How I Became an "ATBG" Fan
Now, I've said before that I became a fan of As Told by Ginger in October 2014. But, what I wasn't able to do before was specifically explain how exactly I found love for this show. So, a single blog post here on Ginger Snaps should be a perfect place for me to reveal how what was formerly a Nicktoon I'd ignored (alongside Klasky Csupo's other Nicktoons besides Rugrats) became one of my all-time favorite animated series.
As far as I can remember was in late September of 2014. One day, I was on the couch browsing the Rogers digital cable TV guide, looking to see what was on channels I wished I was subscribed to. One of those channels was Nickelodeon Canada. At the time, Nick Canada mostly had garbage on their schedule, at least during the day (the very, very early morning hours is when they air good Nicktoons such as Ren & Stimpy and CatDog). For while, at 4pm, Nick Canada had an hour full of As Told by Ginger. I believe the episode I saw on the guide that day was "Stuff'll Kill Ya" from season three. That episode's plot seemed interesting to me, with Ginger becoming addicted to caffeine and all, even though I've seen episodes like those before. A funny example occurred on The Looney Tunes Show, where Bugs Bunny buys mountains of cans of some dangerous energy drink Yosemite Sam was illegally selling. But back to Ginger, I knew that this was going to be an after-school special type of episode, which usually catch my interest as well. I do watch a lot of Arthur, after all. Also, that 1990 special, Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue was so bad it's good. No, please don't bring Family Guy's "special episodes" like "Screams of Silence", because they always fail at the so-called morals and implications they always try to teach to the audience. "Seahorse Seashell Party" was a guilty pleasure for me, though, mainly because of Meg calling out on Lois, my most hated animated character on TV!
So anyway, prior to my newfound love, the only things I remembered about As Told by Ginger were Ginger herself, Dodie (because, as I said before, she reminds me of Angelica Pickles), Macie (because she's an obvious knock-off of Chuckie Finster), Carl, Hoodsey, Lois (because she shares the same first name as a certain other redheaded mom, who I despise), the holiday special, the fact that Ginger's parents are divorced, and the fact that it's from the Rugrats people (Klasky Csupo). Oh, and that Ginger's voice actress is sorta related to Walt Disney! However, even though I didn't know or saw much about As Told by Ginger at the time, I knew that it was one of those slice-of-life cartoons with frequent "special episodes" like "Stuff'll Kill Ya". I knew that it was one of those shows aimed at an older audience than, say, Rugrats.
Apart from seeing the summary of "Stuff'll Kill Ya", what else got me to have an open mind for Ginger, and go watch some episodes of it online? Well, earlier that year, I became obsessed with this other slice-of-life cartoon about an adolescent girl, Braceface. It's Canadian, BTW. So, Canada 8, the USA...8 as well? Or maybe 9. What the hell? I'm trying to give these countries scores, but it doesn't make a lick of sense.
Anyway, besides what I just mentioned, Braceface contained lots of things in terms of story, writing, and characters that I'd eventually find to be similar in Ginger. Soon, I should write a compare and contrast between these two shows. So, I thought, if I love Braceface, chances are I'll become into Ginger as well!
I have to admit that it took a while for my current enthusiasm for the show to really kick in. Before I went to give it a try on YouTube, I started to get to know the show by reading its Wikipedia articles. Next, the earliest things I saw of Ginger were a couple of minutes of the ugly pilot episode from 1999 (or 1998, but whatever), a little bit of "Deja Who?", and this chick's mini review of the show. During my first few weeks of becoming interested in ATBG, not many episodes were watched in their entirety, only some portions of episodes were viewed, before I lose interest and switch over to another video. The earliest episodes I remember watching in their entirety include "Stuff'll Kill Ya", "Love with a Proper Transfer Student", "Kiss and Make-up", "Sleep on It", "Kiss Today Goodbye", and "Of Lice and Friends". And in between, I'd Google pictures of Ginger, and visit its page on Klasky Csupo's Cooltoons site.
So, what I saw of the show, I liked, and I wanted to watch more. By the end of the month, when I made my short pencil test, Dodie Bishop Gets Her Just Desserts!, I started to accept As Told by Ginger as one of my favorite Nicktoons, though not in the fifth spot, which was still occupied by T.U.F.F. Puppy. By December, I officially named As Told by Ginger my fifth favorite Nicktoon of all time, and it remains on that spot to this day! Also by December, not only was I enjoying the show more than in October, but I was also starting to really respect it for what it is. The things that made Ginger groundbreaking were things that I once didn't care about when it comes to my taste in cartoons, including its depth, character development, and relations to real life issues. Now, I appreciate them. A lot.
Currently, I'm giving Degrassi a try with an open mind. It's like a live-action ATBG, only darker, not funny, and more melodramatic. So far, I still find it to be boring.
So, now you know the story of how I became a fan of As Told by Ginger, thus why this blog exists!
How did I become a Dodie Bishop hater? Well, that's another story...