.gif)
Downtown (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Downtown was an animated series on MTV
on urban
life, based on interviews with real people. The show follows a diverse and multiracial
cast who live in New York City
, and presents their everyday lives through quirky, humorous, and imaginative perspectives from the characters. It was created by Chris Prynoski
, a former animator on Beavis and Butt-Head
and produced by David McGrath. In 2000, Downtown was nominated for an Emmy in the category of outstanding animated program.
Downtown faced a similar fate to many of MTV's other cartoons - it only lasted one season (13 episodes). While there is little hope for another season, there has been an outcry for a DVD
release of the series since the show is currently not being broadcast. The use of an original score rather than licensed music would make such a DVD release easier. Series creator Chris Prynoski has sublimated the lack of an official DVD release by way of offering a promotional DVD via his blog which includes all episodes of the series in DVD quality.
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
on urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
life, based on interviews with real people. The show follows a diverse and multiracial
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
cast who live in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and presents their everyday lives through quirky, humorous, and imaginative perspectives from the characters. It was created by Chris Prynoski
Chris Prynoski
Chris Prynoski born November 1, 1971, is an American animator, director, and producer.Prynoski was born in Trenton, New Jersey and grew up in Bordentown, New Jersey. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1994. He then spent several years working in the industry in New York, mostly on his...
, a former animator on Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
and produced by David McGrath. In 2000, Downtown was nominated for an Emmy in the category of outstanding animated program.
Downtown faced a similar fate to many of MTV's other cartoons - it only lasted one season (13 episodes). While there is little hope for another season, there has been an outcry for a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release of the series since the show is currently not being broadcast. The use of an original score rather than licensed music would make such a DVD release easier. Series creator Chris Prynoski has sublimated the lack of an official DVD release by way of offering a promotional DVD via his blog which includes all episodes of the series in DVD quality.
Characters
| Character | Description | |
 |
Alex (Gregory Gilmore) | Alex is smart, skeptical, and intentionally un-hip, but can't seem to overcome his self-conscious nature. His shyness and lack of confidence Confidence Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself. Arrogance or hubris in this comparison, is having unmerited... keep him from getting what he wants: a girlfriend, a better job, and a more exciting life. Alex tends to develop frustrating crushes on unattainable women. Although he wants to break away from his gang of comic book Comic book A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including... reading, action figure Action figure An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors... collecting social misfits, it is with them that he feels most at home. And he is overqualified for his job at Repro Man's - a copy shop. |
 |
Chaka (Leyora Zuberman) | Chaka is Alex's sister, and his polar opposite. She is confident and an extroverted motormouth, looking for fun at all times. Chaka spends most of her time and energy seeking out the latest, hippest scene and scamming her underage self into places she shouldn't be. As a result of all this partying, she's not a very good student. Chaka is attractive, so guys cut her a lot of slack. Constantly flirting, she isn't terribly serious about boys. She is quick to point out other people's flaws, but can't see any of her own. |
 |
Fruity (Marco H. Rodriguez) | Fruity is a slave to his hormones. He is always on the hunt for chicks, and is not very picky. An obvious horndog, girls see him coming a mile away. A showoff and a bit of a goof, Fruity enjoys the spotlight. He's impatient, impulsive, and irresponsible. Though a senior Student A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English... in high school High school High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions.... , he has no serious plans for the future. |
