The Weekenders


The Weekenders is a 2000–2004 American animated television series created by Doug Langdale. It centers on the weekend life of four 12-year-old 7th graders: Tino, Lor, Carver, and Tish. The series initially aired on ABC and UPN, but was later moved to Toon Disney.

Premise

The Weekenders details the weekends of four middle school students: Tino Tonitini, a witty and humorous Italian-American boy, Lorraine "Lor" McQuarrie, a tomboyish and somewhat short-tempered Scottish-American girl, Carver Descartes, a proud and confident African-American boy, and Petratishkovna "Tish" Katsufrakis, an intellectual and bibliophilic Jewish-American girl of Russian descent.
The show was known for its distinctive animation style, similar to shows produced by Klasky-Csupo such as Rocket Power and As Told by Ginger, and also for being one of the few animated series where characters' outfits change from episode to episode. The series takes place in the fictional city of Bahia Bay, which is based on San Diego, California where the creator lived.
The show's theme song, "Livin' for the Weekend", was performed by Wayne Brady and written by Brady and Roger Neill.

Broadcast

The Weekenders premiered on February 26, 2000, as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC. From 2001 to 2002, it also aired as part of Disney's One Too on UPN on Sunday mornings. In September 2002, the series moved to Toon Disney, and new episodes began airing on October 19, finishing on February 29, 2004.
Reruns of the series continued to air on Toon Disney from 2004 to 2006, and also on Disney Channel in 2003.

Episodes

Home media

US (Region 1)

The entire show is now available on DVD on two volume sets sold exclusively through the Disney Movie Club and Disney Movie eBay shop, which makes The Weekenders the first Disney animated television show to have a full release on DVD.
DVD NameEp #Release date
The Weekenders: Volume 120March 5, 2013
The Weekenders: Volume 219March 5, 2013

Reception

Critical reception

The Weekenders has received very positive reviews from critics and fans for its solid writing, upbeat energy and multi-dimensional characters. It has an 8.3/10 rating on IMDB and similarly maintains an 8.7/10 on TV.com.

Ratings

TV Guide dubbed The Weekenders as "the show that killed Pokémon," because ABC stole the ratings when they aired it at 10:00 am - the same time Pokémon aired on Kids' WB. In addition, Variety and the New York Post reported that The Weekenders took the number one rating on Saturday morning television, which knocked off Pokémon from its 54 consecutive weeks as the top spot.