The Strange Disappearance of My Life As A Teenage Robot

[Music] to drop a stroll off at obedience school on your way to work oh yeah yeah this is a school day huh [Music] what if I told you all those iconic and in some cases extremely juxtaposing things made their way into one television series about a robot that just really wants a date to the school dance what if I also told you that the result of that marriage will be one of Nickelodeon's most acclaimed series of all time and that the network would cannibalize it and throw it in the trash in the most unintelligent ways imaginable you'd be upset too if you were Roberts Eddie at a time Rob made it to Nickelodeon he was an animation staple you'd work to mold shows like Dexter's Lab Samurai Jack and the Powerpuff Girls for Cartoon Network but when he made his way over to new globe in it was with an idea in mind this is Mina in the count's a pilot and short he had created for Nick in hopes of getting the green light for a series the show about a girl with a vampire best friend Nick didn't love the idea and told Renzetti to come back to them with two more if he wanted another shot at a series order one was a twist on Mina an account one became a story of a boy with a teenage robot as a neighbor that neighbor became my life as a teenage robot will premiere on oh yeah cartoons in 1999 but would get its first proper episode on August 1st 2003 and from essentially that point on the show would be fighting for its life in terms of quality Jenny Brad Sheldon would spend each episode fighting to save the planet and be popular at school there'd be epic battles and smaller arguments but its narrative is only a part of the show's successes teenage robot was one of the most stylistically unique animated shows of that era and it was deeply entrenched in classic science fiction while Jenny looks a bit like baby's first gundam the show's aesthetic is deeply tied to the works of science fiction that are instantly recognizable even if you can't articulate or call to mind those inspirations HG Wells in particular is a man whose sci-fi novels have inspired more science fiction across TV and film than is comprehensible his work and in particular the cover of his work are everywhere in teenage robots there's no mistaking the influence between Wells novel War of the Worlds in which an alien force invades planets in the cluster invasion of Earth here but it's the influence of classic sci-fi films that I find more interesting like it's a code a 50-foot woman or this alien reference get away from her you the show provided its audience a portal into a world of decades of sci-fi that they probably would have otherwise not been exposed to it was a subtle introduction to the novels of Welles for the world of cheesy Friday night B movies and it gave the show a personality that felt strangely familiar it sparked an interest amongst its audience in a world of decades of classic sci-fi that so few animated shows have been to and throughout this first season this blend of animated coming-of-age science fantasy about a female robot that smashes asteroids with drills and needs a date for the drive-in that night was not only unique but it was excellent there was just one problem Nick didn't a brief sea Renzetti was someone who believed it greatly in the old adage of anything good takes time he had no interest in rushing his work yes Nick place two-week turnaround constraints on story force in tight turning schedules on episodes that made it difficult to turn the episodes around within yet Renzetti and his animation team continued to make it happen so there was hope by the end of the first season that this series was headed in the right direction yet its second season would be delayed and would it begin airing excluding a Christmas special until 2005 this is important the first seasons 13 episodes aired over the course of 12 months simple math about an episode per month which slowly and obviously killed any hype around the show the wait until oh five for a second season killing that momentum even further NIC was essentially very slowly allowing the show's penetration into the market to disappear why well things will get a lot stranger before the network would speak up about it a trend ednan season two however was more of a high-quality saying for teenage robot once it did air and it would stay even truer to its aesthetic while teenage robot tried to stay relatable it only did so superficially I'm sure Jenny gets grounded and feels as though she doesn't fit in two times but there's only so much relatability a sentient world saving machine can have aesthetically the show plays with this recognizable fantasy angle season two both sonically and visually is some of the most interesting work in the series and it carries that torch over from its first flash of episodes everything in the show is what designers and architects call streamline Moderne it's a retro futuristic irately by things like the Jetsons a rounder sleeker more metallic vision of the future aesthetically it's kind of like mixing a 50s diner with the realities of every tale about green Martians the houses tuk rides his bike past the UFO that tuk and Brad steal for a joyride the cars on the road everything is molded in this style and the sound design is well [Music] also we looked into little talked about the sound design of this show drove home its aesthetic better than anything else and while Jenny would spend the second season battling the cluster in robot puberty the industry was beginning to take notice of this individuality it's 43 minute special escape from cluster crime was nominated for an Emmy and the show itself racked up 11 Annie nominations that Afra mentions special taking jenny to cluster prime after she becomes fed up but dealing with the monotony and realities of being a teenager on earth jenny is painted as the villain and is forced into an eventual showdown to regain control of this plants it's an episode that encapsulates everything great about the show a slice of life throw batting and the superheroing and climaxes in an animated battle that would define the series but then well worst case scenario came knocking down the show's metallic doors season 3 of the show would be created and finished and then would vanish and it canceled the show at the end of the second season stating that despite the critical acclaim the ratings of the show had declined in all likelihood this probably had something to do with Nick's sporadic releasing of its first season's episodes and the gap between that first season and the second slowly diminishing the entry for a show whose premiere had technically come five years before in 1999 so what they do with the show's third season they buried it it would first air in Asian markets in 2006 and for two years that was the only place it would air by 2008 when they finally decided American audiences deserved a chance to see how the show ends they wouldn't even give the show the chops on treatment and era in a dead timeslot instead in shove the final season on to their Nicktoons Channel unceremoniously finally ending the seven-year saga of only 39 episodes I've as a teenage robot is an interesting case study in how the television industry treats its creators and its properties the clash between quality and numbers Nielsen ratings are worth something viewer numbers but teenage robot is a perfect microcosm the relationship between those viewer numbers and quality there isn't one teenage robot was a retro-futuristic coming-of-age story about a female machine and none of that makes sense but it was phenomenal I guess what the show taught me and what it should show others is that just because people aren't clicking on your video or watching your movie or buying tickets doesn't mean what you're creating or what you love isn't great sometimes numbers don't tell you much of anything teenage robot is still loved today because it was loved then just not by its network so if you love something watch it buy it engage with it talk about it it just might keep your next favorite talking pubescent robot on TV that is a wrap on today's episode of nerd stall Jake if you enjoyed this video and want to see more like my life as a teenage robot on this channel click the like button if you haven't yet to press subscribe as well it'll make sure you get every video on this channel also the Bell next is the subscribe button if you press that that helps a lot it make sure you're actually notified when I upload so you don't miss any uploads so press subscribe in the little bell and on your screen right now to your left and to your right are two more episodes of Nerdist illogic and I will see you guys in the next video

Channel: Nerdstalgic

Views: 533,623

Rating: 4.9535909 out of 5

Keywords: my life as a teenage robot, teenage robot, my life as a teenage robot episodes, teenage robot episodes, best my life as a teenage robot, my life as a teenage robot theme, nickelodeon, my life as a teenage robot sheldon, nerdstalgic

Id: wiyQjJD4GhI

Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 09 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/TrippinLSD]

What a trip. I saw the title and a part of my childhood came flooding back. Crazy I never realized there were so few episode in such a long time span. But that art style was just sublime