Undergrads
From Freepedia
Undergrads was an animated television series centered around the lives of four college freshmen. Originally broadcast on MTV during 2001, only thirteen episodes were created. It has developed a cult following on Comedy Central in the United States and Teletoon in Canada.
The show is a microcosm of college life much the same way Gilligan's Island represents everyday life. Each character represents a specific type of college aged individual. Nitz represents the average college student trying to find a balance between his high school friends and finding inclusion into college life. Rocko is the hardcore, boozing, fratboy. Cal is the "ladies man", and Gimpy is the computer geek. Also seen are the tomboy in Jesse, the ditz, or girly girl in Kimmy, or the flamboyant drama guy in Mark.
It was conceived by Pete Williams when he was 19 and he dropped out of college to create the series. He does most of the voices on the show.
Contents |
Characters
There are four main characters in the show
- Parker 'Nitz' Walsh - The main character and almost all the episodes revolve around him in some way. He is shy and attends State U. He is at a point in his life where he feels he has no proper place or identity of his own. He often criticizes himself for being so attached to the past, including his friends during a time where he feels he should be embracing change and new experiences. However, he cannot help but stay close to his lifelong friends. He often finds himself at odds with his friends, wishing for more time to try and woo Kimmy, who he has had a crush on since childhood. However, his love for his old friends often gets the better of him. This is a conflict in Nitz which often plays a major role in the episodes' plotlines. The character is based on the producer of the series Pete Williams.
- Rocko Gambiani - A member of the fraternity Alpha Alpha, who attends the local community college Central State Junior Community College and whose only interests center around alcohol and girls. Rocko seems however, to be completely aware of his addiction and wishes to change. His addiction is very strong however, and seems to be currently trapping him in alcoholism. Although he puts on a tough exterior, he seems to be troubled by his lack of friends other than the other three members of the clique. Doesn't like Cal very much, but tolerates him regardless.
- Cal Evans - The tall blonde who seems be able to get any girl into bed without any effort whatsoever. Cal is Nitz's roommate. He has a rather peculiar tendency to drool, and often ends his sentences with the word "guy" (showing hints of a Canadian dialect). To say Cal isn't the brightest bulb of the bunch is an understatement. Cal repeatedly demonstrates that he lacks a great deal of intelligence, often saying completely random statements regardless of whats going on around him, and displaying a rather humorous obliviousness to everything. This nonetheless, seems to attract women to him even more for some reason. His obliviousness often irritates Nitz and Rocko a great deal. His neverending, albeit unfocused enthusiasm however, often maintains their friendship.
- Justin 'Gimpy' Taylor - The über-nerd. He attends Tekerson Tech and rarely leaves his room. He develops a group of other students to do his bidding. He is an extreme Star Wars fan, and his followers usually refer to him as G-PRIME. Gimpy often shows signs of being something of a self-imposed social recluse, often stating women as being "the enemy". Gimpy, however, comes across a rival hacker known as SHE-PRIME, and a mutual crush begins to develop between the two. Although this prematurely ends in argument, it is heavily hinted the two desperately want to discover the identity of one another. Little does either know that they are in fact, right next door to each other at Tekerson. While prone to emotional outbursts, Gimpy is often always there to support his friends. Out of the four, it is hinted that Nitz and Gimpy are the closest. His increasingly budding friendship with his legion of nerds often creates a conflict between them and his old friendship with Nitz, Cal, and Rocko. Gimpy is something of a repressed expressionist, and is often demonstrated as being quite a genius at many things other than his Star Wars fixation.
Other characters in the show
- Jessie - She becomes friends with Nitz on the first week of college. Nitz does not realise that she is attracted to him. Jessie is a very laid back, punk girl type personality on campus. She often accompanies Nitz on his misadventures and analyzes many things about this strange time in everyone's life with a surprisingly level-headed and mature point of view. She has supposedly undergone a major makeover from high school, possibly openly expressing herself more with her new college freedom. As the series goes on, Jessie's frustration over Nitz's ignorance to her interest starts to increase, and begins to result in outright spite for Kimmy Burton. Despite this however, she cannot seem to leave his side. The character is voiced by Jene Yeo who is in fact who the character is based upon. Jessie also goes to State U.
- Kimmy Burton - The crush of Nitz. He went to high school with her. She tries to be involved with everything going on at school. She seems, like the case with Jessie to Nitz, to be totally oblivious to Nitz's crush on her. Although she is somewhat of an overachiever, it is revealed that her life is in shambles. Kimmy, like everyone else at college, is uncertain and nervous about her future, and she begins to see Nitz as something of a "shoulder to cry on". While this frustrates Nitz he seems excited at slowly coming closer to her. Kimmy, however, has an interest in Mark, another drama student at the college. But unbeknownst to either Nitz or herself, this student is actually a homosexual. This isn't revealed to them until the final episode, but it is quite obviously implied from the very first episodes to the audience. While Kimmy means well, she seems rather oblivious to the feelings of others. Kimmy goes to State U. It is revealed that this may have been Nitz's sole reason for going to State University.
