Favorite Episodes: Doug

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Doug is unique in that it started out on Nickelodeon and later became a Disney cartoon. This is really interesting for those of you who are around my age, since when I was a child the rivalry between Nickelodeon and Disney was just like Coke & Pepsi or McDonald's & Burger King. While this competition still exists to a certain extent, I don't believe that it is anywhere near as fierce now. In fact, five years ago I spent a lot of time with 9-11 year olds, and sometimes they wouldn't even remember which network broadcast a certain show. In my day, if you got something like that wrong, you had to be prepared to get into an argument with the next kid, 'cuz everyone had a stance on which channel played the better shows, and what those shows were.

Anyway, back to the point. Doug was a sixth grader on Nick and a seventh grader on Disney. He eventually gets a little sister (he already has an older one), and the middle school experience is very different for Doug and his peers. The rest of the town has changed a bit, too, but on to the list! From the Nick eps, my favorite season is 3, and from the Disney, season 1. They're technically two different shows, and that's reflected in the series numbering below. For the Nick episodes (which are almost always 2 separate storylines), I chose the pairs I liked best (aka I had to really like both stories for it to make the cut). Video clips are really rare for this show, apparently. I embedded the only ones I could find, since there's not many.

Season 1: Doug Gets His Ears Lowered / Doug on the Wild Side (S01E08) The first story is about Doug needing to find a barber who works like his old barber did. He eventually finds what he's looking for and is overjoyed. The second story has Doug's motorcycle-riding grandmother coming to visit, and she's a daredevil. Doug learns a bit about taking risks and enjoying life, while trying out a little motorcycle riding and some sushi in the process.

Season 2: Doug's Dinner Date / Doug Meets Fentruck (So2E04) The whole gang is invited to Patti's house for dinner, and Doug misunderstands when he think they're going to be having liver and onions. Since he hates that dish, he tries hard to prepare himself ahead of time, all for nothing. It's kinda humorous. Then, we get the first episode with the exchange student from Yakestonia, Fentruck. Fentruck gets along with everyone pretty well, until Doug thinks he has a crush on Patti. But, all's well that ends well.

Season 3: Doug's Huge Zit / Doug Flies a Kite (S03E05) The first half isn't that unique, but it's good to see a run-of-the-mill storyline about teenage issues like pimples. The second half is really touching, as Doug and his dad enter a kite competition, and while his dad has a conservative and traditional design, Doug wants something cutting edge.

Season 4: Doug's Birthday Present / Doug's Fan Club (S04E06) In the first story, Doug's dad thinks he needs to get Doug awesome birthday presents because Beebe gets really impressive presents from her father. So he decides to open up his own photography studio, but then he never had any time for the family. In the second story, Doug is doing magic tricks (this happens on and off in the series), and a third-grader really gets impressed. The kid starts following him around, and eventually annoys Doug. Doug yells at him, the kid gets upset, and Doug feels guilty. The first half is one clip, the second half is in two clips.





Season 1: Doug's Last Birthday (S01E01) I like this episode because it's so much exposition in updating the characters and the town. The title comes from the fact that Doug isn't coping with the change very well, and wants to stop getting older, hence no more birthdays. The honker Burger has been replaced with a fancy French restaurant, Roger's rich, Connie's thin, the Beets are breaking up, Patti is partly homeschooled, and his mom is pregnant. Really, that is a lot to take in before starting seventh grade!

Season 2: Doug's Dougapooluza (S02E06) Connie wants to win a radio contest so she can be a rock star. She's even thinking about quitting school, since one of the Beets did. She gets Doug involved, and begins to have second thoughts about the importance of school. Meanwhile, Skeeter and the twins try to create a machine that'll make monster noises to communicate with the lake monster.

Season 3: Doug's Dream House (S03E07) Doug is really excited that Patti will be staying with the Funnie family for a week when her dad goes out of town. But, then he becomes paranoid that Judy is going to let it slide that Doug is obsessed with Patti. It's amusing to say the least.