This show made me look forward to going to high school. I was in elementary when it was initially aired, lol. High School came for me in 1996. This show was very underrated and could have gone places it NICK was ready back then.
Do you guys realize how much ass this song kicks for a kids show? Or ANY show for that matter?? It's like a bunch of snotty 90s kids high on Mudhoney, Nirvana and Iggy and the Stooges kicking out jams in the garage. This one really takes me back to that time!
Yes, fabulous to hear this after 25 yrs and be like wait a minute that was but whippin garage punk, I feel like the fella had been listening to the alternate versions of the MC5's 2nd album, reminds me of Human Being Lawnmower and shit
i remember watching this show religiously. Nick at their best. Nobody couldn't touch Nick from 91 to 99. They were unstoppable. And you know what else was kickass? this damn theme and the intro itself. it's like a music video and a montage of how school was. Utterly brilliant
Well, do your best to make the present better. Don’t pout about not living in a decade that’s all in the past now. I can at least make the 2020s turn out to be a decent decade for myself. I shouldn’t try to change other people’s behavior as what seems like for the better just from my perspective. That would be too bossy of me!
People probably aren’t as gifted nowadays. I have to consider running for president one day so I can convince people to look harder for their hidden superpowers. I found mine with help from HAPPYneuron.
@@Crayolapup You’re right about the nostalgia effect… but this exact show could *never* come out on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon today. Nick was still a fairly young operation in 1992, and cable TV was still a fairly new environment. Risk-taking and experimentation looks very different when you’re making up the rules as you… break them?
I noticed that myself! The Nickelodeon sketch shows to me felt like a counterpart to another famous sketch show. You can't do that on television = Laugh in or Monty Python Out of Control - SCTV or the Muppet Show Welcome Freshman - Kids in the Hall Roundhouse - In living colour with more breakdancing All that - Saturday Night Live.
Joecelyn Steiner (Alex) is my cousin. Totally forgot about this lol. Too funny. We met at a family reunion in the early 90s when I was like 6 years old. I freaked out when I saw her and tried telling my mom I knew it was her. My mom thought me and my siblings were crazy/confused. We were right. Man, time flies.
I was in the ninth grade when this show came out. This was my class! Class of 1996! 😃😄 Little did I know it at the time. The show didn't last very long, but I remember watching it.
I still have two episodes of Welcome Freshmen on VHS from Season 3....but recently I see that somebody uploaded a ton of episodes of this show on DailyMotion....I was pretty shocked that somebody had so many episodes of this forgotten show! Back when I was a kid I thought this was what high school was going to be like
Thanks to older Gen x for making some awesome shows for us millennials to watch in the 90's (a lot of the creatives in programming at "nick" were late boomers and gen x)
The 90s were the last decade for many things (faith in government, hand drawn animation, a food pyramid that suggested we eat 3 times more carbohydrates than fruits and vegetables), but the thing I miss the most was intro songs for kids shows that fucking rip. Back when there was no way to skip a shows intro it was a blessing to have something interesting to watch or a great song to listen to while the credits ran. Pete and Pete, Ren and Stimpy, and Welcome Freshmen will always hold a special place in my heart. At least now we can skip whatever we want with the push of a button. Still it would be nice for there to be some effort put into the music.
The first television pilot of the show was filmed in May 1990, featuring a group of local actors in the main roles, among them was future Backstreet Boys member Howie Dorough. After the success of the pilot, the show was picked up, but the roles were recast, according to series creator Bob Mittenthal "Those kids did a good job, the proof is that the show was picked up as a series, but research told Nickelodeon it needed better-defined characters".
+Mmmorshu Hell yeah! As a bullying victim, I'm really glad social media wasn't around back then. At the end of the day, I was free from it all and had the most epic shows to enjoy along with killer video games. If I had to deal with it all day every day like kids of today do, I might be another statistic in the teenage suicide count.
Yea but there was and probably always will be bullying. Can't the social media and online crap be ignored? You're not always checking it or searching for it !
I AGREE WITH MELISSA HAWN! WE NEED THIS STUFF BACK! I'VE NEVER WATCHED WELCOME FRESHMEN GROWING UP. IT NEEDS TO BE IN A 2021 REBOOT WITH FRESH NEW KID ACTORS. THIS IS WHAT I'M PICTURING FOE 2016-2018: THE ACTORS OF WALK THE PRANK JUMP ABOARD AS KEVIN, ALEX & MANNY, PLUS WE HAVE A NEW KID JOINING THE TEAM NAMED CODY, BUT HE GOES BY CHANCE.THIS IS WHAT I'M PICTURING FOR 2019-AFTER MARCH BREAK 2020: THE KIDS OF ALL THAT 2019 JUMP ABOARD, BUT CODY VIETH PLAYS WALTER. BOBBY JOHNSON OF ROLL PLAY STEPS IN TO PLAY CODY.
