The “Rugrats,” television’s favorite ankle biters, are back and freshly diapered for a sixth season of all new episodes premiering at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 on Nickelodeon.
Fans haven’t seen a new episode in three years and the pampered darlings return as the same tumultuous toddlers, including one-year-old cartoon hero Tommy Pickles, his best friend Chuckie, twin toddlers Phil and Lil DeVille and his spoiled cousin Angelica.
You would think that after 65 episodes, each containing two stories, the writers would run out of clever material. But for Arlene Klasky, who along with Gabor Csupo and Paul Germain created the series, that is not the case.
“The task of coming up with new `Rugrats’ stories was a little daunting,” says Klasky, “but we found that there are many new frontiers left for the `Rugrats.’
“What we have done new this season is to refer back to other episodes as memory references, meaning other experiences that they (Rugrats) have had in various stories. There is one show where Spike is potty trained and in our own mind it was a reference back to Chuckie being potty trained. It’s important that we maintain the characters so they aren’t going to change.”
Klasky’s inspiration to create “Rugrats” came six years ago when she decided to stay home with her children. Klasky’s kids are now 9 and 12, yet she still harkens back to those early days for reference and motivation to create new stories for the TV series in addition to videos and TV specials.
But wouldn’t it be fun to see the “Rugrats” grow up? “I’ve often suggested that I would love to see what the `Rugrats’ were like at different stages,” says Klasky. “I would love to do a special about them as college students. Chuckie would still be the same peevish, cautious adult; Tommy would be daring and like to snowboard or be a hero who would help a blind man across the street; the twins would still be bickering; Angelica would be a sorority girl who is involved in varsity sports. She would be a good student but unpopular and Spike might not be around, or at least he’d be an old dog.”
Due to “Rugrats”‘ unprecedented success, Klasky isn’t involved in the day-to-day writing of the television series. She is currently working on the production of “Rugrats: The Movie,” as it’s tentatively titled, due out in the fall of 1998. Without revealing too much of the plot, Klasky’s publicist said the movie is about sibling rivalry and friendship. And looking further in the future, Klasky reluctantly revealed that after the movie feature, the “Rugrats” television episodes will be different.
“I am not at liberty to say,” says Klasky as if we were speaking about top secret information. “but there will be an exciting twist to that next season.”
– When the credits introduced Showtime’s newest “Original Picture for Kids: The Right Connections” and MC Hammer’s name appeared in a starring role, we almost turned off the TV. Is this another attempt by a has-been musician to make a comeback? After all, when was the last time we heard from the MC (which stands for Master of Ceremonies) Hammer?
Much to our surprise, “The Right Connections” (7 p.m. Friday, Showtime) is a family film that answers that question. Kendrick Bragg (played by MC Hammer), formerly known as Kick ‘n Back Flash, was the top-selling rap artist whose star has faded over the past several years. Now he is broke and forgotten. Living in a beautiful mansion with no furniture (it was repossessed), Kendrick’s shiny platinum albums hanging on the wall are a reminder of what life used to be. When his red Bentley convertible is repossessed by the bank, Kendrick finally agrees to play a shabby gig to restart his career.
Meanwhile, a different and seemingly disconnected subplot unfolds in “The Right Connections.” Gail Tompkins (Belinda Metz) is a hard-working mother raising four children on her own. When she gets fired from her job, she decides to go back to school to get her degree. Her son, Chase (Brian Hart), and her three daughters, Jamie (Elizabeth Hart), Marnie (Emily Hart) and Kaila (Alexandra Hart-Gilliams) are encouraging despite the financial and household hardship. When the kids discover a $5,000 tax bill, they hide it from their mom and embark on a way to pay the bill themselves.
It’s hard to imagine how these two separate stories will mesh, yet “The Right Connections” ends up a perfect fit. Parents may find this “Full House”-like fairy tale far-fetched with kids who not only cook, clean, babysit and do the laundry for the sake of their mom, but they do it lovingly and unconditionally. They also live unsupervised, which allows the unrealistic plot to unfold.
