Hey Dude!

Hey guys, Raphael here of the Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles. Did you say podcast? Dudes! Doodads!

You're listening to the podcast on the Geekcast

Radio Network. Cowabunga! It's time for the Telecast,

brought to you by... The Geekcast Radio Network.

for the show, Optimus Solo. Thank you once again,

mouse chipmunking guy with a really deep sounding

voice. As they said, I am your host, Optimus

Solo, and I would like to say hello and welcome

to the fifth episode of the telecast brought

to you by the Geekcast Radio Network. If you

haven't noticed yet, here at the telecast, we

have incorporated themes for each set of five

episodes, and obviously our theme for this first

set of five episodes has been Nickelodeon classics.

So in the true spirit of bringing things full

circle for this first set of five, I have with

me today the same co -host as I had in episode

one, Steve Megatron Phillips. Hello, sir, and

welcome back. Hello, hello. Yes. And today, Steve

and I are going to be talking about the show

that basically started it all for Nickelodeon

in this genre. Come along. But you can't get

it right if you can't hold on. Singing. Yippee

-tie -yay -yay. Yippee -tie -yay -yay. What?

Like the cowboys say. Sing it again now. Yippee

-tie -yay -yay. In the home, little babies. Till

the break of day. Better watch out for those

man -eating jackrabbits than that particular

cacti. Hey. That's right, folks. We are talking

about our fifth and final Nickelodeon classic,

Hey Dude. But before we get too far into our

discussion, just a quick bit of background information

on the show. It debuted in July of 1989. and

it ran for five seasons until 1991. It was only

on for three years, but it was 13 -episode seasons,

so it had five total seasons, technically. Each

show was 30 minutes long, and there was 65 total

episodes. For those of you that have never seen

Hey Dude before, Hey Dude was a teen comedy series.

It was set in the American West. The show revolved

around the lives of four Maine teenagers who

were working summer jobs at the Bar Nun Dude

Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. And the show basically

just takes a comedic look at the relationships

between the teenagers as well as the relationship

between the workers and their boss and the different

guests at the dude ranch. So I know this is one

that not everybody remembers, and I know you

didn't remember it at first, but why don't you

tell everybody what triggered your memory on

Hey Dude, Steve? Actually, what triggered my

memory on it was listening to your theme song

contest, and I was hearing random theme songs

go through there, and I just remembered something

about that theme. I couldn't even remember what

show it was initially, and I just remember liking

that and watching that as a kid. And finally,

I started looking up episodes of Telecast, and

then I realized that, one, this episode didn't

have a co -host, and two, I was like, I wonder

what that show is. So I ended up punching it

in YouTube, and the same theme song played, and

I was like, oh, so that's that show. So I was

like, oh, okay. Yeah, I'll do the episode. Yeah,

I have always absolutely loved this theme song.

We'll talk about that a little bit more. But

once you kind of put two and two together as

far as the theme song and the show, is this something

that you watched a little bit then as a kid along

with like Salute Your Shorts and some of those

other shows? Yeah, I remember back in the day

I used to watch a lot of Nickelodeon. They were

actually intelligent and good shows on there.

Well, I think that was probably one of the hottest

channels for us as kids, you know, in that. You

know, I said it on another episode there, you

know, we didn't really have a cartoon network,

so to speak. I mean, we had like for cartoons,

we had like the Cartoon Express and a few things

like that. But we didn't have a lot of channels

to choose from like they do today with Boomerang

and Cubo and The Hub and whatever else is out

there nowadays. So Nickelodeon definitely was

kind of like the place to be for kids. Oh, yeah,

and it was a lot more rich with entertainment

than it is now, whereas it's just iCarly and

reruns of SpongeBob. Oh, goodness. Let's not

go there. No, let's not. But, yeah, back to what

you remember about it. But, yeah, I mean, I don't.

quite remember all the characters. As I watched

the theme song play along, I did start recognizing

people. Although I couldn't remember why I liked

certain characters. Such as, I remember the lady

and I remember the Indian guy. Certain things

about it were triggering memories and then I

just couldn't put two and two together. I just

remember the show being... really good for something

different that Nickelodeon hadn't done at that

time. Not only Nickelodeon, but to me, I think

the reason, well, first of all, one reason why

I liked the show so much was because when I was

a kid, I was big time into Western stuff as far

as stories about cowboys or Indians or stuff

set in the West. There used to be a primetime

show called Young Riders. I used to love that

show. So I kind of liked that genre when I was

that age. And like you said, it was something

unique, not only for Nickelodeon, but for most

channels to have a kids show set in kind of this

Western atmosphere. Because mostly the typical

formula for not only Nickelodeon, but for all

the other networks that were doing kids shows

is they would set something in a school. Because,

I mean, you know, you have your Saved by the

Bells, you have your... Even like some of the

others like, God, I can't think of all of them

now, Hangtime or one of those. Most of the time

they would put a group of students. They would

be in school. They would be dealing with school

issues because they figured that's what kids

could relate to. And they still actually use

that dynamic today. You don't really see any

deviation from it. Right. I mean, that's just

the typical formula. I mean, I know our first

episode was Salute Your Shorts, which was kind

of similar to Hey Dude in the fact that it was

at kind of a summer location. In that case, it

was a summer camp. In this case, it's a dude

ranch. So it's kind of similar to that, even

though Hey Dude comes first. But I can't think

of any other live -action kids show that was

set in the American West. No, I can't either.

