Weinerville (partially lost Nickelodeon variety puppet series; 1993-1997)

From The Lost Media Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Merch
Discord
Patreon
Forums
Vlcsnap-2015-04-02-00h57m40s140.png

Title card.

Status: Partially Lost

Weinerville was a variety series/puppet show that originally aired on Nickelodeon from July 11th, 1993 to February 17th, 1996.[1] It was filmed at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, FL and was created by Marc Weiner. 

Despite receiving numerous award nominations, drawing the attention of Entertainment Tonight and Good Morning America, and receiving acclaim from multiple news sources, the series ended after just 2 seasons.[2] Due to the decrease in popularity and copyright issues with the cartoons that would air alongside the sketches, Nickelodeon has only aired 4 episodes since 1997, thus making episodes very hard to come by.

Overview

"Playland" during Season 1.
4745501919 68c5a38712.jpg

The series is based around the fictional town of Weinerville. There are many recurring characters, including Dottie, Zip, Boney, Socko, Louie, Pops, and many others. It was hosted, and the majority of the characters were performed by Marc Weiner [with the exception of Zip and Louie, who were voiced by writer Scott Fellows, and Pops, who was voiced by head writer Ray Abruzzo].

The show is notable for its unique style of puppetry, where the puppeteer would place their head into a hole above a miniature puppet body. There was also a Double Dare styled segment called "Playland" where audience members would be Weinerized (Become puppets) and compete in games. The losing contestant would get the Silver Hot Dog, and the winner would be given the Golden Hot Dog, as well as get slimed.

Much of the episodes' running time was taken up by classic cartoons such as Mr. Magoo, Popeye the Sailor, Betty Boop, and The Alvin Show. Marc Weiner said in an interview that had there been a Season 3; there would have been no cartoons.[3]

The show is also known for having many running gags and sketches. The number 1350 was used many times, but it was most commonly used as the price for every item in "The Weinerville General Store." Another sketch/character is Captain Bob, a sea captain who constantly makes jokes. He first appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1981. There is also a sketch called "That's Not Fair!" where a child and an adult would try to win points by answering questions. This was pitched to Comedy Central on its own in 1991, but after testing, they said it was good for kids, and it was greenlit by Nickelodeon as Weinerville instead.

Lost Episode Guide

Still of Weinerville's set.

Of Weinerville's 62-episode run, 24 episodes have yet to be unearthed. 

*Please note that the only episodes listed are the ones that have been lost or found since this article's creation. 

# Episode Title Status
101 Marc's Mother Visits Found
102 Toothy Hurty Found
103 Humidity Found
104 Spring Cleaning Found
105 Zip in Space Found
106 Missing Cartoon Found
107 Giant Spider Found
108 Haunted Found
109 Weight Loss Found
110 Football Found
111 Stuck in VCR Found
112 Magic Found
113 Bubblegum Found
114 Talent Show Found
115 Dottie's Birthday Found
116 Spaghetti Found
117 Bake Off Found
118 Balloon Zip Found
119 Baseball Found
120 Budget Cutbacks Found
121 Popcorn Found
122 Recycling Found
123 Snow Day Found
124 Train Ride Found
125 Zip's Family Treasure Found
126 Ziggy Zag Concert Found
127 Camp Idontwanna Found
128 Auxiliary Satellite System Found
129 Show #29 Lost
201 Ratville Lost
202 Viva Las Weinerville Found
203 Weinerville for Sale Lost
204 Eric Von Firstenseconds' Spell Partially Found
205 60 Second News Lost
206 Fire Safety Lost
207 Magic Lamp Lost
208 The Puppet's Court Lost
209 Broken Weinerizer Lost
210 Network Censors Lost
211 Louie Becomes a Citizen Partially Found
212 Louie's Crush Found
213 S.G. Dottie's Cousin Lost
214 Brain Switch Partially Found
215 Parallel Universe Partially Found
216 Boney's Spell Lost
217 The Time-Slot War Found
218 Dottie's High School Reunion Found
219 Loco Cola Found
220 Weinervilla Partially Found
222 Marc's Errands Found
223 Variety Show or Sitcom Found
225 DTV Found
226 Royal Dottie Lost
227 Zip Runs Away Found
228 Dottie's Dating Game Lost
229 Weinerville: The Movie Lost
231 Marc's Lost Memory Partially Lost
233 Pollution Found
SP01 The Weinerville New Year's Eve Special: Lost in the Big Apple Found
SP02 The Weinerville Chanukah Special Found
SP04 Election Special: From Washington D.C. Found

Availability

"Election Special: From Washington B.C." title card.

Weinerville, like many of Nickelodeon's early programs, has rarely aired since its creation. It last aired reruns in 1997, making episodes extremely scarce. For 3 years, it only aired on Sundays in 2-hour marathons and on weekdays during 3:00 PM or 3:30 PM. Near 1997, it only aired at 7:00 AM until it vanished entirely.

In 2008, 24 episodes appeared on a private torrent tracker and were eventually uploaded to YouTube alongside 2 other episodes (1x12 and 1x16). The Chanukah Special was originally uploaded to YouTube on April 19th, 2012 and Lost in the Big Apple appeared on YouTube on May 8th, 2012. The Election Special was available online for a short time, but it appears no one downloaded a copy as it hasn't been available since MegaUpload was taken down in 2011. A copy was found on Dailymotion in 2018.

The '90s Are All That was supposed to be aired in 2011, as it was seen in many promos; however, it wasn't aired until April 2nd, 2015, when four season 2 episodes made their premiere on the block. Two episodes also aired as part of the premiere week of The Splat (however, these episodes have been online for years).

See Also

Anthology and Short Series

Bumpers and Promos

Films

Game Shows

Inaugural Series

Live Action

Pilots

Other

References

  1. ↑ https://orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1994-02-02-9402020570-story.html
  2. ↑ https://nytimes.com/1993/12/26/nyregion/nickelodeon-weinerville-inside-a-cardboardbox-world.html
  3. ↑ https://youtu.be/5rMUW-Mk6w4

External Links

Retrieved from "https://lostmediawiki.com/w/index.php?title=Weinerville_(partially_lost_Nickelodeon_variety_puppet_series;_1993-1997)&oldid=262968"