| Goat (Scot Rienecker) | Goat is the neighborhood freak Freak In current usage, the word "freak" is commonly used to refer to a person with something unusual about their appearance or behaviour. This usage dates from the so-called freak scene of the 1960s and 1970s. "Freak" in this sense may be used either as a pejorative, a term of admiration, or a... . His behavior is outrageous and quite sleazy. Well-known and well-liked, he has diverse interests and feels comfortable in any social situation. He will try anything once, maybe twice. His philosophy Philosophy Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational... : "If you ask 50 women to sleep with you, it's likely one of them will." Alex envies Envy Envy is best defined as a resentful emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it."... Goat's ability to grab life by the balls; Goat tries to encourage Alex to loosen up. Goat also appears in two Cartoon Network Cartoon Network Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States.... shows: Megas XLR Megas XLR Megas XLR is an American animated television series that aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network and is produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It was created by Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic... (as a junkyard owner) and Metalocalypse Metalocalypse Metalocalypse is an American animated television series, created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, which premiered on August 6, 2006 on Adult Swim... (as a nameless Metal fan). |
|
| Jen (Tammy Lang) | Jen is Alex's best friend Friendship Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum... . She faces life with an off-beat, self-deprecating sense of humor. Although she wants acceptance and love, she refuses to jump through the hoops to impress people. She's not high maintenance; she's a one-of-the-guys type. She's often doling out opinions about relationships, even though she never had a successful one herself. She works at a kitschy used clothing store called Lord of Hoard. |
|
| Matt (Hector Fontanez) | Matt, Fruity's pal, has smarts, ambition, and an art Art Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.... istic soul, but he chooses to keep these qualities under wraps. Girls are attracted to his understated, laid-back style. Matt expresses his creative style through graffiti Graffiti Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property.... - he can make his mark while being anonymous. He works part-time at a local comic book store, Starbase 12. |
|
| Mecca (Aurora Lucia-Levey) | Mecca is Chaka's sidekick. A hopeless romantic, she is cerebral, dreamy, and blissfully naive. In search of "true love", Mecca often ignores common sense. She is always crushed out on one boy to another. She gets hurt easily, but bounces back fast and goes on to the next "perfect guy". She sees the world through rose-colored glasses and gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. | |
| Serena (Phoebe Summersquash) | Serena is Alex's fantasy girl. Her exotic goth Gothic fashion Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture; a dark, sometimes morbid, eroticized fashion and style of dress. Typical Gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, black lips and black clothes. Both male and female goths wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernails. Styles are... style is off-putting at first, but she's actually a very likable, positive person. She works at Starbase 12 with Matt. Creatively unfocused, she writes poetry Poetry Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning... , designs clothes, makes jewelry, and plays the zither Zither The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China... . Serena has dated a string of junkies, posers, and manic-depressives. She claims she's ready to meet a "nice guy", but she rarely notices them when they are around. |
|
 |
Leah | Leah is Jen's promiscuous roommate. |
Episode summaries
- 1) Sin Bin (8/3/1999) - Alex moves into his own apartmentApartmentAn apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
, which turns out to be a total dump. Short of cash for the big move, Alex sells some of his collectible action figures at Starbase 12 and meets his newest infatuation - gothGoth subcultureThe goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
girl Serena. Jen, Goat, Chaka, and Mecca help with Alex's big move, with several mishaps while they move in. Matt and Fruity show up and hang out with Chaka and Mecca, who were tasked by Alex to keep a lookout on the street. With the girls distracted, a young punk steals the moving van and Chaka is determined to get it back, with Mecca in tow. Jen and Goat try to cheer Alex up with his decision to move into his own place, despite his flat seemingly less than being fit for habitation. Goth girl Serena buys Alex's unwanted purple couchCouchA couch, also called a sofa, is an item of furniture designed to seat more than one person, and providing support for the back and arms. Typically, it will have an armrest on either side. In homes couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den or the lounge...
from Goat, who tips Matt and Fruity to help in moving it out of the street. Chaka manages to get the moving van back, and ends up annoying Alex further at the end of the day.
