''Weinerville'' is an American
television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
that was aired from July 11, 1993 to 1994. The show was based around a giant
puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
stage that was designed to look like a city called Weinerville. The show was created and hosted by
Marc Weiner
Marc Weiner (; born May 17, 1955) is an American comedian, puppeteer, and actor. He creates and performs with "head puppets", which are live human heads atop small puppet bodies.
Biography
Weiner was born in Queens, New York (state), New York, t ...
.
Production
In the show's first season, all episodes ran in a two-hour marathon every Sunday. However, ''Weinerville'' quickly gained popularity; in the middle of the first season, November 15, 1993, Nickelodeon began running the show on weekday afternoons. As a result, Nickelodeon allowed Marc and his characters to host a New Year's special event, a kids' version of ''
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
''Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' (''NYRE'') is an annual New Year's Eve television special broadcast by ABC. The special broadcasts primarily from New York City's Times Square and prominently features coverage of its annual ball drop ev ...
'' titled ''Nick New Year's'', with host segments serving as wraparounds for the best Nicktoons and shows of that year, and read letters from kids about their New Year's resolutions as they counted down to midnight, then celebrated by shooting slime into the sky. Marc and his Weinerville characters hosted ''Nick New Year's'' in 1993 and 1994.
For the 40-episode second season, premiered on March 21, 1994, the episodes aired daily and were later part of the
Stick Stickly
Stick Stickly is a fictional character created by Agi Fodor and Karen Kuflik, and appearing on Nickelodeon. He is a popsicle stick with googly eyes, a jelly bean nose, and a small mouth.
He was the host of ''Nick in the Afternoon'', a programmi ...
show ''
Nick in the Afternoon
''Nick in the Afternoon'' was a programming block on Nickelodeon that aired from 1994 to 1998 on weekday afternoons during the summer, hosted by Stick Stickly, a Mr. Bill like popsicle stick puppeteered by Rick Lyon and voiced by New Yorker Paul ...
'', which included Marc as Dottie in some segments. Unfortunately with all the success of hosting two seasons, three television specials, and especially hitting a milestone for being the show to tape its 1000th episode at Nickelodeon Studios, ''Weinerville'' was not renewed for a third season. According to Marc, the cancellation happened because Nickelodeon was changing their identity from family friendly to edgy, sarcastic, and somewhat subversive shows, and a puppet show did not fit with the network's new direction of programming.
Overview
''Nickelodeon Weinerville'' was filmed at
Nickelodeon Studios
Nickelodeon Studios was a production studio and theme park attraction run by the television network Nickelodeon at Universal Studios Florida.
Opening on June 7, 1990, as ''The First World Headquarters for Kids'', the studio attracted young tour ...
at
Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...
. It was an
audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...
participation
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
show focused on Weiner and his puppets and about them making a show. The first few episodes did not have much of a plot or story line. Starting in the latter part of the first season, the show started to integrate storylines and plots. Weinerville also had three television specials.
Following the first segment and a prelude to "Playland," the viewers would watch cartoons of ''
Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo (known by his full name: J. Quincy Magoo) is a fictional cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Mr. Magoo is an elderly, wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical ...
'', ''Honey Halfwitch'', ''
The Alvin Show
''The Alvin Show'' is an American animated television series that aired on CBS in the early 1960s. This was the first series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks. ''The Alvin Show'' aired for one season, from October 4, 1961, ...
'', ''
Gerald McBoing-Boing
''Gerald McBoing-Boing'' is an animated short film about a little boy who speaks through sound effects instead of spoken words. It was produced by United Productions of America (UPA) and given wide release by Columbia Pictures on November 2, 195 ...
'' and ''
Batfink
''Batfink'' is an American animated television series, consisting of five-minute shorts, that first aired in April 1966.David Mackay published a filmography of Batfink in the Sept. 1993 issues oFarmes per Second magazine, and also provided a comp ...
''.
Characters
Human characters
* Marc Weiner - The host of Weinerville who is always forced to solve most of Dottie's or the town's problems. In season one, Marc wears an unbuttoned Weinerville baseball jersey with a green undershirt. In season two, the color of his undershirt changes.
* Kevin Elemeno P. (pronounced: "L-M-N-O-P") - The "Network Executive" character, played by
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
local child actor Travis Robertson (played young Kevin O'Shea in the movie ''
Little Giants
''Little Giants'' is a 1994 American family film, family sports film, sports comedy film directed by Duwayne Dunham. The film stars Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill as Danny and Kevin O'Shea, two brothers living in a small Ohio town who coach rival ...
