My Life as a Teenage Robot facts for kids

Quick facts for kids My Life as a Teenage Robot
Genre	Comedy Action-adventure Comic science fiction Science fantasy Superhero Science fiction Animated sitcom
Created by	Rob Renzetti
Developed by	Rob Renzetti Alex Kirwan Joseph Holt Jill Friemark Dan Krall (season 1)
Voices of	Janice Kawaye Candi Milo Chad Doreck Audrey Wasilewski Quinton Flynn Moira Quirk Cree Summer Eartha Kitt
Theme music composer	Peter Lurye
Composer(s)	James L. Venable Paul Dinletir
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	40 (76 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Rob Renzetti Fred Seibert
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	Frederator Studios Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Original release	August 1, 2003 (2003-08-01) – September 9, 2005 (2005-09-09)
Chronology
Related shows	Oh Yeah! Cartoons

My Life as a Teenage Robot is a fun American animated TV show. It mixes science fiction, superhero action, and comedy. Rob Renzetti created the series for Nickelodeon.

The show was made by Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It takes place in a made-up town called Tremorton. The story is about a robot super-heroine named XJ-9. She prefers to be called Jenny.

Jenny tries to balance two very different lives. She protects Earth from dangers. At the same time, she wants to live a normal life as a teenage girl.

Rob Renzetti first showed the idea for the series on Oh Yeah! Cartoons. This was a show that featured animated shorts. The pilot episode was called "My Neighbor Was a Teenage Robot". It aired on December 4, 1999.

Viewers really liked the pilot. So, Nickelodeon decided to make it into a full series. The show officially started on August 1, 2003. After two seasons, the show was cancelled on October 17, 2005. The third season was already finished. It later aired on Nickelodeon's sister channel, Nicktoons. This happened from October 4, 2008, to May 2, 2009. The series has three seasons in total. Each season has about 13 or 14 episodes.

Meet Jenny and Her Friends

My Life as a Teenage Robot is set in the town of Tremorton. The show often makes lighthearted fun of typical teenage problems. It also plays with common ideas from superhero stories.

The main character is XJ-9, or "Jenny Wakeman." She is voiced by Janice Kawaye. Jenny is a very advanced sentient gynoid robot girl. Her mother, Dr. Nora Wakeman, created her five years before the show began. Dr. Wakeman (voiced by Candi Milo) is an older robotics scientist.

Jenny is Earth's protector. She has many weapons and gadgets. But all she really wants is to live like a normal teenager. She was not the first robot her mom made. There were eight earlier models, XJs 1-8. You can see them in the season 1 episode "Sibling Tsunami."

Jenny's Human Friends

Jenny's best friends are her neighbors, Brad and Tuck Carbunkle. Brad is voiced by Chad Doreck. He is outgoing and loves adventure. Brad is the first human friend Jenny ever makes.

Tuck Carbunkle is Brad's younger brother. He is voiced by Audrey Wasilewski. Tuck is a bit wild and usually joins in on adventures.

Another friend is Sheldon Lee, voiced by Quinton Flynn. Sheldon is a bit of a stereotypical nerd. He is very obsessed with Jenny and tries to win her over. Jenny often turns down his romantic advances. But she still cares about him as a friend.

School Life and Robot Enemies

At high school, Jenny often has problems with the Crust cousins. These are Brit (voiced by Moira Quirk) and Tiff (voiced by Cree Summer). They are the popular girls at school.

Dr. Wakeman tries hard to control Jenny. She wants Jenny to focus on protecting Earth. But Jenny often gets distracted by her desire for a normal life.

Adding to Jenny's troubles is the Cluster Empire. This is an all-robot empire. Their queen, Vexus (voiced by Eartha Kitt), wants Jenny to join them. She will even use force if needed. Sometimes, Commander Smytus (voiced by Steve Blum) or Krackus (voiced by Jim Ward) also try to get Jenny to join.

Despite all these challenges, Jenny tries her best to live a mostly human life.

The Cluster Empire's Secret

In the special episode, "Escape from Cluster Prime," we learn something surprising. The alien planet of the Cluster Empire is actually a peaceful paradise for robots. It's also revealed that Vexus has lied about Jenny. She made Jenny seem like a villain. Vexus claimed Jenny destroyed parts that let robots transform. But Vexus actually hid these parts herself to control her robot population.

