An Hour-Long RECESS Retrospective (feat. Quan and TheStoryteller) 

There's a lot of Hov in this video 👀

I dunno, being forced to hop schools all the time- and being unable to keep a consistent group of friends to be loyal to- seems like a pretty good reason for Gus to struggle with being loyal to me.

I think back to that ‘no body doesn’t like TJ’ episode a lot in my adult life, how he really had no explanation as to why he doesn’t like TJ, he just didn’t, TJ coming to acceptance that sometimes people just don’t like you and that’s okay really helped me not worry so much about people disliking me

Lol, this a reupload. Sorry, ya'll. They tried to violate ya boy.

29:13 I always thought that Gus was gutless because he was so used to friendships and schools being temporary. Moving all the time and not getting gratification from his Uber soldier dad meant he was always the most vulnerable to the temptations of playground politics. Also, as a kid in school your best friend turning on you then being friends again next week is a very relatable kid thing imo, annoying yes, but important in the storytelling of recess world. I did hate that 'cool' without glasses episode with a passion though lol 😂

My whole 31 years in life I never realized it was designed as a prison down to the wire fences. It flew right over my head.

That episode where Ashley stays at Ms. Finster's house taught me what Guam was. You three did an amazing job on this video. Bravo my friend.

Gus is an Army Brat and doesn't know who he is and tries to figure that out thru trial and error

that lilo and stitch crossover episode HAS ME SCREAMING WTF IS THAT

The Storyteller's rant about Gus was hilarious and accurate AF at the same time 🥴🤣 Bruh barely took in a breath throughout the his entire tangent lmao. But he made several solid points that I never really paid attention to until now. Gus was low-key a 💩 friend on numerous occasions and it was often unwarranted. And yes, I definitely had a Gus in my friend group in my younger years. Their switch up game is unparalleled.

Gonna be real honest, I started crying right at the moment you said Mikey's VA died. I only started watching episodes of the show cause I remember it on a VHS tape, but the show is still good, the jokes and moments still hit. Even with the small amount of episodes I've seen, I always liked Mikey cause he acts like a moral compass. He's still young but has bits of wisdom that I've never seen in a kid character before or since. And you really said the truth: Mikey was the heart of Recess.

The way The Storyteller is cooking Gus LMAOOOO

I mean. They could have played the Gus flaw as "he never got to live long term anywhere, so he didn't learn to stick together with friends". Friendship is something you learn to maintain. If he has difficulty being a good friend at first, but sees that these guys care for him and are not leaving not matter what, he later learns to care for them.

How are you going to bring up Vince and not show a clip of him perfectly _walking_ _on_ _heels_ ! He was 9 and had a _day_ to train Spinelli!

38:23 "prickley's brother is woke, i fear" yo that had me CRYING for a good 5 minutes 😭

In the Arabic dub TJ was named Tareq, Tarik (the name in Arabic means a very bright star or celestial body)

he didn’t give gus any room to breathe 😭 that rant came from his soul

TheStoryteller successfully convinced me that Gus is an asshole but IT MAKES SENSE that he would be because he never stuck around in the same place for long and probably never learned how to be a good friend.

Looking back on it Recess kind of feels like Community for kids.

Recess was the GOAT back in the day and still holds up to this day

Okay, let's do this one more time: Of all the nostalgia I've felt watching old Disney cartoons, Recess always hit different. I watched it every chance it came on. After school, mornings on ABC Kids, sick at home, and at my grandma's house RELIGIOUSLY. But it was the summers for me.☀️ Every summer when we were out for summer vacation, Toon Disney always came in clutch with a Recess marathon followed by Recess: School's Out. Good times... Beautiful video Tariq. And a TENDER collab as well. (BTW, that Gus rant was GLORIOUS.💖)

That one episode where Spinelli spends a weekend with Miss Finster is something that has stuck with me for years. As in, I can remember it, which I can't say for most of the other episodes. The atmosphere of that episode was nothing I've ever seen, and it also showed/proved to me how people are all different both outside and inside their homes. Edit: Ayy, it got mentioned

Im repeating my over 100 likes comment "Recess is one of the great American satire, poking fun on class issues and authority figures."

as someone who's never watch this show, that Gus rant was confusing yet so relatable at the same time.

Here I was waiting for the next Peanuts special video, but here you go surprising me with this early Christmas present!

Recess is one of those shows that even to this day I can throw on and enjoy. Just vibe and feel happy. When watching the movie and seeing Principal Prickly talk about summer, it actually hits hard. Being a kid, summer was the best and always so fun. I think back and miss the days where I could spend two months riding around the neighborhood with friends and doing so much. Today. I work every day and only have weekends to do stuff. Many of the friends I knew moved on and only a few are left that I can see. Life continues but the memories are always there. Thanks for doing this series man. This one is special.

