Undergrads

Last updated
Undergrads
UndergradsTitle.jpg
Created byPete Williams
Developed byPete Williams
Josh A. Cagan
Directed byJerry Popowich
Starring
Opening theme The Click by Good Charlotte
ComposersJono Grant
Chris Ross
Country of originUnited States
Canada
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Neil Court
  • Steven DeNure
  • Abby Terkuhle
ProducersDavid McGrath
Beth Stevenson
EditorMartin Jefferson
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network MTV (US)
Teletoon's Adult Block (Canada)
ReleaseApril 22 (2001-04-22) 
August 12, 2001 (2001-08-12)

Undergrads (stylized as underGRADS) is an adult animated sitcom centered on the lives of four college undergraduate freshmen. [1] Originally broadcast on MTV in 2001, only 13 episodes were created. It has since been shown on Teletoon's Adult Block in Canada, and Trouble in the United Kingdom. [2]

Contents

History

The show was created by Pete Williams, who dropped out of New York University at the age of 19 during his sophomore year to work on the show in 1997 after winning an MTV animation contest. [2] Williams performs most of the voices on the show. [3] The series was produced by David McGrath.

Unsuccessful Revival and Undergrads: The Movie

After an unsuccessful revival attempt in 2004, Williams in 2018 announced a Kickstarter campaign for funding a feature-length series finale called Undergrads: The Movie. As of August 2023 the film is currently in development from Brain Power Studio, and is likely set for a 2025 release. [2]

Overview

The show depicts a typical freshman college experience. Characters in the show represent stereotypical college types; including the everyman (Nitz), the "frat boy" (Rocko), the "ladies' man" (Cal), the nerd (Gimpy), the punk girl (Jessie), and the "ditz" (Kimmy). Typical situations depicted in the show include student loans, bad cafeteria food, questioning of identity, fraternity rivalries, odd traditions, unpleasant RAs, money problems, peer pressure, and the "freshman 15". Few episodes depict the characters in class; the one exception is Rocko's ROTC class in the episode, Financial Aid.

The location in the show has never been named. It appears to be a typical North American college town. However, it has been hinted in several episodes that the show takes place in New England, and Pete Williams, the show's creator, attended a university in this region. Episode 2, Traditions, features the "Xposed Xpo," a naked run, and a classic tradition of the University of Vermont. In episode 12, Risk, there is a free Ben & Jerry's day, as well as a Spring Fling, another UVM tradition. In the episode Drunks, both Jessie and Nitz hold fake New York state driver's licenses. The episode Identity Crisis takes place at the start of the second semester and reveals bare trees and snow, conditions more likely to be found in northern states in January. However, in episode 1 Gimpy disguises Mump as a California Highway Patrol Officer to follow Rocko.

