''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' (sometimes shortened to ''Ned's Declassified'') is an American

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

that debuted on the Nickelodeon Sunday night

TEENick TEENick was an American programming block aimed at adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 that aired on the American children's cable network, Nickelodeon. It launched on March 4, 2001, and initially aired on Sunday nights from 6-9 p.m. ET/PT ...

scheduling block on September 12, 2004. The series' original

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

aired on September 7, 2003, and it was ordered to series by Nickelodeon in early 2004. The one-hour special movie

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...

aired on June 8, 2007. The show was produced by Apollo ProScreen GmbH & Co. Filmproduktion KG in association with Jack Mackie Pictures. Its main

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

and creator is

Scott Fellows Scott Fellows (born September 28, 1965) is an American television producer, director and screenwriter. Specializing in children's television series, he is known for creating the Nickelodeon shows '' Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' and ...

, the head writer for ''

The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two Fairy godmother, fairy godparents named List of The Fai ...

'' and creator of ''

Johnny Test ''Johnny Test'' is an animated television series created by Scott Fellows, originally produced in the United States by Warner Bros. Animation and later produced in Canada by Cookie Jar Group, Cookie Jar Entertainment. It premiered on Kids' WB ...

''.

Premise

''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' follows the lives of the titular character Ned Bigby, and his two best friends Jennifer "Moze" Mosely, and Simon "Cookie" Nelson-Cook, as they navigate their middle school years. The first season takes place during the first semester of seventh grade, the second season covers the second semester of seventh grade, and the third season takes place during eighth grade. Throughout the series, Ned builds up a number of 'tips' for his "survival guide", and uses the tips to help himself and his classmates cope with the standard struggles of middle school. Each individual episode relates to a topic in the guide, such as popularity, grades, or sports, as well as developing other plots (such as Ned's love life) throughout.

Episodes

Cast

Devon Werkheiser Devon Joel Werkheiser (born March 8, 1991) is an American actor and musician. As an actor, Werkheiser is known for his starring role as Ned Bigby on the Nickelodeon sitcom '' Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'', and for his role as the l ...

as Ned Bigby *

Lindsey Shaw Lindsey Shaw (born May 10, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for playing Jennifer "Moze" Mosely on the Nickelodeon series ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide''. She also co-starred in the 2007 CW sitcom ''Aliens in America'', a ...

as Jennifer "Moze" Mosely *

Daniel Curtis Lee Daniel Curtis Lee (born May 17, 1991) is an American actor, comedian and rapper, best known for portraying Simon "Cookie" Nelson-Cook on the Nickelodeon series ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' from 2004 to 2007. Early life Lee was ...

as Simon "Cookie" Nelson-Cook *

Jim J. Bullock James Jackson Bullock (born February 9, 1955) is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in the sitcom ''Too Close for Comfort''. Early life Bullock was born in Casper, Wyoming, and raised in Odessa, Texas (although he is listed as an a ...

as Mr. Monroe (main role, season 1; recurring role, seasons 2–3) *

Daran Norris Daran Morrison Nordland (born November 1, 1964), known professionally as Daran Norris, is an American actor. He has appeared or voiced characters in more than 400 films, video games, and television programs, including: Gordy in '' Ned's Declassif ...

as Gordy (recurring role, season 1; main role, seasons 2–3)

Locations

The show takes place at the fictional James K. Polk Middle School, named after the 11th President of the United States,

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

. The school's colors are gold and green and its

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

is the

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

, which is a common theme throughout the school's interior. During the first season, all of the show's action took place within the school or its grounds, and with the exception of one or two notable occasions, everything happened indoors. However, during season 2, more outdoor shots were used, and on certain occasions, the show took place off school property. The show's finale, for example, took place almost entirely off the school grounds.

DVD releases

In the US there have been four DVD releases made for the series. * TEENick Picks, Volume 1 released on April 18, 2006 – features "Guide to: Computer Labs and Backpacks" (Season 1, Episode 9) * Special Field Trip Edition released on August 28, 2007 – features "Field Trips, Permission Slips, Signs, and Weasels" and "Guide to: Dismissal and The School Play." * The Best of Season 1 and The Best of Season 2 both released on September 23, 2008 exclusive to

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

. The first season of ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' was released on DVD in the Netherlands, Australia, and Belgium on April 9, 2009. The Netherlands also released the second season, although both seasons were only released with Dutch dubbing. It's unknown if there will follow more places in Europe, or someplace else. Alliance Home Entertainment has released the first two seasons on DVD in Canada only. The third and final season was supposed to be released on February 7, 2012 in Canada only, but again the production was delayed.

Reception

Ratings

The debut of ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' on September 12, 2004, received a 4.5 rating, with 914,000 tween viewers, which was described as "healthy, but not as stellar" ratings by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''s Denise Martin.

Critical

Robert Lloyd of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' upon reviewing the series finale of ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' remarked that it was "one of the best series on television — a show that took genre conventions and ran them through unpredictable changes".

Proposed spin-off

In June 2008, Werkheiser signed a development contract with Nickelodeon for a spin-off that would deal with his character's adventures in high school. The show was never greenlit to production, due to the other major actors from the original series being busy with their own projects – creator and executive producer

was working on another Nickelodeon show, ''

Big Time Rush ''Big Time Rush'' is an American musical sitcom television series created by Scott Fellows that originally aired on Nickelodeon from November 28, 2009, to July 25, 2013, featuring the band Big Time Rush portrayed as a fictional version of th ...

'';

was committed to

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...

's ''

Zeke and Luther ''Zeke and Luther'' is an American sitcom about two best friends setting their sights on becoming the world's greatest skateboarders. The show stars Hutch Dano, Adam Hicks, Daniel Curtis Lee, and Ryan Newman. ''Zeke and Luther'' is set in th ...

''; and

was working as the lead on ABC Family's ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger in his film directorial debut and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, and Larisa Oleynik. The scree ...

''.

Podcast

In February 2023,

started a podcast called ''Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide'' with

and

under the network PodCo.

References

External links

* (Archived) * {{Former Nickelodeon original series 2000s American teen sitcoms 2000s Nickelodeon original programming 2004 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings American English-language television shows Middle school television series Nickelodeon sitcoms 2000s American single-camera sitcoms Television series created by Scott Fellows