Keener Media Facts: TV Shows

Showing posts with label TV Shows. Show all posts

Sunday, May 17, 2026

10 Magical facts about The Fairly OddParents

I wish for a short blog post that showcases some never before seen facts about this once wonderful show! From the meaning of certain character's names to greatly changed plotlines, here are 10 interesting facts about Nickelodeon's magical series.

#10: The head twerp

Blue, pink, same dif.

Originally Timmy's trademark pink hat was gonna be colored blue, but it was changed to pink because series creator Butch Hartman ran out of blue marker ink. In addition, Timmy was also named after one of Butch's brothers. He was almost named Mikey after Butch's older brother, but that was scrapped after the two had a fight.

#9: Science Mience!

There were almost two Jimmys!

Originally this show was gonna be more science based, with Timmy being a scientist instead of an average 10 year old boy who no one understands. Eventually the show was changed to have magical fairies because the original concept closely resembled CN's Dexter's Laboratory. This didn't stop Nickelodeon from having it's science show in Jimmy Neutron.

#8: Can't cancel this!

There's just no killing some shows, ain't that right Simpsons?

This show was cancelled and brought back a whopping four times throughout it's run, apparently because it wasn't doing as good as SpongeBob in ratings. The show was finally cancelled for real in 2016, around the same time that Butch Hartman left Nickelodeon and The Loud House first premiered.

#7: Crash Almostula

This should've happened!

The in-universe show Crash Nebula almost got it's own show in the real world, with the episode of the same name basically being a test pilot. There were also plans for an animated movie that was pitched to Paramount Pictures, but that too was canned.

#6: FAIRIEEEESSS!!!

Must be the work of FAIRY GOD PARENTS!!!!!

During development of this show, Timmy's fairy obsessed teacher and arch enemy Crocker was almost put into a show called Barnaby's Bug, which would've been about the adventures of a boy and his talking bug.

#5: Oh Yeah! Hanna Barbera

Imagine if this did happen, Timmy and his fairies probably would've showed up on Jellystone!

The series first debuted as a series of shorts on Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Like most pilot episodes these shorts had several differences to the final product (Cosmo being the smarter fairy, Timmy's parent's faces being unseen, Vicky being just a mean babysitter etc.), but the most interesting thing about the pilot shorts is that they were originally pitched to Hanna Barbera before being picked up by Nickelodeon.

#4: !#%# You Nick!

This really should've happened!

At one point during the 2000s, Butch Hartman contacted Stephen Hillenburg about doing a crossover between this show and SpongeBob. Sadly, Nickelodeon execs shot the idea down.

#3: Daughters to the rescue

Who said kids can't have good ideas?

Butch Hartman confirmed that the episode Snow Bound, where Timmy and Vicky temporarily bury the hatchet to escape an ice cave, was based off an idea is daughter Sophia had once. Hartman also stated that Tooty's name came from a nickname he had for his other daughter, Carly.

#2: A fairly cosmic theme

Another little tidbit, these two have the same hairstyle.

Initially all the fairies in the series were gonna have names themed around space, like Cosmo for example. While this concept was scrapped, a remnant of it is visible in Wanda, as her original name Venus was made into her middle name.

#1: That's kind of scary

Now there's something to think about.

Timmy's evil babysitter Vicky was based off of a babysitter that Butch had and hated when he was a kid. Her own babysitting career was based off a babysitting job that her voice actress, Grey Griffin, had back when she was younger.

Who here among us wished they had fairy godparents of their own. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed a look back at this magical series. Thanks for reading and as long as you don't have any Vickys or Crockers in your life, have a great day.

Sources

Monday, February 16, 2026

10 Urban facts about Hey Arnold!

Move it football head! From behind the scenes shenanigans to concepts that got the boot, here are 10 interesting facts about one of Nickelodeon's best shows.

#10: Claymation time

Now that's using your imagination!

Years before his show first appeared, Craig Bartlett made three claymation shorts starring Arnold: Arnold Escapes Church, The Arnold Waltz and Arnold Rides His Chair. These shorts had a strange dreamlike feel compared to the more down to earth tone the official series went with. The third short is notable because it showed up on Sesame Street.

#9: A long time coming

It was well worth the wait!

The Hey Arnold Jungle Movie, which debuted in 2017, has been in development since the early 2000s. Development for it was originally cancelled after the critical and financial failure of the first Hey Arnold Movie, but a combination of fan petitions and series creator Craig Bartlett having meetings with executives eventually convinced Nickelodeon to give the movie a second try.

#8: The Patakis

What a shame!

