Weekenders, despite being obscure feels like a show that everyone who has seen it has sung the praises of, and it's not without reason. It's a really good show. The fourth best Disney cartoon in my opinion, and the first of the top 5 we get to cover.
Of course, those who are looking at the Disney watch tiermaker may think "Hey now? Why are 3 of the 7 S-Tier Disney shows in this early aughts era? This feels like a bit of nostalgia bias." And here's the thing. I absolutely did not expect Kim Possible to be as good as I thought it was when I was a kid. I assumed it was gonna be another okay cartoon. I also did not watch Fillmore as a kid. As much as I loved Fillmore, it's very much a show I could only enjoy as an adult.
Weekenders... I have no excuse for this. It's purely nostalgia. But it's one of those shows that's been with me, you know?
People who know me well know I've always been an incredibly big fan of the Cartoon Network series Sheep in the Big City and how it got me through my teenage years, college, grad school, grad school, more grad school, and it'll probably get me through my post doc and academia job searching. It, along with Mo Willems as a creator, has served as a great inspiration for me, and whenever I force people to watch Sheep in the Big City with me, they mention my own writing has this sort of style, which is an insanely high compliment to me. I bring all this up because Weekenders was sort of in the same boat, but to a lesser extent. It's not my favorite show of all time, but it is up there. And still, it's an early aughts show I watched as a kid, rewatched as a teenager, continued to rewatch to this day, and I'll probably watch more moving forward. I've also taken a lot of inspiration from this show in my writing. I personally see more of the blunt snark and nervousness from Weekenders and Doug Langdale's works reflected in my writing style than I do the hipster wordplay and sad anger of Sheep in the Big City and Mo Willems' works. (Though honestly, I think the Doug Langdale I see reflected most in my writing is Dave the Barbarian, which I find very hit or miss, and I'll talk about when I get to that show.)
Anyway, Weekenders has a bit of a past for me. My sister and I as kids were pretty infamous for not getting along at all. We had very different tastes on just about everything. When we agreed on something, it was usually taken as a universal truth. In terms of cartoons, there were probably three we agreed on. First was The Powerpuff Girls, and we still disagreed on who was the best one. Second was Time Squad, which we both found funny but was still ultimately my thing. Finally was the Weekenders. Honestly, Weekenders was kind of her thing for the most part, and my mom and I would jump in too because it was good (worth noting my mom wasn't super big on the cartoons we watched either, usually going for this or Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends).
We do get along better in the present day, but our tastes are still immensely different. The last show I recall us enjoying together was American Vandal. Though to be fair, due to us being adults with jobs who live in different countries, I do not have a fucking idea what she's watching these days.
I think something else about the Weekenders worth pointing out is that other than maybe Pepper Ann, it's probably the most normal of the slice of life shows. The only notable thing that would set Weekenders apart from other shows is the fact that characters break the fourth wall to address the audience. And it's less done in some self-aware way that you might expect, it's more just Tino saying hey and letting you know what's going on this weekend. It's pretty similar to how the fourth wall is broken in some children's cartoons. Unfortunately, Henry Hugglemonster is the first show that comes to mind in this regard. Henry'll say hey and tell you what's going on, and then ultimately leave you alone unless he has a question. That's kind of how the Weekenders is too, albeit a lot less interactive. The most you may get is some hypothetical "What would you do in this situation?" or a "Please don't change the channel!" during a two-part episode.
All the characters have pretty active imaginations like Doug as well, though it's considerably toned down. Usually it'll be Tino having a stress dream where Martin Van Buren shows up, or Carver grossly exaggerating a bad thing that happened to him.
It's a pretty chill show, notably saved from being too boring by having a good layer of snark, goofy antics, and relatable characters and problems, which is why I love it so much.
Overall Rating for The Weekenders: S Tier
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