Weinerville

Weinerville

Weinerville title card, as seen on the show's opening sequence.
Created by Marc Weiner
Starring Marc Weiner
Ray Abruzzo
Brian Berns
Scott Fellows
David Jordon
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 62
Production
Location(s) Universal Studios Florida
Running time 22 minutes per episode
Release
Original network Nickelodeon
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
Original release July 11, 1993 – December 21, 1997
External links
Website

Weinerville is an American television program on Nickelodeon that was produced in 1993-1994. The show was based around a giant puppet stage which was designed to look like a city called Weinerville. The show was hosted by Marc Weiner.

The show premiered on July 11, 1993 and ended on December 21, 1997.

Production

During the first season, all episodes ran in a two-hour marathon every Sunday. However, Weinerville quickly gained popularity; in the middle of the first season, Nickelodeon began running the show on weekday afternoons. As a result, Nickelodeon allowed Marc and his characters to host a New Year's special event, a kids' version of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve titled Nick New Year's, with host segments serving as wraparounds for the best Nicktoons and shows of that year, and read letters from kids about their New Year's resolutions as they counted down to midnight, then celebrated by shooting slime into the sky. Marc and his Weinerville characters hosted Nick New Year's in 1993 and 1994 from Times Square in the Nickelodeon Party Penthouse.

For the second season, which premiered on May 2, 1994, the episodes aired daily and were part of the Stick Stickly show Nick in the Afternoon, which included Marc as Dottie in some segments. Unfortunately with all the success of hosting two seasons, promotions, three television specials, and hosting a four-hour New Year's special for two years, Weinerville was not renewed for a third season. According to Marc, the cancellation happened because Nickelodeon was changing their identity from family friendly to edgy, sarcastic, and somewhat subversive shows, and a puppet show did not fit with the network's new direction of programming.[1] After its cancellation, reruns aired on Nickelodeon until June 30, 1997, although the Chanukah special was later repeated as a one-off broadcast on December 21, 1997.

On April 2, 2015, the series came to The '90s Are All That block for their "Out of the Vault" week.[2] When the block expanded and rebranded as The Splat, Weinerville was broadcast three times the night of October 10th, 2015, as of today the show has not broadcast since October 10th, 2015.

Overview

Nickelodeon Weinerville was filmed at Nickelodeon Studios in Universal Studios Orlando Florida, it was an audience participation comedy show focused on Weiner and his puppets and about them making a show. The first few episodes did not have much of a plot or story line. During the rest of the first season, the show broke out story lines and plots, especially in the second season. Weinerville also had three television specials.

Characters

Human characters

Puppets

The puppets below feature Weiner's head and a puppet body where their parts have been pre-taped so that Weiner can interact with them:

The ones listed below are puppet characters:

Other sketches

The show also featured several non-puppet characters played by Weiner himself:

Weinerizing

The show always ended with Weiner choosing two people from the audience to get "Weinerized" (turned into puppets). The participants entered a contraption called the "Weinerizer", which appeared to then shrink them to the puppet size (it did so by having the contestants place their heads into a hole above a miniature puppet body). Although the audience members were ostensibly chosen at random, Matt Day (who at the time was working on another Nickelodeon show, Clarissa Explains It All) revealed that participants were sometimes selected beforehand. They would compete in a game and the runner-up would receive a trophy called "The Silver Hot Dog." The winner would receive "The Golden Hot Dog", as well as a dose of green slime.

Episodes

All episodes aired out of sequence in no particular order.

