Review: As Told By Ginger

This post is inspired by the wonderful people at Television Without Pity, without who I would forget to write about under appreciated shows like Nickelodeon's short lived As Told By Ginger.

What happens when a show on Nickelodeon decides to tackle more adult themes than farts are funny? We've seen it happen with Doug, Hey Arnold, Invader Zim, The Wild Thornberries, and As Told By Ginger. Nick cancels it, rarely re-airs it, and (with the exception of Invader Zim, which can only be explained by Jhonen Vasquez somehow stealing the rights to the show back from Nick) never release the series on DVD.

As Told By Ginger, for those who were not among the 12 people to watch it regularly, was the story of tween Ginger, an aspiring writer, trying to get by as best as she could in the difficult social climate of a new school for her final year of middle school. Tackling issues as light hearted as school rivalries and perfect birthday gifts to seldom seen in animation topics such as death, interracial romance, intelligence, class struggles, and single-parent households, Ginger was more advanced than a Nick show should be.

With intelligent dialogue, a realistic and consistent style of simple animation, and a theme song from Macy Gray, Ginger attempted to provide well thought out entertainment to the Nickelodeon watching masses and failed with everyone but fellow writers, critics, and awards bodies.

I guess what it comes down to is this: if you see Ginger on television some time, watch for a few minutes. It's not a show for everyone, but if you can get into it, you'll understand why the show still has a loyal group of fans that aren't all preteen girls with self-esteem issues.

This show is so under appreciated, I can't even locate an episode or clips from an episode that would make you all fall in love. I can't even embed or link to the opening theme, and I don't have any equipment with me to pull up clips myself right now.

Instead, I'll link to my new online store from Mintd.

I actually prefer it to Etsy, since there are no listing fees and you can post three items for free, but you could, say, call a listing Bags and post every bag you have as a different "color" or "size" variation. It's a good thing.