- Mump - Gimpy's lead minion. He is a short, overweight, red-haired young man. He once states that "he may be below average in height, but he's above average in weight". As well as being the lead minion in Gimpy's little troupe of Tekerson Tech geeks, Mump is shown as being something of Gimpy's sidekick as well. Although he is often nice enough, he seems to be rather fiercely protective of him and Gimpy's friendship. He is at first, extremely jealous of Nitz and Gimpy's apparently very close friendship although this dissipates to friendly neutrality eventually. Mump was a former Trekkie before Gimpy came and inspired Mump to such a degree, that he mimicked Gimpy's love of Star Wars as well. Although he's also a fan of Star Wars, he seems to be a fan more or less, just to get along with Gimpy. He often dotes on Gimpy and often agrees with him regardless of whether he should or not. He claims that there is a b in his name, and that the 'b' is silent. This could be however, more mindless doting on Gimpy or a reference to his unsaid real name. Deep down inside, it is constantly hinted that Mump is somewhat insecure with himself, which would explain his rather fierce protection of the friendships he does attain. Mump is obviously a nickname akin to the nicknames of the main 4, however his real name is never mentioned. Briefly suffers from a case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
- The Duggler - The Resident assistant at the State University dorms where Nitz and Cal reside. He is something of a social relic from the 1970s, and still sports an overall hippie-like motif. He always wears a bathrobe, which he reveals to Cal is something of an unofficial uniform for State U. RA's. He's something of a social inept, often denying himself to partake in unofficial student events and hijinks, as well as just plain fun. He seems in a constant state of denial about this, which gives one the impression he lives something of a sad and lonely life but won't admit it. Part of this denial is constantly convincing himself that he's having a good time away from the real fun, even if he apparently isn't. He has a rather forced trendy way of talking and seems to be not very much cared for by the students.
- Spud - A rather unusual young man who is a diehard trekkie. He even wears the yellow uniform as seen in the original series as normal attire. He originally led a vast majority of Tekerson Tech's students in a big Star Trek fan club. When Gimpy transfers to Tekkerson he asks Spud about the Prime Directive, the directive from the Star Trek universe which states that it is forbidden to directly interfere or force beliefs on intelligent life that has come into contact with. Gimpy merely states that since Spud is doing just that to the Tekerson students, he's breaking that very rule. Unable to grasp onto this paradox, Spud flees and Mump and the others stare in awe at how easily Gimpy "defeated" Spud. Gimpy attributes it to The Force, and goes on to get everyone hooked on Star Wars. Spud appears as the main antagonist in one episode (New Friends), by attempting revenge on Gimpy. He appears through brief cameo's later on. He often says the word…or sound "Shmaa…" in all his sentences and has somewhat of a creepy and mumbling way of talking.
- SHE PRIME - A female hacker who challenges Gimpy when hacking into his computer to make some embarrassing changes. He eventually confronts her and the two begin to form a bit of a relationship. Gimpy at first seems hesitant about this, due to his strict stand about girls being the enemy. However, he begins to find much in common with SHE PRIME, despite the fact the two have never met. They begin to spend even more time together online. However, Rocko brings up that Gimpy is often told what to do and is somewhat whipped. To test this, Gimpy denies one of SHE PRIME's requests and she becomes offended, threatens to destroy Gimpy's computer with a computer virus. This crisis is averted and the two are set against each other as rivals again. However, both seem to have a desire to know each other's identity. SHE PRIME has dyed purple hair wrapped in a bandana. Although she is quite the femme fatale online, in real life she seems somewhat shy and withdrawn. Little does she realize that she lives right next door to Gimpy's dorm room.
- Mark - Also known as "the drama guy". Kimmy has a huge crush on Mark but is entirely oblivious to the fact that he is a homosexual (a fact the viewer can detect almost immediately). Nitz feels threatened by Mark because he is ruining his chance to be close to Kimmy. Mark recognizes Nitz as "Kimmy's friend". He has a boyfriend named Lance.
Other characters divided by groups
- Jessie's friends - These are friends of Jessie. They hang out together quite often. Out of all the background characters, these three are the most defined. They form a friendship with Nitz along with Jessie's help when Nitz begins to feel like his old friendship has gone as far as it can. He has second thoughts however, but remains good friends with this group.
- Brodie - A film student whom has quite the makings of a future film critic. He talks about movies quite often, and often makes direct references by name through trivia and personal opinion on movies. He often talks about movie news as well, quite enthusiastically. He is also somewhat famous for starting the famous shout in the last episode.
- Kruger - A leading description of Kruger is he's a foul-mouthed smoker. Every other word and sentence said by Kruger is censored. He often disagrees with everyone, and seems quite the pessimist. A chain smoker, he says whats on his mind all the time in less than eloquent ways. The only swear word he says is fuck.