I think part of the thing with Gus is that because he’s moved around so much he’s probably not used to the attention and he doesn’t have any long lasting relationships. So I kinda get the need/ want to be popular and have people like you, even if it means losing sight of the important stuff. His friends. Especially cause they’re kids. We’re all dumb as kids lol

Among the late 90s-early 2000s kid shows about kids just being kids, Recess, Arthur, Hey Arnold, and the Weekenders are the ones that stick out the most to me.

That Recess episode where the gang met cool old people as Mikey tried to sing to them is one of the best episodes of TV I ever saw a kid. Plus it’s fangtastic that you and the Storyteller have finally worked together.

Wow, Recess. I used it to cope while they were taking my Mom's dead body out from downstairs and the hospice people were disposing of meds and stuff. It's a wonderful cartoon, I used to watch it in college (I was not in college when it came out, but I was in college before streaming services were really a thing, so it was order DVDs from Amazon, download things (possibly not legally), or cable and the Disney channel would do cartoon marathons that I'd watch while procrastinating. It still holds up, to me anyway, as the fact I was watching it a few years ago on Disney+ while (the above mentioned worst thing that's happened to me) was being dealt with. Sorry, that went dark, but YAY RECESS! It and Philmore are my two fav Disney cartoon shows, and probably in my top ten of cartoon shows I love and will watch over and over (as opposed to ones I can't watch over and over like a bunch of the Nicktoons and some anime). Love the video, I need to catch up on your content!

I grew up watching King of the Hill and Recess and I can’t believe I didn’t notice before right now that Spinelli was Pamela Adlon. And I noticed it right before you guys mentioned it but I cannot stand that I just noticed this now at 32 when I’ve literally been watching both of those shows since I was a elementary school kid.

Now all we need is the one hour Lloyd in Space video

Dude that MONSTICKERS episode is such a staple in my nostalgic memory. Disney would rerun it all the time.

Damn, I forgot how far back Gus's hairline was. Almost to the nape of his neck :/

I think I was a Gus as a kid - a little wiener who was an easy target for bullies and had trouble making/keeping friends. Mostly lack of confidence making me mistrust anyone who was nice to me. I'm definitely more of a Mikey as an adult, though.

Spinelli staying at miss.finsters was literally hands down the best episode .

I was the perfect age when the Recess (School's Out) movie came out. I still remember how important it was to me. Every year when they re-ran it, it was something that would still take my jaded teenage back. Green tambourine Slaps

I never thought Gus was this bad until now, but holy shit; it doesn’t even sound scripted, this is raw anger.

One more time: I love how they made each of the characters smart and mature while still giving them flaws

This is gonna sound so stupid but TJ is one of the reasons why my son is called TJ (Tristan Jae) I wanted my son to be just like him, a fearless leader and a great guy all around. Recess was my childhood man great video.

The Episode where they get replaced as "helpers on the playground" by their evil counter part characters was fucking LIT! I always thought that they were just a friends because of the qualities they had which allowed them to help others but didn't think of their motives. It's not how good you are at something that makes you do it, it's if you like it or not, or if you just do it because it benefits you.

Hey Arnold and Recess both had a very kind core to them that probably influenced my sense of morality to a pretty great extent.

This video gave me all the feels!!! “Mikey was the heart of recess…”

Useless fact this show, according to 107 facts, was written primarily by former teachers. So there wasn't a lot of the "all adults are the bad guys" troupe that kid centered shows had at the time.

This is a masterpiece in youtube retrospective’s the editing, the style, the sense of individuality, you can really feel how personal this show is to you did such a thorough job looking back on it. great work man

sorry about having to reupload but i loved this episode, you and the storyteller my favorite on this site atm

So many episodes of recess are on RU-vid still. The common section used to be so amazing before it was removed 😭😭😭😭😭

Thanks for covering another 90s childhood classic Tariq. This cartoon hit the mark when I was in fourth grade just like the kids. This show amped up the sense of adventure during recess when you were a kid but as you grew older you find just how smart and witty it still is. Totally rewatch worthy!

Time to download this again, had the original downloaded but didn't get around to watching yet. My siblings and I loved this show

That last Amv gave me goosebumps NGL that scene with TJ waving behind Finster before she slams the door is iconic. It's amazing how attached you can become to characters in a story.

Random tidbit: April Winchell, voice of Miss Finster, daughter of Paul Winchell (AKA the OG Tigger and that racist cat in The Aristocats) had a now defunked blog called Regretsy which highlighted an incredible collection of bullshit for sale on etsy. Anyway, her other most noteworthy role is Disney's Clarabelle the cow.

Recess, the only show to make bicycles genuinely terrifying with their Halloween episode. Also, I can't be the only one that desperately wanted a Winger Dinger!