At one point in development there was an idea to give Helga and her family their own series. Nickelodeon rejected the idea because it was considered too dark for their intended target audience, while sister channel MTV rejected it because it was too similar to Daria.

#7: Good thing this was scrapped!

Some things are better left unused.

During the early seasons of the show, one character who made mostly cameo appearances was Lana Vail. According to series creator Craig Bartlett in a now deleted video, she was originally gonna have a crush on Arnold and would ask him favors that would make him unconformable. When this concept was inevitable cut, the crew couldn't find another good concept for her, so she was relegated to short cameos and a single speaking role before being removed from the show altogether.

#6: The problem with child voice actors

All this because of puberty!

This show was among the first to have real world children voicing the child characters, which inevitably came with the issue of what to do when the child actor's voices started to change. Fortunately in this case, the team found some interesting solutions. For Arnold's first voice actor, Toran Caudell, he would go on to voice the teen bully Wolfgang. In the case of Gerald, the team made an episode where he had his tonsils removed because they couldn't find a suitable replacement for his voice actor, Jamil Walker Smith.

#5: Real crushes, cartoon girls

You know what they say, write what you know.

While none of them shared their counterparts' names, the girls in Arnold's class were all based off of real life girls that Craig knew and liked as a kid.

#4: Last name?

Arnold Who? Simpson? Griffin? Hill? Belcher?

A running gag throughout the series is Arnold's last name never being revealed. It wasn't until 2016 when Craig Bartlett revealed in an interview that his last name was shortman. His last name also shows up in The Jungle Movie on a passport.

#3: Footballeo and Patakiette

At least it's not another Christmas Carol parody.

During an interview at 2017 San Diego Comic Con, Helga's voice actress, Francesca Marie Smith, said that she used the episode School Play as part of her independent schooling. Specifically, she set up a thing to compare the show's version of Romeo and Juliet to the original play.

#2: Harriet The Spy

Harriet walked so Arnold could run!

Outside of the claymation shorts, the pilot for this series was a theatrical short that first showed up before airings of Harriet the Spy. The pilot was based off of a 1992 comic strip called Arnold Narrowly Avoids a Thrashing and for the actually series was remade for the season 1 episode 24 Hours to Live.

#1: From Groening to Bartlett

They took a page from The Simpsons' book!

During development, Simpsons creator Matt Groening gave Craig Bartlett the idea to design his characters so they can be identified from a distance, or in silhouette, hence the odd head shapes on several of the characters. Additionally, Matt's sister Lisa (who is also Bartlett's wife) gave him the idea to have a bully harbor a secret crush on Arnold, hence why Helga is the way she is.

For such a simple show, there sure was a lot going behind the scenes, and there's probably much more that I missed. Thanks for reading and happy late Valentine's Day.

Sources

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

10 Groovy facts about Scooby-Doo

"Google search engine! Where are you? We got some work to do now!" From behind the scenes secrets to the reasoning behind certain characteristics, here are 10 interesting facts about Hanna-Barbera's cash cow franchise.

#10: Scooby Sinatra

Legends look for inspiration from legends!

Believe it or not, Scooby's name came from the Frank Sinatra Song "Strangers in the Night". TV executive Fred Silverman heard the phrase "scooby doobie doo" during a flight home one night and liked it enough to make it the dog's name.

#9: Vegetarian Shaggy

They're certainly doing the environment a favor!

For much of the show's early run Shaggy was a vegetarian because his then voice actor, the late great Casey Kasem, was a vegan and a critic of factory farming. He temporarily quit voicing the character in the 90s because he was asked to voice Shaggy in a Burger King commercial.

#8: Scooby and The Doos

A mystery solving band? That would've been pretty cool!

Like many other shows, this show went through multiple changes during development. One idea the showrunners had was for the main group to be a traveling band called the Mysterious Five. In addition to 5 teens this version of the Mystery Gang would've had a bongo playing sheepdog called Too Much.

#7: My Glasses!

Word to the wise: Get a chain or lanyard for your glasses!

Velma's catchphrase "My Glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" came from an incident that happened during the production of the original show. Her voice actress at the time, Nicole Jaffe, was nearsighted just like Velma. One day she uttered a variation of the famous line after losing her glasses and everyone liked it so much they made Velma losing her glasses a running gag.

#6: Fred and Shaggy

Rare footage of Fred splitting up with someone other than Daphne.

Frank Welker and Casey Kasem are well known for their roles as Fred and Shaggy respectively, but initially they wanted the opposite roles. Frank wanted Shaggy's role because he was always the straight man and wanted to voice a comedic character. Casey meanwhile wanted to voice Fred because he claimed he wasn't a comedic actor.

