Weinerville - Partially Lost Episodes (1993-1996 Nickelodeon Series)

Title card.

Weinerville is a variety series/puppet show that originally aired on Nickelodeon from July 11, 1993 to February 17, 1996. It was filmed at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, FL and was created by Marc Weiner. 

Despite recieving numerous award nominations, drawing the attention of Entertainment Tonight and Good Morning America, and receiving acclaim from multiple news sources, the series ended after just 2 seasons. Due to the decrease in popularity and copyright issues with the cartoons that were featured, Nickelodeon has only aired 4 episodes after 1997, making episodes very hard to come by.

Overview

The series is based around the fictional town Weinerville. There are many recurring characters, including Dottie, Zip, Boney, Socko, Louie, Pops and many others. It was hosted and the majority of the characters were performed by Marc Weiner [with the excepton of Zip and Louie, who were voiced by writer Scott Fellows, and Pops, who was voiced by head writer Ray Abruzzo].

"Playland" during Season 1.

The show is notable for it's unique style of puppetry, where you would would place your head into a hole above a miniature puppet body. There was also a Double Dare styled segment called "Playland" where audience members would be Weinerized (Become puppets) and compete in games. The losing contestant would get the Silver Hot Dog and the winner would be given the Golden Hot Dog, as well as get slimed.

Much of the episodes' running time was taken up by classic cartoons such as Mr. Magoo, Popeye the Sailor, Betty Boop, and The Alvin Show. Marc Weiner said in an interview that had there been a Season 3, there would have been no cartoons.

The show is also known for having many running gags and sketches. The number 1350 was used many times, but it was most commonly used as the price for every item in "The Weinerville General Store". Another sketch/character is Captain Bob, a sea captain who constantly makes jokes. He first appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1981. There is also a sketch called "That's Not Fair!", where a child and an adult would try to win points by answering questions. This was pitched to Comedy Central on it's own in 1991, but after testing, they said it was good for kids and it was greenlit by Nickelodeon as Weinerville instead.

Lost Episode Guide

Of Weinerville's 62 episode run, 33 episodes have yet to be unearthed. 

Still of Weinerville's set.

  

1x02 - Toothy Hurty

1x09 - Weight Loss

1x27 - Show #27

1x28 - Show #28

1x29 - Show #29

2x01 - Ratville

2x02 - Dottie's Replacement

2x03 - Weinerville for Sale

2x04 - Eric Von Firstenseconds' Spell

2x05 - 60 Seconds news

2x06 - Fire Safety

2x07 - Magic Lamp

2x08 - The Puppet's Court

2x09 - Broken Weinerizer

2x10 - Network Censors

2x12 - Louie's Crush

2x13 - S.G. Dottie's Cousin

2x14 - Brain Switch

2x16 - Boney's Spell

2x17 - The Time-Slot War

2x18 - Dottie's High School Reunion

2x20 - Weinervilla

2x22 - Marc's Arians

2x23 - Variety Show or Sitcom

2x25 - Socko Framed

2x26 - Royal Dottie

2x27 - Zip Runs Away

2x28 - Dottie's Dating Game

2x29 - Weinerville: The Movie

2x31 - Back to the Past from a Look into the Future

2x33 - XR-3 Space Shuttle Game

SPx01 - The Weinerville New Year's Eve Party

SPx04 - Election Special: From Washington B.C.

Availability

Weinerville, like many of Nickelodeon's early programs, has rarely aired since its creation. It last aired reruns in 1997, making episodes extremely scarce. For 3 years, it only aired on Sundays in 2 hour marathons and on weekdays during 3:00PM or 3:30PM. Near 1997, it only aired at 7:00AM until it vanished entirely.

"Election Special: From Washington B.C." Title Card

In 2008, 24 episodes appeared on a private torrent tracker and were eventually uploaded to YouTube alongside 2 other episodes (1x12 and 1x16). The Chanukah Special was originally uploaded to YouTube on 4/19/12 and Lost in the Big Apple appeared on YouTube on 5/8/12. The Election Special was available online for a short time, but it appears no one downloaded a copy as it hasn't been available since MegaUpload was taken down in 2011.

The '90s Are All That was supposed to air it in 2011, as it was seen in many promos. Unfortunately, they never got around to it, presumably due to copyright issues regarding the cartoons featured. 

On April 2, 2015, The '90s Are All That aired four season 2 episodes of the show for the first time in 18 years. The following episodes were aired (without the cartoon segments): 

2x11 - Louie Becomes a Citizen 

2x15 - Parallel Universe 

2x19 - Loca Cola 

2x32 - Pollution