So, you know, to me that was unique, and this

was easily one of my, if not my very favorite

Nickelodeon show when I was a kid. I absolutely

loved this show. And you're going to hear this

reference probably a couple different times,

but basically this is Saved by the Bell on a

Dude Ranch. Yeah, I could see that. And as we

go through the characters, you'll probably hear

some of the characters, and you can make your

own Saved by the Bell connections. But, you know,

Saved by the Bell was obviously a favorite for

a lot of people. But for some reason, this one

kind of flew under the radar. I mean, I know

at the time it was popular because it had 65

episodes, and it definitely helped spawn all

the episodes that we've talked about previously

in the telecast. But it still kind of flew under

the radar, and I kind of liked it like that because

not everybody knew what it was, and it wasn't

like it was the thing to watch at the time. And

sometimes that helps me like a show more if it's

not like everybody's doing it type stuff. Yeah,

if it's not pretty much like a mainstream show,

you're pretty much more apt to get more into

it than a lot of other people. If everybody's

into it, it's kind of like, oh, I'm just liking

it because everybody else likes it. Following

the crowd. Yeah. I'm a sheep. Anyways, to get

into a little bit of the who's who so you guys

can get a feel for some of these characters,

because I have a feeling a lot of people out

there maybe don't recall this show too much or

maybe never watched it. The Dude Ranch had a

owner, and his name was Benjamin Ernst. He was

basically a bumbling idiot from out east. I think

he was from New York specifically. and he basically

had the idea to get away from his high -pressure

job, go out to Arizona and run this dude ranch,

even though he basically knew nothing about what

it took to be a ranch owner or the lingo out

west or anything about horses. He basically has

to rely on a lot of other people to supply him

with the information. He's kind of a bumbling

idiot, hence the connection with Saved by the

Bell, like Mr. Belding. Oh, I forgot to say he

was played by David Brisbane. What did you think

of Mr. Ernst? He was pretty much like you said,

just your typical dorky character. He's kind

of like a little bit of Belding and a little

bit of the camp counselor from Salute Your Short.

I was just trying to think of his name, too,

and I can't think of it. Ugg. That's what it

was. Yeah, it's perfect. It's kind of like a

combination between Ugg and Mr. Belding. He's

not quite as ridiculous as Ugg was. He's got

more of the professionalism that Belding had,

but he's got that outdoorsmanship of Ugg. Right.

Yeah, and again, like Ugg, he's a character that's

completely out of his element. Like, he doesn't

belong where he's at. He should not be doing

the job that he's doing, but he is. He's there.

Yeah, and then he had his son with him, and his

son was basically the same name, Benjamin. They

called him Buddy. He grew up with his dad out

in New York, out east, so he's not big on the

whole ranch thing at first. He was kind of like

a New York skateboarder type guy. He was played

by Josh Teagle, who a lot of these actors you're

not going to be familiar with, which we'll get

into later. Do you remember anything about his

son? He's not necessarily a big role in every

episode, so I don't know if you would have seen

him in any of the episodes you watched or not.

No, I didn't really notice him. Yeah, he's a

little bit younger than the rest of the group,

a little bit smaller, obviously, and he's almost

like the annoying comedic character, but he's

not as annoying as that character usually is,

if that makes any sense. I mean, most shows have

that little sidekick, diminutive, annoying character,

especially cartoons. He's filling that role,

but he's not that annoying to me. It serves his

purpose well as far as bringing another perspective

there as far as a kid that wasn't a worker. And

I think that was important for them to have a

kid around the employees that wasn't an employee,

even if he was the owner's son because it kind

of just set up a different dynamic. And I think

people can relate to that as far as anybody that

has a job when they're a teenager, you know,

if they're at a place of employment and they're

dealing with that one person that doesn't have

to follow the same rules as they do kind of thing.

Oh, yeah, then it just kind of throws everything

into turmoil because you're like, well, why is

he sitting there doing nothing? Yeah, exactly,

or he can be a smartass or whatever, and he knows

he can get away with it type stuff. But he was

picked on a lot, obviously, because the rest

of the employees are a little bit older. Basically,

there's four main employees. There's a few others

that come in later, and we'll talk about them

in a little bit. that I want to talk about is

Bradley, or they call her Brad Taylor, which

I always thought it was kind of weird that she

was named Brad. But she was a horse trainer who

came from a very rich family. I think originally

they were supposed to be from Michigan, as far

as the story goes. She's played by Kelly Brown.

She's the brunette. Not necessarily a tomboy

-type character, because she is kind of like

the stuck -up rich girl. but not as stuck up

as the Salute Your Shorts stuck -up girl, which

I can't think of her name right now. She wasn't

that stuck up, but she was one of the – go ahead.

I was going to say she's more apt to get her

hands dirty than a girl from Salute Your Shorts

who was pretty much like, no, don't think so.

Yeah, she's like the rich girl but not afraid

to muscle up with the boys and get dirty and

all that stuff. Which is a stark comparison kind

of to the other girl who's the employee, Melody

Hanson, who was played by Christine Taylor, one

of the only famous actors to be in this show.

She was a lifeguard and a dance instructor who

also came from out east out in Pennsylvania.

So she does, you know, a lot of the lifeguarding

duties on the dude ranch because they have like

a little like lake or whatever nearby. And she

is a little bit more. Obviously not from the

rich family, but she's a little bit more girly

to me and a little bit more not all there. Yeah,

I could see that, kind of like the ditzy blonde.

Oh, yeah, I didn't mention she's obviously the

blonde girl. Yeah, she kind of plays that little

ditzy blonde, but still a capable worker. I mean,

obviously they're all capable workers since they're

working on this dude ranch. Well, obviously,

or they wouldn't keep them around. Yeah. So those

are the two girls. And then you have two main

guys. The first one, Danny Lightfoot, who is

played by Joe Torres, not Joe Torre. And he is

a Native American. And he sometimes... Seen as

the artistic one, obviously he's more in touch

with nature, and they do a lot of stereotypical

things that you would expect with a Native American,

sometimes bordering on how did you get away with

that type stuff. But he was an interesting choice.

I mean, I think it was good that they put a Native

American cast member into the group here. And

he by far knew more about how to run a dude ranch

than anybody involved in the show. I think that's

why he kind of stood out more for me than some

of the other adults. Yeah, because he almost

comes across as smarter. I mean, there is one

other adult that does know her stuff, which we'll

get to in a little bit. But, yeah, he comes across

as like the most down -to -earth, like most common

sense out of the entire group. Well, then he

seems to teach more of the lessons than the other

ones as well. Yeah. No, yeah, I agree with that

as far as the lessons that you would learn in

order to make a successful dude ranch as far

as the horses are going, as far as the tools

that they're using, as far as dealing with different

issues, whether it be animals or weather or whatever

that you're going to face. out in the middle

of a desert area type thing. So he's definitely

a necessary component to this group. And the

last guy of the original group, I think we're

going to let the other cast members introduce

him for us. Ted. I count on Ted's experience.

