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Newest Nicktoon “My Life as a Teenage Robot” Premieres Friday, August 1, 2003

via Nickelodeon press release:

METALLIC TEEN STUCK WITH “SAVING THE PLANET” HANKERS TO BE HUMAN IN ORIGINAL NEW NICKTOON SERIES MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT PREMIERING FRIDAY, AUGUST 1

Metal on the Outside, Teenager on the Inside, Super-Powered Jenny/XJ-9 Just Wants to Hang with High School Pals in Action-Adventure Comedy

Eartha Kitt Recurs as Villainous Vexus

Los Angeles, Calif. – June 24, 2003 – Girls just want to have fun, but protecting planet earth must come first to six-foot, super-powered robot XJ-9. Jenny (voiced by Janice Kawaye) – who’s metal on the outside and a sensitive teenager on the inside, in the original new Nicktoon action-adventure comedy series My Life as a Teenage Robot, premiering Friday, August 1 at 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT). Spun off from Nickelodeon’s hit Oh Yeah! Cartoons, the series was created by Rob Renzetti (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls) who serves as executive producer with Oh Yeah!’s creator Fred Seibert (The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone). Repeat airings Saturday, August 2 at 10:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 3 at 5:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

Displeased by her hard body, which features a limitless set of futuristic tools, Jenny prefers to mingle with non-metallic kids like her pals next door, easy-going, popular Brad (Chad Doreck) and his frenetic tag-along brother Tuck (Audrey Wasilewski). Fitting in at high school is sometimes a circuit-blowing experience to the wannabe cheerleader. Born to be a hero, though, as she saves the earth for the billionth time, she daydreams of boy bands, best friends and trips to the mall – all to the dismay of the human mom who invented her to rid the world of evil: mad scientist Mrs. Wakeman (Candi Milo), a woman of action who’s flummoxed by Jenny’s social life.

“My Life as a Teenage Robot gives kids lots of cool action and gadgets along with a surprisingly relatable hero who not only deals with teen angst, but who also saves the world every day,” says Cyma Zarghami, Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Nickelodeon.

Says Seibert, “Oh Yeah! Cartoons has proven to be a phenomenal talent pipeline. We’ve discovered many gifted creators whose animated shorts for that show have been spun off into hit series for Nickelodeon, and now, we’re excited again that Rob Renzetti’s My Life as a Teenage Robot can join the ranks of The Fairly OddParents and ChalkZone.”

Above all else Jenny strives to defeat her enemies with a minimum of harm, and villains in her life, like Vexus, (Eartha Kitt) consider it beneath their dignity to resort to violence, preferring to terrorize with the ingenuity of their evil. While laser battle may be appropriate for the Cluster, a secret society of robots bent on usurping mankind’s position on earth, Jenny eschews it against human criminals.

All the super-villain plots for world domination pale in comparison to the power wielded by the cruel Crust cousins Brittany (Moira Quirk) and Tiffany (Cree Summer), Jenny’s classmates who hold the ultimate clout in their hands: high school popularity. Jenny’s arrival on campus throws them for a loop. It staggers comic book geek/inventor Sheldon (Quinton Flynn), too, who’s
instantly weak-kneed and sets out to woo his dream girl with super-hero gadgets. In fact, donning a cybernetic suit, Sheldon wins Jenny’s heart by masquerading as a metallic man of mystery and crime-fighting hunk, The Silver Shell.

The series premiere featuring “It Came from Next Door” and “Pest Control” devotes equal time to Jenny’s personal life and to her professional calling as a superhero. In the former Brad and Tuck discover there’s something very special about the girl next door. She is the super-powered Global Robotic Response Unit model#XJ9 but she likes her friends to call her “Jenny”. In the beginning of the episode Jenny wants to make friends with the neighbor boys, but when Jenny ignores her superhero duties the whole world may suffer the consequences.

In the latter, while Jenny is in sleep mode, a ruthless band of mutant rats from Wakeman’s lab break into her body and take over all its functions. The robot awakens and tries to regain control but soon finds that her head is not screwed on tight enough. The leader of the rats pops his head into the now devoid space and the rebellious rodents have a powerful tool with which they can take their revenge on Wakeman. Jenny can only watch in horror as her body heads for the door.

My Life as a Teenage Robot is Frederator Studios’ first in-house production.

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