As mentioned when I talked about Disney's One Saturday Morning , and Disney' One Too on UPN there was program called "The Weekenders". "The Weekenders" is a slice of life/comedy from 2000 that ran on both the ABC and UPN blocks.
The basic premise of the show is about the weekend (Friday after school, Saturday, Sunday) adventures of four middle schoolers named Tino Tonitini, Lor McQuarrie, Carver Descartes, and Tish Katsufrakis as friends who deal with life but on the weekend.
It rain for 4 seasons with 39 episodes, and this month (June 2019) we will be looking at the entirety of season 1. And Yes, this is one of those I really like this show series of posts that I want to do for that reason.
Episode 1a :Crush Test Dummies
The main idea of this episode is misunderstandings. In this episode Lor has a crush on a boy named Thompson ( I don't know if that's his first name, last name, or some sort of Cher thing going on there) and shew wants him to notice her. Tish suggests a love poem and a make over which leads into Lor thinking about asking their friend Carver for fashion advice since he knows fashion. This causes him to overhear something out of context and thinks the Lor has a crush on him. Carver is worried because he doesn't like her like that and doesn't want everyone's friendships and weekends messed up.
One of the best characters in this series you will find is Tino's mother she is the person he ends up going to for advice in episodes. She also has this running gag where she makes the strangest foods that ever exist. Her advice is for Carver to tell Lor how he feels but Tino shoots this down because "guys don't that". He does end up passing the advice on to Carver anyway. Carver shoots it down and thinks they have to find someone else to replace Lor. (Makes sense)
Meanwhile, Tish's mother is not the best at make overs and Tish picks out the same thing she's wearing for Lor. Evenutally, Thompson talks to Lor and tells her she's a good soccer player. Tino's mom' s outburst at Carver was funny, and Tino tells Carver maybe they should talk to Lor since not having her as a friend wouldn't be a good change.
Carver starts telling Lor how he feels but, she is confused about what he is even talking about. He finds out that she's not in love with him. Tino finishes out the episode as customary in this series he starts and ends the episodes talking to us the viewers.
It's a misunderstanding episode that could have been solved by Carver doing what Tino's mom suggested in the first place. I think the comedy in the episode while sparse is fun. It's a good message for people, even males, to talk about how they feel and that it' s better for a friendship to do so.
Since this was the first episode it does feel like a first episode of a show getting it's barrings but it's not a bad one in the slightest. I also like the interactions between Tino and his mom because it feels slightly more realistic than alot of media, even at the time, did and it's really nice touch. I give it 7/10.
After the Jump more !
Episode 1b : Grow Up
Tino's mother is having a vernal equinox party (happy First day of Spring) which Tino is happy about because of the party and gets a present. That present being a bounce house which makes him very excited. (Bouncing with joy you could say) He notices that the other middle schoolers don't want to get in the bounce house because it's for younger kids, they say.
This causes Tino to decide that he going to act mature. Now it's Saturday and he dresses up like a businessman because mature. His mother because she's overtly wise asks is this because of yesterday. Another featured gag in this series starts in this episode where the Pizza shop changes it's name and theme every weekend. King of a strange gag but, always fun to see the shop change. It is strange to mention in this episode because of Tino dressing like a business man in this episode but the characters do change their clothes which is not usually done in animated series.
Tino is also launching is own business because of course he is. Yes, Tino may have taken the whole acting mature thing a little more than he should by acting like a 40 year old business man. He also fired his friends because they were late they end up going to Tino's mom for help. They go to the hit spot for fun called Funville and they try to show him fun but Tino continues acting like a mature business man.
They finish the day by jumping on the bounce house then Tino stops being a business man to join the fun. The same kids who were laughing at him before show up and jump too. Well alright then.
The message of the episode is you don't have to give up fun as you get older. Tino's over the topness in this episode is fun he went full throttle on acting mature to mean acting like a mid 40's business man. I like that his friends didn't get mad they instead worked to help him and him snapping out of it seemed simple but tying it back the bounce house was a good way to do, it. Doesn't make sense why the kids laughing at the first time now are bouncing too ,but kids are fickle or something.
This was a fine episode also 7/10
Fun Fact: The theme song was preformed by Wayne Brady.
That's it for this time tune next time, after we clean up this bounce house it's a mess!
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