#5: From one series to another

Jinkies, this franchise goes back further than we thought!

The creators and writers of Scooby-Doo confirmed that the four human leads of the show were based on the main characters of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, a live action sitcom that ran from 1959 to 1963. The series also draws inspiration from The Archie Show and a book series called The Famous Five.

#4: Scooby out of focus Doo

Rooby Roo!

Originally Scooby-Doo wasn't the main character, but rather just an extra the creators threw in to make the show more interesting. Over time, his antics made him not only the star of the show, but also one of the most iconic characters in cartoon history.

#3: Rehashes everywhere

Scooby did the multiverse thing before that concept became popular!

Back in the 70s, Hanna-Barbera has made several shows that were basically clones. Some of these had entities besides dogs following the group of teens (for example, Speed Buggy and Funky Phantom had a sentient vehicle and a ghost respectively) or make changes to the group as a whole (Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kids is basically the original show's band concept realized), but they were pretty much the same show again and again.

#2: Let's split up, gang!

Fortunately, future writers warmed up to these two.

In the original show whenever the gang would split up to look for clues, we'd almost always follow Scooby, Shaggy and Velma. This is because the writers of that show thought they were boring and wanted to focus on the other three since they thought they were more interesting.

#1: More versions than you can count

Unless you've been living under a rock, there's no way you haven't seen this!

Starting all the way back in 1969, Scooby-Doo is one of the longest running cartoons in the world. As for the television cartoon, there are 12 different iterations as of 2025, ranging from reboots to spinoffs to sequel series.

Like zoinks, that was a lot of knowledge to take in! If you know something I didn't or feel I messed something up, drop a little thing in the comment section. Thanks for reading and may the Scooby Snacks be with you!

Sources

Monday, May 26, 2025

10 Haunting facts about The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Here's where things get a little grim! From past experiences to influences for the show's jokes, here are 10 interesting facts about this darkly comedic CN classic.

#10: Billy & Mandy go way back

Now we know why Billy's so stupid!

Back when he was in college, series creator Maxwell Atoms made a short film called "Billy & Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You", which is all about the titular duo learning about trepanation and ends with Billy going through the operation. Like many early pilots, this short is way different from the show it would spawn; Featuring completely different versions of the main characters, absolutely zero supernatural elements, a different animation reminiscent of 1950s educational shorts and some bloodshed at the end.

#9: Cartoon Cartoon Graveyard

Gone but not forgotten!

Near the end of the intro sequence is a shot of a graveyard with zombie hands sticking out of the dirt. If you remove the zombie hands and grainy film effect, you'll find that the three front most graves have the names of past CN shows Robot Jones, Time Squad and Evil Con Carne. Speaking of which...

#8: Grim & Evil

Thank you viewers who voted for this in The Big Pick back in the 2000s!

When this show first started airing, it and Evil Con Carne were one show called Grim & Evil. In between the Billy and Mandy episodes an episode of Evil Con Carne would air, similarly to the Dial M for Monkey and Justice Friends episodes of Dexter's Lab. After a while both programs were split into their own shows and while Billy and Mandy went on to be one of CN's longest running shows, Evil Con Carne only managed two seasons before it's cancellation.

#7: There was almost some spinoffs

Another victim of network executives...

There were a few spinoffs that were planned, but for one reason or another never got the greenlight. One of these is Underfist, which got a half hour pilot that aired in2018, but never got expanded beyond that. At one point Craig McCracken and C.H. Greenblatt considered making a show called "Cheeseburger", which would've starred Fred Fred Burger and Cheese from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. The network liked the idea, but scheduling conflicts forced them to cancel the series.

#6: Autism reveal

Yeah I'd believe it.

In 2021 series creator Maxwell Atoms, who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, confirmed that the three main characters all have different forms of autism.

#5: Reverse speech in the credits

At one point during the ending credits, there is a bit of backwards speech. If you reverse this soundbite you'll an unidentified guy saying "No no no this is the end of the show. You're watching it backwards!"

#4: Nickelodeon strikes again!

Yeah, nobody wants cartoons starring death.

Just like other CN shows I talked about in the past, this cartoon was originally pitched to rival channel Nickelodeon. The reason this time was while they liked the pitch, executives thought that no would would greenlight a show that starred the Grim Reaper.

#3: Movie parodies out the wazoo

This one just blew my mind!

This series is loaded with references to old, often obscure movies. For example: Recurring character Hoss Delgado is modeled after Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, while his transforming weapon arm is a reference Ash Williams from the Evil Dead series. This show's version of Dracula is modeled after the protagonist of Blacula. The official pilot episode of the show was loosely based on the movie The Seventh Seal.

