I Don't. Do You?

Eleven years ago, "I Don't" made its first appearance on MTV and won the hearts of many fans for its loving take on the institution of marriage. Alas, people still get married today, so obviously the lesson was not learned.

A lot of pictures have been added to some of the characters on Backgrounders. Did you know that Burnout Chick smokes? She was caught in the act in "Jake of Hearts," smoking in the school parking lot.

More as soon as I figure out what I'm doing.

Okay, here's some gnuz. Have Daria shippers run out of unique combinations of possible lovers? This Iron Chef says, hell no!

A preview of "Apocalyptic Daria: Brave New World," Part 6, is being offered by Doggieboy on PPMB. Read and tremble.

PPMB

• Acts of Cupidity, by Disco316 (Part 8): Mr. O’Neill sighed. “Brittany, do you know about Utopia?” Brittany twirled her hair around her right index finger. “Um, isn’t that the juice drink they’re serving in the cafeteria?”

The Birth of... Jane? Jake? Where's Venus?

Botticelli painted The Birth of Venus over 500 years ago, but the painting is still popular today. Witness: The Birth of Venus with Jake Morgendorffer (left), and The Birth of Venus with Jane Lane (right).

Today is Botticelli's 564th birthday. Happy Florentine Art Day!

The Jake image, by the way, is from the MTV Daria website. The Jane one came from Daria's Inferno, the computer game.

Brandon League wants to see the Impossible 'Ship, and has created a PPMB thread to discover one. Will he ever find fulfillment?

On the Backgrounders site, Burnout Girl has been updated. I forgot she was a smoker. Also, Pigtails has been completed with UU's marvelous screen captures. (Mine suck.)

Time for fanfic.

FF.net

• Daylight: Recruitment Day, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): "That was some ride, Big Jake." "My pleasure, little lady."
• Daylight: A Visit to Camp Grizzly, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): "This looks like a summer camp." “It was. Most of us were here for a five-year reunion when everything happened."

PPMB

• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): As he reached for the switch that would detonate the explosives wrapped around his midsection, Daria screamed: "Get him, Toki!"
• Tales of the Ringbearers: Babysitting Duty, by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!): “One of the school’s drug-sniffing dogs bit Kevin’s crotch after lunch,” Daria said. “I’ve never heard him squeal that high before. Even Brittany doesn’t squeak at that pitch.”
• Turnabout Confusion Part II: All The King's Horses, by Dennis (continued): "You lied about me!" Jane's hands hooked into claws and she made as if to rake them across his face. "You said we slept together!"
• Were and Why, by Brandon League (Part 2): It had seemed so ridiculous at the time. Three days earlier, a very human Daria Morgendorffer lay in her bed casually flipping through a battered and dog-eared copy of The Great Gatsby. Frowning, she reached over and picked up a number two pencil off the nightstand.
  

Burnout Girl's real name was . . . Burnout Girl

Yes, true, she's called Jennifer on Mr. O'Neill's seating chart in that first-season episode we all remember but whose name I have forgotten in one of my senior moments. She's also called Burnout Chick and a bunch of other stuff, too. However, the MTV staff just called her Burnout Girl.

The following is from the missing flipbook "Oh, the Obscurity!" (It was supposed to go here.) Some of these characters were detailed on a webpage in Sick, Sad World (the website), which Wraith lovingly saved for us all. The images he used are probably the ones used in the missing flipbook. (See here and here.)

I did minor editing on the text, which misspells "shoulder" and does a few other irksome things.

1. COREY—Quinn found him somewhat amusing in "Esteemsters." But after showing up at her door in "Quinn the Brain" and fetching punch in "Daria Dance Party," he lost favor and was demoted to background character. (First appeared in "Esteemsters")
2. BOY TEEN 8—The Daria artists like this mellow dude so much that he acquired the nickname "Shaggy." At Brittany's party in "The Invitation," he pops up in two places at once, defying physics. (First appeared in "Esteemsters")
3. BURNOUT GIRL—Daria supervising director Karen Disher designed this character and based it upon her very own self. "Burnout Girl" appeared in the original Daria pilot and is often seen roaming the halls of Lawndale High, lost in thought, much like Karen. (First appeared in the pilot)
4. DAWN—Officially known as "Girl Teen 6," this self-contained cutie is said to resemble a former office production assistant who quit to join the police force. Dawn was her name and so... (First appeared in "Esteemsters")
5. BRIAN TAYLOR—You know how children of divorce often erroneously blame themselves for the breakup? In the case of Brittany's little brother, it's the rest of the family pointing the finger at him. (First appeared in "The Lab Brat")
6. POPULAR GIRL—She can be seen standing with Tiffany and Stacy at Brittany's party in "The Invitation," holding forth on the nuances of popularity. She dropped out of sight shortly thereafter. (Sandi probably had something to do with it.) Note: She also plays volleyball in the show open. (First appeared in "The Invitation")
7. BLIND MAN—He originally appeared as a blind man, but a miracle occurred and he later re-appeared as a sighted person in "I Don't." (First appeared in "Esteemsters")
8. ADULT MALE 48—The rare Daria male brave enough to expose his chest hair, this disreputable character stole Trent's records in "That Was Then, This Is Dumb." (First appeared in "Monster")
9. TED DEWITT-CLINTON—Daria's photo-happy "like interest" from "The New Kid" had corn in his yard…and rocks in his head, since he let our darling Daria get away. (First appeared in "The New Kid")
10. GIRL TEEN 35—This frizzy-haired femme fatale was seen enthusiastically rubbing Kevin's chest (his shoulder pads, actually) in "This Year's Model." (First appeared in "This Year's Model")
11. SAM AND CHRIS GRIFFIN—Sandi's bratty brothers are named after Daria scribes Chris Marcil and Sam Johnson, who went on to Hollywood to write for "real" shows. (First appeared in "Gifted")

Now, this is interesting. We get the dope on Shaggy, Burnout Girl, Dawn, Girl Teen 35, and Adult Male 48, who I've never heard of before. But I still think that the blind guy from "Esteemsters" is not the same person as was later shown in "I Don't" and wandering the store aisles in "Mart of Darkness." Click on "blind man" in the Labels section below for more.

Hmmm, I notice that there are even more flipbooks I have to track down. So be it, then.

Another Peek at Burnout Chick

Another sketch of Burnout Chick, a.k.a. Burnout Girl, Jennifer, Christie, etc., but with an insert photo of Daria supervising director Karen Disher, on whom the character was based (and who apparently also designed the figure). I thought for a long time that Burnout Chick was named Karen Disher, but apparently not. I nicknamed her K.D. in one fanfic I did, not wanting to use the director's real name. I believe I remember reading that Ms. Disher said she was a band geek in high school, but Jennifer never displayed any musical interests.

This sketch was one of a large number sent me by a very helpful fan some years ago. The image is labeled "Disher, Karen (2)" with another pic of Burnout Chick called "Disher, Karen."

Jennifer in the 1960s

Jennifer the Burnout Chick (or Cindy, or Karen, or whatever the heck her name is) has a small following among Daria fans, so here is a picture of Jen wearing a late 1960s granny gown, taken from "Legends of the Mall" (the Rattling Girl story). Weird how you see a character in different clothing and she or he looks entirely different. Many of the characters in the retro-scenes of "Legends of the Mall" and in the dream scenes of "Murder She Snored" are quite striking. You start thinking, hey, why doesn't Tiffany wear her hair like that more often, and Quinn looks just like an Austin Powers girl with a pixie cut, Daria is way cool in that Hawaiian shirt, and so on and so forth until you need a brain transplant, not that I am saying you do, but that's how it goes. Whatever.