MovieChat Forums > Doug (1991) Discussion > Was this show supposed to be a period pi...

Was this show supposed to be a period piece?

posted 12 years ago by Trackmaster
15 replies | jump to latest

They never really make reference to any kind of date in the show, and maybe time is irrelevant because it's supposed to be a parallel universe where humans have purple and green skin, but a lot of things about the show seem very antiquated, even for the '90s. My guess is that it depicted life in the 60's It may have been the writers writing about what what life was like when they were growing up, which could have been the 60's.

A few things (keep in mind, when I see these days, I mean 90's):

-They're favorite band was the Beats, an obvious reference to the Beatles.
-The hangout being Honkerburger seemed like a 50's/60's style thing for kids to do.
-Elementary School kids were just running around town without their parents worrying about where they were (but that was also probably for making plots more available too).
-The IQ test that they were given has been out of vougue for a long time, and seemed like a typical thing you would see in older time periods, they even physically measured Skeeter's brain.
-The school didn't look modern. It was comprised of several buildings, and the lockers used old-fashioned seperate locks. Plus, Elementary Schools don't have lockers anymore.
-The Elementary School went to 6th grade, that's rare these days.

Let me know if anybody else catches anything. And yes, I think that the ABC version was contemporary, but this is talking about the Nick version.

[–] joshwinkler87 12 years ago

I never really thought about it that way but you make some good points. My guess is that the show obviously was supposed to take place in the 90s since they make a reference to "Super Pretendo" in one episode, obviously a nod to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Also they play arcade games which weren't around in the 60s.

My guess is that since Jim Jinkins grew up in the 60s he based it on how his life in Elementary School was and not on how real modern elementary schools are.

[–] jptf2 12 years ago

I think it was generally supposed to be set in a time period similar to the 90's. But it's a fictional world, and since they never say, there really isn't a specific time period for it.

But, of note, in "Doug's Math Problem," Al and Moo try to hack into the school's servers. I think the whole "hacking" concept really began in the early 90's.

I think a lot of the things you cite are just a matter of the 1990's being a transitional period:

*The elementary schools began switching to just K-5 during the 90's, I think. They began producing the first season of the show in 1990, so most elementary schools still included 6th grade at the time. I know mine did until sometime during the 90's.

*The "don't let kids go anywhere by themselves, don't take candy from strangers, everyone's a child molester in disguise" scares began during the 1990's.

Despite The Beats obviously being a parody of The Beatles, the hair wigs Doug and the others sometimes wore as fans were referencing 80's hair bands.

There's also a rap parody from "Doug's Secret Song," which seems to be a reference to Mark Wahlberg during the Fun Bunch days.

So basically, I think they were thinking about the late 80's/early 90's as they were writing the show.

[–] Trackmaster 12 years ago

Good points, but when I was watching it as a kid, something about it always made it seem like things on the show weren't the way they were for me, and I was around his age. Maybe it was that the show would have been more appropriate if he was in middle school or high school.

Another catch:

-There's a WWII propaganda poster on Doug's wall. It says "Loose Lips" and has a picture of a sinking ship.

[–] jptf2 12 years ago

Well, I think the fact that he goes to a huge school that is big enough to be a large high school or even a small college, they have intramural sports that compete against other schools, and Doug has the mindset and attitudes of an adolescent all factor into that kind of feeling.

I think that's why they chose for him to be in 6th grade...because it's one of those awkward times in someone's life where it could go either way as to how mature they think and act. Doug is much wiser and more sophisticated than most kids his age, but at the same time, he still shows some moments of that playful immaturity that 11-12 year olds haven't completely grown out of (some never grow out of it, lol). Those moments where you're reminded that he is just a kid, despite his high school-type concerns and attitudes.

But Doug's definitely much more independent than I was at his age, that's for sure.

[–] Trackmaster 12 years ago

It was funny how the shows that "started it all" in Nick were about really young kids, albeit ones who exhibited behavior of much older kids. While the shows since then have traditionally focused on high school kids.

[–] CountOroku01 12 years ago

You could say the same of the Gumball show. It all looks so late 70's early 80's, yet there are modern laptops around.

And since when 6th grade is no longer part of american elementary schools and why?

[–] jptf2 12 years ago

I think the switch of 6th grade to middle school began in the late 80s or early 90s. I don't really know why.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] SourGreenapple42 12 years ago

I definitely think it's supposed to be the early 90s because of rap music and video games, but those are interesting points about the 60s-style things like the burger joint and The Beats being similar to a 60s garage band. Maybe as someone mentioned the creator was inserting things from their own childhood, almost making Doug a show "out-of-time". I mean even spongebob has some old-fashioned reference that kind of give it a surreal timeless quality.

Sometimes the beats almost seemed like a cross between a beatles type of band and an early 90s grunge band.

[–] Trackmaster 11 years ago

One of the most obvious things is the "Beats." They've quite obviously a stand in for the Beatles. But I guess maybe they backed off of that by making a "Beat" a stand-in for a lot of different things in the show, like "Beat Ball" and when they would all randomly eat beats for snacks.

[–] jptf2 11 years ago

Well, Jim Jinkins said the obsession with beats in the show was based on tobacco, which was the big crop in Richmond, Virginia (but obviously he couldn't use that, nor did he want to).

As far as The Beats are concerned, they are obviously partly based on The Beatles, but musically they have more of a Rolling Stones sound. The lead singer, Chap Lipman, was based off another singer Jinkins mentioned in an article, but I can't recall who it was.

I can't help but think "Beat Ball" was a dirty joke from the writers.

[–] glitterrose 8 years ago

I thought there was also a blend of "The Monkees" in there too. Wasn't one of the singers in the group Wendy Nesmith? Makes me think of Mike Nesmith from TM.

[–] jptf2 8 years ago

Robert Plant was apparently who Chap Lipman was based on, btw.

[–] freebird1987 11 years ago

No, I think it was supposed to be set during the 90s when it was made.

[–] tjihnat 10 years ago

There was an episode of Disney's Doug where they get snowed in at the school. At the end, there are t-shirts that say "I Survived the Blizzard of 1996" or something similar.