O'Grady

Last updated
O'Grady
O Grady logo.png
Created by Tom Snyder
Carl W. Adams
Holly Schlesinger
Developed byHolly Schlesinger
Matt Harrigan (episodes 1-3, 5)
Starring H. Jon Benjamin
Melissa Bardin Galsky
Patrice O'Neal
Holly Schlesinger
Opening theme"O'Grady (The Diary of Abigale Colletti)" by Kelly Osbourne
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes19
Production
Executive producersCarl W. Adams
Alyssa Cooper
ProducersJack Ferraiolo (season 1)
Will Shepard (season 2)
Running time23-24 minutes
Production companies Noggin LLC
Soup2Nuts
Original release
Network The N (Noggin)
ReleaseJuly 30, 2004 (2004-07-30) 
April 24, 2006 (2006-04-24)
The main O'Grady characters in a scene from the episode "Sugar Hill". (L-R: Beth, Abby, Harold, and Kevin) Ogrady sugarhill.jpg
The main O'Grady characters in a scene from the episode "Sugar Hill". (L-R: Beth, Abby, Harold, and Kevin)

O'Grady is an American animated comedy television series created by Tom Snyder, Carl W. Adams, and Holly Schlesinger for Noggin's teen programming block, The N. The show features the voices of H. Jon Benjamin, Melissa Bardin Galsky, Patrice O'Neal, and Holly Schlesinger playing a group of four 17-year-old teenagers living in the town of O'Grady. In each episode, the characters experience a different supernatural phenomenon while also facing ordinary high school challenges. The show was animated at Snyder's Soup2Nuts studio.

Contents

Plot

The series is set in the fictional town of O'Grady, which is periodically plagued by a force called "The Weirdness." The Weirdness affects its residents in strange ways, and its effects usually last for several days. For example, it causes people to project their private thoughts in bubbles over their heads, or produce clones of themselves every time they get angry. The focal characters of the show are four students of O'Grady High: Kevin, Abby, Harold, and Beth. In the first eight episodes, the former two would appear interviewing at Eets-A-Pizza for a cold opening, explaining that the Weirdness was caused by a "secret government program', but sometimes would get distracted into other things. The interviews would cease after "Cop 'Stache".

Characters

Main characters

Supporting characters

Additional voices

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 13July 30, 2004 (2004-07-30)May 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)
2 6March 3, 2006 (2006-03-03)April 24, 2006 (2006-04-24)

Episodes

Season 1 (2004–05)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
11"Sweats"July 30, 2004 (2004-07-30)101
As the Weirdness causes people who sweat to have their insecurities physically magnified, Kevin, Beth and Abby make a documentary about O'Grady and Harold worries about an upcoming wrestling match.
22"Clones"August 6, 2004 (2004-08-06)102
The Weirdness creates a clone every time a person loses their temper. Harold is jealous and lonely when he finds that he cannot create a clone for himself, while Abby and Kevin are horrified to discover that their clones are romantically interested in each other.
33"Party Gong"August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13)103
The Weirdness causes short term memory loss (signified by the bang of a gong), which Kevin exploits to convince Beth that she is having a party while her family is out of town. Meanwhile, Harold tries to track down the source of a mysterious phone number he finds himself in possession of.
44"O'Grady Idol"August 20, 2004 (2004-08-20)104
The Weirdness causes everyone to act like cats. Meanwhile, Kevin and Abby compete against each other in the O'Grady Idol singing contest, and Beth struggles to judge them impartially.
55"Magnets"September 3, 2004 (2004-09-03)105
The Weirdness causes people to act as magnets, attracting and repelling objects from themselves. Meanwhile, Beth asks Abby for help facing the future of coffee shops, and Kevin almost gets Harold fired from his job at Eets-a-Pizza.
66"Sign Language"September 10, 2004 (2004-09-10)106
The Weirdness makes public service signs come to life. Abby takes dance classes with Phillip, While Kevin uses the sign icons for his own personal gain, and Beth and Harold take Driver's Ed.
77"Bubble Heads"December 31, 2004 (2004-12-31)107
The Weirdness causes people's inner thoughts to appear in bubbles over their heads, preventing them from lying. Beth uses the Weirdness to get great deals on clothing, while Kevin and Harold's friendship is strained by the truth and Abby finally gets a chance to hang out with her crush Pete Klesko when she finds out there both going to an upcoming concert except she seems to have misplaced her ticket.
88"Robo-Babies"April 1, 2005 (2005-04-01)108
The Weirdness causes everyone who yawns to instantly teleport. The class is assigned robo-babies to care for, which exhausts Abby, while Beth avoids her 'husband' Harold and Kevin tries to spin the assignment into a scheme for cash.
99"Cop 'Stache (a.k.a Mall Cop)"April 8, 2005 (2005-04-08)109

The Weirdness makes it impossible to insult someone else, much to the chagrin of Abby's friends after she changes her look to impress Pete Klesko. Kevin becomes a mall cop, and Harold falls in with the popular crowd.