#2: Milkman

The inner machinations of Billy's mind are an enigma!

Before he made this show, Maxwell Atoms worked on Cow and Chicken. While working on that show he thought of making a show called Milkman. This show would've starred Billy and Mandy going on adventures with Milkman, a living milk carton who saves the missing children depicted on his back.

#1: A fourth movie?!

Friggin cartoon execs!

Back in 2021, series creator Maxwell Atoms pitched a revival movie to Cartoon Network that sadly never got greenlit. You can read about it on Atoms' Patreon page linked below, but in short it was gonna feature older versions of the main trio exploring a multiverse. There would've been a twist revealing that the show's negative continuity took place in different universes.

I know a cartoon about death might not be the most appropriate things to discuss on Memorial Day, but you gotta admit this show was great. Do you know something I didn't or think I made like Billy and messed up somewhere? If so, leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading and have a happy Memorial Day.

Sources

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

10 Gigante facts about Mucha Lucha

It's all bueno! From behind the scenes stuff to references to good ole Mexico, here are 10 interesting facts about The FOREMOST, WORLD RENOWNED, INTERNATIONAL SHOW OF LUCHA!!!!

#10: A first for Flash

No Ruffle Necessary, at least for this time period!

While Flash in the early 2000s was mostly used for internet based cartoons and games, this was the first TV cartoon to be animated in the program. The pilot and first season used the line tool for its animation, but this was too clunky so the switched to the brush tool for seasons two and three.

#9: The pitch pilot

Wow, nearly everyone got a makeover!

The pilot episode of the show, simply called "Lucha School", had a few differences from the final product, from a cruder animation style to different character designs and names. However, the most interesting difference Psiclone, a bull-themed wrestler who would've been part of the main group.

#8: Attempted revival

A shame this never got greenlit!

In 2014 there were plans for a revival series called "Mucha Lucha: Para Siempre". While there are comics and an animatic available online, the series unfortunately seems to have been cancelled. That being said, the series would get a continuation in the form of the "Tales from the Coliseo" webcomics.

#7: No punches pulled

When the show was first pitched, Warner Bros was hesitant to greenlight it as they believed it would be too violent. In addition, most of the storyboard artists weren't too interested in watching Lucha wrestling just to capture it in storyboards.. In response, co-creator Lili Chin drew a series of drawings consisting of Rickochet and Beuno Girl wrestling each other and explaining what each hold was. This not only showed executives that the whole thing was staged, but also gave the storyboard artists an easy reference to draw from.

#6: The cutting room floor strikes again

A shocking discovery!

Besides Psiclone, there are multiple characters who never made it onto the show. You can read the full list here, but a few interesting ones include the magnet-themed Magnetico, a character called Chad From Chad who apparently was scrapped because WBA staff thought his character wasn't appropriate for kids and a character named Princess Enigma who was set to appear in the episode Party Animal.

#5: Mexican Celebrities

Forget Rey Mysterio, say hello to Rey Dinamico!

The show staff originally wanted Luchadore wrestlers like Rey Mysterio Jr and Brazo de Plata aka Super Porky to appear on the show, but scheduling conflicts prevented that, forcing the staff to redesign their animated alter egos. That being said, the show still managed to get other Mexican celebrities like Los Mobos and Blue Demon Jr. In addition, the theme song was preformed by Mexican music group Chicos de Barrio.

#4: The creators weren't Mexican

It's an Aussie-Chinese production!

Even though this show is known for it representation of Mexican culture, the creators weren't Mexican themselves. Eddie Mort hales from Manchester England and emigrated to Australia at age 10, while Lili Chin is Chinese. That being said it did have some Mexicans working on it, including future El Tigre and Book of Life creator John R. Gutierrez.

#3: PSAlmost

In 2003 there were plans for a PS2 game called Mysterioso Grande. Unfortunately, this game was cancelled because the developers couldn't find a publisher and it was around this time that the show's ratings were dropping. That being said, some of the animations for the game are available in the video above this paragraph.

#2: Build Your Own Wrestler

Some kid's day was made!

Around the time of the show's airing on TV, there was an online game on Kids WB's website that let users create their own luchadore wrestler. Some of the fan made characters made with this program even made it onto some versions of the show's intro.

#1: Mexican Dub Relationships

They're closer than we thought!

The Mexican dub voice actors for Rikochet and Beuno Girl (Héctor Emmanuel Gómez and Karla Falcon respectively) started dating and eventually married after the third season finished. Likewise, El Rey's VA (Eduardo Fonseca) is the uncle of The Flea's VA (Victor Ugarte).