I preferred the early version that was sketch based, it dropped off a lot when they made it into a sitcom. #Merv. And even this faux-grunge theme song, which I loved then and now, is better than most of what one hears on the radio now.
I was five when this was on and the inky thing I can remember about it is one episode where some super rich kid cane to school, and his ended with "the fourth" and Kevin introduced himself and Walter as "Kevin the first, and Walter the zero". To this day I'm perplexed as to why that's the only thing I remember about it.
I taped this opening because that song was awesome, and the opening sequence was cool too. It was like it could have been the opening of a cool teen movie (something the early '90s lacked).
Absolutely, not to forget the soap opera 'Fifteen'. That show is out on DVD now and there are discussions about trying to revive it or resolve the cliffhanger. Nick had this thing that no show could go past 65 episodes regardless of how well it did. If you research online, many actors and producers from old shows repeat this in their interviews and commentaries. The only reason why Saved By The Bell got so much love due to it was an NBC show and TBS aired the reruns heavily.
what time capsule, amazing punky theme song, so 90s complete with Mr. Lippman, oh man I remember this! Haven't seen an episode since 92', what the heck happened to reruns?
How come more people don't get nostalgic over this show? So tired of people in my age group go on and on about Saved By The Bell. They may not have been competing, but Welcome Freshman is a far superior of the time period for teen comedies.
PsychicStoner Nickelodeon didn't give it as much attention as their other sitcoms at the time like the Adventures of Pete and Pete, Salute Your Shorts, and Clarissa Explains It All, which were all better shows. I don't recall it even lasting long in reruns like those other shows, which is probably why no one gets nostalgic for it. However, it had a great theme song and it wasn't boring like Hey Dude.
Now, I grew up as a kid watching Nickelodeon since 1990 and I only really remember the theme song (which is amazing) and maybe one or two episodes and some of the characters, but I believe I was too young to appreciate the show at the time. I kinda wish I was a bit older to fully enjoy "Welcome Freshman" (as in me being in High School then).
Wow, that's awesome. Looks like my kinda show. I don't know how I never saw it...and I'm 95% sure I never did...because Nickelodeon was such a HUGE component of my childhood and I remember all of the other shows well.
Each episode they would be doing sketch comedy having a main theme to focus on. One example is a documentary hosted by Mr. History teaching people about past freshmen. For example, the students are portraying themselves as the Hatfields and the McCoys. Others would include Mr. Lippman doing the morning announcements on how he really feels about the students, Merv trying to scan the other students, and a student named Billy Cushman who teaches students how to have good manners and how to master the art of flatulence. But the most remembered one was when Merv was singing about mystery meat. Kids who grew up with Welcome Freshmen still have this song stuck on their heads, even to this very day. However, the show drastically changed around the 3rd season. Gone were the comedy skits and Welcome Freshmen was turned into a teen sitcom. Because of the huge popularity of Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210, Nickelodeon tried to do that with Welcome Freshmen. When the students went into their sophomore year, Merv and Tina were written off the show, new characters named Manny, Erin, and Grant were added to the show, and Walter was held back. This was when the popularity of the show dropped. Looking at the show, it truly looks like a complete knockoff of Saved by the Bell. Let's do some comparisons. This is what Welcome Freshmen was before the change. www.dailymotion.com/video/x4k8q8k Here's what it looks like after the change. www.dailymotion.com/video/x4kz1wl See? It's completely unrecognizable! They look like two completely different shows! According to an article by Mathew Klickstein at splitsider.com, he interviewed the director of Welcome Freshmen Adam Weissman about the drastic change. “I didn’t see an enormous difference in those shows and what I was already doing; perhaps in production value, but that’s really a function of money. Those shows might have looked a little glossier because they were done out here [LA], but as far as the content, funny’s funny. If it’s funny, it’s great. If it’s not funny, it’s not, no matter how slick it might look.” “I saw similarities: there’s the class clown, there’s the hunky guy, there’s the cute girl. They’re your archetypal characters that you