Daria
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Daria is an animated television show created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn and was a spin-off of Beavis and Butt-head. Both shows were produced by MTV's now-defunct animation department. Daria has been bought by broadcasters in more than twenty countries - see Daria International (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/irony-maiden/international.htm).
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Daria Morgendorffer
Daria_Morgendorffer_from_Credits.jpg
Daria's first incarnation was as an occasional character in Beavis and Butt-head, where she formed a female, intelligent foil to the two dunderheads. In her eponymous series, Daria became more angsty; to some, she's the poster child for 'teen misfit.' Voiced by Tracy Grandstaff, Daria is a bespectacled, plain, highly intelligent, unfashionably dressed, and seemingly cynical teenage girl who is portrayed as an icon of sanity in an insane household, with her vacuous, fashion-obsessed sister Quinn and career-obsessed parents Helen and Jake. While much of the show is a vehicle for Daria's droll deadpan monotone one-liners, a recurring plot element in early seasons is Daria standing up to misused authority, leading some fans to conclude that her apparent cynicism is only skin deep.
Other major characters
- Helen Morgendorffer - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Daria's workaholic mother and the family's principal wage earner.
- Jake Morgendorffer - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Daria's father. He had a strict military father, "Mad Dog" who is later revealed to have passed on, and tends to have mood swings and go off on rants about his childhood. His efforts to run a consulting business from home are not blessed with success. He is essentially clueless.
- Jane Lane - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Daria's artistic best friend and fellow outcast.
- Trent Lane - (First Appearance: "The Invitation") Jane's brother and the only other Lane still permanently residing in the Lane household. A laid-back slacker, he plays lead guitar in the band Mystik Spiral and, perhaps not surprisingly, bears a strong resemblance to Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers. Also Daria's romantic interest for much of the series although he seemed unaware of it. His motto is "Be all that you can be. Or at least try and get up before noon"
- Tom Sloane - (First Appearance: "Jane's Addition") First appeared as Jane's boyfriend and later became Daria's boyfriend. He belongs to one of Lawndale's richest families, but this isn't apparent from his appearance. Tom and Daria ended their relationship in the series finale (and the second Daria movie) Is it College Yet?
- Andrea - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") The Lawndale High Goth. Andrea's worldview could put Daria's to shame.
- Brittany Taylor - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Lawndale High's head cheerleader. A bubble-brained blonde, she is popular but is often seen with Daria and Jane.
- Kevin Thompson - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Lawndale High's football team's quarterback. Boyfriend to Brittany. To call him as dumb as a brick would be insulting--to the brick.
- Jodie Landon - (First Appearance: "The Invitation") One of few black students at Lawndale High, Jodie is the quintessential overachiever, pushed by her ambitious parents.
- Michael "Mack" MacKenzie - (First Appearance: "The Invitation") Jodie's boyfriend and also another of the few black students at Lawndale High. He is more or less of comparable intelligence to Jodie and is the Lawndale High's football team's captain. Kevin calls him "Mack Daddy", which he hates more than anything.
- Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer III - (First Appearance: "The Invitation") Is the world's least desirable male, with the world's worst taste in come-ons.
- The Fashion Club:
- Sandi Griffin - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") The club president, or perhaps its monarch. She rules the fashion club with an iron fist. Sandi is a control freak.
- Quinn Morgendorffer - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Daria's sister, a fashion victim? Not if she can help it! She's the club Vice-president and her main concerns are clothes, boys, and popularity. While she is intelligent, Quinn's mind is usually in the shallow end of the pool.
- Stacy Rowe - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Pigtailed Stacy is the secretary of the club and appears to have no personality of her own. She is skittish, extremely insecure, and a born follower. She has developed a powerful following among Daria fans.
- Tiffany Blum-Deckler - (First Appearance: "The Invitation") The "yes man" of the club. She'll always side with either Sandi or Quinn depending on who's winning. She is generally presented as the least intelligent of the group. An Asian girl, she speaks veeery sloooowly with a valley girl quality to her voice. She is also very self-centered (even more so than the other fashion club members.)
- Lawndale High Teachers:
- Ms. Janet Barch - (First Appearance: "The Lab Brat") Science teacher. She is psychotically aggressive towards all males due to a rather messy and bitter divorce. She and Mr. O'Neil have had numerous "flings" together through out the series.