Main Characters of the Show

• Jennifer "Jenny" Wakeman (also known as Robotic Global Response Unit Model No. XJ-9) is the main character. She is voiced by Janice Kawaye. Jenny is a humanoid gynoid created by Dr. Noreen Wakeman. She was built five years before the series begins. Jenny was designed to protect Earth with many weapons and transformations. But she really wants to live like a normal teenager. Jenny is usually kind, friendly, and optimistic. However, she can also be a bit naive.
• Dr. Noreen "Nora" Wakeman (voiced by Candi Milo) is an older scientist. She built Jenny and the other XJ robots. Jenny and her sisters often call her "Mother" or "Mom."
• Bradley "Brad" Carbunkle (voiced by Chad Doreck) is Tuck's older brother. He is Jenny's best friend and next-door neighbor. Brad is outgoing and loves adventure. He was Jenny's very first human friend.
• Tucker "Tuck" Cornelius Carbunkle (voiced by Audrey Wasilewski) is Brad's younger brother. He often tags along with Brad and Jenny. However, he is not as adventurous as Brad.
• Sheldon Oswald Lee (voiced by Quinton Flynn) is Jenny's self-proclaimed admirer and friend. Jenny does not return his romantic feelings. But she still considers him a close friend. Sheldon is good with robots. He often creates gadgets and modifications for Jenny. These are usually very big and fancy. He also does small repair jobs for her. Sometimes, he pretends to be a robot superhero called the "Silver Shell."

How the Show Was Made

Rob Renzetti used to work at Cartoon Network. He then moved to Nickelodeon to create his own ideas. This was part of Fred Seibert's and Frederator Studios' Oh Yeah! Cartoons project. At Nickelodeon, he developed a pilot episode called "My Neighbor Was a Teenage Robot." This pilot became the basis for the series.

After working on other shows like Family Guy and The Powerpuff Girls, Renzetti came back to Nickelodeon. He then started working on the Teenage Robot series.

From Idea to Series

Renzetti made 11 short cartoons for Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Five of these were about characters named Mina and the Count. These shorts followed a lively little girl and her vampire best friend. Renzetti hoped these characters would get their own series. But Nickelodeon decided not to pick up that idea.

There was an empty spot where the sixth Mina short was supposed to go. So, Fred Seibert asked Renzetti to come up with three new ideas. One of these ideas was about a teenage girl whose boyfriend was a robot. After thinking more, Renzetti combined the two characters. He created Jenny, a robot with the personality of a teenage girl.

In March 2002, Nickelodeon ordered 13 episodes of the series. The show was first called "My Neighbor Was a Teenage Robot." Later, it was given its final title, My Life as a Teenage Robot.

Show's End and Reruns

The show's team announced on their blog on October 17, 2005, that the show was cancelled. They said the third season would be the last. They explained that "The executives love the show but the ratings aren't good enough for them to give us more episodes." Production for the series finished in April 2006.

After the show was cancelled, Renzetti went back to Cartoon Network Studios. He worked on shows like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Later, he moved to the Disney Channel. There, he became a supervising producer for Gravity Falls. The third season of My Life as a Teenage Robot aired on Nicktoons from October 2008 to May 2009. This officially ended the show's broadcast in the United States.

Where to Watch It Now

Nickelodeon first showed My Life as a Teenage Robot on August 1, 2003. It aired at 8:30 PM EST. The show was part of Nickelodeon's Friday night cartoon block in Fall 2003. It was also briefly part of the TEENick lineup in 2004 and 2005. The first season ended on February 27, 2004.

The second season started on December 8, 2004, with a Christmas episode. A special 48-minute TV movie, "Escape from Cluster Prime," aired in the second season. This movie was even nominated for an Emmy award in 2006.

Even after the series was cancelled, reruns continued to air on Nicktoons. They stopped on April 14, 2013. However, reruns started again on December 13, 2015, and lasted until May 15, 2016. From March 2021 to January 2022, reruns also aired on TeenNick during its NickRewind block.

As of 2021, you can stream the entire series on Paramount+.

DVD Releases

Some episodes were released on "Nick Picks" DVD collections. These included "See No Evil," "The Great Unwashed," and "A Robot For All Seasons." As of December 12, 2011, all three seasons were available on DVD. These were sold exclusively on Amazon.com in Region 1. The complete series was also released on six discs in Australia on February 5, 2012.

Other Appearances

Jenny has appeared in several video games. She was a playable character in the PlayStation 2/Wii and Nintendo DS versions of Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots. Janice Kawaye returned to voice her.

Jenny also appears as a playable character in other games. These include the mobile game Nickelodeon Super Brawl Universe and the fighting game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. She is also in its sequel, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. You can also play as her in the kart racing game Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway. In this game, Vexus appears as a Chief power-up. Janice Kawaye voiced Jenny in these last three games as well. Jenny even appeared as a character skin in the video game Smite during an event in July 2022.

As of 2023, the show's creator, Rob Renzetti, has been publishing a web story based on the series. He shares it in his personal newsletter. The story was written by Renzetti, Steven Michael Burns, and Donovan Patton. The first illustrations were by Alex Kirwan, the show's art director. Later, storyboard artist Heather Martinez did the illustrations. The first chapter came out on August 1, 2023. This was to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary.

Images for kids

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  A robot like Jenny

See also

• Astro Boy – A Japanese manga series about an android main character.