would write your shows around. The situations were similar because the experience that kids have are similar. Your high school experiences are what they are, especially back then when those shows really did take place in schools almost exclusively.” “A lot of those shows were school-based. Now we try to do shows where there’s less of it. Yeah, they have a school and they go to school because that’s what kids do, but their stories and their experiences go outside of that world. I think that’s because audiences are continually bored, and writers have to come up with new ways to keep them interested.” “I think also because kids’ lives - especially now - are much more expanded outside of school. I think primarily every writer struggles with some new, fresh ways to tell these stories that also reflect back on what society is. What distracted kids and what got them into trouble and what kept them entertained was different in 1993 than today. Now you got iCarly, and she’s got a web show… because that’s what they do.” The audience definitely noticed right away. The show was cancelled after the fourth season ended in late 1993. The teens who acted in the show never went into other acting roles after Welcome Freshmen. Andy Bamberger directed other Nickelodeon shows such as Nick Rocks and Rated K: For Kids by Kids, Total Panic, season 3 of Make the Grade, Family Double Dare, Clarissa Explains It All, Launch Box, Get the Picture, What Would You Do?, Nick Arcade, GUTS, and Legends of the Hidden Temple for Nickelodeon and Allegra's Window and Gullah Gullah Island for Nick Jr. Bob Mittenthal became a writer and executive producer of other Nickelodeon shows like Aaahh! Real Monsters, Kablam, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, and The Naked Brothers Band. Adam Weissman directed other Nickelodeon shows such as My Brother and Me, Space Cases, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, True Jackson: VP, Drake and Josh, iCarly, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Zoe 101 and Victorious. He also directs shows for Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana and Good Luck Charlie. Overall, with the first and second season, similar to You Can't Do That on Television and Out of Control, the skits are pretty hit and miss. There are some that are still really funny though, like the Mystery Meat song. The characters were stereotypical cookie cutter high school kids. It just made me feel like I was seeing characters from Saved by the Bell. Kevin reminded me of Zack, the cool guy who loves all the girls. Alex reminded me of Lisa, the beautiful girl who loves boys, clothes, and makeup. Merv reminded me of Screech, the nerdy kid who gets himself into trouble. Walter reminded me of Slater, the laid back dude. Mr. Lippman reminded me of Mr. Belding.
I can't lie, i never watched this one, BUT.. the adventures of pete and Pete came on after so i had to wait but damn its all nostalgic.. nickelodeon was NOT scared to try different things back then, great memories bro ❤
At least you guys still get the classics we never do here in the UK not even during Halloween and Christmas Pete and Pete hasn't aired in the UK since 1997
Didn't the original opening, during the Mr. Lippman part, instead just show him grumpily walking through the halls as though he were looking for someone (Most likely Walter)?
When they were still showing reruns of this show in the late-90's, I'd sometimes get my bass out and start to jam along. It's pretty easy since there's no bassline, so I can play whatever I want. :P
I was 4ish when it started, 6ish when it ended, just remember so little about it, being a teen show and what not, another one of Nick's own shows they've left in the dust good thing there's this 90s Are All That... somehow, someway, this show should be added, then I can really live it
Theme music, from season 3, taken from the episodes "Things Change/Held Back", "The Harvest Ball", "To Walter’s Dad With Love" "Mock Court/Hawthrone Law/Fresh-O-Mon" (a.k.a. The People vs. Walter), "Othello The (Sopho)more", "Shiny Top", "I’m Dead", "Manny in Love", "Requiem for a Lightweight", "What Rhymes with Liar?", The Lippdromeda Strain", "Hawthorone Confidential", "Erin for Office", and "Looking for Mr. Goodwrench". Theme music, from season 4, taken from the episodes "Year's End", "Getting What You Want", "The Courtship of Walter's Father", "Math, Lies & Videotape", "Drawn and Quoted", "The Stuff", "Safety Last", "The Genius", "Marathon Woman", "Seeds of Destruction", "Reachin' For the Stars", & "Rainy Day Women".
I hate that I never watched this show much when it was on. It's still stuck with me, though, to the point that when I see a group of newcomers going through orientation at my work, I've been known to greet some groups by saying, "Welcome, freshmen!"
