American-Canadian teen puppet series
Mr. Meaty
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Genre
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Created by
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Starring
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Composers
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- Asher Lenz
- Stephen Skratt
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Country of origin
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Original language
| English
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No.
of seasons
| 2
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No.
of episodes
| - Shorts:
17
[1]
- Full-length episodes:
20 (32 segments)
(
list of episodes
)
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Executive producer
| Jack Lenz
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Producers
| Jason Hopley
Jamie Shannon
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Editor
| Susan Cormack
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Running time
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- 3 minutes
(shorts)
- 22 minutes
(full-length)
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Production companies
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Network
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Release
| September 22, 2006
(
2006-09-22
)
?
May 23, 2009
(
2009-05-23
)
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Mr. Meaty
is a
teen sitcom
created by
Jamie Shannon
and Jason Hopley. The show centers on two lazy teenage boys, Josh Redgrove and Parker Dinkleman, who work at a
fast food restaurant
called Mr. Meaty inside a shopping mall as they often encounter supernatural and bizarre situations. The series is set in the fictional town of Scaunchboro, based on
Scarborough, Toronto
.
Mr. Meaty
originated as a series of 17 shorts that appeared as interstitials on
Nickelodeon
in the United States and
CBC Television
in Canada. A pilot episode featuring material from the shorts aired on December 30, 2005. The series officially premiered on September 22, 2006, and continued to air until May 23, 2009. It ended with a total of two seasons and twenty episodes, three of which are 22-minute specials.
Premise
Mr. Meaty
centers on a pair of teenage boys working at a fast-food restaurant established in the fictional Scaunchboro Mall: the nerdy, gluttonous, awkward Parker Dinkleman (Jason Hopley) and the charming, popular, but uncaring and self-centered Josh Redgrove (
Jamie Shannon
). The boys are often placed in bizarre, supernatural or grotesque situations. They are also seen dealing with common teenage situations such as dating and
peer pressure
.
[2]
Characters
Main
- Josh Redgrove
: (voice by
Jamie Shannon
) A 16-year-old cashier and employee at Mr. Meaty.
- Parker Dinkleman
: (voiced by Jason Hopley) Josh Redgrove's best friend who works as a fry cook. Characters appearance and voice are based on former coworker (William Pawson.)
- Edward R. Carney
: (voice by Marty Stelnick) He is the original founder and current owner of the Mr. Meaty chain.
- Mr. Wink
: The manager with an electric chip on the back of his head, he was once a kind and friendly individual.
- Lizzy
: (Alien who only worked there for a short time) She was cleverly disguised as an attractive young woman, being crushed on by both Josh and Parker for a short time.
- Chip 2.6
: First seen in Model Employee. He’s a robot, built to be the perfect Mr. Meaty employee.
- Eddie
: Parker's pet yeti who only worked at Mr. Meaty's for a little bit, but was shipped back to the Himalayas.
Minor
- Ashley Steinberg
: Her best friends are Brittney and Ashley 2. She seems to be the leader of the trio.
- Brittney
Of the three, she seems to have the most common sense and is almost always there to offer advice to Josh and Parker.
- Art"ee"st Woman
: The owner of Pantosphere.
- Ashley 2
: She and Brittney are followers of Ashley.
- Goth Girl
: She is a
goth
who went on a date with Josh to see the premiere of
Star Raiders IV
.
- Gord
: He wears his blond hair in beaded
dreadlocks
.
- Ping
: An employee who teaches Josh and Parker to be ninjas.
- Doug
: A beefy security guard with a buzz haircut, black shades, and a prominent bottom lip. He speaks with a macho attitude and is very dedicated to his job.
- R.O.B.
: R.O.B. is the Mr. Meaty security bot who only appeared in "Buffalo Burrito".
- Ashley Steinberg
: The long haired brunette who is very concerned.
- Ashley 2
: A member of the girl group of Scaunchburo Mall.
- Brittany
: The most reasonable and apparently liked girl of Scaunchburo Mall.
- Tanya
: A thick lipped girl with black shades and long dirty blonde hair.
- Parkerina
: (female version of Parker) who dressed in a cowgirl outfit, two red pigtails over his shoulders and with notable eyelashes.
- Natasha
: A European (probably Russian, due to her accent) member of the Against Josh Group who appears on the screen during the Against Josh Group meeting in "Parkerina".
- Sky
: A member of the girl's group.
- Ken
: Josh's older brother who is extremely annoying.
- Darryl
: Ken's best friend and his bodyguard.
