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.

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. An addition to Weinerville's popularity Nickelodeon allowed Marc and his characters to host a New Years special event, a kid version of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve "Nick New Years" which was intentionally host segments wrap around for the best Nicktoons and shows of that year, and read letters from kids about their New Year's resolutions as they count down to midnight, and celebrated by shooting slime into the sky. Marc and his Weinerville characters hosted "Nick New Years" 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 in the summer was a 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 of Weinerville happened was because Nickelodeon was changing their identity from family friendly to edgy, sarcastic, and some what subversive shows, and a puppetshow to Nickelodeon, did not fit in the networks' new direction of programming.^[1] The show aired on Nickelodeon until June 30, 1997, although the Chanukah special re-ran 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 given a permanent weekly time slot.

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

• Marc Weiner - The host who is always forced to solve most of Dottie's problems. In season one, Marc wears an unbuttoned Weinerville baseball jersey with a green undershirt. In season two, the color of his undershirt changes.
• Kevin Elemeno P. (pronounced: "L-M-N-O-P") - The "executive producer" on the show who makes three appearances (only in season 2). The character, played by an older child, is a pun on the name of the real executive producer of the program, current MTV Networks executive Kevin Kay.

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:

• Dottie - The Mayor of Weinerville. Marc is usually forced to solver Dottie's problems and tends to get carried away with things if they don't get out of control. She has a sidekick/assistant named Zip.
• Baby Jeffrey - The puppet nephew of Marc. He would usually introduce Marc at the beginning of each episode and always makes a mess.
• Big Pops - The owner of the diner "Pops&Pops." Big Pops usually does a lot with his nose, either picking it or playing the kazoo. He only appeared in Season One and was dropped before Season Two.
• Schnitzel - Marc's fresh/sassy, parrot sidekick. He only appeared in Season One and was dropped before Season Two.
• Commander Ozone - A space captain that runs the AV-1 Spaceship. He defends evil and saves the universe with his sidekick Wilson. However, in Season 1, his name was "Captain Ozone."
• Eric Von Firstensecond - Commander Ozone's evil enemy. He always tries to figure out an evil scheme to take over Weinerville or to marry Dottie. He only appeared in Season 2.
• Cocktail Frank - The bandleader and guitar player of the house band of the show "Cocktail Frank And His Weenies." Frank is the lead singer/guitarist where his puppet band consisted of Posse on piano/turntables, Antoinette on drums, an unnamed bass guitarist, and an unnamed saxophone player.
• Joey Deluxe - The big shot manager and powerful TV show agent.
• Soup Tureen - The 'That's not Fair' game show host. Only in Season 2.

The ones listed below are puppet characters:

• Zip (performed by Scott Fellows) - Dottie's helper who always gets himself into trouble, makes his famous trademark scream and crashes into the wall. In "DTV," it is revealed that Zip is good friends with Boney.
• Boney (performed by Marc Weiner) - An obvious parody of Barney, he is a dinosaur skeleton that lives in the jungles of Weinerville. Boney is beloved by children, but hates them himself. The "theme song" at the end of his show consisted of said puppet singing "Now get outta here! I'm Boney, I'm Boney, leave me aloney!" When Boney quotes "Now get outta here," the children present leave his cave. For Season 2, Boney's puppet was rebuilt which that version also being used for the specials and the new YouTube Channel. In the "Chanukah Special," it is revealed that Boney loves to eat potato pancakes. He was also shown to have been attracted by the Weinerville Ski Lodge's new housekeeper Miss Kabobble (who dislikes it when someone gets snow on the floor and she ends up vacuuming it). According to the 1995 summer issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, Boney is Weiner's favorite puppet.
• Pops (performed by Ray Abruzzo) - Known in season 1 as "Little Pops". He is the local chef who works at "Pops&Pops" with Big Pops. He sometimes argues and starts stuff with Louie, but they tend to get along.
• Louie (performed by Scott Fellows) - The local laundromat owner who always argues with Pops.
• Socko (performed by Marc Weiner) - An inverted hand puppet who likes to kick Marc's buttocks, performed with his own props, and made sarcastic gestures when things did not go right.
• Wilson - The sidekick of Commander Ozone. In Season One, he had a squeaky voice like Zip. In Season Two, he sounds like Scotty of Star Trek fame.
• Professor Phosphate (performed by Scott Fellows and David Jordan) - A puppet scientist with green hair who can only be seen from the waist up. Professor Phosphate is the owner of Weinerville Labs and often causes explosions with some inventions that don't work well. Despite this, he often solves the problems. He only appeared in Season 2.
• Fufusky - A grub-like alien who is Eric von Firstensecond's alien sidekick.
• Berny - An old man farmer puppet who has no performer and his mouth is always opened. He is responsible for bringing out the Weinerizer in every episode.