Literally the only things I remembered about this show was that there was a character called Walter and a character called Kevin, and that Kevin did the "peace" sign in the opening (or as saw it as a kid "held up two fingers"). I didn't even remember the name on my own with out seeing it mentioned on line (and had unfortunately forgotten about it before then). Stupid question: Did this show ever have at least two scenes where two "aliens" (two people with, I think, green face paint on) would sit either side of a human character and look like they were kissing his or her cheeks for a long time - like how the length of time a French kiss would be, but on the cheek and not the lips? If not, then does anyone know what show that was?
For some reason I thought there were lyrics for the intro where a guy would say "Weeelcome freshmeeeen!" all low like a rockabilly singer. Am I mixing it with another show?
Was Lipman supposed to be a Belding rip off or something ... Wow I dunno how the hell I started thinking about this show right now but UA-cam's got me covered
This show made me look forward to going to high school. I was in elementary when it was initially aired, lol. High School came for me in 1996. This show was very underrated and could have gone places it NICK was ready back then.
Doug did the same for middle school..i was a sucka!
@@user-ms7fg6sd4j Yeahhh school was never a fraction as fun or cool as on TV..
I used to watch this on Nickolodeon when I was a KID. Nickolodeon was the sh*t back in the day.
You took the words out of my mouth
Same here! Watched it back in the day.
Nickelodeon was the shit in the 80s and 90s. Now it IS shit.
I was born in the mid 80s. 1986 so i remember this. Lol
Straight Facts!!!
Me too!
Do you guys realize how much ass this song kicks for a kids show? Or ANY show for that matter?? It's like a bunch of snotty 90s kids high on Mudhoney, Nirvana and Iggy and the Stooges kicking out jams in the garage. This one really takes me back to that time!
That theme song inspired me to learn how to play guitar
That and the theme song from The Adventures of Pete and Pete.. 😁
Yes, fabulous to hear this after 25 yrs and be like wait a minute that was but whippin garage punk, I feel like the fella had been listening to the alternate versions of the MC5's 2nd album, reminds me of Human Being Lawnmower and shit
@@82McCormick oh man with Polaris/Magnetic Fields, bitchin song
I have this stuck in my head all the time and I love it! Such a banger
This song had no business rocking so hard. I've loved it since I was a kid, I love it as a grown-ass adult. I want a full copy!
That's the MTV Generation for you. 😀
i remember watching this show religiously. Nick at their best. Nobody couldn't touch Nick from 91 to 99. They were unstoppable. And you know what else was kickass?
this damn theme and the intro itself. it's like a music video and a montage of how school was. Utterly brilliant
'99 is kind of a stretch, but '91 to '96 was an amazing run.
I have no memory of this show whatsoever and even I got nostalgic from watching that.
God, I miss the 90s.
Well, do your best to make the present better. Don’t pout about not living in a decade that’s all in the past now. I can at least make the 2020s turn out to be a decent decade for myself. I shouldn’t try to change other people’s behavior as what seems like for the better just from my perspective. That would be too bossy of me!
Isn't it funny how a Nick show from 1991 is better produced than shit made from Disney or even modern Nick in 2018?
Yes your right
People probably aren’t as gifted nowadays. I have to consider running for president one day so I can convince people to look harder for their hidden superpowers. I found mine with help from HAPPYneuron.
@@cbsteffen 👍 What is HAPPYneuron, and what are your superpowers?
Who’s opinion is this?
Nostalgia makes you find value in this. I bet if it came out today, you’d be saying something els
@@Crayolapup You’re right about the nostalgia effect… but this exact show could *never* come out on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon today. Nick was still a fairly young operation in 1992, and cable TV was still a fairly new environment. Risk-taking and experimentation looks very different when you’re making up the rules as you… break them?
I don't remember anything about this show beyond this admittedly awesome theme song.
Same
Not even coach roach?!
Currently trying to get any memory to spark because no way I would
Not have watched
It.
Yeah definitely has an early 90’s indie/rock aesthetic.
I was in 1sr or 2nd grade when this came out. Back then a freshmen in High School practically seemed like adults... Now I am 40... Time flies.
92 was a great year
One of the most underrated Nickelodeon shows ever.
This reminds me of the opening to Kids in the Hall
I noticed that myself! The Nickelodeon sketch shows to me felt like a counterpart to another famous sketch show.
You can't do that on television = Laugh in or Monty Python
Out of Control - SCTV or the Muppet Show
Welcome Freshman - Kids in the Hall
Roundhouse - In living colour with more breakdancing
All that - Saturday Night Live.
The State also
doesnt sound like the surf rock of kids in the hall
One of my best friend's mom is Erin! Ha, I didn't even know she was on this show until I looked at her Instagram.
