WAIT... Remember The Replacements?

The Replacements always had my attention based on the concept alone, so it was pretty exciting to dive back into a show I haven't seen in such a long time. So today let's take a look at The Replacements, see what it was, what happened to it, my opinions on the show and more!

Character Art By Jerry Meehan

[JordanFringe]

Thanks so much for watching! Were you a fan of The Replacements?

[lj]

I used to watch this show a lot when it aired. You don’t see too many cartoons for kids about adopted families, I love it!

[UltraPoseidon]

I always got the impression that Dick and K had been married before the show started and replaced whatever caregiver Todd and Riley were in the custody of. That was at least how I rationalized it when I was 11.

[trinaq]

This show was my jam back in the day! The expository theme tune was as catchy as heck, and I loved how consistent it could be. For example, after Todd insists that "George Stapler" was a president, the school stays as "George Stapler" for the rest of the series!

[Hakajin]

I liked this show; it had some interesting points of view. For example, the episode where Riley replaces a teen idol with someone more average in the hopes that people will stop caring about trends. The replacement turns out to be... herself. And everyone imitates her, which she doesn't want. In the end, though, she realizes that imitating someone else is a valid form of self-expression. I came into the episode with that point of view already (I was already like 18 when it was airing), but I was surprised it went there.

[colorguardsweetheart]

As someone who was adopted (I'm a "love child" (thats a child friendly version of the term) and my bio dad stayed with his pregnant wife, bio mom had a bad family home and already had one kid and saw how bad of a setting it was for them). This show as kid was amazing!!! It resonated with me.
I was the general age of the main characters/sibblings and it was the first time I recalled seeing the "found family" where in a way The Replacements adopted the kids. How the parents seemed to generally want kids and treated them as their own. Having this same experience with my parents the only ones I consider as my parents, it made this show memorable for me.

[Seloliva]

I was a big fan of the show, I belive the designs and the artstyle are just so inviting most of the time, and very unique in some characters. Also I allways thought that the parents were toghether before they became replacements but that might not be canon.

[wattsisnaim]

One thing I like to note that this show did, was that they had the classic "brain swap" trope in one episode, but they did it better than 99.9% of the other times I've seen it. K and Dick swap minds, BUT they don't fall into the cliche of Dick speak with K's voice and vice versa. Instead, the voice actors tried to imitate each other's voice! So you had Kath Soucie doing her version of Dick (including a bad impression of K) and Daran Norris doing K's accent. A very much appreciated performance.

[princeapoopoo]

Learning that the author is a writer of children's books makes a lot of sense. I've found the show to have a good premise, but run the risk of having plot holes and contrivances as well as the risk of overstaying its welcome. Both of which are narrative downfalls I don't really see as much in children's books. That being said, it definitely could have been a whole lot worse, and the fact that the Replacements still managed to be pretty good exceeded my expectations.

[BlythePennyBicycle]

A few things of note:

1. That connection you made to The Fairly Odd Parents is not surprising since the show's executive producer is Jack Thomas, who was the associate story editor for that series from seasons 2-5. Many voice actors from that show (mainly Grey DeLisle Griffin, Daran Norris, and Tara Strong) were also in this show.

2. I'm surprised you didn't mention how season 2 switched up the episode runtime. Season 1 was mostly episodes with 2 11 segments episodes with a few specials. Season 2 basically reversed this and had many episodes be 22 minutes with only a few 11 minute episodes sprinkled in.

3. Scott Peterson, the story editor for this series, would later be story editor for seasons 2-4 of Phineas And Ferb, story editor for Milo Murphy's Law, and showrunner for The Last Kids On Earth.

[BrennySpain]

The ending of this show was so unbelievable! The guy Todd and Riley spoke on the phone was their real uncle the whole time! Wasn’t expecting that at all!

[ajwillis]

This series has unlocked so many hidden gems I forgot about lol. If he hasn't he should do 6teen that show was 🔥

[TheCommenterDragon]

Sadly for me, The Replacements is one of those Disney cartoons that i only have a few memories of but i still remember how good of a show it was!!!

[robmitch]

"What's their relationship." That I can tell you. They covered it in one episode simi vaguely. In short they was married before meeting the kids and both of them wanted to have kids but do to reasons not said they could not. (it was simi-implied she is barran giving the spy stuff and radiation but.) And the kids wanted parents. So he went "Hey prefect everybody wins."

[ironinquisitor]

This show was so underrated. There weren't that many cartoons in the late 2000s I was interested in. This was one of the few I was during that time.

[SteamTeamRedubUK]

The Replacements, one of those shows I never gave a fair chance to when it first came out. Now I’ve given it the time it deserves and yeah, it’s a pretty good watch.

[Heylon]

I haven't seen the final episode on tv when I was a kid, so I am very glad to hear that the story has come to a natural conclusion, and a good and heartwarming one at that.

[BFSC]

One thing that I liked about the show, and I wish had been mentioned is the fact that some of the people that were replacements, stayed.

Such as the hair stylist; he continually stayed in the show and could be seen in the background interacting with others of the town. So there was some continuity that followed with the show as some people were permanent replacements.That always stuck with me about this cartoon.

[toric]

I remember this show! In one episode they went to a international arcade and got “country sized” cotton candy. The kids got countries like Russia and Canada. I’ll always vividly remember the dad saying “Ah, I got the Principality of Monoco!!!”

[jameshewitt]

8:20 Hold up. I just realized something. Can we take a moment to appreciate just how much of a GENIUS Conrad is here? He set up the Replacements to help his niece and nephew while teaching them life lessons. MEANING this man had made sure to send them SPECIFIC Replacements so that events would play out the way they do each episode to teach those lessons! Talk about a mastermind here!!