- Tyrone
: Provides the music for The Tater Tots so they can break dance.
- Tater Tots
: Three 8-year-old Hip-Hop gangster brats.
- Hamish
: Parker's other best friend.
- Natalie
: A little vampire girl discovered in the freezer. She turned Parker and Josh into vampires.
- Barb
: Josh's ex girlfriend made of meat.
- Leanne
: Parker's girlfriend.
- Brandon DuBois III
: Parker's friend.
- Gavin
: Parker's friend.
- Karlon Bugosi
: A former actor who has now become a brain-eating zombie. Bugosi only appeared in "Dream of the Dead", in which he was the main antagonist and anti-hero.
- Lucas E. Romero
: A horror movie director who only appeared in "Dream of the Dead."
Production
Mr. Meaty
began as a series of shorts that played between longer programs on Nickelodeon from 2002 to 2005. They were also featured on CBC's variety show
The Void
, on Nickelodeon's
iTunes
listings, and on the
TurboNick
website. The show was Shannon and Hopley's second production for Nickelodeon after
Nanalan'
, as well as the
Disney Junior
series
Ooh, Aah & You
.
Neither of the series' creators had worked at a fast food restaurant prior to creating the show. However, Hopley had once worked at a movie theater's concessions stand, which gave him inspiration for some of the ideas in the show.
[3]
He has also cited
The Ren & Stimpy Show
as a source of inspiration for the show's style of humor.
[3]
The show was created specifically for a teenage audience; of the target age group, executive producer
Jack Lenz
said, "Entertaining kids in their teens is not easy and it takes a very strong concept to catch on with this demographic.
Mike Judge
clearly nailed it with
Beavis and Butt-Head
and we believe that
Mr. Meaty
will do the same."
[1]
Nickelodeon commissioned a season of full-length episodes around September 2005.
[4]
An 11-minute pilot titled "In Parker's Sight" aired on December 30, 2005.
[5]
It was a retrospective featuring material from the earlier shorts. On September 22, 2006, the series made its official debut on Nickelodeon. The episode "Buffalo Burrito" had been released as a sneak peek on the
iTunes Store
two days earlier on September 18.
[6]
The series moved to Nickelodeon's sister channel
Nicktoons
on February 23, 2007. Nicktoons aired the remaining episodes from March 10, 2007, to May 23, 2009.
Episodes
Series overview
Pilot (2005)
Season 1 (2006?2007)
Season 2 (2008?2009)
Home media
Title
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Episode count
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Release date
|
Episodes
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|
Nick Picks Vol. 5
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1
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March 13, 2007
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"Parkerina"
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Reception
Common Sense Media
gave the series a rating of 3/5, stating that the humor was geared toward older children and noting that some viewers "will enjoy the idiosyncratic characters and their attempts to survive the uncertainties of puberty."
[5]
Susan Stewart of
The New York Times
gave the show a positive review, calling its puppetry "a perfect medium for sending up the foibles of the teenage years" and commending the two main characters' "deft characterizations".
[7]
In May 2007, the show ranked as the fourth highest-rated Saturday morning program among children aged 2―11.
[8]
References
- ^
a
b
"Canadian Television Produced Puppet Series,
Mr. Meaty
, to Premiere September 22 in 90 Million Homes in U.S."
Marketwired
.
Nasdaq, Inc.
September 19, 2006.
- ^
Downey, Kevin (November 3, 2006).
"What's the Beef Over
Mr. Meaty
?"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
.
Future plc
.
- ^
a
b
Davis, Michael; Sode, Scott (October 27, 2006).
"Chew on This: An Inside Look at the Unsavory
Mr. Meaty
"
.
TV Guide
.
CBS Corporation
.
- ^
Waldman, Dan (September 1, 2006).
"Puppeteers serve up meaty kids fare for Nick"
(PDF)
.
Kidscreen
.
Brunico Communications
.
- ^
a
b
Ashby, Emily (2005).
"
Mr. Meaty
TV Review"
.
Common Sense Media
.
- ^
Ball, Ryan (September 19, 2006).
"Nick's
Mr. Meaty
Hits iTunes"
.
Animation Magazine
.
- ^
Stewart, Susan (September 28, 2006).
"Lamb Chop, Your Peers Have Reached Puberty"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
"Look who's watching: A snapshot of the US kids TV audience"
(PDF)
.
Kidscreen
.
Brunico Communications
. May 1, 2007.
External links
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1970s debuts
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1980s debuts
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1990s debuts
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2000s debuts
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2010s debuts
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2020s debuts
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