🤘
Joecelyn Steiner (Alex) is my cousin. Totally forgot about this lol. Too funny. We met at a family reunion in the early 90s when I was like 6 years old. I freaked out when I saw her and tried telling my mom I knew it was her. My mom thought me and my siblings were crazy/confused. We were right. Man, time flies.
I loved this show. Looking back at it now the opening reminds me of the intro to the kids in the hall. I could be crazy
So weird I was JUST listening to Having An Average Weekend and came here haha.
What's with the cheerleader upskirt shot? It even did a double take.
Class of '94 still listening to this for the nostalgia of the '90s!
So many NICK shows don't get any love. I still remember 'Don't Just Sit There', 'Out of Control', 'Salute Your Shorts', 'Hey Dude' and the game shows.
I was in the ninth grade when this show came out. This was my class! Class of 1996! 😃😄 Little did I know it at the time. The show didn't last very long, but I remember watching it.
Same here 😎
SNICK was my Saturday Night.
I still have two episodes of Welcome Freshmen on VHS from Season 3....but recently I see that somebody uploaded a ton of episodes of this show on DailyMotion....I was pretty shocked that somebody had so many episodes of this forgotten show! Back when I was a kid I thought this was what high school was going to be like
I randomly had this song stuck in my head today. I wish there was a cleaner version out there without the audience or voice-over at the end.
Thanks for the upload, I somehow randomly remembered this show's title and knew something from it would be on UA-cam somewhere.
Thanks to older Gen x for making some awesome shows for us millennials to watch in the 90's (a lot of the creatives in programming at "nick" were late boomers and gen x)
Pretty much all of the executives at Nickelodeon were Boomers.
The 90s were the last decade for many things (faith in government, hand drawn animation, a food pyramid that suggested we eat 3 times more carbohydrates than fruits and vegetables), but the thing I miss the most was intro songs for kids shows that fucking rip. Back when there was no way to skip a shows intro it was a blessing to have something interesting to watch or a great song to listen to while the credits ran. Pete and Pete, Ren and Stimpy, and Welcome Freshmen will always hold a special place in my heart. At least now we can skip whatever we want with the push of a button. Still it would be nice for there to be some effort put into the music.
The first television pilot of the show was filmed in May 1990, featuring a group of local actors in the main roles, among them was future Backstreet Boys member Howie Dorough. After the success of the pilot, the show was picked up, but the roles were recast, according to series creator Bob Mittenthal "Those kids did a good job, the proof is that the show was picked up as a series, but research told Nickelodeon it needed better-defined characters".
High school in the 90s was the best. No facebook drama and Nirvana playing all fucking day!
+Mmmorshu Hell yeah! As a bullying victim, I'm really glad social media wasn't around back then. At the end of the day, I was free from it all and had the most epic shows to enjoy along with killer video games. If I had to deal with it all day every day like kids of today do, I might be another statistic in the teenage suicide count.
Facts!!!
aww man im sorry to hear that. Hope all is well for you now.
Mmmorshu It is. I'm just reflecting on why I'm happy I lived my teenage years in the 90s as opposed to now.
Yea but there was and probably always will be bullying. Can't the social media and online crap be ignored? You're not always checking it or searching for it !
This Show Needs To Be Put Back On The Air
Melissa Hawn Not progressive enough to be put back on the air.
I AGREE WITH MELISSA HAWN! WE NEED THIS STUFF BACK! I'VE NEVER WATCHED WELCOME FRESHMEN GROWING UP. IT NEEDS TO BE IN A 2021 REBOOT WITH FRESH NEW KID ACTORS. THIS IS WHAT I'M PICTURING FOE 2016-2018: THE ACTORS OF WALK THE PRANK JUMP ABOARD AS KEVIN, ALEX & MANNY, PLUS WE HAVE A NEW KID JOINING THE TEAM NAMED CODY, BUT HE GOES BY CHANCE.THIS IS WHAT I'M PICTURING FOR 2019-AFTER MARCH BREAK 2020: THE KIDS OF ALL THAT 2019 JUMP ABOARD, BUT CODY VIETH PLAYS WALTER. BOBBY JOHNSON OF ROLL PLAY STEPS IN TO PLAY CODY.
This always stuck in my head. I miss being a nick kid
This is one of the best Nickelodeon shows when I was a kid
I preferred the early version that was sketch based, it dropped off a lot when they made it into a sitcom. #Merv. And even this faux-grunge theme song, which I loved then and now, is better than most of what one hears on the radio now.
