Daria

Daria
Created by	Glenn Eichler
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	66
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Original release
Network	MTV / TeenNick
Release	January 1, 1997 (1997-01-01) – January 18, 2002 (2002-01-18)

Daria is an American animated comedy-drama television series. It is a spin-off of Beavis and Butt-head. It centers on teenager Daria Morgendorffer. It is set in a fictional universe in Lawndale. The show started airing on January 1, 1997. The last episode was shown on January 18, 2002.

Premise

The series centers on Daria Morgendorffer (again voiced by Tracy Grandstaff, coming back from her role in Beavis and Butt-Head), a smart, acerbic, somewhat misanthropic/cynical teenage girl who, along with her best friend, aspiring artist Jane Lane, observes the world around her. The show is set in the fictional suburban American town of Lawndale, and is a satire of high school life, full of allusions to and criticisms of popular culture and social classes. As the show's eponymous protagonist, Daria appears in most scenes with her immediate family (mother Helen, father Jake, and younger sister Quinn) and/or Jane. It is set during Daria's high school days and ends with her graduation and acceptance into college. The principal location used for the show (outside of the Morgendorffer home) is Lawndale High School, a public-education institution filled with flamboyant and dysfunctional characters. The dynamics among the two lead characters changed during season four, when Jane began a relationship with Tom Sloane. Though Daria is hesitant to accept Tom at first, fearing she will lose her best friend, she and Tom find themselves becoming closer, culminating in a kiss in the season finale. The emotional and comedic turmoil among Jane, Tom, and Daria was the centerpiece of the TV movie Is It Fall Yet?, and the relationship between Tom and Daria fueled several of season five's plotlines.

The plots of Daria largely concern a juxtaposition between the focal character's blunted, sardonic cynicism and the values/preoccupations of her suburban American hometown of Lawndale. In a 2005 interview, series co-creator Glenn Eichler described the otherwise unspecified locale as "a mid-Atlantic suburb, outside somewhere like Baltimore or Washington, D.C. They could have lived in Pennsylvania near the Main Line, though". For comedic and illustrative purposes, the show's depiction of suburban American life was a deliberately exaggerated one. In The New York Times, the protagonist was described as "a blend of Dorothy Parker, Fran Lebowitz, and Janeane Garofalo, wearing Carrie Donovan's glasses. Daria Morgendorffer, 16 and cursed with a functioning brain, has the misfortune to see high school, her family, and her life for exactly what they are and the temerity to comment on it."

Characters

• Daria Morgendorffer (voiced by Tracy Grandstaff) is the protagonist of the series, a teenage girl who is intellectual, pessimistic, cynical, and sarcastic.
• Jane Lane (voiced by Wendy Hoopes) is Daria's artistic best friend and fellow outcast, as well as the youngest of the five Lane siblings.
• Quinn Morgendorffer (voiced by Wendy Hoopes) is Daria's younger sister who, unlike Daria, is popular at school and a member of the Fashion Club.
• Helen Morgendorffer (voiced by Wendy Hoopes) is Daria and Quinn's mother, who is a workaholic corporate attorney and the family's principal wage earner.
• Jake Morgendorffer (voiced by Julián Rebolledo) is Daria and Quinn's father, who works as a sales/marketing consultant.

Episodes

Pilot

1. Sealed with a Kick (1997)

Season 1 (1997)

1. Esteemers (February 28, 1997)
2. The Invitation (March 7, 1997)
3. College Board (March 14, 1997)
4. Cafe Disaffecto (March 21, 1997)
5. Malled (March 28, 1997)
6. This Year's Model (April 4, 1997)
7. The Lab Brat (April 11, 1997)
8. Pinch Sitter (June 6, 1997)
9. Too Cute (June 13, 1997)
10. The Big House (June 20, 1997)
11. Road Worrier (June 27, 1997)
12. The Teachings of Don Jake (July 4, 1997)
13. The Misery Chick (July 11, 1997)

Season 2 (1998)

1. Arts 'N Crass (February 13, 1998)
2. The Daria Hunter (February 20, 1998)
3. Quinn the Brain (February 27, 1998)
4. I Don't (March 6, 1998)
5. That Was Then, This Is Dumb (March 13, 1998)
6. Monster (March 20, 1998)
7. The New Kid (March 27, 1998)
8. Gifted (June 26, 1998)
9. III (July 3, 1998)
10. Fair Enough (July 10, 1998)
11. See Jane Run (July 17, 1998)
12. Pierce Me (July 24, 1998)
13. Write Where It Hurts (July 31, 1998)

Season 3 (1999)

1. Daria! (February 17, 1999)
2. Through a Lens Darkly (February 24, 1999)
3. The Old and the Beautiful (March 3, 1999)
4. Depth Takes a Holiday (March 10, 1999)
5. Daria Dance Party (March 17, 1999)
6. The Lost Girls (March 24, 1999)
7. It Happened One Nut (July 7, 1999)
8. Lane Miserables (July 14, 1999)
9. Jake of Hearts (July 21, 1999)
10. Speedtrapped (July 28, 1999)
11. The Lawndale File (August 4, 1999)
12. Just Add Water (August 11, 1999)
13. Jane's Addition (August 18, 1999)

Season 4 (2000)

1. Partner's Complaint (February 26, 2000)
2. Antisocial Climbers (March 4, 2000)
3. A Tree Grows in Lawndale (March 11, 2000)
4. Murder, She Snored (March 18, 2000)
5. The F Word (April 1, 2000)
6. I Lothe a Parade (April 8, 2000)
7. Of Human Bonding (April 15, 2000)
8. Pyscho Therapy (June 28, 2000)
9. Mart of Darkness (July 5, 2000)
10. Legends of the Mall (July 12, 2000)
11. Grouped by an Angel (July 19, 2000)
12. Fire! (July 26, 2000)
13. Dye! Dye! My Darling (August 2, 2000)
14. Is It Fall Yet? (August 25, 2000)

Season 5 (2001-2002)

1. Fizz Ed (February 16, 2001)
2. Sappy Anniversary (February 23, 2001)
3. Fat Like Me (March 2, 2001)
4. Camp Fear (March 9, 2001)
5. The Story of D (March 16, 2001)
6. Lucky Strike (March 23, 2001)
7. Art Burn (March 30, 2001)
8. One J at a Time (May 18, 2001)
9. Life in the Past Lane (May 25, 2001)
10. Aunt Nauseam (June 1, 2001)
11. Prize Fighters (June 8, 2001)
12. My Night at Daria's (June 15, 2001)
13. Boxing Daria (June 22, 2001)
14. Is It Collage Yet? (January 18, 2002)

Specials

1. Daria: Behind the Scenes (2000)
2. Look Back at Annoyance (2002)