- 2) Train Pain (8/10/1999) - While chilling out at Lord of Hoard, Chaka and Mecca challenge Fruity and Matt to a battle-of-the-sexes subway race to Coney IslandConey IslandConey Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
, due to a debate as to which subway line goes there the fastest. Jen suggests that the losers have to wear gaudy, vintageVintageVintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
bathing suits from the clothes shop. Along the way, both teams find that reaching Coney Island is better said than done, with multiple obstacles en route to their destination, and the four friends end up getting their just deserts at the finish line. Meanwhile, Alex and Jen secretly engage in several kiddie toyToyA toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
s and board gameBoard gameA board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
s, only to find that Alex's rigidness with the rules and Jen's short-fusing on losing results in a big blowup.
- 3) Hot Spot (8/17/1999) - A trendy new clubClubA club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
called "Flame" replaces a dive barDive barA dive bar is a type of bar or pub. Dive bars generally have a relaxed and informal atmosphere—they are often referred to by local residents as "neighborhood bars," where people in the neighborhood gather to drink and socialize...
on the ground floor of Alex's building. Chaka is thrilled, and manages to sneak in her underage self, as well as Mecca, Fruity, and Matt, through the back entrance of the building. Her constant partying has led her to crash Alex's apartment more often than usual, to her brother's consternation. Chaka takes it up a notch by moving the partyphiles to her brother's apartment, which Alex sees as the last straw. Alex and Jen are appalled by the trend of the latest hot spots replacing old establishments, and they try to retaliate, but to no avail. Flame eventually gets shut down, all thanks to a certain person least likely to get it closed. However, when one hot spot folds, Alex and Jen find that another one quickly opens.
- 4) Insomnia (8/24/1999) - Chaka arranges for Alex to share a dinner of slugSlugSlug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
s one weekend at a newly opened Malaysian cuisine restaurant with the exotic goth girl, Serena, who stops by at Repro Man's to photocopy some posters for a goth crowd event. Alex's overwhelming anxiety leads to night after night of insomniaInsomniaInsomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
, also in part due to Jen's negative and exaggerated opinions on his impending date with Serena, as well as Chaka's constant pestering that her brother will never have the guts to get a girl that he likes. Alex's insomnia leads him to wander around the city streets late at night and have fits of hallucinationHallucinationA hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
s. In the end, it's all worth it when he has an unexpected late-night encounter with his dream girl. He recounts his late-night meeting and conversation with Serena to Jen and Chaka the morning after, believing that it was all a dream. However, when Serena drops by to pick up her posters and asks him how he's doing, Alex realizes that their lengthy conversation did happen after all. Serena surprises Alex by saying that she finds him to be more than the boring facade he usually fronts, and she ends up asking him out to come and join the goth crowd party, which means more sleepless nights in store for Alex.
- 5) The Con (8/31/1999) - Alex rethinks his geeky lifestyle of toy-collecting and comic-book hoarding and decides not to attend a Horror Convention with his nerdy friends, only to be lured there in the end by an action figure that will complete his set of White Trash fantasy characters. Serena and Matt's boss at Starbase 12, wrestler Francis, gets injured, and Fruity is pulled in as his replacement for their booth at the convention. At the con, Alex bumps into Serena and is torn by his ability to impress her with his desire to purchase the missing action figure. Also, Fruity stirs up some trouble when he accidentally sold a mint-condition comic for less than a fraction of what its worth, and is dead-set on getting it back. Serena opens up to Alex more about herself and her choice of guys, while Alex recruits Goat to buy the desired toy away from Serena's presence. World Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE) pro-wrestler, The Undertaker, makes a special guest appearance.
- 6) Graffiti (9/7/1999) - Alex and Matt get a close call from an irate building owner, who catches Matt in the act of making graffiti. Emboldened by the escapade, Alex decides to do something risky for the night and heads off to Jen's apartment. Meanwhile. Chaka mentions that a subway line fire just happened earlier that day, providing Matt with an irresistible opportunity to tag the stalled trains. Fruity and Chaka tag along as lookouts. Over at Jen's place, Alex gets a sexually-charged night of platonically pleasant company with Leah, Jen's promiscuous roommate, who finds herself biting off more than she can chew for one night. Down at the city's maze of subway tunnels, the trio find themselves lost amongst the labyrinthLabyrinthIn Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...
of unused routes and find the city's underground Hall of Fame for graffiti artists. Matt's artistic temperament gets Fruity to be slightly insecure of his best friend, escalating into a heated tension between the two. Added with Chaka's motormouth demeanor, their trivial misunderstandings leads them to a night that seriously tests their friendship.
