The Three Friends and Jerry

The Three Friends and Jerry (Swedish: De tre vännerna och Jerry) is a children's animated television series produced by Happy Life and TMO Film GmbH (Germany) in association with Nickelodeon UK and Nickelodeon Germany. The show was created by the Swedish illustrator Magnus Carlsson.[3]

The Three Friends and Jerry
The main cast of The Three Friends and Jerry. From left to right: Frank, Eric, Thomas, Jerry, Linda, Mimmi, and Tess.
GenreSitcom
Animation
Created byMagnus Carlsson
ComposerDanny Chang
Country of originSweden
Germany
United Kingdom
Original languagesEnglish
Swedish
German
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes39 (90 segments including 1 special)[1]
Production
Executive producersPeter Völke
Peter Gustafsson
Running time22–25 minutes
Production companiesHappy Life
TMO Film GmbH
DistributorHIT Entertainment (Worldwide, except Germany and Scandinavia)[2]
Wavery Entertainment B.V. (Germany)
Release
Original networkSVT (Sweden)
KIKA (Germany)
Nickelodeon (United Kingdom)
Picture formatPAL
Audio formatStereo
Original releaseFebruary 1, 1998 (1998-02-01) –
1999 (1999)

HIT Entertainment distributes the series internationally[2] and is listed in the end credits. When HIT Entertainment partnered to launch PBS Kids Sprout in 2005, The Three Friends and Jerry was made available on Sprout on Demand.[4]

Plot

Jerry is the new kid in town who does not fit with any of his classmates. This show follows his best attempts to join the 'Three Friends' - Thomas, Eric, and their leader Frank - who do not want him to be part of their group but still let him hang out with them. The friends are often joined by three of their girl classmates: Linda, Mimmi, and Tess.

The setting of the series is left unclear, but the houses and architecture in the series look European, suggesting a location in Europe.

Characters

Main
  • Jerry is the new kid in town, who has blond hair and buck teeth. He is a calm and bright boy with a head full of ideas. He desperately wants to join the eponymous Three Friends, but they do not see him as part of their group.
  • Frank is the leader of the Three Friends. He is a bald-headed boy who wears a blue T-shirt with a yellow number 1. The polar opposite to Jerry, Frank is nervous and cunning. Due to his appearance, he is seen as the ugliest boy in school. He ineffectively tries to win the heart of the leader of the girl gang – Linda – despite the fact they are actually cousins.
  • Thomas is a boy with a red hoodie, never seen without his big green cap. He is dominated by Frank and normally takes his side. Thomas is a very good artist, but he is self-conscious and feels that he needs to hide his creative nature.
  • Eric is a boy with chin-length blond hair and a green T-shirt. He loves football and is the best sports player in the school. Just like Thomas, Eric is dominated by Frank.
  • Linda is the leader of the girl gang who sometimes acts like a spoiled brat and uses strong language. She is a bit tougher and a little more mature than her two friends, Mimmi and Tess. Linda is also Frank's cousin.
  • Mimmi is an Asian girl who lives next door to Linda and has a swimming pool in her garden. She wears a blue dress with a smiley face symbol. Her adoptive father has his own business and lots of money. Mimmi considers her wealth as her main asset.
  • Tess - a short and shy girl who tends to blindly follow Linda. Tess's older brother, Tony, is a cool teenager who drives her to school on his moped. Tess has short blonde hair and wears a white shirt, purple skirt, and green shoes.

Minor
  • The Teacher teaches Jerry's class. She always has unshaven legs. The Three Friends and Jerry often try to send her into space so they will not have any lessons.
  • The PE Teacher is Jerry's bad-tempered father. He tends to act very loud with the Three Friends and his son, but he has a good heart and intentions. He has red hair and an athletic and muscular body. He lives in a one-floor house with his wife and son.
  • Jerry's mother is the PE Teacher's wife. She has a caring and calm personality. Jerry inherited his looks and personality from her.
  • Roy Johnson is Mimmi's adoptive father and the wealthiest person in the town. He runs the shop at Carlsonville.
  • Monica is an attractive brunette who works at Roy's shop. She is also Tony's girlfriend.
  • Tony is a heavy metal guitarist, Tess' 16-year-old brother and Monica's boyfriend.
  • Dick Priest keeps an eye on the town. As a priest, he works in the church. Despite campaigning against everything immoral, he is revealed to be a fan of metal music and horror movies.
  • Mr and Mrs. Ingrid Bertwhistle are Jerry's neighbours. Mr. Bertwhistle is a grumpy man obsessed with contacting extraterrestrials. The boys like him to some degree, but he does not fare well with Jerry's father.
  • Oscar is a local bum whom everybody in the town is afraid of. Several years ago, he was a wealthy and respected person. Everything changed when, while being a beauty contest juror, he mistakenly gave the first place to Jerry, when Roy previously bribed him to make his daughter Mimmi win. After losing his wealth, he lives in an old shack.

