Time for another countdown, everyone! This time, I'm doing it alone since Kevin's not a huge As Told by Ginger fan. As we've discussed in the As Told by Ginger review, it's a very underrated Nicktoon filled with character development, story arcs, and serious themes. But which ones are the best? Which ones are the episodes that still make this show relevant today? Well, here's my top 10 favorite episodes of As Told by Ginger.
10. Come Back Little Seal Girl
In this episode, we see Ginger, Dodie, and Macie preparing for the talent show. Macie wants to sing and dance to a song that the girls had loved since they were little girls called "Little Seal Girl". However, Ginger and Dodie decide to leave at the last minute since they feel that the song is too immature and childish. But Macie is still determined to do it, even without her friends. Meanwhile, Carl and Hoodsey accidentally break Mrs. Gordon's mummified hand and work hard to repair it. I prefer Macie's story since it teaches us to stand up for who we are regardless of what people think. Even with all the setbacks and doubts, she still shines through to the end.
9. Ginger the Juvey
The first episode of As Told by Ginger starts off strong. It's Courtney's birthday and Ginger doesn't know what to get her. She thinks long and hard until Miranda shows up and convinces her to steal the exit sign from a bank. Ginger decides to do it alongside with Dodie, Macie, and Darren. Meanwhile, Blake sees that Carl has a petrified eyeball and wants it for himself. Carl refuses to give it to him since it's his most prized possession. The episode ends with Miranda calling a police officer, which happens to be her father, and reporting on Ginger saying that's getting involved with theft. Miranda ends up successfully getting Ginger and her friends arrested. That is both evil and incredible at the same time! Princess Azula couldn't get Zuko and Uncle Iroh arrested in the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but Miranda was able to do it in the first episode! Also, Blake ends up stealing Carl's petrified eyeball and is now keeping it in his house. What a way to start a show!
8. An Even Steven Holiday Special
There were many Nickelodeon shows that had a holiday special. Some were Christmas specials, some were Hanukkah specials. As Told by Ginger's holiday special was both. Lois tells Ginger about her grandfather being Jewish. Ginger didn't know about that so she decides to combine Christmas and Hanukkah into one special party. Meanwhile, Hoodsey writes a letter to Santa Claus telling him what he wants for Christmas. Carl thinks that he should grow up and tells him that Santa doesn't exist. When getting to the heart of it, Hoodsey finds out that the reason Carl doesn't believe in Santa anymore is because that a few years back, he wished for his father to come home. It never happened so he stopped believing! That's a very touching message for a cartoon. I don't want to give away the ending, but it ends up being a holiday miracle for the Foutley family.
7. Wicked Game
The third season of As Told by Ginger starts after the airing of the TV movie Far From Home. Ginger returns after her semester of Avalanche Arts Academy is finished. She doesn't spend as much time with Dodie and Macie due to her going out with Darren after he confesses his love for her. Miranda and Mipsy are upset as well since Ginger isn't around long enough to be pestered by them. So we see Miranda, Mipsy, Macie, and Dodie work together to try to break up Ginger and Darren from their relationship. Meanwhile Carl gets involved in a dare to hang out with a crazy girl named Polly Shuster in order to get a picture with her. Carl ends up falling in love with her and Noelle finds out about it. She ends up breaking up with him. The episode ends with Courtney telling Ginger the plan involving the break up. Ginger tells Dodie and Macie that she doesn't want to see them or talk to them for a while. That's some very heavy stuff and an unsuspecting twist to the end.
6. And She Was Gone
This episode is a favorite for many fans of As Told by Ginger and I can see why. Ginger writes a poem about a girl who wishes to disappear from the world. Ms. Zorski believes that Ginger is depressed and suicidal so she sets her up to see the school psychiatrist. Ginger tries to convince the psychiatrist that she's okay, but with no luck. Meanwhile, Carl buys disappearing potion and wants to test it out on someone. They decide to use it on a wallflower girl named Noelle Sussman. When doing so, Noelle doesn't come back. But then they learned that Noelle is a very strange little girl with telekinetic powers. Carl finds her interesting and tries anything they can to bring her back. This episode was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Program in Less than an Hour.
5. Family Therapy
I already gave a brief synopsis in my review of As Told by Ginger so I won't go too much in detail. It's Macie's 13th birthday and the girls are very excited to give her a party. But then Macie calls her friends letting them know that her parents had forgotten it. We find out that they are too busy with their jobs as child psychologists to remember something that important. They decide to make it up for her by giving her lots of attention, buying her clothes, and taking her friends out to fun locations. The problem is is that they start treating her like a 5-year-old. However Macie doesn't mind since she's getting the attention that she had almost never gotten from them. Meanwhile Carl and his classmates go on a field trip to a petting zoo and see a naked mole rat.