- Dan - He has literally no speaking lines in the entire series. All he does is laugh at various things. He laughs at others' misfortunes, jokes, anything. All he really does is laugh. As such, there's not a whole lot to explore about him. It's a possibility that he could have mental problems.
- Gimpy's Minions - A troupe of nerds and geeks led by Gimpy at Tekerson Tech. They are very much his minions, and do everything he commands much like a private army. Mump is the semi leader of these "troops", or maybe a second in command to Gimpy. Whatever the case, aside from Gimpy and Mump themselves none of this group's names are mentioned, although by appearance they appear somewhat often.
- Guy with the funny accent - Probably the most seen of the troupe, he is somewhat pudgy and speaks with a rather peculiar accent. It is reminiscent of a Hebrew accent but not quite.
- Guy with the big nose and striped shirt - He doesn't really do much on his own, but is easily distinctive.
- Guy who looks like the youngest - He pretty much looks like the youngest member.
There are many others in the troupe as well, although the characters above appear most often.
Episode list
- Party - 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.
- Traditions - Tradition Week at the colleges. State U's eXposed eXpo means that during the first snow fall of the winter all of the freshman run naked through the college quad.
- Virgins - Nitz is a virgin but thinks that Kimmy wants to have sex with him when she invites him to the clinic where she works.
- New Friends - 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's has lost his command of his band of minions and must fight Number One for control.
- Drunks - Nitz who is under-age 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.
- Room Mates - 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 attracted to Jessie but then tries too hard to get her. Gimpy falls in love with a girl hacker.
- Jerks - 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.
- Rivalries - Nitz and Gimpy enter a trivia competition but end up competing against each other in an inter-college competition.
- Financial Aid - Nitz does not receive his financial aid check and so joins the local student action group. Rocko joins the local college ROTC.
- Identity Crisis - 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.
- Work Study - 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.
- Risk - 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.
- Screw Week - 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.
Concerning Cancellation and possible Syndication
Although it aired to rave reviews, Undergrads did not achieve the ratings MTV wished for. As such, it was cancelled before the second season could be produced. However, originally the series was set to continue. Teletoon and Decode whom produced the show were all but ready to make a second season, and were also highly interested in it. However, at the last minute, MTV pulled the plug on their funding of the show. Although the show was taken to Comedy Central and hopes were high that the network may fund a second season, Undergrads was shown at a relatively late time slot at night and as such did not receive very high ratings. The show still airs on Teletoon to stable ratings. Many of the show's fans believe the show did not get the chance it deserved, as on MTV its schedule was somewhat unstable, and Comedy Central had given it a plain bad time slot.
The show is often said to be far above average, as it is one of the few shows in general to show a realistic portrayal of Campus life with some exaggerations from the characters. Also, the last episode of Season one leaves at something of a cliffhanger that many wished to see resolved. Many feel the show has more than enough potential material to go on, and that its cancellation was a great injustice. Pete Williams has stated that he would be very interested in reviving Undergrads, and Teletoon and Decode maintain that they too remain interested in continuing the series. The one problem is funding. After almost 3 years of inactivity fans have started to lose hope, however a faint glimmer of hope still exists that the show may be brought back.
Trivia
- Each episode contains at least one Star Wars reference and the New Friends episode is based on A New Hope
- The theme song, The Click, is written and performed by the band Good Charlotte who also appear in the Risk episode
- As well as Star Wars there are also references to The Thin Red Line, Spartacus, The Alien series, Full Metal Jacket and Friends. The video game, Quake is used as the scene for the climax of the episode New Friends. There also also numorous subtle jabs at various popular culture fads such as online blogs, and e-dating.
- One of Undergrads most prominent attributes is that it is one of the few forms of visual media that has explored the less than perfect aspects of College life. As opposed to the now all so famous Harvard University stereotype of college as a clean, fun filled time in life, Undergrads instead depicted what many of the shows' College going fans consider the true image of College life; A stressful and uncertain time of life to most. As such, many very well known College challenges rarely mentioned in most College portrayals are explored such as Student Loans, extremely long lines, questioning of identity, fraternity rivalries and odd customs, unpleasant RA's, money problems, and the all so infamous "Freshman 15" (the problem of College students gaining weight very fast during their Freshman year due to all the time spend studying and often unconsciously snacking on various unhealthy foods)
- The episode "New Friends" contains 24 f-words (censored), all used by Kruger.
- Kruger isn't the only character that swears. In the episode, "Identity Crisis", Nitz was trying to get a new personality based on many people at the college and said at least 2 f-words (both censored). Nitz was taking the swearing personality of Kruger.
DVD
The only season of Undergrads was released on DVD on August 5, 2003 with a few special features like a commentary and DVD-ROM goodies.
All of the 13 episodes are in this DVD, but there are no changes (swearing and nudity are censored).
External links
- Undergrads at the Internet Movie Database
- Undergrads at TV.com
- Undergrads on DVD at Amazon.com
- Undergrads Online (uses Flash)