Production

The Three Friends and Jerry was produced by Happy Life (Sweden) and TMO Film GmbH (Germany) in association with Nickelodeon UK and Nickelodeon Germany.[5] Internationally, the series was distributed by HIT Entertainment.[2]

In an interview from late 2020, Magnus Carlsson revealed many things about the development of the series.[6] Carlsson first drew the characters around 1993 or 1994, and he later made an animated short starring the characters getting into trouble with drinking. When it was not picked up, he decided to retool the show to be more family-friendly, with him basing the main characters on actual friends he knew growing up (with Thomas being based on himself). When asked about questionable content in the show, Carlsson said that it was never a big deal or problem in Sweden.

The main characters' long foreheads were inspired by the film “Coneheads”.

He also initially wanted the theme song to be a reggae song but it was changed.

Telecast and home media

The show was originally aired in the United Kingdom on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons, with reruns remaining until 2010, mainly to fulfill European content guidelines.

In Germany, the show was planned to air on Nickelodeon Germany, and Nickelodeon Germany is listed in the first few episodes' credits. However, the original incarnation of Nick Germany shut down in mid-1998. As a result, the show would instead air on KIKA.[7] The show later repeated on Fox Kids/Jetix/Disney XD until late-2009, and ProSieben MAXX from 2013 until 2014[8])

In the U.S., the show initially aired from 1998 until 2001 on the Fox Family Channel.[9] In 2005, the show's distributor, HIT Entertainment, partnered to launch the PBS Kids Sprout channel. The Three Friends and Jerry was made available on Sprout on Demand[4] until late 2006.

In Canada, the show aired on YTV,[10] and in Australia, it aired on Nickelodeon.[11] It also aired on NCRV in the Netherlands,[12] Nickelodeon in Latin America and Boing in Spain, 2x2 in Russia, Premiere Austria in Austria,[13] and Arutz HaYeladim in Israel.

In the late 1990s-2000s, the show was released on videotapes and DVDs internationally, but never released in North America.