It's usually a big mistake, but I do it. Yeah,

we're tight. We guys gotta stick together. Ted

who? I don't like the guy. Do I know Ted? Whenever

things go wrong, I turn to Ted. Because it's

probably his fault. Are you sure you don't mean

Ned or Fred? Ted. Part of the gang here on Hey

Dude. Oh, Ted McGrath. Never heard of him. Only

on Nickelodeon. Yes, the last group member is,

of course, Ted McGriff, and he is basically the

main character. In my opinion, he's the main

character of the group. He's played by David

Lasher. He's kind of like the senior staff member.

He is your Zach Morris of the group, where he's

the one usually going after the girls, especially

Brad. He has a thing for Brad. He's the one playing

most of the practical jokes or being the prankster

or getting himself in trouble. What did you think

about Ted? I think he was more of the, I mean,

like you said, kind of like the Zack Morris,

but he was more relatable as far as the guys

on there. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you definitely can

relate to him a little bit easier than you can

relate to Danny or obviously Mr. Ernst as an

adult. Even Buddy is not as relatable as Ted

is. No, just because he's kind of like the down

-to -earth guy that you want to be with because

he's, or be him because he's pretty much got

all these. good -looking girls working with him.

Yeah, and he's definitely very flirtatious with

them, and he just comes across as a super cool

guy. What happens, though, during the show is

at some point, and we'll get into this in a little

bit, at one point he makes an exit from the show,

and it was in season three, I believe, he takes

off. I tried to find out information online as

far as why he leaves the show, and I can't find

anything. But basically, he leaves the show,

and at first they bring in one guy to replace

him, and then later they bring in a second guy.

So they have two guys replacing him at some point.

The first one's name is Jake Decker. He's supposed

to be Mr. Ernst's nephew from Los Angeles, and

he's kind of like a drum player type guy. And

the second guy is, we haven't got to her, but

Lucy is another character we're going to talk

to about in a minute. Her ex -boyfriend's son,

Kyle, he's kind of a cowboy type guy. So they

bring in two guys that actually somewhat look

alike to fill that void that's left when Ted

leaves. And I don't know if you saw any of the

episodes that they were in because they're only

in, I believe, season, maybe the end of season

three. And then I think they're around for most

of season four and season five. They obviously

weren't in the first two seasons at all. Did

you see any of Jake and Kyle or did you get a

chance to get any opinions about them? No, I

didn't because, one, I didn't have enough time

to watch all of the clips. But, two, I think

I pretty much watched, even back in the day,

I think I watched pretty much the first couple

seasons because I think that's what they reran

a lot because I think those were their better

seasons. Yeah, I think you have made a very good

point there, actually, because I do remember

seeing them originally. But I think once it went

into reruns, they basically only show the first

two, two and a half seasons in reruns. I really

don't think they showed much of these episodes

because I had a very foggy memory when I finally

saw Jake and Kyle. Because when I was getting

ready for their court, I'm like, I don't remember

these two people. And then I started watching

the YouTube videos. And even when they were introduced,

I'm like, I still don't remember them very much.

And I think it's almost to the same degree of

salute your shorts. They shouldn't have tried

replacing him because it's pretty much the same

dynamic. They have one really good character,

and then that character leaves for whatever reason,

and they're deciding, okay, well, we need to

fill this void. And they try and create pretty

much the same, if not... you know, somewhat similar

in likability and end up causing people to not

really care that much. Yeah, it was basically

the one. I mean, I'm not saying you could have

replaced any of the characters, but this for

sure was the one character you couldn't replace.

Like, Ted was, hey, dude. Like, that'd be like

taking Zack Morris off of Saved by the Bell.

He was saved by the bell. Yeah, he was saved

by the bell. I mean, I know all the cast members

were important. I know everybody liked Screech

and liked whatever, blah, blah, blah. But if

you take Zack out of there, that show flops.

It's just the bell. There's nothing. And what

they would have done is it would be like taking

Zack and then putting in another blonde kid to

act like Zack. And people just don't buy that.

And you couldn't do that with Ted. And these

two guys are absolutely... nowhere near as likable

as Ted was. And the final character that I wanted

to mention was a character by the name of Lucy.

I actually didn't get to watch any of the episodes

that she was in, but I still remember her from

when I was a kid. She's the other person besides

Danny that really knows her stuff about the ranch.

She's basically the adult ranch hand, and she's

also someone that a lot of the people go to as

far as advice, kind of almost like a mother figure.

Yeah, I think I remember her. Yeah, I remember

her without even seeing her. She was a blonde

lady that knew a lot about horses, knew a lot

about what you needed to do with the ranch, and

basically just gave a lot of good advice to the

kids when they got into trouble because you couldn't

really go to Mr. Ernst, the ranch owner, with

your problems because he was a bumbling idiot.

So she was definitely very necessary. Just kind

of looking at all the characters. I mean, we

kind of talked about how Ted was basically the

show, but besides him, was there any that you

kind of liked a little bit more than others,

or was there any that you just didn't care for?

Pretty much, I'd have to say that I liked Danny

Lightfoot. Yeah. That was one of the guys that

pretty much made the show for me, just because

it was always interesting listening to his knowledgeable

segments. Yeah, I agree with that. What did you

think about the two girls? Is there one that

you liked better than the other? I remember a

lot more with Brad, Taylor, character. I remember

more of her being present in a lot of the scenes

than I do... With Melody? Yes, Melody. But I

think it's just more so just because they kept

her busy and kept her more so doing something.

Yeah. And even though I think pretty much the

only one you see now is Melody. Right. Which

is kind of a role reversal there. Yeah, I mean,

a lot of times they did focus on the Brad Taylor

and Ted McGriff stories. As far as their flirting

with each other, Ted was always trying to get

with Brad. Brad was always shooting him down.

So they did a lot of focusing on those two. And

Danny and Melody kind of played almost... like

they're sidekicks at certain times, which, you

know, it's not to say that they weren't also

main characters, but a lot of times the stories

would kind of shift over to just focusing on

Ted and Brad, and, you know, Melody and Danny

would be left doing work in the background or,

you know, doing chores or something like that.

Yeah, they seem to take a back seat all the time

to Brad and Ted. Yeah. Do you have a least favorite

character before we move on? I'd have to say

Mr. Ernst. Yeah. Just because he's more of a

bumbling idiot, whereas Ugg, I think, was the

right amount of it for his type of character.