Note: This is the last episode with a cold opening interview. A majority of the rest of the show would start with the theme intro in place of where the openings were.
1010"Sugar Hill"April 15, 2005 (2005-04-15)110
The Weirdness creates soundtrack music to the characters' lives. O'Grady High goes without sugar. Beth and Abby find that the lack of sweets strains their friendship, while Kevin gets rich from black-market sugar sales.
1111"Old Cold"April 22, 2005 (2005-04-22)111
The Weirdness causes people to age 30 years when they sneeze. Kevin convinces Harold, Beth and Abby to skip to avoid their elderly classmates, but they run into a few kinks. Meanwhile Mr.Lipschitz finds he has become younger and decides to make a few more golden memories.
1212"No Pain, No Gain"May 6, 2005 (2005-05-06)112
The Weirdness makes everyone invincible to pain, which Harold uses to his advantage by joining the football team to impress his dad. Also The Guru New You's, a popular makeover show, comes to O'Grady which leads to disastrous results for Beth, and Kevin tries out for the annual crazy stunt competition.
1313"Remotes"May 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)113
The Weirdness causes remotes to work on people. Abby joins the cheerleading squad to get Pete's attention, and Harold and Kevin decide to open a club in Kevin's garage, while Mr. Lipschitz uses his remote to screw around with Dr. Myers.

Season 2 (2006)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
141"Frenched"March 3, 2006 (2006-03-03)119

The Weirdness makes everyone float when they're happy and turn their feet into lead if they're mad or sad (which makes them sink). Abby and Kevin both get jobs at the public pool, Beth prepares to go to Paris and Harold has to deal with Phillip, who is working with him. This episode guest starred Conan O'Brien and Amy Poehler.

Note: This episode was the last one produced before the cancellation but aired five episodes behind "Cut the Cord".
152"Vacation"March 10, 2006 (2006-03-10)114
The Weirdness makes people periodically have to urinate. Whilst Beth helps build homes for the destitute, Kevin sees an opportunity. Iris becomes obsessive in a single white female way about Abby while Harold becomes obsessed with an aged arcade game.
163"A Stronger O'Grady"March 17, 2006 (2006-03-17)115
The Weirdness gives all women super strength, leading to Beth becoming a contender in the school elections. Meanwhile, Iris uses her new strength to insert the joys of techno music into the lives of her fellow students, whether they like it or not. Also Abby starts to develop feelings toward her substitute teacher which leads to a few problems when she finds out a shocking secret about him.
174"The Fly"April 10, 2006 (2006-04-10)116
The Weirdness causes animals to be able to speak, so Harold uses a fly to learn and spread the gossip of the high school.
185"Big Jerk on Campus"April 17, 2006 (2006-04-17)117
The Weirdness causes people to become invisible when they hold their breath. One of Kevin's older brothers, Randy visits from college and Abby takes a liking to an emo boy who likes to hang out in strange places. This episode guest starred David Cross.
196"Cut the Cord"April 24, 2006 (2006-04-24)118

The Weirdness forces certain people to stay together; when they attempt to leave, a glowing cord comes out and ties them together. Abby and Harold sign up for a big brother/sister program which Abby gets a sibling of a celebrity and Harold gets a girl whose actually his own age. Beth discovers Mr. Lipschitz used to be a famous singer. Also, Kevin wins the chance to be on his favorite radio show. This episode guest starred Will Arnett and Dannah Phirman.

Note: This is the final time the Weirdness is seen coming to an end onscreen.

Critical reception

The series received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for an Annie Award for "Best Writing in an Animated Television Production". Brian Zoromski of IGN claims it as "A wonderful half-hour of absurdity, O'Grady combines the comedy of the "weirdness" with realistic teenage banter, squabbles, and friendships." [1]

Broadcast

The series originally aired on Noggin in the US as part of the channel's nighttime programming block for teenagers, The N. It aired on MTV in Latin America, Nickelodeon in the United Kingdom, Family Channel in Canada, and 2×2 in Russia.

Home releases

Although O'Grady has never been released on DVD, some episodes were made available on iTunes. [2] It was available on Amazon Video. In 2014, a compilation called "Best of O'Grady" was released on iTunes.

See also

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References

  1. Zoromski, Brian (February 24, 2006). "O'Grady Season 2 Premiere: "Frenched"". IGN. Retrieved February 24, 2006.
  2. "O'Grady, Season 1". iTunes . 30 July 2004.