then later proclaimed to Jane that the shrink wrap wouldn't come off and that she'd be exchanging it for some game (don't remember its name). Anyway, the VR sequence was GREAT!!!

LOL!!!

• Don

In article , [email] (Bonus Sock) wrote:

I think it was "Cannibal Frag-fest" on CD-ROM.

In article , [email] (Bonus Sock) wrote:

It may have been an inconsistency, but you can also take it as a sign that DeWitt and Clinton weren't as pure and unspoiled as they made themselves out to be. I suspect them of being hypocrites.

An inheritance? A trust fund? I'll bet at least one of them -- probably both -- came from a filthy rich family. Call me overly class conscious if you must, but don't you find that the people who romanticize all that back-to-nature, down-with-modern-progress stuff the most are the ones who take all those modern conveniences for granted because they never had to do without? "Living off the land" looks so terribly noble and romantic if you've never actually had to earn a living as a farmer.

I'm not saying that being a farmer is a bad thing -- I'm just saying that this couple struck me as a pair of rich, arrogant cretins who could enjoy their so-called moral purity while indulging in a form of slumming, and THAT's a bad thing.

RAB
_______________________________________
"Richard said 'Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy.'"
-- REM

I was amazed to see Daris laugh in "I Don't" as well.

DebbieB wrote in article ...

YES!!!! I thought that, too! I think the best part of the show was Helen calling Ted's mom "Hippie." Well...that and the girl falling off the trampoline.

Howard Wen wrote in article <[email] t>...

had

so

more

of

demographic.

animated

"animated

than

crap

patronize

You know...something that DID bother me (although there were hilarious lines from it) was the amount of bribery Daria's parents resorted to. I really liked the way they defended Daria, too. Helen calling Ted's mom "hippie" (as I mentioned before) was hilarious -- especially since Helen, herself, was a hippie.