As Told By Ginger
As Told By Ginger is an
animated series which debuted on the
Nickelodeon TV channel in October of
2000. Produced by Klasky Csupo Inc (the creators of the
Rugrats media franchise), and created by Emily Kapnek, the show revolves around the life of Ginger Foutley, a typical junior high school student who lives in a fictional
Connecticut community named Sheltered Shrubs.
The principal characters in the show are:
- Ginger Foutley (Melissa Disney), the main character, talented poem writer (there are two eps that deal with poems she's written) and diary keeper (she's often seen writing in it),
- Deidre Hortense "Dodie" Bishop (Aspen Miller) and Macie Lightfoot (Jackie Harris), Ginger's two best friends,
- Courtney Gripling (Liz Georges), their wealthy classmate who has been hanging out with Ginger,
- Miranda Killgallen (Cree Summer), who has been doing things to keep Courtney and Ginger apart (in the very first ep, she even has her arrested for stealing, after she recommended Ginger to do so for Courtney's birthday party).
Other characters include:
- Carl Foutley (Jeannie Elias) and Robert Joseph "Hoodsey" Bishop (Tress MacNeille), Ginger and Dodie's younger brothers respectively, who tend to do weird things that are, most of the time, a given ep's subplot (for example, running a lunch cart),
- Lois Foutley (Laraine Newman), Ginger's divorced mother, who works as a late shift nurse at a local hospital,
- Darren Patterson (Kenny Blank), Ginger's next door neighbor.
Unlike most other cartoon shows,
Ginger is not afraid of lasting character development. One prime example is that in one ep, Darren had his orthodontia removed (he had been wearing the unwieldy
headgear for the entire first season). Also, the characters moved up a grade in the show's 2nd season, and in the 3rd, the show will also have its main characters graduate to high school (with the younger kids graduating to junior high). (The show's commitment to continuity is a bit inconsistent, however: in one ep, Ginger had her hair done radically, but by the next ep, it had reverted back to the norm.) Besides that, people who like
Ginger also point to its realism and its occasional serious side (for example, one ep has Ginger being sent to detention after making a stand against a much-unliked substitute teacher, and another sees the death of Carl and Hoodsey's teacher: this was added on to the end of the ep in question after the death of her voice actress, Kathleen Freeman).
Two made for TV movies have been produced: Summer of Camp Caprice had Ginger, Dodie, Macie and Courtney heading to summer camp, with Darren and Miranda going to military camp (where, as it happens, Miranda's father works) and Carl and Hoodsey on the trail of dognappers; and Foutleys on Ice, following up on the Emmy-nominated ep And She Was Gone, dealed with Ginger winning a scholarship to an arts school, and Carl and Hoodsey making friends with a new character, the telekinetic Noelle (voiced by Kapnek). There had been plans to close out the 3rd season, and the series altogether, with a 3rd telefilm, The Wedding Frame, which is supposed to have Lois marry one of the doctors at her hospital; Nickelodeon has since asked for the ending of that telefilm (originally planned to have Ginger as an adult, at a book signing for her book titled "As Told by Ginger", with her name having changed to Ginger Foutley Patterson) to be changed to something less conclusive in case they wish to make future TV episodes.
Besides the aforementioned And She Was Gone (dealing with a poem Ginger had written, about a girl who wishes she could disappear - and does, as well as Carl's concern over the disappearance of the aforementioned Noelle, who he'd just found out was the right girl for him), the show had 2 more Emmy-nominated eps (all 3 times, Ginger was beaten by FOX shows): Hello Stranger (dealing with another poem, this time about her unseen father) and Lunatic Lake (about a spring camp-out at a lake).
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