Yeah. As well as Belding. And then you've got

this guy, and he's just... There's not really

much there to him. No, there's not much there

to him, and there's definitely not much to like

about him. I mean, I think he does a good job

with how... I mean, I think he was doing it as

they wanted him to do it, obviously. And I think

that's what they were looking for was what he

was doing. But, yeah, he's just not very likable

for a kid standpoint because he's just like that

typical teacher that you have or something that's

an idiot that doesn't know what they're talking

about. Yeah, he's just that guy that you're like,

you're kidding, right? Yeah, and when you have

someone like Danny Lightfooter, it's like having

someone in the class that's smarter than the

teacher. And that never goes well. Well, then

you don't respect the guy that's supposed to

be in charge. Right. I think that's what his

problem is. I'd agree with you on that. He's

probably my least favorite character, too. All

right. I think that means that it is time for...

The good. The bad. The ugly. That's right. It

is time for the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Mostly, it's going to be good for me, actually,

with this one. One thing I really like is that,

to me... they're all very likable characters

as far as the kids go, which is something that,

to me, puts this show a little ahead of shows

like Adventures of Pete and Pete for me, puts

it even a little ahead of stuff like Clarissa

and Salute Your Shorts because in those I liked

a few of the characters, but in this one I like

all the campers, or all the employees, really.

I like Melody and Brad. I like Danny. I like

Ted. I don't like the ones that come in afterwards.

But as far as those main four characters, I think

they're really likable and really easy to relate

to, whether it was something you saw in yourself

or something that related you to friends that

you had. Whether you had the smart friend like

Danny, or whether you had the little conceited

friend a little bit like Brad, or a little bit

maybe ditzy -er friend like Melody, or just the

guy that always tried to act cool like Ted, or

whether you were one of those characters, I like

the main four characters in this a lot, so that's

one of the goods for me. Yeah, I definitely have

to agree with you on that, just based on the

fact that those original cast are what pretty

much, I'm pretty sure I remember all of them.

in some form or another. I may not have remembered

their names or exact details, but I do remember

when I watched it, those were the ones that I

watched. I think another good thing, this is

going to sound bad maybe, but Brad and Melody

were both kind of cute for back in the day. I

know Brad has a weird name and was kind of the

stuck -up slash... in a way, tomboy, and I know

Melody's kind of the ditzy person, but not just

based on, you know, not looking at their personality,

they're both easy on the eyes, and that's always

good when you're a pre -teen or teenage boy trying

to like a show. It's kind of like the whole Kelly

Kapowski on Saved by the Bell, where you have

someone that's cute to look at, and, you know,

you had your brunette in Brad, you had your blonde

in Melody, so you had something for everybody.

And obviously the girls probably thought Ted

was easy on the eyes, so, you know, not that

it's important for a show to have good -looking

people, but... It doesn't hurt. No, it does definitely

help as far as people watching it. Yeah. I love

all the practical jokes that they play. Some

of them are a little bit cheesy, but it's not

100 % cheesy practical jokes. Some of them are

practical jokes you can see yourself pulling.

Kind of like Salute Your Shorts in that way where

they just load it with a lot of gags as far as

jokes that the workers are playing on each other.

And to me, that's an always good to have in your

formula for a kid's show. It's not like stupid

fart. toilet humor jokes or whatever. It was

stuff that you could actually see you and your

friends doing at times. Unlike some of the things

that you'd see in Salute Your Shorts. Well, yeah,

Salute Your Shorts went a little bit cheesier

and toilet humor, where this one, it was stuff

like I could see if I was working on a dude ranch,

I would get bored at times with the work, and

I would pull some of these practical jokes, whether

it's, you know... pushing someone into a lake

or stuff with water balloons or just random stuff.

I mean, you're going to do that if you're at

work with a bunch of other teenagers for an entire

summer. But they also did a good job, in my opinion,

of blending this comedy with actual serious moments

in the show. It's not 100 % comedy. They deal

with serious issues. I remember one of the episodes

I saw dealt with a ranch that was next door,

or not necessarily next door, but... neighbors

with this ranch that ran a thing for kids with

uh cerebral palsy and they show brad going there

and kind of connecting with one of the kids that

has no use of his legs and kind of teaching him

how to ride a horse and kind of have that so

they dealt with serious issues like that they

deal with a serious issue with ted as far as

why he leaves the show at one point he originally

leaves the show because he flunked in school

I guess for that spring or whatever so he gets

his a note from home or a letter from home that

says he has to attend summer school so he basically

leaves the show because he has to go back and

take summer school classes but then apparently

he is failing the class so he runs away from

home and comes back to the ranch and basically

runs away from home his parents don't know where

he's at and He has to kind of face the facts

of actually coming clean and telling the other

kids why he's there and kind of coming to terms

with the fact that he can't just run away from

home. So, I mean, it does deal with some actual

real issues that kids could, you know, relate

to in a serious manner, not just 100 % comedy.

And, you know, I think that's a good thing when

you can mix those two and have a little of both.

I mean, obviously, you bring in the comedy bit

so it doesn't become so serious that, you know,

it's almost too serious for the kids. But you

still have serious moments, so it's not just

100 % comedy. Well, and see, and I think that's

what a lot of shows nowadays miss, is that they

don't have that nice balance of comedy, drama,

and some kind of a lesson that they're teaching

you. Right. Whereas now everything is pretty

much pointless. bathroom humor, just randomness.

There's no point to anything. It's basically

turning everybody's mind to mush compared to

what you actually used to watch, which is probably

why our shows are so much more memorable than

what any of these newer shows are going to ever

be for people of the newer generation. Right.

And every show, basically, I mean, I know a lot

of it was mandated and required, but thank goodness

it was. But every show back then seemed to have

some type of thing it was trying to teach. whoever

was watching it. You know, there was, whether

it was cartoons that just inserted a PSA at the

end or whether it was these live action shows

that actually tried to deal with the issues.

This isn't just some Disney channel or current

day Nick thing where it's just kids, you know,

having no consequences for what they're doing

and they're singing and they're being, you know,

toilet humor or whatever that you get today.

I mean, these were actually trying to teach you

about stuff that might come up in your life.

Even if it was in the end a comedy and, not necessarily

taking itself super serious, it still inserted

an attempt to try to deal with some of the issues

kids were going through. The couple things that

I would have for the bad, as far as the good,

the bad, and the ugly, obviously I said before,

Jake and Kyle are horrible Ted replacements,

so that was a big fail, and that's kind of why,

in my opinion, the show kind of took a downward

turn for a little bit until they bring Ted back.

