46 Fun Facts About Recess

Who created Recess?

Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, Rugrats alumni, created the show; its title cards credited them simply as 'Paul & Joe'.

On which network and block did Recess premiere in September 1997?

ABC's One Saturday Morning launched the show on September 13, 1997, the block's own first day; the block was renamed ABC Kids in 2002, and reruns later ran on Toon Disney.

How many half-hour episodes of Recess were made?

65 half-hour episodes, most split into two stories, aired from September 1997 to November 2001; the theatrical film Recess: School's Out came out in February 2001.

Since which year has Principal Prickly run Third Street School?

1968 is the year Recess: School's Out flashes back to: Phillium Benedict, then principal, was sacked for trying to abolish recess, and his friend Prickly took over Third Street.

What grade are T.J. and his five friends in?

Miss Grotke is their fourth-grade teacher; a sixth-grader rules the playground.

What is T.J.'s child-friendly substitute swear word?

Whomps is T.J.'s all-purpose complaint ('This whomps!'), while 'tender' is his word for something good.

How does T.J. always wear his red baseball cap?

Backwards is how T.J. wears his red cap, bill to the back, in nearly every scene; with his green jacket it is his signature look.

Which two actors voiced T.J. over the run of the show?

Ross Malinger and Andrew Lawrence shared the role: Malinger voiced T.J. in the early episodes, and Lawrence, whose brothers Joey and Matthew also act, took over for the rest of the run and the films.

What is Spinelli's real first name, which she keeps hidden?

Ashley is the name she hides in the episode 'First Name Ashley', because it ties her to the snobby clique of Ashleys she despises.

Which Louie actress and King of the Hill star voices Spinelli?

Pamela Adlon, who won an Emmy for voicing Bobby Hill on King of the Hill and co-starred in Louie, gives Spinelli her gravelly voice.

What do the initials in T.J. Detweiler's name stand for?

Theodore Jasper is what T.J. stands for; Theodore Jasper Detweiler is the gang's scheming leader and its most loyal friend.

Which member of the gang is the athlete with a rivalry against fifth-grade bully Lawson?

Vince LaSalle is the gang's star athlete, dominating basketball and kickball, and his older brother Chad turns out to be a secret geek.

Which Broadway singer provided Mikey's singing voice?

Robert Goulet, the Camelot star, sang for Mikey whenever the gentle giant burst into song; Jason Davis supplied his speaking voice.

Which member of the gang is the new kid from a military family?

Gus Griswald, an army brat who has moved constantly, arrived in the early segment 'The New Kid', in which the gang helps him shed that label.

What fearsome dodgeball nickname did Gus carry at his previous school?

El Diablo was the name that made Gus a dodgeball legend at his previous school; he had quit the game after hitting a smaller boy in the face, and the gang coaxes him back.

Which actress voices the brainy Gretchen Grundler?

Ashley Johnson, who later voiced Ellie in The Last of Us games, gives Gretchen her voice; she had been a child actress on Growing Pains.

Who rules the playground as its monarch?

King Bob, a sixth grader, rules from his throne atop the jungle gym, with enforcers to carry out his decrees.

What is Randall Weems' role on the playground?

The snitch is Randall's role: he spies on the playground and reports every misdeed to Miss Finster, whose favour he craves.

Who voices Miss Finster?

April Winchell, daughter of ventriloquist Paul Winchell, provides Miss Finster's gravelly bark; she also voiced Sylvia in Wander Over Yonder.

What is Miss Finster's first name?

Muriel is Miss Finster's first name; Principal Prickly uses it when the two speak as colleagues, and she is fiercely loyal to him.

Which veteran actor voices Principal Prickly?

Dabney Coleman, the 9 to 5 and Tootsie actor, voices Principal Prickly, whose gruff exterior hides a soft spot for the kids.

What is the first name of Miss Grotke, the gang's hippie-ish teacher?

Alordayne is Miss Grotke's first name; Allyce Beasley voices the gentle teacher, whose 1960s counterculture views clash with Finster and Prickly.

How many girls make up the Ashleys?

Four Ashleys — Armbruster, Boulet, Quinlan and Tomassian — form the snobby clique, whose shared-name gang echoes the film Heathers.

What is Swinger Girl's ultimate goal?

To swing over the top of the swing set is her obsession; she spends every recess pumping higher in pursuit of a full 360-degree loop.