I constantly think of the episode where they're volunteering at the old folk's home. It's super well down IMHO

I laughed so hard at that zoom on Gus' face at "He ain't helping nobody!"

See I’ve almost never talked to other people about this show, and I thought I’d be alone on the Gus hate train. I felt bad as a kid, because one of the only reasons Lloyd from Lloyd in Space bugged me was because his voice reminded me of Gus…well plus his fit game was lacking. How’re you going to try and holler at the tentacle haired four armed blue girl with that Where’s Waldo ass shirt and shorts that go above your knees back then, man? Anyway happy to watch this again man, sweet work. That song at 12:38 is still the best thing I’ve heard all week, and I’ll never not be salty there isn’t more to it.

Genuinely curious what he was gonna say about Ms. Groetke. She was one of the most memorable characters from the show for me.

Storyteller goin in on Gus is exactly what I needed 🤣. Lowkey hated him

12:38-13:19 How is this song So Good but yet isn't released!? You Can't have this FIRE song and not release it!

The rant about Gus is one of my favorite things in the internet 😂😂 “Gus, you know Gus” lmaoo

Am I going to watch that Gus rant a second time? Yes, yes I will.

I always find it weird when people say rocket power is a bad show & how it hasn't aged well because out of it using outdated slang. It's a weird nitpick to me. Damn near every other 90s cartoon or early 2000s cartoons did it yet it's like the only show that gets criticized for it. Like that's the first thing someone who doesn't like rocket power would say.

After what happened with cosmodore, I apparently developed a phobia of German people talking about cartoons

You never miss man. Your features, the editing, the humor, the commentary or in this video especially the sentimental substance that oozes out of every word y’all say. I’m so glad I found your channel, I never wanna miss it ever again, truly

That conclusion tribute to Recess was goddamn perfect. You are the king of RU-vid.

The parallels between Spinelli and Louise Belcher are staggering. I loved this show, I went back and rewatched it in my 20's, and I started to notice it here and there. There's a lot of similarity in their personalities, sure, but they have similar episodes, similar character designs, similar parents... seriously, her mom looks so much like Linda, it's crazy. It's like they smoothed her out and gave her a color swap, no further upgrades required. The thing is, Susie Deitter and Loren Bouchard both directed Recess. In fact, I think Loren Bouchard also served as a show runner on Recess, but I might be wrong about that. Loren Bouchard is the creator of Bob's Burgers, and Susie Dietter did a ton of work on Bob's. It's pretty obvious they started mining Recess for plots when they started to get thin on ideas in the Bob's writing room. Also, Gretchen is dressed like the twins in The Shining, and that cracks me up.

Didn't comment the first time, will now. It's funny, when you showed that s1 to later season comparison of Vince's voice, for the latter I went "oop, *there's* Tucker" lol. Yes... that is my insightful commentary, Vince and Tucker Foley share a voice actor. You're welcome, anyone who didn't know.

A review so nice , RU-vid got it to upload twice .

I love the Hogan's heroes format. Teachers are Nazis and kids are prisoners. Right down to the theme song.

Randall must’ve been snitching to the RU-vid copyright police because I KNOW I just saw this video yesterday…

Recess: School’s Out is extremely underrated! I enjoy watching that movie on dvd every year during summer vacation.

Wow what a cool review that uses excerpts of the original work for criticism and teaching! I hope a greedy corporation doesn't interfere with this. That would suck!

TheStoryteller getting more exposure is always a good thing.

Damn Tariq really wasn't kidding, his design is just TJ.

Hey Tariq, out of curiosity, did you or your brother have any major opinions on the episode "Big Brother Chad"? I always felt like it was the only non-sports related episode for Vince that touched on how younger siblings perceive their older siblings. Given that you two are brothers, was there anything you did or didn't resonate with in the episode?

There is something wholesome watching people reminiscing on their childhood shows. Personally miss "Recess" and some of the old Disney stuff.

My kids watched Recess on Saturday mornings, and though most of the shows they watched I'd tune out, I usually watched it with them. I enjoyed it as an adult, and this video really hits all the things I liked about it. Thank you for this 😊

Saying the Ashleys are just the mean popular girls trope but they all have the same name as if that's it; like dude they're the Heathers, they're a kid friendly Heathers parody.

I really appreciate how you let the beat ride in your videos. I loved recess as a kid and seeing these clips/scenes really takes me back to all the episodes again. Also I enjoyed the interview bit with your fam.

Watching the original AND the reupload. they did you dirty but we're still here!

As the guy who moved around a lot in high school, I can relate to Gus: from leveraging the littlest attention he gets for clout to not getting the rules and dynamics of the place he just got transferred to. I like that his episodes either show him learning the value of friends or asserting his individuality when the rules just don't make sense. Because those two are the best lessons to learn when you're a new kid.