And like I said, I don't know if that was the

people behind the show's choice to make him leave.

and bring him back, or if that was the actor's

choice or what the dynamic was there. But I am

glad that eventually he comes back. The only

problem with when he comes back then is you have

a lot of characters then that you're juggling.

Because not only do you have the original ones,

but now you have Ted, Kyle, and Jake. And a lot

of times I think they struggled with finding

stuff for all of them to do. Yeah, there's always...

They either run the risk of too few characters,

too many, or... I mean, there's got to be a happy

medium. If you're going to go on and create a

new cast, you need to just leave it be and have

the new cast. Right. Because usually bringing

somebody back after you've pretty much wrote

them out doesn't help anything whatsoever. Yeah,

and I didn't get to see the actual... Because

the one episode when he comes back after running

away, he only stays for a day, and then he gets

in a truck to go back home. And I didn't get

to see any type, I can't find the episode that

comes after that that explains then why he ends

up back at the ranch right after that for long

term. Because he does come back and stay for

the entire show then, the next season and a half.

But I'm not quite sure how they wrote that in

there besides... I don't know if he eventually

passed his English literature class that he was

trying to pass or why he was able to come back

then and spend the rest of the time, but I would

be interested to see what exactly happened there.

The other bad thing I have is, even though I

like Danny's character, he is probably the worst

out of the acting as far as the four main kids.

There is a reason for that, and that's because

the actor that was doing his role had never acted

before. But it just seemed at times that he was

a little off with his acting. Like I said, and

like you said, I like the character, but I could

see a little bit of difference between Danny

Lightfoot's acting and, let's say, Ted and Brad's

and Melody's. I don't know if you could pick

up on that at all. I did notice there was a little

bit of a hesitation in some of how he said things

or how he handled himself compared to everybody

else. It didn't distract me a lot, but I just

wanted to bring it up just in case anyone else

felt that way or notices it when they watch the

episodes. I did notice it. To me, it didn't take

away from the show because a lot of acting in

kids' shows is bad, and that's not the thing

that you watch it for. No. Any other thoughts

on just episodes you saw or different parts of

the show that you either liked or didn't like

or remembered or whatever? Not really. Okay.

Um, that does it then for the good, the bad and

the ugly. And now it is time for things that

make you go. Hmm. All right, here are some of

the things that you might not know about Hey

Dude. I just have two of them today, but I do

find both of them rather interesting. So the

number one thing that you might not know about

Hey Dude is Hey Dude was Nickelodeon's first

original live -action television series ever.

So that's kind of why I said this is one of the

things that started it all. Obviously, they had

had shows before. And they had had shows that

they borrowed, you know, that they didn't come

up with themselves that they aired. But this

is their first original live -action television

series. So this is what laid the groundwork for

the episodes that you've already heard of the

telecast, like Salute Your Shorts, Clarissa Explains

It All, Adventures of Pete and Pete, and some

of the other ones that we're not covering. So

I think that's, you know, me being a history

buff, I always like those type of historical

the second thing you might not know about Hey

Dude is that the Barnum Ranch. kind of still

exists. It is set on a location in a kind of

just right off of the grounds of a real dude

ranch outside Tucson, Arizona. The real ranch

there where they did the shooting was called

Tank Verde Guest Ranch. I hope I'm saying that

right. And it's a popular dude ranch that hosts

thousands and thousands of guests every year.

And filming of Hey Dude occurred away from the

heavy trafficked areas of the real ranch, kind

of in a secluded area. So they built up this

bar none ranch off of an actual real ranch. And

so that they could do the filming there without

disturbing the actual guests. But why I have

this in the interesting part here is because

after the TV show wrapped, they left the set

standing. And it basically became a... Ghost

Ranch, I guess if you want to call it. It's on

private property. It's in a secluded area, and

it's basically been standing there for two decades.

Now, it's not in very good shape because over

the last 20 years, weather has taken its toll.

They don't take care of it, so there's been some

neglect and whatnot in the condition. But you

can actually, if you go visit this ranch, you

can take a 20 -minute hike and actually visit

the set of Hey Dude that still stands two decades

later. To me, that's just incredible that it's

still standing, part of it. That's awesome, though.

Yeah, and for those of you that find that interesting,

I'm going to put a link in the episode page on

the telecast page at Geekcast Radio Network,

geekcastradio .com, that'll take you to a page

that'll show you the exact picture of certain

sites during the actual filming of Hey Dude and

how it looks now. And I think you'll be surprised

at some of these pictures. It almost makes me

want to go visit this ranch, and I would if it

didn't cost $100 a night per person to stay there.

Oh, I agree. I don't have that type of money,

but it's almost, I was talking to you a little

bit about it off air, it's almost a little bit

creepy seeing those pictures. Yeah, just because

it's, I don't know, you can see it in its prime

on the one side, and then on the other side it's...

Like a dilapidated mess. Yeah, some of it looks

like a mess, and other of it looks halfway decent.

Yeah. It would just be super cool to have a camera,

though, and be going through there and taking

your own pictures and just being like, man, this

place that I watched on a show so many years

ago is actually still standing. Because how often

do you get a situation where the set of a show

is still standing 20 years later? Few and far

between. You don't normally see any of them keep

their original set around very long. Right. I

mean, because number one, they're either reusing

wherever it is for something else. I mean, it

has to be under the right conditions where like

this one, you have it on a private secluded place

that nobody can touch and it just sits there.

So, I mean, I know certain parts of it are gone,

like the girl's bunkhouse is no longer standing

because it was collapsed or they tore it down

or whatever. But certain parts are still there.

And like I said, if you're interested, visit

the website and I'll put the link in there for

you to go look at it. What time is it now? It's

time for a little quick look at what some of

these actors are doing now. This won't take very

long because, hey, dude, for some reason, most

of the actors, this is their only acting role.

