while we can look back fondly on a myriad of shows and cartoons from our childhood there's always a
handful that stick out a little bit higher for the mark they left on you during their time in
the zeitgeist some of these shows can be well known huge popular juggernauts and some could
have been gone after you blinked nickelodeon was no stranger to having many shows follow that flash
in the pan formula where some incredible shows would be treated as if they weren't anything more
than a distraction until more spongebob or fairly oddparents would come on and these shows all would
have something unique about them regardless if you enjoyed them or not these cartoons
would always try and find some ways to stand out and that is sometimes why you can remember them
a bit better we covered on the channel plenty of cartoons you may or may not fully remember
some more than others but today i wanted to cover something that is stuck in my brain the theme song
ripples through my thoughts and the art style captured my attention with a specific look that
propels it into the forefront of my fondest memories my life as a teenage robot shout out
to paleoceno for being the first to guest today's video correctly on twitter in fact a lot of people
actually guessed this video correctly so make sure to follow me on twitter to participate in these
for future episodes i wanted to spend some time with you lovely people here today and go over why
i love this show how it wasn't treated well by the network it was on and an open discussion with you
on such an interesting and in my opinion fun show so make sure to drop a like on this video for more
content like this as it helps the video out and i'll turn myself into a robot who will save the
day after a few rounds of galaga at the arcade what is my life as a teenage robot it's a show
yeah thanks sherlock the show follows the life and adventures of a teenage robot xj9 or jenny created
by her mother the eccentric dr noreen wakeman has to be a daughter to her as well as fight the evils
that be who threaten earth and the inhabitants of it and i thought i had a lot to deal with when
i was a teenager math science even had to read the great gatsby once yeah i know i had it rough
now we don't start our story in 2003 when the show premiered we actually have to go back to
the mythical year of 1999 with oh yeah cartoons a three season long show that would feature short
animated cartoons some of which later became actual shows from their presented concepts here
stuff like fairly oddparents chalk zone and oh yeah my life is a teenage robot what we saw
for that specifically was a version of that show called my neighbor was a teenage robot
the whole short would be kind of redone and reworked for the original pilot episode for the
show in 2003 and it is pretty cool to look back at the differences between the two rob renzetti
the show's creator has had plenty of directorial and writing experience over at cartoon network
with their line of hit shows like powerpuff girls and dexter's laboratory later on you may also know
him for his work on foster's home for imaginary friends samurai jack and even gravity falls so
at some point most likely the work of robert eddy appeared before you with so many various different
genre playgrounds there was surely something for everyone to find enjoyment in out of the two show
ideas he created in the 90s one being nina in the count for cartoon network's what a cartoon show
which later premiered the rest of the shorts for that show on oh yeah cartoons on nickelodeon
and my neighbor was a teenage robot for oh yeah cartoons as well one of those clearly left a
larger mark with the network hence we eventually got the fully created show of my life as a teenage
robot so now you got the background to even get to the actual show itself there was a bunch of
fascinating steps that led to its existence throughout the series we followed jenny as
she balanced his life as a superhero as well as wanting to be a normal teenage girl and fitting
in amongst her peers something super memorable were the characters in the world the show built
aside from jenny and her mother there was her best friend the neighbor hence the name of the original
short brad the first real friend that jenny ever made and he plays the entrance role for the
audience to find themselves relating to is he's just a regular dude while he may try and assist
jenny when and where needed with her you know saving the world and stuff he's the more relatable
everyday guy his younger brother tuck usually tags along on these adventures and even though at first
wasn't so sure about befriending a robot he quickly gets enthralled by jenny and her superhero
abilities and then there's sheldon he sometimes it means well but he's head over heels in love with
jenny yeah he's into the mechanically built if he catch my drift he's not the biggest member of the
main cast but he has served as a helpful aide to jenny when in need of some modifications or
upgrades he can come off creepy though but i don't really have a butt here he can just sometimes
come off creepy i don't know what you want me to tell you here and oh yeah the crust cousins who
can forget them aside from having one of the grossest sounding names brit and tiff are in