''), is a pun on the name of the real executive producer of the program, current MTV Networks executive
Kevin Kay
Kevin Kay is an American television executive. A native of New Jersey, he began his career at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios in New York City working on ''Jeopardy!'' and ''The Tonight Show'' before joining ''Saturday Night Live'' and ultimatel ...
. Made three appearances (only in season 2).
Puppets
The puppets below feature Weiner's head and a puppet body where their parts have been pre-taped so that Weiner can interact with them:
* Dottie - The
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of Weinerville. Marc is usually forced to solve Dottie's problems and tends to get carried away with things if they don't get out of control. She has a sidekick/assistant named Zip. Dottie always quotes "Oh well, Welcome to Weinerville" at the end of the cold opening.
* Baby Jeffrey - The puppet nephew of Marc. He would usually introduce Marc at the beginning of each episode and always makes a mess.
* Big Pops - The owner of the diner Pops'. Big Pops usually does a lot with his nose, either picking it or playing the kazoo. On some occasions, Big Pops only appeared in Season One.
* Schnitzel - Marc's sassy parrot sidekick. He only appeared in Season One. While Schnitzel was usually played by Marc, there would be an unnamed extra playing him when Marc was in front of the audience.
* Commander Ozone - A space captain that runs the AV-1 Spaceship. He defends evil and saves the universe with his sidekick Wilson. In Season 1, he was renamed to "Captain Ozone".
* Eric Von Firstensecond - Commander Ozone's evil enemy. He always tries to figure out an evil scheme to take over Weinerville or to marry Dottie. Eric only appeared in Season 2.
* Cocktail Frank - The bandleader and guitar player of the
house band
A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment.
It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...
of the show "Cocktail Frank And His Weenies." Frank is the lead singer/guitarist where his puppet band consisted of Posse on piano/turntables, Antoinette on drums, an unnamed bass guitarist, and an unnamed saxophone player.
* Joey Deluxe - The big shot manager and super entertainment agent.
* Soup Tureen - The host of ''That's Not Fair'' who only appeared in Season 2.
The ones listed below are puppet characters:
* Zip (performed by Scott Fellows) - Dottie's assistant who always gets himself into trouble, makes his famous trademark scream, and crashes into the wall. In "DTV", it is revealed that Zip is good friends with Boney.
* Boney (performed by Marc Weiner) - An obvious parody of
Barney
Barney may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Barney (surname), a list of people
Film and television
* the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...
, he is a dinosaur skeleton in sneakers that lives in the jungles of Weinerville. Boney is beloved by children, but hates them himself. When Boney quotes "Now get outta here," the children and anyone else visiting him that are present leave his cave. The "theme song" at the end of his show consisted of said puppet singing "I'm Boney, I'm Boney, leave me aloney!" For Season 2, Boney's puppet was rebuilt which that version also being used for the specials. In the "Chanukah Special," it is revealed that Boney loves to eat potato pancakes. He was also shown to have been attracted by the Weinerville Ski Lodge's new housekeeper Miss Kabobble (who dislikes it when someone gets snow on the floor and she ends up vacuuming it). According to the 1995 summer issue of ''
Nickelodeon Magazine
''Nickelodeon Magazine'' is a defunct American children's magazine inspired by the children's television network Nickelodeon. Its first incarnation appeared in 1990 and was distributed at participating Pizza Hut restaurants; the version of the ma ...
'', Boney is Weiner's favorite puppet.
* Pops (performed by
Ray Abruzzo
Ray Abruzzo (born August 12, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Little Carmine Lupertazzi in ''The Sopranos'', Detective Michael McGuire in ''The Practice'' (1998-2004), and Tony Giuliano in ''Night Court'' (1989-1991).
...
) - Known in season one as "Little Pops". He is the local chef who works with Big Pops. After Big Pops was dropped from the show, Pops took over the restaurant. He sometimes starts arguing with Louie, but they tend to get along.
* Louie (performed by Scott Fellows) - The local
laundromat
A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the Unit ...
owner who always argues with Pops, but they tend to get along.
* Socko (performed by Marc Weiner) - An inverted hand puppet who likes to kick Marc's buttocks, performed with his own props, and made sarcastic gestures when things did not go right.
* Wilson - The sidekick of Commander Ozone. In Season One, he had a squeaky voice like Zip. In Season Two, he sounds like
Scotty of ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' fame.
* Professor Phosphate (performed by Scott Fellows and David Jordan) - A puppet scientist with green hair who can only be seen from the waist up who debuted in Season 2. Professor Phosphate is the owner of Weinerville Labs and often causes explosions with some inventions that don't work well. Despite this, he often solves the problems.