They don't do anything before and they don't

do anything after. But there are a few that we

do need to mention. Obviously, Melody is Christine

Taylor. And for those of you who don't know Christine

Taylor, she's a 38 -year -old woman now. She's

married to Ben Stiller. Hopefully you've heard

of him. They have a couple of kids. You might

recognize her as Marsha Brady from the Brady

Bunch movie franchise. She played a role in Wedding

Singer, Dodgeball, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder,

License to Wed. And interesting enough for me

as a voice actor fan, her most current role is

as the voice of Cindy Bear in the new animated

movie Yogi Bear. I think that's coming out. That's

not coming out still this year, is it? That movie

is coming out this year. Oh, it is still coming

out this year. So I didn't realize it had her.

I knew it had Justin Timberlake and Dan Aykroyd.

I didn't realize Christine Taylor was the voice

of Cindy Bear. That's kind of cool. But yeah,

and this is something with Christine Taylor.

Every time I ever saw her in a movie, like I

remember when I first saw her in Wedding Singer.

Yep. The first thing that popped in my head was,

that's the girl from Hey Dude. I'm like, I knew

it immediately. I was like, I knew, I know her

from somewhere. I don't know how long it took

me to connect her to Hey Dude, but I was like,

man, I know her from somewhere. And then eventually

I was like, yeah, that's where I know her from.

But she's obviously fairly successful. And she's

basically the only one. Out of the cast, that

is fairly successful. Besides the guy that played

Ted. Yeah, besides our next one, which is David

Lasher. Ted, he was one year younger, actually,

than Christine Taylor. He's 37 now. He actually

got his break into show business doing a Burger

King commercial. I looked for it, and I couldn't

find it. But yeah, he apparently was in a Burger

King commercial right before he lands the part

for Hey Dude. After the show wrapped, you could

see him doing guest stars on Beverly Hills 90210,

The Mary -Kate and Ashley Olsen Show, Two of

a Kind, Blossom, Clueless, Sabrina the Teenage

Witch, so we have another Melissa Joan Hart connection

like we have with almost all of our shows. He

also appeared in a 1996 film, White Squall. I

don't know if you've seen that, but I kind of

actually like that movie. It's one that doesn't

get much attention, but he was actually in that

with Scott Wolfe, who played Bailey on Party

of Five. And I'm actually almost going to have

to rewatch that movie because I don't remember

him being in it. Yeah, I've actually never seen

that movie. It's interesting. It's basically

a bunch of young adult males that are, I think

they're on a ship that gets... trapped in some

type of storm, and just kind of dealing with

that. And his latest role is on a film that's

set to be released actually later next year called

The Last Best Place. So if you hear that coming

in previews sometime in 2011, you can look for

good old Ted making an appearance. I'm pretty

sure it's not a main role, but he's still doing

some acting. Kelly Brown, who played Brad, she

actually was a model. She appeared on the cover

of Young Miss in 17 magazines before she got

the role on Hey Dude. But basically, Sensei Dude,

she has gone away from the acting world. She

supposedly lives in upstate New York with her

family, so she's kind of out of the loop now.

I had mentioned before that Joe Torres, the guy

that played Danny Lightfoot, was new to acting.

This is his only acting role ever. And what they

did is when they were making this show, they

held an open casting call for local Tucson kids

to audition for the show. and I guess they had

way over 100 different boys from Tucson audition

for a role on the show, and he is the one out

of the over 100 people that actually got cast

for it. So I kind of think that's kind of neat.

That's kind of cool. Yeah, it's kind of cool

for him. I mean, obviously he didn't go on to

do any other acting, but he had his 15 minutes,

so that's cool. Yeah. And the only other person

I really want to bring up is David Brisbane,

who played Mr. Ernst. He acted in a number of

shows and movies since Hey Dude, including ER,

and he was on the movie Erin Brockovich, and

most recently Brothers and Sisters. The reason

I wanted to bring him up is because he's married

to Laura Innes, who was also a guest star on

Hey Dude. So they were both on the show back

in the day, and then they ended up getting married.

And you know her from her role on ER as one of

the doctors, and she's currently the main...

I don't know if you want to call her, like, alien

-type person on the show The Event that airs.

I think it's on Fox or something on Mondays.

But she's a pretty famous person, so I kind of

thought it was interesting that he was married

to her and that they both appeared on Hey Dude.

All the other people, basically, this is their

only acting appearance. Most of them don't do

anything before and don't do anything after.

And there's a reason for that, because some of

them weren't very good, like the Ted replacements.

Ew. All right, I think it's time for a quick

intermission, but trust me, you will want to

keep listening because during the break, besides

hearing our regular commercials, you are going

to get to hear a special clip from the episode

entitled Date Night, which is where Ted makes

his exit from the show originally. So you'll

want to be listening to hear that, so don't touch

that dial. After these messages, we'll be right

back. This Memorial Day, start your summer off

right. Join both of us for the all -day Hey Dude

-a -thon on Nickelodeon. It's 16 excellent Hey

Dudes back -to -back featuring my best practical

jokes. No, it's the best moments on the bar none.

Like we had left in all the really important

events. Oh, it's pranks. It's romance. Outrageous

scams. Total disasters. What are you talking

about? It's the Memorial Day Hey Dude -a -thon.

Tomorrow starting at 12, 11 Central. On Nickelodeon.

Brought to you by Cap 'n Crunch. And Wyler's

Drink Mix. Hey everybody, it's Optimus Solo from

Geekcast Radio Network's new show, The Telecast,

with some important information on our theme

song contest. The rules for this contest are

pretty simple. In Season 1 of The Telecast, we

will be covering 33 classic kids shows from the

80s and 90s. Obviously, all of these shows had

theme songs, which sometimes can be the most

memorable part of a show. This contest is going

to test your memory on those theme songs. How

is that, you may ask? Well, because we have taken

32 of those classic theme songs and smashed them

into one. minute clip your job is to identify

the order in which these 32 shows appear in that

three minute clip also you must be able to identify

which one of the 33 shows was left out of the

clip Some of the shows should be fairly easy

for you to identify, while others may be a bit

trickier. For a list of all the shows in Season

1 and more information on the contest, visit

the telecast page at geekcastradio .com. Also,

remember to tune in to every episode of the telecast,

because each episode will contain that show's

theme song in its entirety at the beginning of

the show, as well as the three -minute contest

song towards the end of the show. This has been

Optimus Solo from the telecast, saying good luck

and happy listening. There's your stuff, Ted.

Bye -bye, happiness. Hello, summer school. I'm

such a fool. Guys, I can't believe this is happening.

It's such a drag. Hey, hey, it's not that bad.

