Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
| Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide | |
|---|---|
| File:Ned'sDeclassified0912.jpg Moze, Ned, and Cookie | |
| Created by | Scott Fellows |
| Starring | Devon Werkheiser Lindsey Shaw Daniel Curtis Lee Daran Norris |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 59 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes (11 minutes per segment) (approx. per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nickelodeon |
| Release | September 12, 2004 – Present |
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, sometimes shortened to Ned's Declassified or Ned's, is an American live-action situation comedy on Nickelodeon that debuted in the channel's Sunday night TEENick scheduling block on September 12, 2004 in the United States of America. The series' actual pilot episode aired in September 2003 without many of the current version's main characters.
The visual effects are done by John Allison Inc., supervised by John Allison and Robin Snelson. The show is produced by ApolloProScreen GmbH & Co. Filmproduktion KG in association with Jack Mackie Pictures, its main executive producer and creator is Scott Fellows, the head writer for The Fairly OddParents, which is why in the short titled "Day Dreaming", which aired on February 5, 2005, Cosmo and Wanda appeared. Fellows also created a new show on Kids' WB called Johnny Test and former The Wonder Years star Fred Savage is one of the show's directors. The other executive producers are Jörg Westerkamp and Bill O'Dowd. Rich Magallanes is the executive in charge of production.
Premise
Nickelodeon's Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide chronicles the wacky adventures of Ned Bigby played byDevon Werkheiser and his best pals Jennifer Mosely played by Lindsey Shaw who they call Moze and Simon Nelson-Cook A.K.A. Cookie played by Daniel Curtis Lee at James K. Polk Middle School, as "every-kid" Ned shatters the fourth wall to share tips and tricks on navigating middle school or junior high hurdles. Ned's not super cool but, he is, however, witty, well-groomed, upbeat and self-aware; moreover, with more than a little help from his two best friends, he's equipped to conquer middle school minefields. From crushing bullies to crushes, from off- the-wall, mean and cool teachers to pop quizzes, elections and detentions, Ned knows that nothing, including the seventh grade, is as bad as it seems, and friendship matters most. (Seth Weinstein [1])
Each 22-minute episode contains two 11-minute shorts, both of which deal with a subject about school life. Many people feel that the show is very refreshing and reminiscent of early Nickelodeon shows because of its use of smart humor. Ned is a victim of plenty of ordinary teenage circumstances and is portrayed as a normal kid.
The show and characters have greatly developed from its first season. It is widely regarded that the target age group for the show has shifted to an older audience after the first season, and this can be reflected in the plentitude of relationship related storylines in the second series. Additionally, almost all the first season's episodes were based on 'school problems': backpacks, emergency drills, talent shows etc., but in the second season, a lot more episodes focused on the teenager themselves: your body, asking someone out, shyness etc.
It should also be noted on more than one occasion, a character other than Ned broke the fourth wall. (Moze, Gordy and even a Teacher have done so at least once.)
It can be noted that after the second season the show contained more spontaneous sound effects and more animated/live action moments.
Locations
The show takes place at the fictional James K. Polk Middle School, in California (the flag can be seen in the school's entrance hall). The exterior of the school is filmed at La Mesa Junior High in Santa Clarita, California.[1] The school is named after the 11th President of the United States James K. Polk (and could also possibly be a reference to the sitcom Drake And Josh, as most of the show's main characters also went to school named after Polk). The school's colors are yellow and green, which is the constant theme through the school's interior. Additionally, their school teams are named the 'Wolves'. Wolves are Mr. Monroe's (Mr. Monroe is Ned, Cookie, and Moze's homeroom teacher) favorite animal.
During Season 1, all of the shows action took place at the school, and with the exception of one or two notable occasions, everything happened indoors. However during Season 2, the shows producers decided they wanted more exterior scenes. So more outdoor shots were used, and on certain occasions, off school property all together:
In the "Car Wash" short, it takes place at a local business' parking lot.
In the "Dares" short, the climax of the episode takes place outside the 'Northside Aquatic Warehouse'
In the "Guide to: The Bus & Bad Hair Days" episode, most of the "The Bus" short takes place outside the school, in local neighborhoods. The following short, "Bad Hair Days", partially takes place at the high school next door.
In the Guide to: Halloween short, some quick snippets show a local house being trick-or-treated at.
In "Guide to: Social Studies", Cookie had three fantasies that all took place at the SEALTELLE CapitaLbuilding.
In "Guide to: Fundraising", Moze was seen going door-to-door trying to sell her last candy bar.
In "Guide to: Parties", the entire episode takes place at Seth's house.
Major characters
Ned is the main character who started the guide. He is usually getting into trouble with his friends. In season 3 he goes out with his dream girl, Suzie Crabgrass, but she moves to Santa Ana. He usually turns to Gordy, the school's janitor, for advice (though it rarely works).
Simon goes by the name of Cookie. He is a computer nerd and is usually in some kind of crisis. He often uses his knowledge with technology to help himself and his friends. He has a motherboard in his locker, and his glasses double as a computer display. In the first few episodes, he was portrayed as a cyborg, but that idea has been apparently dropped.
