# Daria (1997)

> A sardonic, perceptive teen girl navigates the absurdities of Lawndale High School and her family's suburban chaos.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2020

## Facts

- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 65
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, animation
- Created by: Glenn Eichler, Susie Lewis
- Network: MTV
- Cast: Tracy Grandstaff, Wendy Hoopes, Julián Rebolledo, Marc Thompson, Alvaro J. Gonzalez, Jessica Cydnee Jackson, Janie Mertz, Geoffrey Arend
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118298/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: sardonic, deadpan, witty, compassionate, wry, irreverent

## What critics say

Viewers broadly regard Daria as a sharp, witty satire of high school culture and mainstream conformity, with a deadpan heroine whose compassion keeps the cynicism from curdling.

## Synopsis

Daria (1997-2001) is an American animated satirical comedy series created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis for MTV. Its protagonist, the acerbic and observant teenager Daria Morgendorffer (voiced by Tracy Grandstaff), moves to a new town with her stressed-out parents and her relentlessly popular younger sister Quinn (voiced by Wendy Hoopes). Her friend Jane Lane (also voiced by Wendy Hoopes) shares her skepticism of the social order. The engine of the series is Daria's refusal to take part in the rituals of Lawndale High, where she sees the absurd hierarchies of cliques, teachers and school events with dry clarity and withering commentary. Each episode is a self-contained comic vignette built around a school or family situation, running five seasons of thirteen episodes each with a consistent, wry tone. The show is a sharp, witty satire of mainstream youth culture that stays compassionate toward the people caught up in it. Its deadpan voiceover and quiet, knowing humor give it a melancholic yet affectionate register. Fans of Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill and Freaks and Geeks will find resonance in its outsider perspective, its cutting dialogue and its skewering of suburban conformity. Set in the late 1990s and early 2000s in a fictional American suburb, it remains a cult favorite for viewers who love sardonic, observant animation.

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