- 7) Hotel Bar (9/14/1999) - Alex and Chaka discuss their polar opposite lifestyles over breakfast, and Goat drops by to offer Alex the opportunity to pick up girls. Meanwhile, Jen accompanies her gold-digging and promiscuous roommate, Leah, to a fancy hotel bar. With Goat's guidance, Alex cringes at the sight of Goat's social crowd and his less-than-pleasing philosophy of getting laidSexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with girls. At the hotel bar, Leah works the handsome, affluent men in the place, while Jen stirs up a bit of trouble: getting drunk, singing her wildly inebriated rendition of RockwellRockwell (musician)Rockwell is an R&B performer who was signed to the Motown label.-Biography:...
's "Somebody's Watching MeSomebody's Watching Me"Somebody's Watching Me" is the debut single by R&B artist Rockwell, released on the Motown label in 1984. The song's lyrics relate the narrator's paranoid fear of being followed and watched. It featured former Motown artists Michael Jackson on the chorus and Jermaine Jackson on additional backing...
" to the annoyance of the bar patrons, and asking a nearby woman whether or not she is a hooker, which causes Leah's potential fling to walk out on her when Leah hotly said that she isn't a hooker. Goat and Alex eventually pick up two freaky-looking women, and Alex is slightly appalled by his partner, despite her nice personality. Goat advises Alex to lower his standards, which Alex finds some difficulty in doing. Goat manages to get laid, but is nearly beat up by the sudden appearance of the husband of the woman he just scored. Alex's quick thinking manages to get them both out of harm's way. The morning after, Leah and a hung-over Jen bond over their night of unexpected fun.
- 8) Limo (9/28/1999) - Leah harasses Jen on her platonicPlatonic lovePlatonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
relationship with Alex, forcing Jen to face facts that her sex life has hit a dry spell after a long period of time. In her sexual funk, she impulsively rents a stretch limoLimoLimo may refer to:* Limousine, a luxury car* Limo , an administrative division in southern Ethiopia* Limousine , a song from the band Brand New* LiMo Platform, a mobile phone and device operating system...
for the night, and takes Alex along for the ride. Fruity is being constantly pestered by Patty, the meanest CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
school-girl in town, with whom he only had a week-long flingCasual relationshipA casual relationship, colloquially known as a fling, is a physical and emotional relationship between two people who may have a sexual relationship or a near-sexual relationship without necessarily demanding or expecting the extra commitments of a more formal romantic relationship...
as he explained to Matt. Alex and Jen do all sorts of limo clichéClichéA cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
s, and end up having this awkward sexual tension between them after only a few hours. Fruity and Matt meet up with Chaka and Mecca at ChinatownChinatownA Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
, and the foursome are eventually accosted by Patty and her troupe of bad-ass, Catholic school-girl friends. Patty gets up in Chaka's grill, thinking that she is Fruity's girlfriend. Not one to be intimidated, Chaka gives Patty a good talking-down and impulsively kisses Fruity in front of her. Enraged, Patty and her friends chases the quartet all the way to the ferryFerryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
to Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, where it escalates into a nasty catfightCatfightCatfight is a term for an altercation between two women, typically involving scratching, slapping, hair-pulling, and shirt-shredding as opposed to punching or wrestling . However, the term is not exclusively used to indicate a fight between women, and many formal definitions do not invoke gender...
between the two girls. Meanwhile, Alex and Jen almost get caught up in their sexual urges, and end the night without any seriously potential damage to their friendship. Meanwhile, Chaka clears the air for everyone due to Fruity's sexually implicit goading on the altercation, and the girlfight ends. Fruity's flirtatious nature still makes Patty obsessively jealous, but in the end, the two are left behind and end up making out at the ferry station.