Ha! I wish! That would have been awesome!
Anyway, the naked mole rat escapes and Carl begins to admit to Hoodsey that he was scared of the mole rat. They wish to find it and return it before it causes chaos to the whole town. But the real highlight of the story belongs to Macie. It's so unbelievably sad seeing the situation she goes through to not have her parents around all the time helping her with her teenage struggles. Because of this, she still keeps her childish ways and fears change. It's up to Ginger and Dodie to help her grow up to be a normal teenager.
4. No Hope for Courtney
In this episode, a new girl moves in to town and attends Lucky Junior High. She's a very shy girl that wants to fit in, but with no luck. Ginger teaches her the ropes of fitting in and does it successfully. So successfully in fact that she becomes the most popular girl in school and Courtney loses her coolness. Meanwhile Mrs. Gordon announces her retirement to her class saying that's she too tired of Carl and Hoodsey's crazy antics. Carl misses Mrs. Gordon and does anything in his power to get her back to teaching. I don't want to spoil the ending for those who haven't seen it, but the ending was so shocking that it made me cry. You have to have really appreciate and watch the show long enough to feel any emotion for this moment. Check it out!
3. The Wedding Frame
The series of As Told by Ginger comes to a close with this TV movie. Lois finally gets married to Dr. Dave and begin planning on the wedding. However Dr. Dave's mother hates Lois and her children so she plans on an elaborate scheme to break them up. Ginger begins having a confrontation between her current relationship with Orion and her former relationship with Darren. Darren feels the same way when Simone is too involved with his life. Meanwhile, the Griplings lose all their money due to bad business deals and end up living in the Foutley's former home. The series ends on a satisfying note with the characters growing up as adults and seeing Ginger become a successful author telling stories based on her experiences of growing up. This would've been #1, but unfortunately, there's one glaring issue. If you didn't see the final season like I did, then you're never going to understand what's going on. I mean, who's Orion and Simone? When did Dr. Dave propose to Lois? It's very confusing and it would've helped if I had seen the final season. But at the time, I didn't and it threw me in a loop. But it makes up for it with the ending.
2. Hello Stranger
In this episode, Ginger receives a graduation card congratulating her for passing the 6th grade by her father. However, it showed up too late. Ginger hadn't received any phone calls or letters from her dad in years and she's excited that he wants to be involved with the family again. A talent show is coming up so she decides to invite him to the event. Meanwhile Lois accidentally drinks Carl's dehydrated snake potion confusing it for lemonade and Carl gets bitten by his classmate Brandon's pet monkey, so they end up at the hospital not attending the talent show. Ginger goes on stage reading her poem based on her father called "Hello Stranger". I won't spoil the ending, but it's so touching and it assures me time and time again on why Lois Foutley is my favorite parent in any Nickelodeon show ever!
1. Butterflies Are Free
If this episode would have concluded As Told by Ginger, I would have been satisfied. This is the episode that pulls everything together. This is the episode that made me laugh, cry, and reminisce on how far these characters have gone in their journey and how much they have grown and developed. In this episode, Ginger and the gang are graduating from junior high and are entering high school. Ginger is told to give a speech which she accepts. As Ginger find out that her friends are going to be doing different things such as Macie joining the high school band and meeting with a cute guy, Dodie trying out for cheerleading, and Darren trying out for football, she gets scared and fears that she'll never see them again. However learning from both her mother and father that times change and people grow up and move on, Ginger decides that she must accept it. It's part of life for people to move on and she must do so as well. Meanwhile Carl and Hoodsey are going into junior high and worry about becoming teenagers. Then Polly Shuster suggests that they bury their things in a time capsule and begin their journey into leaving childhood behind. The episode concludes with a beautiful speech told by Ginger about how everyone is like a butterfly: we start off like caterpillars in which we learn, crawl, and grow. Then we get into our shells and burst into butterflies flying into life freely. This episode is absolutely perfect! So flawless and so beautiful as we look back at the past, present, and the future!
Those are my top 10 favorite episodes of As Told by Ginger. What are your favorites? Post them in the comments below.
That's all for now. Tune in next time as we take a look at Nickelodeon's 5th movie and Klasky-Csupo's 2nd, Rugrats in Paris.
Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.
-Patricia
Good list! But you actually liked "Wicked Game"?! Uh...good for you? Anyway, "Hello Stranger" and "Butterflies Are Free" happen to be my top two favorite episodes, as well! Here's my own review of the former: http://noparkingproductio.wix.com/ginger-snaps#!My-Most-Favorite-As-Told-by-Ginger-Episode-of-All-Time/cmbz/55872bfe0cf288ee3f11241e
ReplyDeleteThat list doesn't hold up anymore. It was done 3 years ago and my opinions have slightly changed since then. I may have to redo it down the line. Maybe really, really soon. ;)
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