It's only summer school. And it's not like it'll

be forever. Go home, pass a few courses. Before

you know it, you'll be back at the bar none.

Yeah, I just can't help but think that in a little

while, I'll just be another computer chip in

Mr. Ernst's file of former employees. I'm sure

gonna miss you. Me too. Yeah, it's not gonna

be the same without our good old Ted. I'll be

there in a second, Mr. Ernst. Okay, Ted. Come

on. Well, guys, I hate long goodbyes. So goodbye.

See ya. Bye. Ted. I, um, I just wanted to...

I'm gonna miss you. Hurry back, okay? All right,

thanks for staying with us, everyone. You may

be wondering how you can watch this show now,

whether it's something that you remember from

your childhood or you just want to give it a

shot because you've never seen it. Unfortunately,

you are only going to have a few options. It

seems to be a trend with the Nickelodeon shows.

This one is absolutely not available on DVD in

any way, shape, or form, so my apologies for

that. But... I did not know about the whole iTunes

thing before I started doing the telecast. I

didn't realize how many shows were available

on iTunes. But the first and the second season

of Hey Dude are available for download from the

iTunes store. I don't know the price. I'm assuming

since it's about 13 episodes that you're going

to be paying somewhere between $6 and $15 for

each one of these, just based on the fact that

the other ones that we brought up with, I think,

Salute Your Shorts or whatever, were about $7

or $8 per season. So I'm guessing it's about

the same price, but you can watch the first two

seasons on iTunes if you're the type of person

that likes to download stuff from iTunes. Otherwise,

your only option is YouTube. And so far, Adventures

of Pete and Pete is the only show we've covered

that has excellent YouTube feeds. This one's

kind of hit or miss. You usually end up with

some weird, like, somebody redoing, like, songs

and saying, hey, dude, and then you get the theme.

And that's pretty much all you'll see. Yeah.

I did find one user. If you're interested in

watching this on YouTube, you want to search

out for the user. His name is HeyDudeTV. So that's

pretty easy. Just all one word, all lowercase,

HeyDudeTV. He has 26 entire episodes. So unlike

some of the other shows we did, you're not going

to be missing one part or the other. He has all

three parts of 26 episodes. So he has 77 HeyDude

videos on there. mostly Season 2 and Season 5

episodes. There are a very few limited number

of Season 3 and Season 4 episodes. There's nothing

from Season 1, but there are 26 episodes. Now,

all of these, unfortunately, have the intro song

cut out of them, so you can't hear the intro

song, but you can easily find that in other ways,

plus it's in our episode, so you can just record

it from our episode, I guess, if you really wanted

to. The only drawback is that all of his 26 episodes

are only in a 240 resolution. So it's not really

crystal clear. It looks like it was copied off

of a VHS tape, basically, which it probably was.

That stinks. Yeah. But it is watchable. It's

not like so bad quality that you can't watch

it. It's just not, you know, nothing like HD

or anything like that. But I do like that there

are all three parts included and that there are

26 episodes. Unfortunately, he was missing a

few of the episodes that I kind of wanted to

watch. But he does have like the episode where

Ted makes his exit. He does have the episode

where Ted makes his return. What I kind of wanted

was the very first episode and the very last

episode, and he has neither of those. Or she,

I guess. I'm just assuming it's a he. I don't

know why. But basically your only options for

Hey Dude is to either watch it on iTunes, download

it, and have to pay a little bit of money, or

to watch kind of subpar quality on YouTube. I

don't know why none of these Nickelodeon shows

can make it out on DVD. It must be some kind

of a contract thing with Nickelodeon. Yeah, some

type of deal they had maybe in the early days

is preventing them from doing a lot of these.

I mean, I know this one maybe necessarily wasn't

as super popular, but it did last for 65 episodes,

so it was popular enough at the time. I mean,

I know it doesn't have the fame like Clarissa

Explains It All has, but it would be cool to

have a few of these Nickelodeon shows on DVD.

I'm going to pull a line out of Mike's book.

I'm scared. Nickelodeon. Put these on DVD, damn

it. What's wrong with you? It's a cash cow. Wait,

I'm going to pull one. I'm going to pull a mic

line, too. Yes, yes, very much so. Anyway, I'm

just kidding. We're just kidding with you, Mike.

But, yeah, so like I said, iTunes or YouTube,

that's your only option. So as far as the IGN

replacement crew, one, two, three, or four, what

would you give Hey Dude? I can honestly say I

would probably seek out more episodes, so I'd

probably give it a three. Yeah. I was 100 % ready

for this to be my first four. As far as the telecast

episodes we've done so far, I haven't given out

a four, and I was really wanting to give a four

out on this. But now I'm kind of teeter -tottering

just because of the episodes I saw that were

from season four and season five. So, I mean,

if it was available on DVD, I would pick up the

first two seasons without a doubt, unless they

were, like, ungodly priced. I'd have to agree.

Yeah, like, if you could pick up season one and

season two, and let's say each one of them was

somewhere between, like, $10 and $25 or something

like that, like, I would probably do it. Actually,

I would most definitely do it, but I probably

would not buy seasons four or seasons five on

DVD. Unless the completest collectionist person

in me came out and said you have to have all

of them. So like I've done a few times before,

I'll give this one a super strong 3. I will give

this one a higher rating than any of the shows

we've covered so far because it's definitely

my favorite out of the group. I like this better

than Salud Your Shorts. I like this better than

any of the Nickelodeon shows we've covered so

far. And since this is kind of the last of the

five Nickelodeon shows we're covering in this

little segment, What are your thoughts on the

five shows we've covered so far? Which ones are

your favorite? We've covered Salute Your Shorts,

Clarissa Explains It All, Adventures of Pete

and Pete, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and Hey

Dude. As for those five, I would have to say

that the Adventures of Pete and Pete I remember

the least. In fact, I don't even think I really

watched that show at all. You didn't miss much.