* Fufusky - A grub-like alien who is Eric von Firstensecond's alien sidekick. He stuns people using his breathe ray (silly string).
* Berny - He is responsible for bringing out the Weinerizer being pulled by his tractor.
Other sketches
The show also featured several non-puppet characters played by Weiner himself:
* Captain Bob - Captain Bob is a
sea captain
A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...
in yellow rain gear that constantly cracks puns. He owns the S.S. Bob at Port Weinerville (which is located near the building where Cocktail Frank and His Wienies are located). On many shows, an audience member would be invited to climb aboard where an offscreen person would fling water on him before the "
tidal wave" (a bucket of water, or, in some cases, slime, thrown by a stage hand) soaked the participant. Captain Bob first appeared on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' when Weiner was a writer in the early 1980s. In scenes in which Marc Weiner interacts with Captain Bob, an actor seen from behind would portray Captain Bob with Weiner dubbing his voice in during post-production.
* The Weinerville General Store - Members of the audience were also called down to participate in various activities during the main part of the show, such as helping to demonstrate items in the Weinerville General Store. A recurring joke on the show took place in the General Store in which Weiner would sell comedic props similar to those of
Carrot Top
Scott Thompson (born February 25, 1965), known professionally as Carrot Top, is an American actor and stand-up comedian.
Early life
Thompson was born in Rockledge, Florida, and grew up in Cocoa. He is the youngest son of a NASA engineer. He ...
. Nearly everything in the store sold for $13.50. It only appeared in Season One.
* Running Joke - Occasionally, the "$13.50" gag was used in other segments. For example: on the "Talent Show" episode the winners won with 1,350 points. On the "DTV" episode, DTV was on channel 1350. On the General Store and Captain Bob skits, that would be the price when Marc would hand the participant anything. The “13.50” gag was an inside joke that head writer Ray Abruzzo and Marc joked about before the show and they just thought it was funny so they just put it in the show.
* That's Not Fair! - A game show where a kid and an adult played for points answering questions. Usually the kids win. It was only featured in Season 2. According to an interview with Marc Weiner, "That's Not Fair" was a pilot he made for
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
in 1991, after it was tested, the network said it was appropriate for children, so Nickelodeon got a hold of it and the pilot became "Weinerville".
* Weinerizer — The show always ended with Weiner choosing two people from the audience to get "Weinerized" (turned into puppets). The participants entered a contraption called the Weinerizer upon being helped by two crew members. The Weinerizer appeared to then shrink them to the puppet size (it did so by having the contestants place their heads into a hole above a miniature puppet body). Although the audience members were ostensibly chosen at random, Matt Day (who at the time was working on another Nickelodeon show ''
Clarissa Explains It All
''Clarissa Explains It All'' is an American teen sitcom created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon. In the series, Clarissa Darling ( Melissa Joan Hart), is a teenager who addresses the audience directly to explain the things that are happenin ...
'') revealed that participants were sometimes selected beforehand. Including him, he was on the “Baseball” Episode in Playland. They would compete in a game and the winner would receive "The Golden Hot Dog", as well as a dose of green slime. During the credits, the two people would be seen being let out of the Weinerizer.
* Playland - In the prelude to this sketch, Weiner would call upon two audience members to come forth to be placed in the Weinerizer so that they can be sent to Playland. In Season Two, an alarm would go off to let Weiner know that it is almost time for Playland. These participants then competed in one of various games in Playland that tested the skill of operating their puppet bodies. The runner-up received the "Silver Hot Dog", with the winner receiving the "Golden Hot Dog" as well as the "Special Topping" (a small amount of green
slime
Slime may refer to:
Biology
* Slime mold, a broad term often referring to roughly six groups of Eukaryotes
* Biofilm, an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other and/or to a surface
* Slimy (fish), also known as the pony ...
dumped onto the player's head). If a malfunction occurred or both players tied they both get the "Golden Hot Dog". Occasionally, both players received the Special Topping, especially when both players were adults, and if the game involved pies, both contestants would be hit with pies themselves instead of anyone getting the Special Topping (however, the special topping was awarded for pie games in season 2). The Playland stage was enlarged and revamped the second season to incorporate more elaborate stunts; these frequently had the contestants facing each other and squirting water or whipped cream at some target, usually soaking the other contestant in the process. Some season 2 stunts were team stunts where each player had a non-Weinerized teammate. Season one was a carnival-style. In the second season, it was a radio-active style.
Episodes
All episodes aired out of sequence in no particular order. The show had a total of 68 episodes by February 1994, and the last episode was the 1000th television episode broadcast in Nickelodeon's history. The production schedule for the second season was November 29, 1993 to February 14, 1994.
