The Buzz on Maggie: How We Got To This Point

3:59 PM · Feb 16, 2021 "your date to the dance looks gnc as fuck"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh hey! Now this is a family-school comedy! Unfortunately, it's not very good.

2:00 PM · Feb 14, 2021 "maybe mr enter was right about this show"
6:13 PM · Feb 16, 2021 "i am... 5 eps??? into buzz on maggie but it feels like i've been watching it forever. at least with monkey show that went by quick."

God, what even is there to talk about at this point? The Buzz on Maggie is probably the epitome of a mid-aughts cartoon. So how did we get here?

1:48 PM · Feb 14, 2021 "maggie is so lincoln loud it hurts"

In terms of the Disney Cartoons, it's pretty simple. Disney was still riding high off of their slice of life and school styled cartoons that started out with Doug. Though the shows were getting a little more boy-focused at this time, Disney was still a girl's channel, and needed cartoon show about girls.

Live action wise, this is more of the same for them. Lizzie McGuire was an absolute hit. That So Raven had the she's just like you, but a psychic thing going for it. They could do the same with Maggie. She's just like you, but a weird bug thing.

I was 11 when this show came out. I was listening to a lot more punk rock, and a bunch of my friends were too. American Idiot and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge came out the year before. Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi was also ushering in a new wave of kids who called themselves punk rock. So hey, here's a show about a nonconformist girl fly who loves to play punk music, but also wants to be cool and popular, just like you!

4:53 PM · Feb 16, 2021 "the thing about maggie is she has all the doug qualities but she is also decidedly nonconformist... if maggie shows interest in being popular, it is solely to spite someone. does that still allow her to be a doug?"

By this time, a lot of the animation episode tropes were starting to get noticeable too. You have your makeover episodes, your sneaking a pet into the house episodes, your dating someone to save their feelings episodes. All of these are episodes of The Buzz on Maggie, which makes the show feel kind of generic, but then again, it had episodes like these.

7:21 PM · Feb 18, 2021 "The buzz on Maggie racism metaphors featuring the Beatles."
7:36 PM · Feb 18, 2021 "maggie becomes a dealer"

Regardless, the show still feels like a product of the 2000s to me. It was an obvious stop on the road, even if it was only 21 episodes. Not to mention this also making it feel oh so aughts to me:

1:37 PM · Feb 14, 2021 "started buzz on maggie and the big brother is named aldrin and is voiced by danny kaufman which is. yeah"

I think the thing I hated most about this show other than it being generic is that no one likes anyone else. There's maybe a few episodes at the start where Maggie likes her little brother Pupert, such as "Funball," but a lot of it is underhanded, and toward the end of the series, she finds him annoying.

No one really stands out as that great of a character either. A lot of the characters are very tropey and it makes me not sympathize for any of them.

10:28 PM · Feb 21, 2021 "buzz on maggie is also probably the first show where i didnt have a favorite character. if i HAD TO PICK i'd probably pick the geeky butterfly girl..... she seems fun."

Like even in the lousy shows, there's always at least one character I enjoy the antics of, but this one just kind of absolutely lacked any charm. Not something I actively hate, but one of those shows so devoid of anything it depresses me.

Overall Rating for The Buzz on Maggie: E Tier