I don't even think anything piqued my interest

on that. Yeah. As far as the highest ratings,

I would have to say that this and... I mean,

I watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? I'd give

that kind of a middle ground for me, just because

it wasn't huge into horror -type themes. I did

watch a lot of Clarissa. I did watch a lot of

Salute Your Shorts, and I watched this whenever

I could catch it on. So, I mean, between the

three, I'd have to say this was probably the

best written show. As far as, like, just interactions

and just the theme, it was something completely

different because even now you don't see anything

that's really Western -based. Yeah, it was definitely

very unique. And I agree with you a lot. Like,

it's an easy one for me as far as Adventures

of Pete and Pete is definitely at the bottom

for me. I didn't like that show when I watched

it as a kid. That's why I didn't watch very much

of it when I was a kid. I basically saw a couple

episodes and decided that that wasn't my show.

Clarissa, I really liked, but for me, that was

a little bit more of my sister's favorite show,

so I didn't really have that ownership because

since she liked it so much, I kind of just watched

it with her. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't like

this one where this one I sought out, hey, dude,

I knew when it was on when I was a kid, at least

at the beginning when those first couple seasons

were going. I knew when it was on, and I sought

it out, and I watched it, and it was like my

show. I loved it. And Salute Your Shorts I also

loved. I put this one just a notch above Salute

Your Shorts. I definitely agree. Yeah, but you

can't really lose with most of these shows. I

mean, I've talked bad about Pete and Pete, but

the rest of them were all pretty good, and they

all hold up fairly decently well. And I think

Nickelodeon was just very good to watch during

this time period. And they did continue on for

a few years after, but that's when it started

making a slow and steady decline. Yeah, it went

a little bit different route, and we'll probably

get into that at some point in the future when

we cover it. I mean, we will cover some other

Nickelodeon shows, but these are kind of the

main Nickelodeon live -action kids shows that

we're going to cover. The other ones will be

a little bit different theme, and you'll have

to wait and see or go check out the telecast

page to see what episodes I'm talking about in

the future. Any other last words for you as far

as either this first five shows or Hey Dude or

anything like that? Definitely I have to say

that Nickelodeon Black is something that if you,

aren't familiar with it you should get familiar

with it at least mostly to reminisce or to go

back and just kind of see what you may have missed

as a kid or if you watched it as a kid I would

say that at least give it another shot just to

watch it and see if you'd be interested if they

were to come out on DVD yeah I mean if you're

a fan of like well first of all it has some unique

stuff I mean you have like one of your only out

West, like dude ranch type shows. And Hey dude,

you have one of your only horror type kids shows

in, are you afraid of the dark? You know, Clarissa

basically paved the way for all of the female,

you know, main character shows that came out

from Disney and Nickelodeon after it. And anybody

that likes shows like saved by the bell, I mean,

salute your shorts and Hey dude are very much

like that. So you'll probably like those too.

And in some way. So, I mean, it has a little

bit, I mean, in this little block that we've

covered, there's a little bit of everything as

far as, you know, your horror, your out west,

your female lead character, your just group prankster

type stuff. So I think you should at least give

each one of the shows one watch. And I have a

feeling a couple of them you'll probably watch

a few more episodes than you plan on. Other than

that, I think that does it for this first set

of five Nickelodeon episodes. I'd like to thank

Steve for coming back and to round off these

first five episodes of the show. Don't worry.

Obviously, he will be on more shows in the future.

In fact, he'll be on our very next episode, so

stay tuned for that. I'd also like to thank you

all for joining us here on the telecast. If you

want to leave us feedback on the show, there

are three main ways to do this. First, you can

visit the website, www .geekcastradio .com, where

you can comment on all of our different podcasts.

You can also be a part of the ranting that usually

goes on there between myself and Mike. Second,

you can rate our show and leave us feedback in

iTunes. We actually have just received our very

first two American iTunes reviews. I'm not sure

about the Canadian reviews because I can't see

them. But we've received our first two American

ones. So let me take a quick second and give

a shout -out to those folks. The first one was

posted on December 9th by Michelle Clark. and

she labeled her review a fun trip in the Wayback

Machine, gave us five stars, and said a great

way to remember the great shows of our youth,

smiley face, and then too cool. So thank you,

Michelle. And our second review is titled Old

School Nick, and it's by Peapot Master. It gave

us four stars. It was posted on December 11th.

I'll read this one real quick. It's a little

bit longer. It's a great podcast to look back

at the old shows I used to watch when I was a

kid, watch Nickelodeon back in the day when it

was good. Telecast is a great way to learn about

the facts of the shows of our youth. And let's

see. I like the podcast not because of the memories

but the sound bites of the old commercial and

the bumpers that they play. Also in the Are You

Afraid of the Dark episode about Tara's fear

of the clown in the show, she should have seen

Killer Clowns from Outer Space. That movie scared

me in the late 80s. And he finishes it by saying,

I love this podcast, so keep up the good work.

So thank you, Peapot Master. That's a weird name

for me to say. So, you know, two good reviews,

and we're looking forward to more. Or if you

have something that you want us to improve on,

please tell us about it there, too. The third

way you can leave us feedback is to call our

voicemail line. The number is 502 -526 -5821.

Remember to tell us the show you're leaving the

message for and give us some type of name to

call you. And like I've always been saying, you

don't have to necessarily give us a voicemail

for the next show. You can look into the future

and give us voicemails on any show you would

like. And if you want to queue up to date with

all things Geekcast related, the best way to

do that is to become a fan of us on Facebook

by going to facebook .com slash geekcastradionetwork.

While you're there, also become a fan of BehindTheVoiceActors

.com, and you can see all kinds of new stuff

like the up -to -date G .I. Joe voice compares,

including some of the voices from G .I. Joe Renegades,

as well as Transformers Prime voice compares.

So go there, do that, become a fan of us. Lastly,

don't... Yeah, do it. Don't forget about the

theme song contest and our listeners choice episode

voting. There are detailed posts for both of

these items over at geekcastradio .com under

the telecast tab at the top of the page. And,

you know, you need to get your entry in for the

theme song contest. You could win a prize. And

we also want people to vote for which other show

you want us to cover in this season so we don't

have to cover Nick Arcade or Video Power or whatever

Mike wants me to cover. So that does it for now.

We hope we succeeded in entertaining you, informing

you. and most importantly, unleashing the geek

in you on this episode of the Telecast. And we

hope that you will tune in for our next episode

when we introduce a new theme with Bill Nye the

Science Guy. Bill Nye the Science Guy. Sorry,

I had to do that. For now, I am your host, Optimus

Solo, with... Steve Megatron Phillips. And we

will see you in ten days for another episode

of the Telecast. Discover this.