O'Grady is a 2004-2006 American animated television series created by Tom Snyder, Carl W. Adams, and Holly Schlesinger for Nickelodeon's The N channel. The show was animated at Snyder's Soup2Nuts studio. It features the voices of H. Jon Benjamin, Melissa Bardin Galsky, Patrice O'Neal, and Holly Schlesinger playing a group of four teenagers living in the town of O'Grady. In each episode, the characters experience a different supernatural phenomenon while also facing ordinary high school challenges.
Plot
The series chronicles the lives of high school students Abby, Beth, Harold, Kevin, and other residents of O'Grady, a fictional town which is periodically plagued by "The Weirdness." The Weirdness affects its residents in strange ways such as projecting their private thoughts in bubbles over their heads, or producing clones of themselves every time they get angry.
Characters
Main characters
Kevin Harnisch is a slacker teenager, who never wants to do hard work, has a tendency to find a way to use the weirdness for his own gain in various ways. He is in a band with Harold and Iris, but the band never progressed past a few shows. He also has a crush on Abby, although he would never admit it.
Abby Wilde is a fashion orientated average teenager. She attempts to improve her life around her by trying to “help” Beth’s employer gain business by selling non-eco or vegan friendly items in a local health food store. Kevin and she have feelings between them, which have been shown in many episodes. Her main love interest is Pete Klesko, but she never manages to make him feel the same way. She and Pete do have a robo-baby together though.
Harold Oscar Jenkins works at Eets-A-Pizza, and is Kevin's best friend. He can be a little nerdy and often is uncomfortable with Kevin's various schemes. He is genuinely kind hearted and well spirited and gets along with Kevin because Kevin is well meaning and inspired with his antics.
Beth Briggs is a blue-haired environmentalist vegetarian, the classic concerned hippie with big ideas. She has good intentions as she is the opposite of Kevin, but she is also very naive. She's Abby's best friend.
Supporting characters
Phillip Demorio is one of their classmates, and is very smart, nerdy, and a total mama's boy. He is also wealthy, speaks very aristocratically, and is always wearing a tie.
Iris is a neurotic German exchange student and a devoted fan of techno music. She speaks with an accent, and is one of the show's breakout characters, her humorous statements make her very popular with fans. She is often quoted. She is also very obsessive with chocolate and enjoys licking spoons.
Pete Klesko is the most popular guy in school. He plays on the lacrosse team, and Abby has had a crush on him for a long time, despite him not being able to remember her name. He has a very dull personality but is still nice.
Donald Alan Lipschitz is a monotone-speaking substitute teacher. He says "Oh Lord" frequently whenever something bad happens. He also seems to suffer a reverse effect to every weirdness. He has to teach classes whenever the staff become victims to The Weirdness and is often teaching every class the main characters attend.
Dr. Myers is the school principal. He's shown as not very intelligent and has braces. He and Mr. Lipschitz have a somewhat unnatural friendship, with both being a little annoyed of the other.
The series received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for an Annie Award for "Best Writing in an Animated Television Production". Brian Zoromski of IGN claims it as "A wonderful half-hour of absurdity, O'Grady combines the comedy of the "weirdness" with realistic teenage banter, squabbles, and friendships."
Broadcast
The series aired on The N in the US, MTV in Latin America, Nickelodeon in the United Kingdom, Family Channel in Canada, and 2×2 in Russia. Home releases Although O'Grady has never been released on DVD, some episodes are available for purchase through iTunes. It was available on Amazon Video. In 2013, TeenNick aired reruns of the show. And in 2014, Nick released "Best of O'Grady" in iTunes.