This song has pretty taken rent in my head for decades. Every now and then it'll just pop up and say "REMEMBER ME!"
The 90's rocked!!
Wow! Its been ages since I have even thought about this show. I can't believe that its been twenty years. Great clip brings me right back!
HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THIS????
Damn Im old
Me too. I'm about to turn 32. My cousin and I used to watch this show.
30 years old here, bro, join the club.
You’re not the only ones. I’m 37 and used to watch that show all the time. I liked season 1 with the skits better.
Who cares!
I was five when this was on and the inky thing I can remember about it is one episode where some super rich kid cane to school, and his ended with "the fourth" and Kevin introduced himself and Walter as "Kevin the first, and Walter the zero". To this day I'm perplexed as to why that's the only thing I remember about it.
I taped this opening because that song was awesome, and the opening sequence was cool too. It was like it could have been the opening of a cool teen movie (something the early '90s lacked).
Man I watched this when I was 8 I loved it.
Absolutely, not to forget the soap opera 'Fifteen'. That show is out on DVD now and there are discussions about trying to revive it or resolve the cliffhanger. Nick had this thing that no show could go past 65 episodes regardless of how well it did. If you research online, many actors and producers from old shows repeat this in their interviews and commentaries. The only reason why Saved By The Bell got so much love due to it was an NBC show and TBS aired the reruns heavily.
Quite late to the party, I know. Ryan Reynolds has said that Fifteen/Hillside was the reason why he very nearly quit acting.
I remember this show very vividly it was came on almost exclusively before or after the other high school teen shoe "fifteen"
I used to pump the volume with this theme song and rock out!
what time capsule, amazing punky theme song, so 90s complete with Mr. Lippman, oh man I remember this! Haven't seen an episode since 92', what the heck happened to reruns?
Better than Saved by the Bell
Joe BLo
In fairness, that wouldn't take much.
nah dude that shit was untouchable.
The Other Guy
Agreed
Lol no way
Saved was the best.
Mark Paul 💣💣
Oh man, finally! I knew a show like this existed, but I always confused it with saved by the bell. I can sleep easy now, it's not a false memory lol.
I used to watch that on Nick when I was little back in the early 90's!
How come more people don't get nostalgic over this show? So tired of people in my age group go on and on about Saved By The Bell. They may not have been competing, but Welcome Freshman is a far superior of the time period for teen comedies.
PsychicStoner Nickelodeon didn't give it as much attention as their other sitcoms at the time like the Adventures of Pete and Pete, Salute Your Shorts, and Clarissa Explains It All, which were all better shows. I don't recall it even lasting long in reruns like those other shows, which is probably why no one gets nostalgic for it. However, it had a great theme song and it wasn't boring like Hey Dude.
I used to watch Nickelodeon religiously 😂my mom could never watch the evening news
Now, I grew up as a kid watching Nickelodeon since 1990 and I only really remember the theme song (which is amazing) and maybe one or two episodes and some of the characters, but I believe I was too young to appreciate the show at the time. I kinda wish I was a bit older to fully enjoy "Welcome Freshman" (as in me being in High School then).
ohh shit i loved this song. i taped it on vhs , played it back and recorded it on my walkmans mic so i could listen to it everyday.
Man, I used to LOVE this show back in the day! Talk about of the grunge era!
This show was so much better than the Teen Nick garbage that came out in the 2000s.
Wow, that's awesome. Looks like my kinda show. I don't know how I never saw it...and I'm 95% sure I never did...because Nickelodeon was such a HUGE component of my childhood and I remember all of the other shows well.
Man this brought back great memories
Mane this was my show back in the old days lol💯💥
I was crazy about this show lol... wow memories.
Still to this day, one of the best, most underrated theme songs.
2021
i remember this old show wow it brings me back....
Each episode they would be doing sketch comedy having a main theme to focus on. One example is a documentary hosted by Mr. History teaching people about past freshmen. For example, the students are portraying themselves as the Hatfields and the McCoys.
Others would include Mr. Lippman doing the morning announcements on how he really feels about the students, Merv trying to scan the other students, and a student named Billy Cushman who teaches students how to have good manners and how to master the art of flatulence. But the most remembered one was when Merv was singing about mystery meat. Kids who grew up with Welcome Freshmen still have this song stuck on their heads, even to this very day.