- 9) Testing (10/5/1999) - Alex, Chaka, Fruity, and Goat are hanging out in the park, when they meet a university student who recruits the men to take part in a researchResearchResearch can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
study. Alex, Fruity, and Goat are wary of the offer, but with the mention of a hundred-dollar participation fee, the guys sign up for the test. The three guys talk about what the research study is about, and Goat begins to become extremely paranoid over the whole situation. It turns out that the test was about men and how much they have forgotten their educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and Alex manages to remember everything he had learned back in school, causing him to have a high score and the researcher asking him about his dead-end job. He lies to Fruity about his results, but discloses the information to Chaka and Mecca. The test results lead Alex to question his non-ambition, and he decides to move out of Repro Man's and apply into the more swanky Big Copy, with the sarcastic support of Jen. Meanwhile, Goat's paranoiaParanoiaParanoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
is becoming increasingly unstable, which Fruity surmises was fueled by his incessant drug addiction to LSDLSDLysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
. His erratic behavior of spouting conspiracy theories disturbs everyone in his vicinity, until he meets up with the female guard from the test center, who happens to be Goat's high school classmate named Bernice. Now sporting a bikerMotorcyclingMotorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. A variety of subcultures and lifestyles have been built up around motorcycling.-Benefits:Robert M. Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a paean celebrating motorcycling...
punkPunk fashionPunk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including...
image, she reveals Goat's real name, which is Scott. The two catch up, with Goat's paranoia somewhat abated. Alex manages to bag the managerial position at Big Copy, only to turn it down in the end, explaining to Jen that he doesn't want to become one of those stuck-up, corporate yuppieYuppieYuppie is a term that refers to a member of the upper middle class or upper class in their 20s or 30s. It first came into use in the early-1980s and largely faded from American popular culture in the late-1980s, due to the 1987 stock market crash and the early 1990s recession...
s whom everyone detests.
- 10) Night Shift (10/18/1999) - Alex's intense infatuationLimerenceLimerence is a term coined c. 1977 by the psychologist Dorothy Tennov to describe an involuntary state of mind which seems to result from a romantic attraction to another person combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated...
to Serena leads him to follow her around one rainy day, and he eventually bumps into Jen, who finds Alex's crush on the goth girl to be more than tiring to deal with. Alex ends up doing a night shiftNight ShiftA night shift is either a group of workers who work during the night, or the period in which they work. See shift work.Night Shift may also refer to:* Night Shift , a fictional team of supervillains in the Marvel Universe...
at Repro Man's due to a copy mishap he did the other day. Jen stops by at Starbase 12. While there, Alex's troupe of comic-book geekGeekThe word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
friends shyly gawk at Serena by a safe distance, and Jen snaps them back out of their daydreaming. Over at Repro Man's, Alex is constantly bothered by people coming in and out of the copy shop and distracting him from an important job, until Goat pops over and helps him out with the workload. Also, Alex goes online to Serena's personal websiteWebsiteA website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
upon asking information about her from Lizzy, and inadvertently printed photos of her to the delight of Alex's nerdy friends. Despite her supposed indifference, Jen eventually ends up stalkingStalkingStalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
Serena herself, following her around town: to a shady back alley, an upscale apartment building, and a strip clubStrip clubA strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
. Added with all sorts of dubious background information on Serena from various sources, Jen becomes increasingly paranoidParanoiaParanoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
and worries how she might affect Alex and their friendship. However, Serena ends up at the copy shop and fearfully confides to Alex that 'someone' has been stalking her all night. It turns out that she went around town to pick up some herbal medicines (the shady back alley), watered her aunt's plants (the apartment building), and retrieved some concert tickets for a friend (the strip club). Serena asks Alex to help her, and he and Goat manage to apprehend the stalkerStalkingStalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
, only to find out that it was Jen all along. Alex and Jen smooth things out over the whole stalking thing, and delivers a different version of events to Serena. She stops by at the copy shop the next day and gives a small token of appreciation to Alex and Goat for helping her, to the chagrin of Jen.