Jennifer goes by the name of Moze. She is usually trying to break away from Ned and Cookie. She is a volleyball jock and has set the most school records.
Gordy is the lazy, 40-year-old janitor at Polk and almost never does his job. He is constantly avoiding the vice principal. He gives "Manly Advice" to Ned and Cookie which almost never work. His archenemy is a weasel that he consistently fails to capture using one of his many over-elaborate schemes.
Episodes
In other countries
- Nickelodeon's United Kingdom network airs the show Mondays-Fridays at 7.45am and at 11.00am and at 4.30pm and 2pm Saturday & Sunday
- France recently acquired the rights to air the show in France (new, blank templates for the tips in the show were created by Jack Marx and Joshua Allison for the foreign airings).
- In Spain and all the Spanish-speaking countries, the shows title is translated to Manual de Sobrevivencia Escolar de Ned, (Ned's School Survival Manual.)
- In Brazil, it's changed to Manual de Sobrevivência Escolar do Ned (Ned's School Survival Guide) and just the first and second seasons were released.
- In Germany and Austria, it becomes Neds Ultimativer Schulwahnsinn (Ned's Ultimate Madness of School).
- In Italy, it becomes Ned - Scuola di Sopravvivenza (Ned - School of Survival).
- In France it becomes Ned ou comment survivre aux études (Ned or How to Survive School).
- In Israel it airs on Nickelodeon-Israel from Sunday to Thursday. It is called there Madrich Hahisardut Shel Ned (Ned's Survival Guide).
Spin-offs and other formats
- At the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Devon Werkheiser, along with his co-stars Lindsey Shaw and Daniel Curtis Lee hosted a pre-show item, giving tips on how to prepare to win a Blimp (Nickelodeon's version of an Academy Award), in a spoof of the show.
- Devon Werkheiser, has also hosted the premiere of the Nicktoon The X's with short segments before and after commercial breaks; entitled "Devon's Super Stoopid Secret Spy Guide", another parody of the show.
- Several episodes of the show have been released on VideoNow format. To date, "Guide to: Bathrooms and Project Partners", Guide to: Teachers and Detentions" and "Guide to: Seating and Tryouts" are available.
- To date, the show is only available on Region 4 DVD (Australia, on a 3-disc box set of season 1 with the pilot episode listed as an extra), however one episode "Guide to: Computer Lab and Backpacks" is available on the "Teenick Picks Vol. 1" DVD.
- However, all of Season 1, and all of Season 3 to date, are available to download off iTunes. Plans are being made to add Season 2 as well.
- A book based on the show featuring real tips, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Book of Top Ten Lists, has been published by Scholastic Press.[2]
Trivia
- In the episode "The Last Day", the students, faculty, and staff sing a parody of the song "We Go Together" from the musical Grease
- In the episode "Making New Friends", Gordy's scar over his eye looks similar to Prince Zuko's from Avatar:The Last Airbender.
- The following kisses have been made in the series:
- Ned and Moze (three times)
- Moze and Faymen (four times)
- Ned and Missy (twice)
- Ned and Suzie (twice)
- Ned and The Huge Crew
- Cookie and Evelyn (four times)
- Devon Werkheiser and Lindsey Shaw (Ned and Moze), are a couple in real life. They have been dating for several months and came clean with their relationship a few months ago in an interview with TigerBeat magazine.
- In the episode "Fundraising," In the vending machine there were Ruffles, Fritos and Doritos.
- In episode 4 of season three, when Albert Wormenhiemer and Cookie move their names up on the popularity list Kansas City Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek is in the number one position.
- In the episode " Lunch" Gordy says " These are all the spicy foods known to man, and several
known to dolphin." This is a referance to The Fairly Oddparents.
Criticisms
A group of fans of the show feel that, though the show began with a positive message, it has since relied more on gags and formulaic storylines, and less on showing a positive message. They point to episodes that have little to do with school, such as the stories about Halloween or subjects such as dating and parties.
Ned's Declassified School Survivial Guide uses descriptive video service (DVS) for the visually impaired on the secondary audio program (SAP) track. The voiceover, longtime DVS narrator Joel Snyder, who also holds the same position for The Fairly OddParents, reads a full list of all cast members and special guest stars during the credits in addition to describing the actions in each scene.
Descriptive video service is not used much on Nick. This may be because most of the network's programming consists of cartoons. When one watches those programs and other live-action shows on the SAP, no dialogue from the actors can be heard, but all music, sound effects, and crowd laughter, for those Nick shows that have a studio audience or laugh track, can be heard just fine. Also on the SAP, not one sound can be heard from commercials. All this only applies to Nick, and none of its sister networks (NickToo, NickToons, Nick GAS, etc.).
Series directors
- Joe Menendez
(8 episodes,)
(3 episodes,)
(3 episodes,)
- Dan Coffie
(1 episode, 2006)
(1 episode, 2006) [3]
Series writers
(4 episodes,)
- Rick Groel
(4 episodes,)
- Lazar Saric
(4 episodes,)
- Eddie Guzelian
(3 episodes,)
- Frank Berin
(2 episodes,)
- Jenna C.
External links