- Mrs. Diane Bennett - (First Appearance: "Malled") Economics Teacher. For some obscure reason she is known primarily for her hatred of pennies. Her blackboard diagrams resemble football plays.
- Ms. Claire Defoe - (First Appearance: "The Invitation") Art Teacher. Most down-to-earth of the faculty and patient to a fault. Probable hippie past.
- Mr. Anthony DeMartino - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") History Teacher. DeMartino is stressed to the point of being put in a straitjacket. He has the habit of shouting every fifth word or so causing one of his eyes to bulge out. Dimwits like Kevin and Brittany really upset him. He seems to be an amalgam of Christopher Walken (appearance) and Kirk Douglas (speech pattern).
- Ms. Angela Li - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") Principal of Lawndale High. She is obsessed with fund raising and the school's image. Many fans assume that the interest in fund raising is because she uses the regular budget on security measures for the school, such as drug dogs and closed circuit cameras. She will do anything to bring fame to Lawndale High.
- Mr. Timothy O'Neil - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") English Teacher. Sensitive "new age guy" always talking about feelings but doesn't have a very good grip on his own emotions. Cries easily. Acidic Ms. Barch and this creampuff seem an odd match.
- Mrs. Margaret Manson - (First Appearance: "Esteemsters") School psychologist. She only has one speaking role, in episode 101 "Esteemsters", in which she declares Daria has self-esteem issues. She seems underqualified for her job, and she spews psychological jargon and buzzwords that few can decipher.
- Rita - (First Appearance: "I Don't") Helen's sister. Rita and Helen have an ongoing fight from childhood, and never get along.
- Amy - (First Appearance: "I Don't") Helen's other sister. Daria sees her as the "cool one." She stays out of Helen and Rita's fights, for the most part.
Trivia
- When the show began in 1997, Daria and her family just moved from Highland to the affluent town of Lawndale.
- The only television program Daria is shown to watch is Sick, Sad World, the Daria team's spoof of sensationalist oddity programs.
- Production of each half-hour episode took ten months to a year, from concept to post-production.
- European fansite The Irony Maiden (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/irony-maiden/) ran a competition to find the Easter egg on the DVD release of Is It College Yet? (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/members/books/daria/iicymorv.htm). A fan calling himself John T won.
- The character of Daria is loosely based on creator Glenn Eichler's son.
Episodes
Season 1
- "Esteemsters"
- "The Invitation"
- "College Bored"
- "Cafe Disaffecto"
- "Malled"
- "This Year's Model"
- "The Lab Brat"
- "Pinch Sitter"
- "Too Cute"
- "The Big House"
- "Road Worrier"
- "The Teachings of Don Jake"
- "The Misery Chick"
Season 2
- "Arts 'N Crass"
- "The Daria Hunter"
- "Quinn the Brain"
- "I Don't"
- "That Was Then, This Is Dumb"
- "Monster"
- "The New Kid"
- "Gifted"
- "Ill"
- "Fair Enough"
- "See Jane Run"
- "Pierce Me"
- "Write Where it Hurts"
Season 3
- "Daria!"
- "Through a Lens Darkly"
- "The Old and the Beautiful"
- "Depth Takes a Holiday"
- "Daria Dance Party"
- "The Lost Girls"
- "It Happened One Nut"
- "Lane Miserables"
- "Jake of Hearts"
- "Speedtrapped"
- "The Lawndale File"
- "Just Add Water"
- "Jane's Addition"
Season 4
- "Partner's Complaint"
- "Antisocial Climbers"
- "A Tree Grows in Lawndale"
- "Murder, She Snored"
- "The F Word"
- "I Loathe a Parade"
- "Of Human Bonding"
- "Psycho Therapy"
- "Mart of Darkness"
- "Legends of the Mall"
- "Groped by an Angel"
- "Fire!"
- "Dye! Dye! My Darling"
First movie
- Is It Fall Yet?
Season 5
- "Fizz Ed"
- "Sappy Anniversary"
- "Fat Like Me"
- "Camp Fear"
- "The Story of D"
- "Lucky Strike"
- "Art Burn"
- "One J at a Time"
- "Life in the Past Lane"
- "Aunt Nauseam"
- "Prize Fighters"
- "My Night at Daria's"
- "Boxing Daria"
Second movie
- Is It College Yet?
