Hey Duuuuddde. Hey Dude was one of my favorite Nickelodeon shows in the early '90s. Melody, Brad, Ted, and Danny made rancher life look so cool. Their style was functional yet stylish — bandanas, plaid, polo shirts, denim — and I loved how Melody always wore cute jewelry and hair clips with her cowboy gear. Giddy up!
If you were one of the people who turned my Hey Dude recast into a lovefest for '90s Nickelodeon, here's a bit of good news: As of today, you can download episodes of the show on iTunes!
The show, along with Clarissa Explains It All, Rugrats, and Doug (the good one, not the weird ABC one where they changed Doug's voice), is now available as part of Nick Rewind on iTunes, which exists specifically to feed our craving for nostalgia. No, really: “We hear from literally thousands of teens and young parents who say they want to see the shows that defined their childhood," one Nickelodeon executive said in announcing the service.
There's some slightly more recent fare in there, too (The Amanda Show, The Wild Thornberrys), but I'm most excited to go download some Clarissa. What about you? Will you be grabbing any of these episodes? And what shows do you hope Nick Rewind adds next? (My vote: Salute Your Shorts, then The Adventures of Pete and Pete.)
Every other Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar t-shirt!
There were some really great suggestions for last week's challenge, the recast of the Nickelodeon '80s hit Hey Dude. I had a feeling this recast would get a lot of folks who were kids during that era of television feeling nostalgic, and I'm so excited most of you remembered the characters! I had a great time thinking about new cast members, too, but mostly I just couldn't get the theme song out of my head all week.
I really loved the ideas of of Rainn Wilson as Mr. Ernst and Greek's Spencer Grammer as Melody that azulskies suggested. The more I think about it, the more Spencer looks like a young Christine Taylor to me, and they already have similar careers — both getting their starts on TV as the nice girl.
I thought that the somewhat nerdy Buddy Ernst would be tough to cast, but ladyelephant's suggestion of Haley Joel Osment is creative and I think it would work well. A young Freddie Muniz would be fun too, as bratty3000 pointed out. And I'm glad we all agreed last week that David Lascher was such a crush-worthy Ted McGriff, but I see kendallina's point that Ben McKenzie would give David a run for his money.
Thank you to everyone for your great suggestions! There was one cast that was right on with the innocent Melody and the rich girl Brad, not to mention a totally hilarious suggestion for Mr. Ernst that I just couldn't resist. Congrats to khowell!
To see who khowell picked, along with a new cast photo, read more
Every other Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar t-shirt!
For this week's recast I wanted to tap into that Nickelodeon era of programming aimed at teens in the late '80s and early '90s which included shows like Salute Your Shorts, Clarissa Explains It All and my personal favorite: Hey Dude! This teen comedy about a dude ranch in Arizona opened with the lyrics, "It's a little wild and a little strange/ when you make your home out on the range." Hey Dude had that Saved by the Bell mix of cheeseball plot scenarios and recognizable teenage stereotypes. It was kinda dorky but I loved every minute of it. "Singin'. . . Yippee ki yi yay! Yippee ki yi what?"
Who do you think could play city slicker-turned-rancher Mr. Ernst and his adolescent son Buddy today? Who would you recast as the teenagers on Mr. Ernst's staff for the summer: Ted McGriff (originally played by the handsome David Lascher), rich girl Brad Taylor (I used to be so jealous of her hair!), and the girl-next-door ranch lifeguard, Melody Hanson (played by a young Chrstine Taylor, now-wife of Ben Stiller)? Finally, remember Danny Lightfoot (Joe Torres)?
Leave your entry in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature Tuesday, April 29, complete with a "new" cast photo.
To see a list of characters to recast and a photo of the BuzzSugar t-shirt, read more