What do the Diggers do all recess?

Dig holes dressed as miners is all Sam and Dave, the Diggers, ever do; their tunnels run under the whole playground, complete with pickaxes and helmets.

What does Theresa LaMaise throw to announce the playground king's arrival?

Corn chips are what Theresa LaMaise, a first grader, scatters from her bag to herald the king's approach; she later becomes Gus's friend.

What is the Hustler Kid's playground role?

Supplier of contraband goods is the Hustler Kid's trade: from inside his trench coat he sells anything a kid is not supposed to have, always for a price.

What is Menlo obsessed with?

Organization is Menlo's passion: the office aide to school secretary Miss Lemon files everything, and he and T.J. were close friends before their ways diverged.

Which leather-jacketed fifth grader with a white streak in his hair tells the kids scary cautionary tales?

T.J. almost always prompts him with the words 'What're you talking about, Butch?'

Which genre of film did the show's music and design deliberately evoke?

Prison escape movies shaped the show's look and score: the creators treated school as a prison and the playground as its yard, with The Great Escape a touchstone.

Which two Recess films went straight to video in 2003?

Taking the Fifth Grade and All Growed Down were both released on DVD on December 9, 2003; Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street had preceded them on video in 2001.

What is the villain's plan in Recess: School's Out?

To move the moon and end summer vacation is Phillium Benedict's scheme: shifting the moon's orbit would trigger a new ice age, and with no summer he expects test scores to rise.

Which actor voices villain Phillium Benedict?

James Woods, the Oscar-nominated star of Salvador and Ghosts of Mississippi, voices Phillium Benedict, Prickly's former friend turned recess-hating zealot.

Who voices T.J.'s teenage sister Becky in Recess: School's Out?

Melissa Joan Hart, television's Sabrina the Teenage Witch, voices T.J.'s teenage sister Becky in the film; Tara Strong took over the role in a later direct-to-video sequel.

How much did Recess: School's Out gross worldwide?

$44.5 million worldwide, about $36.7 million of it in North America, for the February 2001 release: strong business for a TV spin-off that reviewers received coolly.

What is the machine the villains test at Third Street School in School's Out?

A tractor beam is what Benedict's men test in the school at night; Gretchen deduces it is meant to shift the moon's orbit and bring on a new ice age.

Which other Disney show did the Recess kids cross over into for their final appearance?

One of the gang later resurfaced in an episode of Chibiverse.

In which film is Miss Finster revealed to have been the gang's kindergarten teacher?

Recess: All Growed Down flashes back to the gang's kindergarten year, when a gentler Miss Finster taught them; their mess-making antics turned her into the strict monitor they know.

Which studio produced Recess?

Walt Disney Television Animation produced the series for ABC, the network Disney had bought in 1996; overseas studios handled the animation itself.

What is Miss Finster's middle name?

Periwinkle is the middle name of the school's fearsome recess monitor, a dainty touch at odds with her gravelly bark and drill-sergeant manner.

Which Monty Python member voices Galileo, Gretchen's handheld computer?

Eric Idle voices Galileo, the calculator-sized gadget Gretchen guards fiercely and consults when planning the gang's schemes.

Who directed the 2001 theatrical film Recess: School's Out?

Chuck Sheetz, a director on the series, helmed the film from Jonathan Greenberg's screenplay; it premiered on February 10, 2001, six days before its US release.

In School's Out, which post had Benedict reached before the President fired him?

Secretary of Education was Benedict's post until the President sacked him for trying to abolish recess nationwide, repeating the scheme that had cost him Third Street's principalship decades earlier.

In School's Out, what does T.J. have thrown at the beam to destroy it?

A baseball thrown into the beam at T.J.'s urging wrecks it after Benedict smashes the controls, the only way left to halt the moon's shift.

Which Big Bang Theory actress voices the gluttonous bully Kristen 'Kurst the Worst'?

Mayim Bialik, Amy on The Big Bang Theory and earlier TV's Blossom, voices Kurst, the food-stealing fifth-grade bully who once bonded with Mikey over desserts.

On which network did reruns of Recess air until 2003, besides ABC?

UPN carried the show in Disney's One Too, the weekday block Disney programmed for that network from 1999 until 2003; reruns then moved to Disney Channel and Toon Disney.