Hey, You keep the Money!!!
Well, this is not a piece of conversation between a reluctant father parting with his money nor a rich man giving alms to a beggar but a dialogue between Oskar and Susie showing how much he cares about her. Funny and really cute isn?t it? If you are wondering who these couple are, then you must watch a particular episode of ?Hey Arnold? on Nickelodeon, to find many more such cute and really poignant characters.
I am not a big TV buff (huh.. used to be once?) but of late, there are 2 shows which can really cheer me up and bring that smile or rather take me to a world of their own ? One is Friends on Zee English and the other one is Hey Arnold. I guess my next assignment would be Friends.
Well, am referring to the show, ?Hey Arnold? on Nickelodeon which is aired at 11 p.m. Monday to Friday (..this is the time I usually watch it). To start with, I am a die-hard fan of this show and let me till you why. I am sure at the end of this review all of us would have fallen in love with at least one or the other character in this show. It is simply adorable to say the least.
Welcome to half-hour of fun, unrequited love (chooo? chweet), denial, friendship, and growing up.
Hey Arnold has an assorted cast of characters, (6th graders) each of them completely different and yet sweet in their own way ? just similar to our real life, don?t you think? Guess that is what makes life more interesting.
Here is a gist of each character so that next time you switch on the TV and decide to watch this, you will have a little background on who is who.
The main protagonist is the ?Football Head? (referring to the shape of this head) alias Arnold himself. Arnold is an idealist, a dreamer, and someone who sees goodness in every person around and stands for honesty and everything that is right. Always ready to give a helping hand and a piece of advice ? all his friends adore him, at the same time they do mock him for his righteousness. Arnold lives with his grandparents at a boarding house. Arnold?s dad is a doctor, and mom, an archeologist, who went on a mission to deliver medicine and whose whereabouts are not yet known.
Next is my favorite eccentric, Helga.
There is especially one girl in their group who loves to hate him or should I say, loves to love him.Well, she is not our typical girly girl. We are talking about Helga Pataki, fire brand, all-American tomboy (Pssst.. in Kannada, pataki does mean a crackerJ). Outwardly, Helga is a tough, big mouth, and all-time mean kid in school, but from within, she is quite the opposite ? sensitive and a die-hard romantic. She has an elder sister, Olga, who is the opposite of Helga ? studious, adored by her parents, pretty, and who has always got straight A?s in school. Her parents make her life more miserable by constantly comparing her to Olga and ignoring her.
Helga?s parents are Big Bob and Miriam. Big Bob Pataki or the Beeper King who runs a beeper business is always bullying around and rude to everyone.. guess Helga gets this trait from him. Miriam Pataki is a stay-at-home mom who is quite the contrast to Big Bob in temperament.
A favorite pastime of Helga is to seize every opportunity to tease and put down Arnold. Who would have thought such a bully and mean girl would actually fall in love with him and to the extent that she even worships him (yeah, hidden from the whole world, in a closet in her room, she has an idol-shaped like Arnold to which she whispers sweet words of love and confesses the depths of her undying love to him). Psst.. she also has a heart-shaped pendant with Arnold?s and her photo in it. Of course, no one else knows of this secret.
Gerald is Arnold?s cool best friend with a really cute accent and the keeper of ancient legends in their neighborhood ? if there is a story to be told, it is told best by Gerald.
Phoebe is Helga?s closest friend (who also happens to know her deep, dark secret but has vowed to never let this leak..) and also happens to be the brainy one, who usually helps Helga out with her school assignments, etc. She is in love with Gerald but again that is a secret ? now don?t go leaking that around!
The other kids in the group are
Rhonda (the rich, cool fashion expert) who is Nadine?s best friend. Nadine is quite the opposite of Rhonda but their friendship usually flourishes amidst diversity.
Eugene ? the accident freak and an optimistic. He usually ends up covered in bandages and his favorite line is, ?I am okay.?
Sid ? Pessimistic (the opposite of Eugene) and a naïve kid who believes in everything what others say.
Stinky ? No, he really doesn?t stink but he definitely is the tallest in their group who happens to be a farm boy with a love for lemon pudding. (Watch out for his accent, it is funny too).
Coming to Phil and Phoeke, they are Arnold?s crazy grandparents who love Arnold like their own kid, and one would love them for their humor and wit, especially Phoeke, the crazy, super-woman grandma. I sure would love to have a grandma like her :-)
Coming to Oskar and Susie ? Oskar is the lazy husband who loves money but doesn?t do much about acquiring it. Susie loves Oskar, and she is the one who does everything around the house. I bet you will love the way Oskar speaks ? it is really sweet.
Along with Phil, Phoeke, Oskar and Susie, other residents of the boarding house are Ernie (construction worker), Mr. Hyunh (a Chinese who came to the boarding house during Vietnam- he is quite hilarious too), Curly (the crazy one), Mr. Green (who owns a meat shop), and Vitello (owns a flower shop).
This shows has every human emotion in it - friendship, love, heartbreak, growing up, or just plain enjoying life and some clean entertainment. The rest, I guess, is for you to watch and do let me know your thoughts on this Nick toon.
Keep The Faith :-)