Season 1 (1993)
Season 2 (1994)
Specials
Guest stars
*
Marc Summers
Marc Summers (born Marc Berkowitz; November 11, 1951) is an American television personality, comedian, game show host, producer, and talk show host. He is best known for hosting '' Double Dare'' for Nickelodeon, and ''Unwrapped'' for Food Networ ...
of ''
Family Double Dare'' is referenced regularly, made a cameo on the "Giant Spider" episode, as well as in the Chanukah, New Year's, and Election Specials.
* Pro Wrestler
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he performed under his r ...
on the "Chanukah Special"
*
Phil Moore of ''
Nick Arcade
''Nick Arcade'' (also stylized ''Nickelodeon Arcade'') is an American children's game show created by James Bethea and Karim Miteff and hosted by Phil Moore, with Andrea Lively announcing, that aired on Nickelodeon in 1992 (in the first seaso ...
'' on the "Variety Show or Sitcom" episode
* Dr.
Joyce Brothers
Joyce Diane Brothers (October 20, 1927 – May 13, 2013) was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer.
She first became famous in 1955 for winning the top prize on the American game show ''The $64,000 Quest ...
on the "XR-3 Space Shuttle Game" episode
*
Denny Dillon
Denise Dillon (born May 18, 1951) is an American actress and comedian best known for starring as Toby Pedalbee on the HBO comedy '' Dream On'' from 1990 to 1996. Dillon was first known for her stage work and was nominated for a Tony Award on Bro ...
on the "Chanukah Special".
*
Buster Poindexter
David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...
on the "Chanukah Special".
*
Moira Quirk
Moira Shannon Quirk (born October 30, 1968 in Rutland, England) is an English actress and comedian. As an audiobook narrator, she has won four Audie Awards.
Personal life and education
Quirk was born on October 30, 1968 in Rutland, England ...
of ''
Nickelodeon GUTS'', on the "Variety Show or Sitcom" episode
*
Huey Lewis
Hugh Anthony Cregg III (born July 5, 1950), known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band, Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many o ...
* The cast of ''
Clarissa Explains It All
''Clarissa Explains It All'' is an American teen sitcom created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon. In the series, Clarissa Darling ( Melissa Joan Hart), is a teenager who addresses the audience directly to explain the things that are happenin ...
'' on the "DTV" episode
(not all interviews were shown,
Sean O'Neal
Sean O’Neal (born November 29, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Sam Anders in the television show '' Clarissa Explains It All''.Jason Zimbler
Jason Zimbler (born July 27, 1977) is an American software designer and former actor.
Early life and education
Born in New York City, Zimbler graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1998, and has both an undergraduate degree in business a ...
were just quickly glimpsed)
*
Melissa Joan Hart
Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress, producer, and director. She had starring roles as the title characters in the sitcoms ''Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991–1994), ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1996–2003), and ''M ...
on the New Year's, and Election special, and on the "DTV" episode
*
Vlade Divac
Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings ...
on the "International Relations and the IMF" episode
*
Mike Maronna
Michael C. Maronna (born September 27, 1977) is an American actor, who has appeared in several television programs and films. He is best known for his roles as "Big Pete" Wrigley on the television series ''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' and a ...
of ''
The Adventures of Pete & Pete
''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' is an American comedy television series created by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi for Nickelodeon. It centers around two brothers, both named Pete Wrigley, and their humorous and surreal adventures in suburbia a ...
'' made a cameo on the New Year's special
*
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both '' Late ...
made a cameo on the New Year's special
*
Bill Maher
William Maher (; born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is known for the HBO political talk show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' (2003–present) and the similar la ...
on the Election Special
*
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...
and
Mary Hart
Mary Hart (born Mary Johanna Harum; November 8, 1950) is an American television personality and actress. She was the long-running host (1982–2011) of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up television program ''Entertainment Tonight'' ...
on the Election Special
*
Leeza Gibbons
Leeza Kim Gibbons (born March 26, 1957) is an American talk show host. She is best known as a correspondent and co-host for ''Entertainment Tonight'' (1984–2000) as well as for having her own syndicated daytime talk show, ''Leeza'' (1993–20 ...
on the Election Special
*
Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to:
Politicians
* Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons
*Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament
Others
*Pat O'Br ...
on the Election Special
*
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party (Uni ...
on the Election Special
*
Andy Lawrence
References
External links
*
{{Former Nickelodeon original series
1990s American children's comedy television series
American television series with live action and animation
American television shows featuring puppetry
1990s Nickelodeon original programming
1993 American television series debuts
1994 American television series endings
Paramount Global franchises