Someone Once Told Me The Grass Was Much Greener On the Other Side. . .

Once upon a time I was a young chap in around the age of 10-11 a new show premiered on Nickelodeon (back when they played cartoons and not iCarly, which I love nososecretly) it was called As Told By Ginger and Nick promoted it as a sort of Dawson's Creek for kids set in middle school with mean girls and wannabes running around causing drama.

I of course was there the night it premiered ready for some PG preteen catfights, what I got however was something so much greater. I remember, not distinctly, that after that first night of watching Ginger feeling as though I had made a group of new friends. The show ended up being nothing like a teenage Dawson's Creek and everything like what a person around the age of 11-13 needed to watch especially if they were going through that awkward part of life that dealt with crushes and acne. The show was set up to externalize what all us kids were feeling at the same time: "Middle school is bullshit", "Why can't I be popular", oh great another zit, "God my friends can be idiots sometimes", and of course "I hate my life". And the show told these stories without shoving morals down our throats but by helping us realize that things weren't so bad as they seemed.

The show followed Ginger's friends and frenemies that attended Lucky Jr. High. The first thing that I immediately loved about Ginger (the show) was that the character's didn't wear the same fucking clothes in every episode. Anyway, the characters included Ginger's BFFs: Dodi and Macy. Dodi was my favorite cus she was such a wannabe and of course Macy was the clueless hypochondriac that never understood what was going on. Ginger was also friends with Darren, aka her future bf. And then there was Courtney and Miranda the popular girls. Courtney was sweet, and Miranda, well Miranda was a complete bitch. All these characters were written in ways that helped me as kid relate to each one. None of them was totally one-dimensional. I mean we all felt bad for Miranda when we saw how much of an asshole her military father was, and when someone pulled Courtney's top off at a pool party and revealed that she stuffed her bra I just wanted to hug her. Ginger herself was probably one of the best young female characters ever written. She spent days dealing with trying to be Courtney's friend but by the end of the episode she'd be home with her awesome mom (she was amazing) and her creepy brother. She was smart, independant, and ultimately she was the best friend anyone could have. She was always there when you needed her and sometimes she needed someone to take of care of her, but you always knew she'd be better in the long run.

What made As Told By Ginger especially brilliant was the storylines it tackled and the moments that were created in each episode. I think we can all clearly remember our hearts break then get lifted back together when Macy was ridiculed at the talent show for singing the "Little Seal Girl" theme song. I can still sing that entire song to this day. The fact that Ginger's parents were divorced was unheard of in an animated series. And when Ginger's dad would come on every now and then there was always a sense of loss and sadness that Ginger had to deal with, it was genius. The show even dealt with death, when Carl, Ginger's little brother, had his favorite teacher died I was in complete shock. This was uncharted territory for the shows that I watched back then. Ginger was truly groundbreaking.

Then there was the theme song, what a great theme song, "I'm In Between" sung by Macy Gray was my jam forever. "Someone once told me the grass was much greener on the other side. . ." it was absolutely perfect for this show and it spoke volumes on what this show was dealing with, beautiful. Every great show needs a great theme song, and this is definitely not an exception.

Now go off and watch some Ginger on youtube. Or I'll sing the little seal girl song.