Rejoice! Rejoice and take heart in the joy of Undergrads!
Sorry.
Undergrads, a wonderfully
witty cartoon that was unfortunately cancelled after only a single season, for reasons I've yet to grasp, is a
parody (and in many ways, accurate representation) of life as a college
freshmen. It deals with the struggles of moving away from home, friends and familiar surroundings and deal with a new reality of life, love and independance. It's also rather clearly written by
Star Wars fans, as every episode is filled with overt and subtle referances to the classic series.
Here, I humbly present, after many exhausting and gruelling hours of watching
Teletoon until four in the morning, an episode guide and summary.
The Characters
Nitz: The
shy guy everbody knows, but no-body really knows. He has his friends from childhood and sticks with them, although his struggles to grow often bring conflict. Has an unending and puppy-dog devotion to his childhood
crush, Kimmy.
Cal: An irritating, soft-voiced pretty boy who is unbelievably
popular with the ladies. Nitz's roommate.
Rocko: He's big, he's crude, he's rude, he's drunk. Rocko is a
big,
dumb jock that thinks "How about sex?" is a good pickup line and spends most of his time either drinking or smashing stuff. Or both. He does truely care for his friends, as is seen occassionally. Except Cal. He hates Cal. So much. So very, very much.
Gimpy: My personal
favourite character. But only because the resemblence (aside from physically, fortunately) is so strong it's frightening. I theorize that one of the show's writers is actually a friend of mine who's stealing my personality.
Sorry.
Gimpy is a
king among
geeks, and rules his dorm at Techerson Tech with an
iron fist. He has a room full of equipment that puts the most devoted hacker to shame. And he has a
Mac Classic as a side table.
Jessi: A purple-haired girl who made friends with Nitz one the first day of college. She strives to be "
one of the guys", but her secret crush on Nitz is not so very secret.
Kimmy: Red-haired
ditz, and the love of Nitz's life, though she doesn't appear to know it. She cares about everything, and tries to run and be involved with everything, with the end result that things backfire on her as she bites off more than she can chew.
Kruger: One of Jessi's friends.
Chain-smoking cynic who swears a lot. Other than that, there doesn't appear to be much to him. Aside from the fact that he's a
trivia master.
Brody: Aspiring screenwriter/film critic. You know the type, the one who
always has something to say, some off-the-wall opinion usually delivered in a strident diatribe designed to provoke. Another of Jessi's friends.
Dan: The laughing guy. That's all he does.
Laugh. At everything Kruger, Brody or Jessi says. Except, "
Shut up, Dan."
The Dougler: Nitz and Cal's out-of-touch-with-
reality, hippy-burnout RA.
Rita: Gimpy's
tyrannical RA.
Mumb: Gimpy's
faithful right-hand-man. Always there to do Gimpy's bidding, even at the risk of his own
skin. Occassionally conniving, especially where Nitz is concerned.
Episode 1
Party
The characters are introduced, the setting is laid out, and
Nitz's first chase after the ever-elusive
Kimmy begins. He seeks to gather lots of interesting college experiences to impress her with. Rocko seeks enterance to a frat at his college, and Gimpy seeks to stop him (for his own good, of course). Cal gets
laid a lot.
Episode 2
Traditions
Still early on into the semester. It's
Tradition Week, a time of pranks and merriment. Gimpy seeks to become Tradition Master to spite his RA. Rocko has
homoerotic dreams about Cal, and helps Nitz get into shape for the eXposed eXpo, a tradition where all the freshmen run amok around the campus
naked upon the first snowfall. Nitz wants Kimmy to see him naked,
of course. Cal gets laid a lot.
Episode 3
Virgins
Rocko decides acting in "
Date Rape" skits for the Uni's
sex ed program would be a good place to "
pick up chicks". And he
does. Cal and Nitz become
Vestal Virgins. Kimmy works at the STD testing clinic. Cal
does not get laid a lot.
Episode 4
New Friends
After Cal, Rocko and Gimpy forget Nitz's birthday, he starts hanging out with Jessie and her friends over them. Mumb lands in the hospital with severe
carpal tunnel.
Number One stages a counter-revolution, and Gimpy is forced to fight an honorable duel to regain his dominion over Tekerson Tech. Cal gets laid a lot.
Episode 5
Drunks
Rocko is haunted by a
giant,
talking whiskey bottle. Nitz attempts to get into bars so he can drink with Kimmy, who is a "drunken hugging girl!". Nitz attempts to sober Rocko up, and Rocko attempts to teach Nitz the ways of drinking. Cal gets
laid a lot.
Episode 6
Roommates
Jessi's roommate irritates the hell out of her. Cal irritates the hell out of Nitz. Jessi's roommate leaves for a week, so Nitz stays with Jessi. Things begin to get
between them. Cal gets laid a lot.
Episode 7
Jerks
Nitz makes Kimmy a
promise he'll have to rush to fufill, but gets dragged out to the bars with Rocko. Gimpy stages a dorm revolution with the aid of Cal. Rocko destroys Nitz's promise. Cal gets laid a lot.
Episode 8
Rivalries
Nitz and Gimpy are a trivia master team, and are forced to work alone and against each other in an inter-college trivia competition. Rocko tries to start a rivalry between his college and Nitz's, mainly by beating the
living hell out of Cal.
Episode 9
Financial Aid
Nitz has difficulty getting his
Financial Aid check due to bad bureaucracy and mess-ups. He gets involved with Kimmy's student action group to form a protest over the flawed system. Rocko takes over the local college student
reserve corps. Cal gets laid a lot.
Episode 10
Identity Crisis
Nitz struggles to deal with no-one remembering him after the
Christmas break, and ends up isolating himself in his room. The rest of the Clique struggles to cope without his guidance. Rocko converts Cal into a beer-drinking
arse like himself. Cal
does not get laid a lot.
Episode 11
Work Study
After reckless spending by the entire
Clique, Nitz is forced to take a crappy job at a work study project to pay off his
credit card debt. The others experiment with ways to raise funds on their own. Cal gets laid a lot. More than usual.
Episode 12
Risk
Gimpy unearthes his
Risk board, a favored pastime of the Clique. He gathers the others for an all-nighter session, and recruits Cal and Rocko to aid him in preventing Nitz from ditching out early to help Kimmy run a college event.
Good Charlotte makes an appearance. Cal
does not get a laid a lot. Except at the end.
Episode 13
Screw Week
Alas. The final episode.
Things come to a head between Nitz, Kimmy and Jessi. Rocko and Gimpy look for living quarters outside the frat/dorm. Cal begins learning the mysterious ways of the
RA from the Dougler. A
bittersweet ending.