most cases the school antagonist to jenny in the main cause of her stress within her school life
they're rich they're mean and they make me wanna stuff crust pizza jenny's robot name is
xj9 which alludes to her being the ninth model her mother has made so yeah she has eight older
sisters that were eventually introduced in the season one episode sibling tsunami and
have appeared a few times beyond that as well xj one through eight feature distinct differences in
size emotions and power levels i guess to put it plainly i always liked this specific conclusion as
it shows that there was a more nuanced look into the mad scientist aspects of noreen and the bond
between the sisters when they all come together but my personal favorite character in the show
is the atmosphere yes i am serious i think it speaks volumes on the overall enjoyment of the
show it aesthetically builds this retro futurism more specifically streamlined modern style
giving off the 1930s feel of a more rounded edge sleek looking architectural environment
to everything in general much like myself except i'm 25 pounds heavier the show took the influences
of various sci-fi outings for inspiration for designs plot points characters and this overall
blending of the world created became an h.g wells-esque playground of stylistic animation
and color palettes at the bare minimum if all else failed in the show the look of it would
leave a familiar yet mysteriously intriguing blues clue in your noggin to live on long past
the show luckily we don't have to worry about the bare minimum the show was critically praised
11 annie award nominations and even an emmy in which they won not just nominated actually won
the emmy the stories were well written and the characters had their individual growth throughout
the show which was integral in investing time into the show and with all of this good what went wrong
well aside from the insanely cumbersome turnaround time for episodes demanded by the network it was
almost nearly impossible to get these episodes turned in on time luckily though rob and his
team still worked around the clock to still provide quality programming by these deadlines
but over 12 months only having 13 episodes released having roughly one episode a month
blockaded any momentum the train had to keep the show popular and of interest we wouldn't
see season 2 of the show premiere until almost a full year later in early 2005. well there was a
december 2004 release of a christmas episode but the show picked back up in late january
following that but it only gets worse from here season 3 of the show might as well call itself
danny phantom because it sure went ghost while in various parts of asia it would premiere season 3
out of order nickelodeon wouldn't show these final episodes in the us until late 2008. concluding
with the end of the show in 2009. ridiculous so for six years the show ran for 40 episodes
oh and we didn't get the final season on nickelodeon rather on the secondary
nickelodeon channel nicktoons which would be noticed as the network where cartoons
kind of go to their great beyond it's a sad story about an incredible show that
was highly praised that because of its release schedule had a limited audience resulting in low
viewership which all totaled up to nickelodeon self-sabotaging the show into obscurity failure
but failure is a strong word it's only considered that to nick who decided it wasn't good enough
to continue on but even if it ended this way the show to me and to many many others is incredible
artist subjective sure but there was a genuine master class at work that poured their soul into
every frame every sentence and every final turned in package that came together and made a show that
wasn't around for long but left its presence in the cartoon space giving it the cult longevity
it has excelled into the show overall to me while not my personal favorite cartoon of all time is
easily up there for the impact it did leave on me taking all the inspiration from the sci-fi
influences that i love and spinning its own unique twist and homage to them all it truly checked off
all the right boxes it's always nice to see when the show isn't forgotten about when it
comes to random bits of merch like this shirt i got that came out this year as well as many
are hopeful that within the new nickelodeon all-star brawl video game coming out later
this year that jenny may be a playable character unfortunately the dvd sets were discontinued this
year but on paramount plus the show can be found in its entirety so at least there is a somewhat
accessible way to access this show hey i can at least still watch episodes on my video now
wait jesse mccartney i would love to speak on this show further in the future dig into
individual episodes or seasons of the show so if that's something you'd like to see leave a
like on the video hit that subscribe button and let me know in the comments as well as
what were your favorite episodes of the show did you ever actually even get a chance to watch the
show when it aired i mean you've heard from me so now i want to hear from you thanks so much
for spending some time with me i'll be back with another video soon but until then later
you