I am in dangerous territory right here folks. If you’ve seen the Nostalgia Critic’s reviews and talks about Doug you would know that he has a deep and I mean deep hatred for this show to the point that just hearing the show’s main theme song (which is annoying I admit) pisses him off all because he shares the same name as the main character in the show. But how does the show hold up for a guy like me. A person who isn’t named Doug, who knows no one named Doug, who sees the show with no ill-will, and can go into the show watching it from a neutral standpoint. My overall thoughts are, meh. Let’s take a look at the show.
The show focuses on a kid named Doug who has got to be the blandest, least interesting, weirdest, and dorkiest kid I’ve ever seen in a TV show. The show follows his everyday life with his friends, bully, and secret crush Patti. Now I remember watching this show quite a lot as a kid, I think I saw every episode at least 4 if not 5 times and for the life of me I can’t remember a single episode. The show was that bland, forgettable, and uninteresting that my mind forgot everything about it. The only thing for sure I can remember about the show is Doug’s crazy imaginations because they were so out there and out of place that you couldn’t help but find them entertaining. Especially the Quailman stories he came up with. Man he must have been on an acid trip when he thought those up, I kinda wished the series was about his Quailman comics instead of him. Sure the comics were ridiculous but I give those credit those were actually entertaining and stuck with me a little bit. Now while the show was bland and forgettable does that make it a bad show? Well in my opinion, no. Yes, it was bland and forgetful but at the same time it wasn’t a bad show. It didn’t talk down to kids or give them bad lessons it was just a bland show with characters who seriously needed some more personalities. In a way the show kinda draws you in because of its blandness in that it’s the right kind of blandness to burn a good half hour and wait for something better to come on. I remember that after this show ended a more interesting show came on after it but before it came on nothing was on except Doug so it was my go to show to waste half an hour and fool my parents into believing that I was entertaining myself. So in the end was Doug a good show? No. Did I like it? Somewhat. The show might have been as bland as 1-D singing a song about cardboard but the show was entertaining enough to burn a good half-hour while you waited for something better to come on and one of the shows that did come on after Doug can arguably be called one of the best cartoons from the 90s.