Other sketches

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

• Captain Bob - Captain Bob is a sea captain in yellow rain gear that constantly cracks puns. He owns the S.S. Bob at Port Weinerville (which is located near the building where Cocktail Frank and His Wienies are located). On many shows, an audience member would be invited to climb aboard where an offscreen person would fling water on him before the "tidal wave" (a bucket of water, or, in some cases, slime, thrown by a stage hand) soaked the participant. Captain Bob first appeared on Saturday Night Live when Weiner was a writer in the early 1980s. In scenes in which Marc Weiner interacts with Captain Bob, an actor seen from behind would portray Captain Bob with Weiner dubbing his voice in during post-production.
• The Weinerville General Store - Members of the audience were also called down to participate in various activities during the main part of the show, such as helping to demonstrate items in the Weinerville General Store. A recurring joke on the show took place in the General Store in which Weiner would sell comedic props similar to those of Carrot Top. Nearly everything in the store sold for $13.50. It only appeared in Season One.
• Running Joke - Occasionally, the "$13.50" gag was used in other segments. For example: on the "Talent Show" episode the winners won with 1,350 points; on the "DTV" episode, DTV was on channel 1350; and on the General Store and Captain Bob skits, that would be the price when Marc would hand the participant anything.
• That's Not Fair! - A game show where a kid and an adult played for points answering questions. Usually the kids win. It was only featured in Season 2. According to an interview with Marc Weiner, "That's Not Fair" was a pilot he made for Comedy Central in 1991, after it was tested, the network said it was appropriate for children, so Nickelodeon got a hold of it and the pilot became "Weinerville".
• Playland - These participants then competed in one of various games in "Playland" that tested the skill of operating their puppet bodies. The runner-up received the "Silver Hot Dog", with the winner receiving the "Golden Hot Dog" as well as the "Special Topping" (a small amount of green slime dumped onto the player's head.) If a malfunction occurred or both players tied they both get the "Golden Hot Dog". Occasionally, both players received the Special Topping, and if the game involved pies, both contestants would be hit with pies themselves instead of anyone getting the Special Topping. The Playland stage was enlarged and revamped the second season to incorporate more elaborate stunts; these frequently had the contestants facing each other and squirting water or whipped cream at some target, usually soaking the other contestant in the process. Season one was a carnival-style, and on the second season it was a radio-active style.

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 received "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
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

• Marc Summers of Family Double Dare is referenced regularly, made a cameo on the "Giant Spider" episode, "Chanukah Special", and the "New Year's Special"
• Pro Wrestler Kevin Nash on the "Chanukah Special"
• Phil Moore of Nick Arcade on the "Variety Show or Sitcom" episode
• Dr. Joyce Brothers on the "XR-3 Space Shuttle Game" episode
• Moira Quirk of Nickelodeon GUTS, on the "Variety Show or Sitcom" episode
• Huey Lewis on the "Louie's Crush" episode
• The cast of Clarissa Explains It All on the "DTV" episode

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

• Melissa Joan Hart on the New Year's, and Election special, and on the "DTV" episode
• Mike Maronna of The Adventures of Pete & Pete made a cameo on the New Year's special
• Paul Shaffer made a cameo on the New Year's special
• Bill Maher on the Election Special
• Joe Lieberman on the Election Special
• Andy Lawrence

Special Notes

• On the set, the street light read, "Max" and "Rebecca", Marc's children.
• Episodes aired out of sequence, on July 11 the show premiered with "Zip Stuck In VCR", and on May 2 the second season premiered with the "XR-3 Space Shuttle Game" episode.
• Dottie's hair (Marc's wig) changed from season one, two, and the specials; season one it was a curly hair wig, season two was shoulder-length straight hair. As for the specials the wig was still straight hair but brunette instead of the blond wig used on the show. On a radio interview; which can be found on YouTube, Marc said that the first Dottie wig was his mothers.
• You can tell "Balloon Zip" was the pilot because, there was not that much of a story, except a short 'General Store' skit and in 'Playland' the puppet bodies did not have the trademark 'Weinerville' logo on them, and at the end Marc and Dottie say, "Goodbye" which is in no other episode except this one.
• First season episodes were different than season two, not just set changes but in early season one episodes it was short skits and quick segues to cartoons, so it was mostly a cartoon show, except towards the middle of the first season; story lines were written and it gave Weiner's characters some definition; especially in the second season some topics would include: becoming citizens of Weinerville, Dottie working on spin off TV shows, fire safety, saving the planet from pollution, etc.
• Marc's 'Weinerville' jersey changed season one was white XL with the "Weinerville" logo on the front right and on the back in yellow letters read "Weiner 1", and in season two was L white and sometimes grey with the "Nickelodeon" hot dog logo on the front right, and the "Weinerville" logo on the back. However, on the "XR-3 Space Shuttle Game" episode in one scene where Marc and Socko are gagged and tied up, Marc is wearing his season one jersey.

The Cartoon Shorts

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

• Season 1 (1993) / Sunday Marathon (1993–1996): Classic Paramount (like Modern Madcaps), and UPA cartoons (like Mr. Magoo)
• Season 2 (1994): Segments from The Alvin Show (1961)
• Re-runs (1995–1997): Throughout 1995 the shorts were all shuffled, but in 1996 they began exclusively showing Batfink, and Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse

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

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rMUW-Mk6w4
2. https://www.facebook.com/90sAreAllThat/photos/a.177952552263814.46055.152523378140065/867820519943677/?type=1&theater

External links

• Weinerville (official site)
• Weinerville at the Internet Movie Database
• Weinerville Channel on YouTube
• Marc Weiner on Twitter
• Weinerville official Facebook Page on Facebook created/launched by Eric Weiner and Max Weiner