Daria's back!

Posted by: Lisa Kirchner in Boob Tube

Lisa Kirchner

Need a reason to be stoked? Writer Emma Kat Richardson has the deets on Daria’s reemergence.

Recently, with infrequent bathroom breaks and meals brought straight to my futon perch, I consumed an innumerable amount of hours watching Daria on YouTube. Many of the episodes are crassly interrupted by a nauseating blur of static. Others had been uploaded backwards—a phenomenon that goes undetected until the title of Sick Sad World appears splashes across the screen in an even more demented format than usual.

 

 

Up until now, this was the only manner in which us devotees of this caustic cartoon were able to tie up our veins and tap in for Daria doses. Up until now, the fiendish suits at MTV have kept our favorite anti-social teen’s wit where she’d probably most prefer it: locked up, vaulted, and away from the prying eyes of human conformity. But as of today, all five seasons of this late-’90s gem have arrived on DVD. And perhaps not a moment too soon—these days, it’s hard not to give off a little constant Daria sourness while maintaining a consistent pining for the prosperity of the ’90s, the backdrop of which the series is set against. After all, each episode allows us to witness Daria and her vapid younger sister, Quinn, strolling about in their parents’ mini suburban mansion, each latching on to contrastingly different sources of misery and dissatisfaction. (The former sickened by flagrant materialism; the latter disgusted by what she perceives to be a dearth of it.)

 

But mainstream consumerism was never really the point. Or, at least, not the main point. Sharp-tongued cynicism, razor-fine intelligence, and the nagging perils of being a social pariah are where the show’s true heart lay.

 

It’s pretty hard to believe that it’s taken MTV nearly 10 years to put out the series’ DVD collection, but hey, it’s also pretty hard to believe that Daria the girl and Daria the TV show both evolved out of a walk-on character from Beavis and Butthead. There is much speculation that this massive delay had much to do with the exorbitant copyright fees for all the songs used in the series—a roadblock that has prevented many of the network’s past shows from seeing a DVD release. But apparently some legal magic was worked and we have the complete collection of one of the most hilarious, smart, and painfully ironic stories to prove it.

 

So take heart, misfits! There’ll be no more suffering through subpar video uploads. Get a hold of these DVDs and host a Daria marathon of your own. 

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The opinions expressed on the BUST blog are those of the authors themselves and do not necessarily reflect the position of BUST Magazine or its staff.



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written by l'oiseau sale, May 12, 2010
SOMEONE should bring it back to TV, even if it's not Mtv. That said, I'll be buying them Digital Video Discs as soon as I see them.
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written by marteani, May 13, 2010
The "legal magic" they worked out was the removal of nearly all the music from the show. Generic musicish stuff fills in the once rich audio backdrop. Was the exchange worth it? I don't know.

I know I'm not throwing out my old VHS tapes though.
Bonnie Rue
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written by Bonnie Rue, May 13, 2010
I pre ordered this series. It arrived on my doorstep a week ago and I've been frolicking memory lane ever since! The had to release it without the original music... the theme song is the same - but songs that you remember oh so well that played while Daria and Jane chowed down on a pizza have been replaced with songs you've never heard. But whatevs. It's still funny as hell.
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written by Toongrrl, May 13, 2010
Finally!!! I was too young to watch "Daria", I watched "The Powerpuff Girls", "The Wild Thornberries", "Rocket Power", "Pepper Ann", "Hey Arnold!", and "As Told By Ginger" around that time. I discovered Daria in You tube and was entranced ever since and even found second hand copies of the picture books. If only they could put Ginger on DVD
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written by Safetybear, May 13, 2010
Ahem... you can watch Daria episodes on MTV.com... here, http://www.mtv.com/shows/daria/series.jhtml
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written by sharon77, May 13, 2010
Now if only they would release Spy Groove on DVD my life would be complete! ...er, sort of. smilies/grin.gif
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written by Jeanette, May 13, 2010
I preordered this as soon as I got paid! My roomie didn't have cable when it was on, so I cant wait to show her the snarky badass that is Daria!
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written by Karenonica, May 14, 2010
i actually bought the series a while back...i was looking to see if it had come out on DVD yet and crazy4cartoons.com or something like that had it so i bought it. it IS the whole series plus the two movies but it was obviously made by someone who just got the episodes offline; it's not professional at all. but all the episodes are there, with the original music, despite the crappy visual/audio in some episodes. but when i saw the title of this post, i was uber excited cuz i thought it meant Daria was coming back to tv! ah well, at least i have it on DVD and can watch it whenever.
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written by Christian Louboutins, December 15, 2010
it's a good application. Thanks
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written by Dean Vermil, January 02, 2012
EVERYONE, STAY AWAY FROM THIS SHOW DARIA, IT MADE US ALL PITY, SCARED AND PARANOID!!! IF YOU HAVE THE DVD, DESTROY IT AND DO NOT BUY THE DVD!!! WE NEED A TIME MACHINE TO ERASE THIS SHOW FROM EXISTENCE SO WE DON'T HAVE TO BE SCARED, PITY AND PARANOID. IF THE SHOW DOES COME BACK TO TELEVISION, WE NEED TO PROTEST AGAINST IT!!!

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