However, the show drastically changed around the 3rd season. Gone were the comedy skits and Welcome Freshmen was turned into a teen sitcom. Because of the huge popularity of Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210, Nickelodeon tried to do that with Welcome Freshmen. When the students went into their sophomore year, Merv and Tina were written off the show, new characters named Manny, Erin, and Grant were added to the show, and Walter was held back. This was when the popularity of the show dropped. Looking at the show, it truly looks like a complete knockoff of Saved by the Bell. Let's do some comparisons. This is what Welcome Freshmen was before the change.
www.dailymotion.com/video/x4k8q8k
Here's what it looks like after the change.
www.dailymotion.com/video/x4kz1wl
See? It's completely unrecognizable! They look like two completely different shows! According to an article by Mathew Klickstein at splitsider.com, he interviewed the director of Welcome Freshmen Adam Weissman about the drastic change.
“I didn’t see an enormous difference in those shows and what I was already doing; perhaps in production value, but that’s really a function of money. Those shows might have looked a little glossier because they were done out here [LA], but as far as the content, funny’s funny. If it’s funny, it’s great. If it’s not funny, it’s not, no matter how slick it might look.”
“I saw similarities: there’s the class clown, there’s the hunky guy, there’s the cute girl. They’re your archetypal characters that you would write your shows around. The situations were similar because the experience that kids have are similar. Your high school experiences are what they are, especially back then when those shows really did take place in schools almost exclusively.”
“A lot of those shows were school-based. Now we try to do shows where there’s less of it. Yeah, they have a school and they go to school because that’s what kids do, but their stories and their experiences go outside of that world. I think that’s because audiences are continually bored, and writers have to come up with new ways to keep them interested.”
“I think also because kids’ lives - especially now - are much more expanded outside of school. I think primarily every writer struggles with some new, fresh ways to tell these stories that also reflect back on what society is. What distracted kids and what got them into trouble and what kept them entertained was different in 1993 than today. Now you got iCarly, and she’s got a web show… because that’s what they do.”
The audience definitely noticed right away. The show was cancelled after the fourth season ended in late 1993.
The teens who acted in the show never went into other acting roles after Welcome Freshmen. Andy Bamberger directed other Nickelodeon shows such as Nick Rocks and Rated K: For Kids by Kids, Total Panic, season 3 of Make the Grade, Family Double Dare, Clarissa Explains It All, Launch Box, Get the Picture, What Would You Do?, Nick Arcade, GUTS, and Legends of the Hidden Temple for Nickelodeon and Allegra's Window and Gullah Gullah Island for Nick Jr. Bob Mittenthal became a writer and executive producer of other Nickelodeon shows like Aaahh! Real Monsters, Kablam, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, and The Naked Brothers Band. Adam Weissman directed other Nickelodeon shows such as My Brother and Me, Space Cases, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, True Jackson: VP, Drake and Josh, iCarly, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Zoe 101 and Victorious. He also directs shows for Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana and Good Luck Charlie.
Overall, with the first and second season, similar to You Can't Do That on Television and Out of Control, the skits are pretty hit and miss. There are some that are still really funny though, like the Mystery Meat song. The characters were stereotypical cookie cutter high school kids. It just made me feel like I was seeing characters from Saved by the Bell. Kevin reminded me of Zack, the cool guy who loves all the girls. Alex reminded me of Lisa, the beautiful girl who loves boys, clothes, and makeup. Merv reminded me of Screech, the nerdy kid who gets himself into trouble. Walter reminded me of Slater, the laid back dude. Mr. Lippman reminded me of Mr. Belding.
Cool. Now, if you can find the 1991 intro, I'll be really happy. I was 10 when the show originally started, and I loved it.
The intro for this show is very similar to the intro from Kids in the Hall(a sketch comedy show on CBC around the same time.)
I remember this and Roundhouse! God I miss the 90s!!!
We need like a 90s era tv channel
I seen this Welcome Freshmen show on Nickelodeon from '91 to '96, during the 1990's. And I went to high school from 2002 to 2006, during the 2000's.
damn this theme song rips even 30 years later. peter lauer is a genius
What a blazing intro song.
I remember this show 😭
I remember back in the day the song intro was totally badass and it was the coolest thing I've ever seen in a television show.