A truly caliente list if I do say so myself. If you know something I don't or believe I screwed up somewhere, please send your comments to the designated section. Thanks for reading and have a muy bueno day!

Sources

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

10 Cheap facts about Ed Edd N' Eddy

Ten interesting facts and it won't cost you a quarter! From behind the scene misedventures to plot twists, here are 10 interesting facts about Danny Antonucci's claim to fame.

#10: Danny did other things beforehand

Don't do drugs kids, unless you wanna look like these freaks!

Before making this show, Danny Antonucci made 2 cartoons that definitely weren't for kids. One of these was MTV's The Brothers Grunt, a gross out show about disgustingly animated humanoid creatures searching for their lost brother. The other is called Lupo the Butcher, a short cartoon about a foul mouther butcher who accidentally tears himself apart while trying to prepare ribs.

#9: The tongues were candy colored

He's got a lizard tongue!

Did you ever wonder why the characters had green and blue tongues? It's because Danny saw his son and his friends eating candy that changed the colors of their tongues.

#8: The show stuck with animation cells

Hand drawn (almost) all the way baby!

This show holds the distinction of being the last Western Television cartoon to use traditional animation cells, holding out until 2004 when many other cartoons started using digital and/or CG. This was because Danny preferred doing hand drawn animation to digital. Eventually the show would switch to digital in it's fifth season, starting with Jingle Jingle Jangle.

#7: It almost ended before the Big Picture Show

If it weren't for CN, this show would've ended on a sour note!

Take This Ed and Shove It, the episode where Eddy wakes up from an accident and discovers that he and all the other neighborhood kids are old as dirt, was originally gonna be the grand finale of the show. However, thanks to the show's popularity, it was renewed for 2 more seasons and ended on a TV movie. In addition to that, the episode has 2 deleted scenes that are available to watch online, one where Eddy begs the cartoon's creator to wake him up and one where he discovers that he and the other Eds married the Kankers.

#6: It was almost a Nicktoon

Just how many CN shows were pitched to their rivals?

Like the Powerpuff Girls and Adventure Time, this show was pitched to Nickelodeon before being picked up by Cartoon Network. In this case, the deal with Nick was rejected by Danny Antonucci after Nick executives tries to have full creative control of the show.

#5: Eddy's brothers true nature was foreshadowed

No wonder Eddy turned out the way he did!

Way before his true, horrible nature was revealed in the Big Picture Show, Eddy's brother and Eddy's past were referenced in a negative light a few times on the show. In Smile for the Ed, Eddy says the line "No more beating up on little Eddy, huh bro?" In The Ed-Touchables, Eddy tells Edd that a little childhood trauma builds character. In Edd... Pass It On..., Eddy becomes terrified when what looks like his older brother shows up at his house.

#4: The cast was based off real people

For the record, Danny also debunked the theory that these guys and gals are lost souls trapped in limbo.

The kids of the Cul-De-Sac were based on people Danny Antonucci knew. The Eds were based off of himself and his two sons, the cul-de-sac kids and Kanker sisters were based on kids he grew up with and Rolf was based on himself and his cousins, as he grew up in an Italian immigrant family

#3: Here's Mud in Your Ed was fanmade (sort of)

When fanfics become official fics!

The episode Here's Mud in Your Ed was inspired by a fan. Specifically, it was inspired an idea by Kit Topp, the founder of the defunct but still available on the Wayback Machine Edopolis.com.

#2: A few episodes were cancelled

It's a secret to everybody!

There are three episodes that never made it off the cutting room floor. These episodes are A Room for an Ed (Sarah takes over Ed's room and turns it into a play area for her and Jimmy), Luck Be an Ed Tonight (Ed finds out through his horoscope that it's his lucky day and Eddy tries to take advantage of it), and Special Ed (All we know about it is that Danny said "it was just too real").

#1: Facts from the bible

You should check this out sometime, it's an interesting read!

The pitch bible for the show has some interesting differences from the final show. For example, the show was originally about a group of teens who are trying to fit in with their peers and seem grown-up, with the challenges of puberty being a running theme. The pitch also has some interesting characteristics that were scrapped from the final project, including Edd being prone to crushes, Kevin being a cynic who watches 60 Minutes, Nazz being a role model for Sarah, and the Kankers having a bunch of Tammy Faye Baker memorabilia.

I hope I was able to ed-ucate you! If you know something I didn't or believe I mess-ed something up, please leave your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for reading and be careful of any scams that you come across.