Characters

Main

Supporting

Recurring

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateTeletoon air date [5] Prod.
code
1"Party"Jerry Popowich Josh A. Cagan April 22, 2001 (2001-04-22)June 30, 2001 [6] 101
After arriving at college Nitz realises after a week he hasn't done anything so tries to cram a weeks college experiences into a day in order to have something to talk to Kimmy about.
2"Traditions"Jerry PopowichScott SonnebornApril 29, 2001 (2001-04-29)July 1, 2001102
Tradition Week at the colleges. State U's eXposed eXpo means that during the first snow fall of the winter all of the freshman have to streak through the college quad.
3"Virgins"Jerry Popowich Nahnatchka Khan May 6, 2001 (2001-05-06)September 8, 2001103
Nitz is a virgin but thinks that Kimmy wants to have sex with him when she invites him to the clinic where she works.
4"New Friends"Jerry Popowich Andy Rheingold May 13, 2001 (2001-05-13)September 9, 2001104
Nitz's friends forget about his birthday so he decides to start hanging out with Jessie and her friends. At the same time at Tekerson Tech, Gimpy has lost command of his band of minions and must fight Number One for control.
5"Drunks"Jerry PopowichJosh A. CaganJune 8, 2001 (2001-06-08)September 16, 2001109
Nitz who is underage tries to get into a bar so he can talk to Kimmy. Rocko vows never to drink again after hallucinating about a giant whiskey bottle.
6"Roommates"Jerry PopowichJulie Rottenberg, Elisa Zuritsky, Josh A. Cagan & Andy RheingoldJune 15, 2001 (2001-06-15)September 23, 2001110
After Cal begins to make Nitz go crazy he starts sleeping in Jessie's room, whose roommate has gone for the week. Nitz suddenly realises that he's attracted to Jessie but then tries too hard to get her. Gimpy falls in love with a girl hacker.
7"Jerks"Jerry PopowichJosh A. CaganJune 22, 2001 (2001-06-22)September 30, 2001107
Gimpy, unable to further tolerate Rita's tyranny, enlists Cal to woo her into submission. But the plan works a little too well. Kimmy tells Nitz that she is moving to England so he offers her his travel clock even though he doesn't have one. Rocko drags Nitz around town all night and then destroys the travel clock that Gimpy found for Nitz.
8"Rivalries"Jerry PopowichBrad Sonneborn & Scott SonnebornJune 29, 2001 (2001-06-29)October 7, 2001112
Nitz and Gimpy enter a trivia competition but end up competing against each other in an inter-college competition.
9"Financial Aid"Jerry PopowichNahnatchka KhanJuly 6, 2001 (2001-07-06)October 14, 2001113
Nitz does not receive his financial aid check and so joins the local student action group. Rocko joins the local college ROTC.
10"Identity Crisis"Jerry PopowichJosh A. Cagan, Andy Rheingold & Pete WilliamsJuly 22, 2001 (2001-07-22)October 21, 2001105
After returning from winter break, nobody seems to remember Nitz so he locks himself in his room to create an identity. Rocko converts Cal into a version of Rocko.
11"Work Study"Jerry PopowichScott SonnebornJuly 29, 2001 (2001-07-29)October 28, 2001111
Nitz receives a credit card from his parents but goes over his limit so must get a job. He ends up working at the library while Rocko, Cal and Gimpy manage to get large amounts of money without trying.
12"Risk"Jerry PopowichAndy Rheingold & Pete WilliamsAugust 5, 2001 (2001-08-05)November 4, 2001106
Gimpy finds his Risk board and invites the rest of the clique around for a game. But Nitz has promised Kimmy that he would help at the Spring Fling carnival. Gimpy schemes so that Nitz cannot leave and Nitz's absence causes a fire.
13"Screw Week"Jerry PopowichJosh A. Cagan, Andy Rheingold & Pete WilliamsAugust 12, 2001 (2001-08-12)November 11, 2001108
During the final week of college, Nitz tries desperately to attract Kimmy. Jessie becomes more annoyed with Nitz for ignoring her obvious attraction to him.

Film

In June 2018, Pete Williams acquired the rights from MTV to produce a film based on Undergrads, to serve as feature-length series finale. [7] The film, Undergrads: The Movie, is in development from Brain Power Studio, with a budget of $150,000 (acquired following a successful Kickstarter campaign), [8] [9] and is set for a 2025 release. [2]

Music

The theme song, "The Click", is written and performed by the band Good Charlotte, who appear in the episode Risk. Much of the music featured in Undergrads include songs from various indie rock bands and Canadian artists, such as Vibrolux, Alkaline Trio, Knacker, Sam Roberts, Reggie and the Full Effect, Sloan, The Planet Smashers, The Brodys, and The Rosenbergs, among others. The score of the show was composed and produced by Jono Grant. A list of bands and songs used in each episode can be found at the show's official website.

This style of music was also heavily featured in another Decode Entertainment series, Radio Free Roscoe, which had the same music directors as Undergrads.

The American broadcast used different songs by artists such as Linkin Park, Madonna, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, and the Foo Fighters. [10]

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References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 671. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cohen, Ben (June 26, 2020). "'Undergrads' Bombed in the US. 20 Years Later, It's Making a Comeback, Thanks to Canada". Vice . Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 884. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  4. 1 2 "Pete Williams, creator of underGRADS". Thedetour.ca. Retrieved 2014-03-10.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. "Television Program Logs". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2016-03-02.[ dead link ] Alt URL
  6. "The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on June 29, 2001 · 85". Newspapers.com. 2001-06-29. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  7. Williams, Pete [@UGPeteWilliams] (June 4, 2018). "Achievement unlocked! We've secured the film rights from MTV to produce an Undergrads movie. One step closer" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  8. Bereta, Jesse (February 11, 2019). "Nitz Returns in the First "UnderGRADS: The Movie" Update". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  9. Bereta, Jesse (April 1, 2020). "We Have An Update On The UnderGRADS Mobie". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  10. "Undergrads : Episode Song Lists". Undergrads.tv. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-10.