I can't lie, i never watched this one, BUT.. the adventures of pete and Pete came on after so i had to wait but damn its all nostalgic.. nickelodeon was NOT scared to try different things back then, great memories bro ❤
At least you guys still get the classics we never do here in the UK not even during Halloween and Christmas Pete and Pete hasn't aired in the UK since 1997
Didn't the original opening, during the Mr. Lippman part, instead just show him grumpily walking through the halls as though he were looking for someone (Most likely Walter)?
I could've sworn that Lippman was played by Robert Picardo.
My memory of this era has clearly been tampered with.
I thought the same thing. Mandela effect?
He almost looked like Picardo, but he's Mike Spellman
When they were still showing reruns of this show in the late-90's, I'd sometimes get my bass out and start to jam along. It's pretty easy since there's no bassline, so I can play whatever I want. :P
Yeah, I was wondering if there was any bass in this. Rock out! 🤘
Nice when this showed airs on "The Splat" because it was one of my favorite shows from the era
Is there a guitar tab for this somewhere?
I miss the 90's so much
I was 4ish when it started, 6ish when it ended, just remember so little about it, being a teen show and what not, another one of Nick's own shows they've left in the dust
good thing there's this 90s Are All That... somehow, someway, this show should be added, then I can really live it
Reminds me of the Kids in the Hall intro, without the sweet music
Just made that association myself, perhaps the nic version of the intro
2022
Theme music, from season 3, taken from the episodes "Things Change/Held Back", "The Harvest Ball", "To Walter’s Dad With Love" "Mock Court/Hawthrone Law/Fresh-O-Mon" (a.k.a. The People vs. Walter), "Othello The (Sopho)more", "Shiny Top", "I’m Dead", "Manny in Love", "Requiem for a Lightweight", "What Rhymes with Liar?", The Lippdromeda Strain", "Hawthorone Confidential", "Erin for Office", and "Looking for Mr. Goodwrench".
Theme music, from season 4, taken from the episodes "Year's End", "Getting What You Want", "The Courtship of Walter's Father", "Math, Lies & Videotape", "Drawn and Quoted", "The Stuff", "Safety Last", "The Genius", "Marathon Woman", "Seeds of Destruction", "Reachin' For the Stars", & "Rainy Day Women".
if you were born in 78 you were a frshmen in 93 nice.. i was 6 lol but my sister was a freshmen and i would watch this and heydude with her
I know this is just a show, but I find it hard to enjoy after I couldn’t stand high school during my high school days.
Sometimes I imagine fellow Nickelodeoner Tommy Pickles from the Rugrats drumming to this theme song!
This intro pops up in my head everytime I walk to breaktime and lunchtime
ahhh classic early 90's intros
I hate that I never watched this show much when it was on. It's still stuck with me, though, to the point that when I see a group of newcomers going through orientation at my work, I've been known to greet some groups by saying, "Welcome, freshmen!"
I almost forgot about this show!
My youth I love it.
Literally the only things I remembered about this show was that there was a character called Walter and a character called Kevin, and that Kevin did the "peace" sign in the opening (or as saw it as a kid "held up two fingers"). I didn't even remember the name on my own with out seeing it mentioned on line (and had unfortunately forgotten about it before then).
Stupid question: Did this show ever have at least two scenes where two "aliens" (two people with, I think, green face paint on) would sit either side of a human character and look like they were kissing his or her cheeks for a long time - like how the length of time a French kiss would be, but on the cheek and not the lips? If not, then does anyone know what show that was?
For some reason I thought there were lyrics for the intro where a guy would say "Weeelcome freshmeeeen!" all low like a rockabilly singer. Am I mixing it with another show?
Was Lipman supposed to be a Belding rip off or something ... Wow I dunno how the hell I started thinking about this show right now but UA-cam's got me covered
1992-1993 was my freshman year. Excellent opening!
damn were old huh bro
Jared Genesis I like to think of us as fine wine. We only get better with age.
O vaguely remember this show. But I distinctly remember this title sequence and a kid who got stuck in a basketball goal in the gym.
*I (damn my fat fingers 😂)
Those were the days. Thanx 4 posting.
I so remember this show wow oh wow!!!!!
where is Merv and Tara, how come they're not listed in the opening credits?
BROCK BRADLEY! great name
I loved this show. It was on TV about the time I started high school. It's too bad it only lasted 2 seasons.
Freshmen were pretty much Seniors in Junior High, when I went to school during this time.
I remember viewing freshmen in hs as grown ups when I was a kid now I am 38 I just see them as kids 😂
I had a section sergeant back in 2001 who looked like Mr. Lippman.