- 11) Before and After (10/25/1999) - Chaka and Mecca discuss personal individuality, but goes way out of proportion when Chaka berates Mecca for copyingCopyingCopying is the duplication of information or an artifact based only on an instance of that information or artifact, and not using the process that originally generated it. With analog forms of information, copying is only possible to a limited degree of accuracy, which depends on the quality of the...
her style and moves, which piques Matt and Fruity's curiosity, and seriously annoys Mecca. Jen harasses Alex for his hoarding complex of collecting junkWasteWaste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
, rationalizing that no girl in her right mind would ever date someone like Alex if he keeps on piling up useless stuff. She forces him to clean house, including his special 'woobie' from his childhood days: a red Cookie MonsterCookie MonsterCookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" . He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples,...
pillowPillowA pillow is a large cushion support for the head, usually used while sleeping in a bed, or for the body as used on a couch or chair. There are also throw pillows , which are pillows that are purely decorative and not designed for support or comfort...
with yellow fringes given to him by his late grandmother - a story that Jen finds highly doubtful. Chaka and Mecca continue to debate over the copycat issue, and culminates into Chaka revealing to Mecca a set of extremely embarrassing photos of her shavingShavingShaving is the removal of hair, by using a razor or any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down to the level of the skin. Shaving is most commonly practiced by men to remove their facial hair and by women to remove their leg and underarm hair...
her pubic areaPubisPubis may refer to:* Pubis * Mons pubis, a padding of fat that protects the pubis bone...
(before and after shots, no less), which Chaka claims is something that Mecca would never dare to do. When the pictures seem to disappear, Chaka's fear and desperation leads her to apologize to Mecca so that she would help her retrieve them at any cost. Alex's apartment cleaning results in his secrets being revealed to the public, with many of his former belongings up for sale by illegal street vendors. He eventually manages to get back most of his stuff, to Jen's dismay, yet Alex still longs for his 'woobie', which is still at large. Chaka and Mecca realize that the photos are with Fruity in his geographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
book, and they manage to get the photographs back, thinking that Fruity has no idea about Chaka's secret. To her horror, she finds that Fruity has found out about them and makes suggestive remarks to Chaka about keeping it under wraps. A girl goes to Alex's apartment and miraculously returns Alex's 'woobie', with the two finding common ground having interest in kitschKitschKitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
y stuff. Alex decides to let go of the pillow and give it to her, and the two end up on a dinner date... which is far from Alex's expectations.
- 12) Cropsey Clanners (11/1/1999) - Jen is commissioned by her boss at Lord of Hoard to snag used stuff at the suburbSuburbThe word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s of New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
to sell at the store, and invites Alex along with the lure of possibly finding collectible action figures. Chaka and Mecca drop by at the clothes shop to find some retroRetroRetro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
clothes for a party, and end up tagging along the trip. With the four in for a very long drive, Alex and Chaka bicker over their worst family trips from their childhood, with brother and sister blaming the other for the mishaps that had happened. Jen ends up getting the group lost, and finally relents on admitting her fault when they end up getting stuck in the woodsWoodlandEcologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
. Adding insult to injury, the car also breaks down at twilight. The four share urban legends on rural New Jersey, including that of the infamous Cropsey Clanners: a freaky, inbred, hillbillyHillbillyHillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...
society completely shut off from civilizationCivilizationCivilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
, uniquely distinguishable by their thick unibrowUnibrowA unibrow is a "confluence of eyebrows"; that is, the presence of abundant hair between the eyebrows, so that they seem to converge to form one long eyebrow. The condition of having a unibrow is synophrys.-Beauty culture:...
s. Alex and Jen go out to look for help, leaving Chaka and Mecca behind to freak out over the eeriness of the woods. Rain comes, and Alex and Jen had already found help only to find that Chaka and Mecca are missing. The pair search for the two best friends, only to find they had sought shelter at the nearest suburban home, chilling and flirting with a pair of guys. The car gets fixed, the group returns home empty-handed, and still continue to get at each other's throats, never realizing that the Cropsey Clanners were right under their noses all along...