Season 1: 1993 Episode title Airdate Synopsis Cartoons
01 Marc's Mother Visits July 11, 1993 Marc learns from Mayor Dottie that his mother is coming which explained why most of its inhabitants don't want to be around when she arrives. Gerald McBoing-Boing's Symphony (1953), Stage Door Magoo (1956) & A Leak in the Dike (1965)
02 Tooth Hurty
03 Humidity A huge heat wave hits Weinerville as everyone tries to stay cool. Magoo Express (1955) & Forget-Me-Nuts (1967)
04 Cleaning Day While cleaning up Schnitzel's poop, Marc is called by Mayor Dottie to help get Zip out of the vacuum cleaner. Magoo's Cruise (1957) & Baggin' the Dragon (1966)
05 Zip In Space Zip plays on a toy rocketship and is accidentally launched into outer space. Marc and Mayor Dottie enlist Captain Ozone to help rescue Zip. The Dog Snatcher (1952) & A Wedding Knight (1966)
06 Missing Cartoon Mayor Dottie enlists a detective named Nick Tracy to find the missing cartoons. Punchy de Leon (1950), Ragtime Bear (1949) & Potions and Notions (1966)
07 Giant Spider The Miner's Daughter (1950) & Alter Egotist (1967)
08 Haunted Marc learns from Mayor Dottie that ghosts have been haunting Weinerville. Bwana Magoo (1959) & The Story of George Washington (1965)
09 Fitness After Marc overeats and becomes fat, Dottie puts him on a vigorous exercise program How Now Boing Boing (1954) & Christopher Crumpet's Playmate(1955)
10 Football Marc starts a football team as Big Pops, Mayor Dottie, and Socko want to be on it as the quarterback. Magoo's Canine Mutiny (1956) & A Wedding Knight (1966)
11 Zip Stuck In VCR Zip gets stick in the VCR as Mayor Dottie works to get him out. Giddyap (1950) & Keep the Cool, Baby (1967)
12 Magic Episode Matador Magoo (1957) & Throne for a Loss (1966)
13 Bubblegum Upon seeing Mayor Dottie's bubblegum-blowing trophies, Zip starts blowing bubblegum and starts getting trapped. Rock-Hound Magoo (1957) & Boy Pest with Osh (1963)
14 Talent Show Merry Minstrel Magoo (1959) & High But Not Dry (1967)
15 Dottie's Birthday It's Mayor Dottie's birthday as Marc tries to find her a good birthday present. Scoutmaster Magoo (1958) & The Magic Fluke (1949)
16 Spaghetti Big Pops makes his special spaghetti and meatballs which everyone wants to try as he demonstrates how he makes it. Mouse Trek (1967) & My Daddy the Astronaut (1967)
17 Bake Off The citizens of Weinerville are baking cakes in order to raise money for the Old Puppets Home. Madcap Magoo (1955), My Daddy the Astronaut (1967) & Think or Sink (1967)
18 Balloon Zip Mayor Dottie gets some balloons from Nick Tracy (who was last seen in "Missing Cartoons"). When Zip asks Mayor Dottie for a balloon, he gets stuck on one of them. Meanwhile, Pops and Louie have an argument on who has been belching smoke near their buildings. Magoo's Homecoming (1959), A Balmy Knight (1966) & The Stuck-Up Wolf (1967)
19 Baseball Magoo's Masquerade (1957) & The Blacksheep Blacksmith (1967)
20 Budget Cutbacks Mayor Dottie gets a call from the Head of the Network that there is going to be some budget cutbacks. Gerald McBoing Boing (1950), Pink and Blue Blues (1952) & The Opera Caper (1967)
21 Popcorn Magoo's Lodge Brother (1959) & Trash Program (1963)
22 Recycling Everyone in Weinerville does their part in recycling. Magoo Goes Skiing (1954) & The Itch (1965)
23 Snow Day Magoo Slept Here (1953) & The Fuz (1967)
24 Train Ride Ballet-Oop (1954) & Frog's Legs (1962)
25 Zip's Family Treasure Everyone is on trains. Zip's train gets stuck on his train which goes super-fast. Sloppy Jalopy (1952) & Bringing Up Mother (1954)
26 Ziggy Zag Concert The Ziggy Zag Concert is occurring in Weinerville How Now Boing Boing (1954) & From Nags to Witches (1966)
27 Show #27
28 Show #28
29 Show #29
Season 2: 1994 Episode title Airdate Synopsis Cartoons
30 Ratville
31 Dottie's Replacement
32 Weinerville For Sale
33 Eric Von Firstenseconds' Spell (unknown Alvin Show segment) & Working on the Railroad (1961)
34 60 Seconds News
35 Fire Safety
36 Magic Lamp Invents the West & (unknown Alvin Show segment)
37 The Puppet's Court
38 Broken Weinerizer
39 Network Censors
40 Louie Becomes a Citizen
41 Louie's Crush
42 Dottie's Cousin
43 Brain Switch
44 Parallel Universe
45 Boney's Spell
46 The Time-Slot War
47 Dottie's High School Reunion
48 Loco Cola
49 Weinervilla Ostrich (1961) & Mexico-the Brave Chipmunks (1961)
50 Ego Crazy
51 Marc's Arians
52 Variety Show or Sitcom
53 DTV Mayor Dottie abandons her role as the Mayor of Weinerville and starts her own public access fly-by-night cable network. While Strolling in the Park (1961) & This is Your Life, Clyde Crashcup! (1961)
54 Socko Framed
55 Royal Dottie
56 Zip Runs Away
57 Dottie’s Dating Game
58 Weinerville: The Movie
59 Marc's Lost Memory Marc hits his head and loses his memory after Mayor Dottie tells him that the head of the network Clara Cloud is coming. Now Mayor Dottie, Zip, Pops, Louie, and Professor Phosphate must find a way to restore Marc's memory.
60 Back to the Past from a Look into the Future
61 Pollution (aka "Eco Crazy") Eric von Firstensecond uses Weinerville as his landfill area. While Marc works on a way to clean up the mess, Zip becomes Eco Man to combat Eric von Firstensecond. Polly Wolly Doodle (1961) & Theodore's Dog (1961)
62 XR-3 Space Shuttle Game Good Neighbor (1961) & Mexico-the Brave Chipmunks (1961)
TV Specials & Air Dates:  Title Plot
December 31, 1993 Nick New Years '94 (Host segments)
Special 1: December 31, 1994 New Year's Special: Lost in the Big Apple
December 31, 1994 Nick New Years '95 (Host segments)
Special 2: December 14, 1995 Chanukah Special The Weinerville inhabitants are celebrating Chanukah at the Weinerville Ski Lodge as Marc is on his way there with his family and friends. Two potato pancake-looking Sectos named Nivek and Sinrek are pursued by the evil alien king Antidorkus (Brian O'Connor) of the Kerg Empire and crash-land at the Weinerville Ski Lodge where they receive the help of Boney, Socko, and Fluffy the Dog.
Special 3: February 17, 1996 Election Special: From Washington B.C.