Recess is honestly such a fun, memorable and witty childhood classic I've enjoyed watchin this show so much on One Saturday Morning as a kid even when it first start becoming pouplar back in 97 most of the time when I'm rewatching it takes me back to when I was playing outside during actual Recess lol in Elementary School and 6th grade playing with my friends, and some of my Pokemon cards. 💯👊

RU-vid thought they ate, but you know the streets had to spin the block and take their plate.

I feel like I should remember more of recess then I do. I remember at least watching the final special, but never having consistently watching the series. Thats probably because I was born 97…. Yet at the same time I relate so much to the show, the kind of culture it brings from the 90’s. Its one of those shows while not flashy or fantasy, or escapism still was a show that had something to say, even for kids

You caught the war movie vibe - the picture day episode was their homage to Saving Private Ryan.

Randall's Positive Remark: "Moist and dewey" Fuckin' eew

I didn’t even what this show and I still got sentimental watching this video, why?

I said it on the first video. I'll say it again. Your breakdown of these shows is on point. And fiery in truth. Plus with each new video I get exposed to such amazing music.

Honestly it’s a great show because it runs with ideas we all knew as kids and ran with them.

Nah crazy how I started watching Recess as soon as I saw the second upload

Tariq the fact you didn't talk about the Ashleys (the best characters) more PAINS me but oh well. Thank you for a fantastic deep dive that I think made my wife hate Recess less. Congrats to all the haters, you won!

*AGAIN THIS VIDEO SLAPS !!* Lets make this the new Most Popular Video from Tariq !! Copyright better fuck off !!

Love the show, love the video. Your content never ceases to entertain.

The only thing I remember about the movie is the green tambourine song and that I watched it while my mom cut a splinter out of my leg from the car line bench at school. Good times.

I loved recess. I always thought that the episodes took place over a weeks of recess/lunch. Here in New Zealand we had 30 mins of play at morning tea, then 15 minue sit down lunch and another 45 minutes 'recess', which felt like comparable time to the show. Loved the diverse cast, especially Mikey. Spinelli was my fav cos I was a tomboy. I also liked Gus cos we always had that new kid or the kid who moved heaps, but usually for different reasons raather than military background. I'm a primary school teacher and I always thought about the episode where the class hamster died and was always honest with the kids if one of our class pets crossed the rainbow bridge lol

You guys went hard on Gus. I grew up as a military kid. My family didn't move around but I did have friends come and go until I moved to the school I would eventually graduate from. Gus was just a kid that didn't fit in, and as a kid that went from insanely popular to known and hated by 3 separate school districts. Gus was just doing what he needed to do, it's a form of coping he definitely learned from his transient life before.

The movie honestly was the perfect ending for the show…idk why but something about the song in the end just makes me a lil sad.

I know Gus is supposed to be sort of the butt of the joke, but that Atmosphere instrumental got me hyped to hear about him lol

I just sat there and watched a 1-hour video about a Disney Channel cartoon I have never watched or known anything about beforehand. Excellent

The part where you talk about how every episode tends to focus on one character kinda got my gears spinning. Now I mentioned elsewhere, I'm an old fuzz (trying to avoid words that'll get you demonitized). For me "nostalgic Disney cartoon" would be like... Rescue Rangers, Gummi Bears, or Ducktales.... and all three shows stick in my memories and are nostalgic, but going back to watch them as an adult is a mix of "Ah this show is so great!" and "Oh god the cringe." But a big problem I consistently have--and I think Rescue Rangers is like the poster child of this--is that Disney has always had a problem writing about interpersonal dynamics beyond the basic level of "Chip and Dale both have a crush on Gadget." Most episodes will be a character does things or is going through a personal journey while everyone else just kinda stands around twiddling their thumbs. It especially miffed me with RR because like, there was one episode where Gadget was having issues because her stuff kept breaking (turned out it was being sabotaged) and Chip is like... REALLY a-holish about it. And man... this is the girl he's freaking in love with! No wonder she ended up marrying the fly. Doesn't help that their personalities were never consistent from episode to episode. Sometimes Dale wasn't stupid but just fun-loving... other times he was a complete birdbrain who should probably have died from forgetting to breath five times over. It feels to me like Disney never really got better, as I recall seeing this same issue in Recess and other shows like Buzz Lightyear. And it started spreading to non-Disney products as well, as I recall having the same darn issue with Codename Kids Next Door, where it honestly came off like the kids only ever saw each other when they were on missions and actually I got the feeling their lives sucked. (Yeah if you ever do a Kids Next Door retrospective, be prepared for me to write the longest comment ever).

1 Saturday Morning ❤❤❤ Pepper Ann & Recess . Classics. I'm 32 now, and those were the 2 shows my older sister and I loved.