- 13) Trip Or Treat (11/8/1999) - On the series finale, Alex takes photos of Serena one night at a graveyardGraveyardA graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
to upload for her personal website. The two have a pleasant conversation, and learns a great deal more about each other when they discuss that there is more to them than the outer image that they front to people. Alex finally gets up the nerve to ask Serena out to a HalloweenHalloweenHallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
event, and Serena gladly takes up Alex's offer. Chaka, Mecca, Fruity, and Matt hang out and discuss their plans for the impending holiday. Chaka discloses that she has a nasty aversion to Halloween due to a bullying incident in her preteenPreteenPreadolescence is a stage of human development following early childhood and prior to adolescence. It may be defined as ending with the beginning of puberty or with the beginning of the teenage stage, the time frames in which adolescence is considered to begin. In terms of age in years,...
days, yet relents on going trick-or-treatingTrick-or-treatingTrick-or-treating or "Guising", is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy with the question "Trick or treat?"...
after being teased by Fruity. Over at Lord of Hoard, business is booming, as scores of customers rummage for costumeCostumeThe term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s, making Jen completely busy and frazzled. Goat drops by to ask Jen for a specific outfit to wear, and Alex pops in and spreads the news of his upcoming date with Serena. Jen is skeptical, but Goat is supportive. Chaka channels Jen's skepticism over Alex's big move on Serena, when she drops by over his apartment to search for old clothes to deconstruct for her Halloween costume. But when Serena visits Alex at Repro Man's sans the goth look, Alex is taken one for a complete loop, forcing him to deal with the question: does he really like Serena just the way she is, or is it just her outfit? He confides in Jen and Goat over his dilemma, with the intention of ditching their date. Jen deadpans on moving on to another girl, but Goat wisely (albeit sleazily) convinces Alex otherwise, saying that looks are not why Alex dug Serena in the first place. Alex gets a call from Serena, only to find she already left Starbase 12 when he called the comic store. At the downtown Halloween parade, Chaka bullies a young girl into taking her candy, which appalls Mecca, Fruity, and Matt. Chaka rationalizes that older kids did that to her once, and now she has to make other kids face the hard truth on life. This act give Chaka bad karmaKarmaKarma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
when the candy she eats is apparently spiked with a hallucinogenic drug, making her spaced out and wildly running about, with her three friends hot on her tail. Her workday over, Jen gets a break and finds that Goat visits at closing time to say that he accidentally ruined his outfit. In a fit of last-minute creativity, they end up switching clothes (to humorous effect), and rendezvous with the rest of the group. In a modified mummyMummyA mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
costume, Alex searches the crowd for Serena, only to bump into Mecca, Fruity, and Matt, who tell Alex of Chaka's crazy spell. Torn over the situation, Alex decides to rescue his sister first with the entire gang in tow, amidst a cheering crowd, who witnessed the entire fiasco on board a parade float. With Chaka under control, Alex continues the search for Serena, and finds that she has returned to her goth persona. Serena is slightly miffed over Alex's indifference, and he tries to explain how he truly feels about her, but recoils when Serena introduces her date for the night. She says that they're still cool... as friends, to Alex's great disappointment. Jen and Goat cheer Alex up, saying that there's more fish in the sea. Alex takes heed, and gets the nerve to ask some random girl out, with Goat and Jen pondering whether Alex will finally get laid.