Broadcast history

NOTE: All times are eastern

Date Time slot
July 1993 - November 1996 Sunday, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. (Sunday Marathon)
October 1993 - May 1994 Monday-Friday, 3:30 - 4:00 p.m.
May 1994 - August 1996 Monday-Friday, 3:00 - 3:30 p.m.
August 1996 - June 1997 Monday-Friday, 7:00 - 7:30 a.m.

Guest stars

(not all interviews were shown, Sean O'Neal and Jason Zimbler were just quickly glimpsed)

Special Notes

The Cartoon Shorts

Before Weinerville made its debut, Nickelodeon ran the cartoons by themselves on a half-hour block called Cartoon Kablooey.

Marc Weiner's Weinerville Live

After the show finished its run, in 1996 Marc took the show on a live tour, and added a new segment called "The Comedy Challenge".Checkout the official site for information, merchandise, video clips, and contact information.

Comeback

January 23, 2011 Marc Weiner and his son Max launched a YouTube Channel where Weiner will bring his puppet characters back to life in new short videos, exclusively on YouTube. Under the channel name WeinervilleTV The channel launched its first video February 1, a video of Boney announcing the big news as "We're Back!!". To get a following, Eric Weiner and Max created a Weinerville Facebook page, and Marc opened a Twitter account. After nearly four years of no new uploads, a new video was added to the WeinervilleTV YouTube in May 2015.

Weinerville has also been announced to be part of TeenNick's The '90s Are All That block. Clips have appeared in promos since the block premiered. Although most of the live-action and puppet segments are owned by creator Marc Weiner, the cartoon shorts that aired as commercial breaks have been an obstacle clearing reruns. The show aired on The '90s Are All That for the first time on April 2, 2015 with the cartoon shorts removed, leaving each episode shortened to 15 minutes each. This was also the first time the show aired on television after being off the air for over eighteen years.

Wordville with Marc Weiner and Friends

A preschool spin-off of Weinerville, which aired on Nick Jr. on weekday mornings from 1998 to 1999. Marc would bring puppets and children to teach words, and help with vocabulary, with skits and his well known big head/little body puppets. Marc’s son, Max Weiner, designed Sara, the Weinerette-style hand puppet, and the sun.

E.A.G.A.H.B.E.D.D (1994)

There was also a 13-minute educational VHS video made for the National Dairy Council called E.A.G.A.H.B.E.D.D The title stands for "Eat A Good And Healthy Breakfast Every Day Day" and is done in the style of an abbreviated Weinerville episode, with the usual characters and sets but without the Playland segment, this episode got made into a DVD, which is available on Marc's official website www.weinerville.com, but it is currently out of stock; this is known as the only official Weinerville DVD at this time.

References

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