Airing information
Daria first aired on MTV in the USA, and is now showing there as reruns on The N, the young teens timeblock on children's educational network Noggin. These reruns have been criticised by American Daria fans for being edited for content, occasionally rendering remaining portions of the show almost unintelligible, or wiping out subplots and subtext.
The rights to show Daria have been bought by a number of broadcasters outside the USA: Daria International (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/irony-maiden/international.htm) lists airing information for more than 25 countries.
MTV2 UK and TMF (The Music Factory UK) show Daria episodes in the UK.
Tapes and DVDs
A number of VHS tapes have been issued, mostly in PAL format. Two DVDs are available, ostensibly coded for Region One (North America) but found by fans to be region-free. More information on this page (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/members/books/daria/video.htm). Fans are campaigning (http://www.dvdaria.info) for a DVD release of every episode, uncut. By May 2005, 2,210 people had voted for Daria at TV Shows on DVD (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/showinfo.cfm?showID=323), bringing the show to 18th in the list of most-wanted unreleased DVDs.
In July 2004, fan Michelle Klein-Hass reported (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.tv.daria/msg/149bca9a47a14448) that MTV was currently investigating options for a DVD release of more Daria episodes; she quoted Glenn Eichler as saying: "[T]here's no distributor and no release date but what there is is very strong interest from MTV in putting Daria out, and steady activity toward making that a reality."
Books
Games
Fan community
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a show whose heroine shuns crowds, most of the interaction among fans tends to take place online. Discussions take place in Usenet group alt.tv.daria (news:alt.tv.daria), the AOL Instant Messenger chat room SFMB2, on the IRC channel #Daria+ (irc://iuturna.sorcery.net/Daria+), and in fansite message boards (listed below). A Daria chat room is also accessible from MTV's Daria homepage (http://www.mtv.com/onair/daria/) but this mostly attracts the younger fan base who would rather discuss who is more handsome, Trent or Tom.
Fan conventions are small, informal gatherings and run on a not-for-profit basis by fans who often host them in their own homes. All the Dariacons listed at Dariacon Central (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/irony-maiden/concentral.htm) have been gatherings of adults, and organisers have made no effort to attract younger fans; indeed, they've discouraged or prohibited the attendance of children.
Fans have made an attempt to continue the show in their own way. They do this by writing fan fiction and creating Fan Artwork. It has been estimated that there now exists well over 3,000 fan fiction works and hundreds of pieces of Fan Artwork. Some of the websites listed below report receiving hundreds of visitors each day.
External links
Websites
- Outpost Daria (http://www.outpost-daria.com/)
- The Sh33p's Fluff (http://www.gamerspage.com/thea_zara/)
- DariaWiki (http://www.tdjc.net/dariawiki/Main_Page)
- The Daria - Jane Conspiracy (http://www.tdjc.net/oldsite/)
- The Irony Maiden (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/irony-maiden/)
- The Contrarian's Corner (http://www.the-wildone.com/)
- Glitter Berries (http://www.glitterberries.com/)
- Sick, Sad World (http://www.ssw.net/ssw/)
- Triste Monde Tragique (French) (http://elonico.phpnet.org/tmtdaria/index.php/)
- Daria (http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/M/MTV_Productions/Daria/index.html) at the Big Cartoon DataBase
Message boards
- The Paperpusher's Message Board (http://www.thepaperpusher.com/)
- The Sh33p's Fluff Message Board (http://sfmb.gamerspage.com/)
- Daria's Rubber Room Message Board ("The Rubber Board") (http://members.boardhost.com/crazynutso/)
IRC channel
- #Daria+ (irc://iuturna.sorcery.net/Daria+)
AOL Instant Messenger
- SFMB2
Usenet newsgroup
- alt.tv.daria (news:alt.tv.daria)
- Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&group=alt.tv.daria)
Blogs and news sources
- DVDaria (http://www.the-wildone.com/dvdaria/) works to gather support to have Daria released on DVD.
- The Daria fandom blog (http://dariafans.blogspot.com/) keeps visitors up to date with the daily occurrences on the major Daria forums and websites as well as listing new fanfiction and fan artworks.
- The Daria News Archive (http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/irony-maiden/archive.htm) reports on Daria on TV, official tape and DVD releases, and Dariacons, with stories going back to October 2000.es:Daria