Segments
# Segment Title Summary
1 Kissing Linda When Linda's parents are away for a weekend, Linda must stay at Frank's and Frank tries to kiss her.
2 Bank Robbery The Three Friends and Jerry are framed by the police to be the children gang, after the real gang robbed the bank.
3 Ant Hill After having the accident at the ant hill, Frank seeks revenge on the ants and seeks Thomas and Eric's help in destroying the ants.
4 UFO-Spotting Frank is abducted by the aliens and controlled. Thomas, Eric and Jerry must save Frank before it's too late.
5 Brake Slamming Frank is happy with his new bike, which has pedal brakes.
6 The Circus While on a trip around the circus, Jerry accidentally brakes free two ostriches. Can he and the Three Friends bring the ostriches back to the circus before the performance starts?
7 Work Experience The Three Friends get lost inside the forest.
8 Barking Up The Wrong Tree The Three Friends and Jerry become stars of TV.
9 The Beauty Contest Linda and her mother watch a film of the beauty contest in which Linda loses.
10 Stars in Your Eyes The Three Friends and Jerry pretend to be a scary rock band called Dog Sun for the music contest, but they're unaware this is with a nice music.
11 Fashion The Three Friends and Jerry try to be cool.
12 The Snowball Fight After The Three Friends and Jerry accidentally crashed Oscar's house, Jerry must bring Oscar to his house, while The Three Friends must rebuild the house. Can Jerry hide Oscar from his parents?
13 Ice Hockey The Three Friends and Jerry and the girls are having an ice hockey match. Who will win?
14 My Friend is An Ant Jerry tries to save his little ant from the clutches of Arthur in the museum of the Earth's history.
15 Neat and Tidy Frank's mother orders Frank to be neat and tidy for the rest of the day and he will earn ten dollars. Can he be neat and tidy for the rest of the day?
16 Tony's Party The Three Friends and Jerry disguise themselves as teens in order to get into Tony's party.
17 The Fishing Trip The Three Friends and Jerry and the girls go on a fishing trip.
18 Carol Singing The Three Friends and Jerry sing songs for Christmas.
19 South Sea Frank has a terrible dream of himself with Thomas, Eric, and Jerry at a tropical island which turns out to be surrounded by natives who are cannibalistic.
20 The Club House Jerry must take three tests to become a teammate of The Three Friends.
21 The Forging Machine Jerry creates a machine what will create money.
22 Cowboys While The Three Friends and the girls are out horseriding, Jerry accidentally breaks the teacher's cup.
23 The Delivery Jerry becomes a delivery boy.
24 Old People's Party The class of the Three Friends and Jerry makes a party for the elder people.
25 Scientists 'R' Us The Three Friends seek Jerry's help to win the radio quiz "Scientists 'R' Us".
26 Camping The Three Friends and Jerry are go camping at Thomas' garden.
27 Boomerang Frank tries to learn how to toss a boomerang.
28 Frightening Fifth Form Frank is frightened of the blood handed teen.
29 Jerry's Lucky Day Jerry is having a lucky day.
30 Catch the Girl The Three Friends and Jerry are worried about a prisoner named Jimmy.
31 The Flea Market Jerry sells his aunt's vase to an old lady.
32 Head Lice Jerry puts little ants on his and The Three Friends' heads to pretend they have head lice.
33 Supermarket While out shopping with their parents, The Three Friends and Jerry have a ski race in the supermarket's chill room.
34 Country Cousin Frank's cousin comes to town.
35 Secret Mission Frank, Eric and Jerry try to follow Thomas to discover his secret.
36 Hackers Ahmet Ben Party and his family and friends find themselves on Carlsonville.
37 The Moose Hunt A moose arrives at Frank's house.
38 Cheat and Curse An evil fairy puts the curse on The Three Friends and Jerry.
39 The Rodent Exhibition The Three Friends and Jerry take Jerry's father's African instruments for the school performance.
40 Museum The 3 Friends and Jerry go on a field trip to the museum in the big city.
41 Martial Arts Frank takes martial art classes to help him face up against a bully.
42 Costume Party
43 Christmas Party
44 Babysitting
45 Romeo & Juliet
46 Caretaker
47 Tv Gossip
48 Triplets A triplet arrives in town from New-Zealand who quickly befriends The Three Friends.
49 Girls Clothes Today is Eric’s birthday. When he, Frank, Jerry & Thomas goes out for a swim in a pond a goat appears who eats all of their clothes. With Jerry tasked to find something for them and himself to wear, they come across bags containing girly clothing, while they doesn’t know it belongs to Linda, Mimmi & Tess who also took photos of them naked.
50 Survival Camp
51 Visitors From Outer Space
52 Stray Dog
53 The Substitute
54 Green Thumbs
55 The Lost Ark
56 Jazz Prodigy
57 Pen Pal
58 Family Matters
59 Wooing for Beginners
60 Glasses
61 Genie in the Glass
62 Forbidden Fruit
63 Traffic Sense
64 Miss Jerry The Three Friends blackmail Jerry into entering a beauty contest disguised as a girl.
65 Junior Show
66 Super Model
67 Our Son Is An Ostrich
68 Age Limit
69 Garden Party
70 Snowman
71 Sewergators
72 The Move
73 Dance Mania
74 Archaeological Dig
75 Jacket III
76 Veteran Rock
77 Spring Feelings
78 Cockatoo
79 Judgement Day
80 Curing Phobias
81 Sleepwalker
82 School Paper
83 Record Cake
84 Miracle Cream
85 Swimming Teacher
86 Magic Tricks
87 Frog Collection
88 Night Owl
89 Olympic Games
90 Secret Box

References
  1. Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 312. ISBN 9781476672939.
  2. "Archived copy". www.hitentertainment.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2002. Retrieved 22 February 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Timo Kangas (8 March 2008). "Animerad rättstvist för glatta livet". Realtid. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  4. PBS article about Three Friends and Jerry joining Sprout on Demand
  5. "The Three Friends ...And Jerry". 4 April 2011.
  6. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Late Night Morning Wood - #03 - Magnus Carlsson (Three Friends and Jerry, Robin, Da Möb)". YouTube.
  7. "Drei Freunde… und Jerry: Sendetermine KiKA".
  8. "Drei Freunde… und Jerry: Sendetermine ProSieben MAXX".
  9. "Q: Which of These is Out of Place?: 'Mr. Bill,' 'The 700 Club,' 'Pee-Wee's Playhouse' : A: None. ." Los Angeles Times. 15 August 1998.
  10. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "YTV 3 Friends and Jerry Commercial 1999". YouTube.
  11. "2001 promo for the Three Friends and Jerry". 2001.
  12. "Kijkwijzer classificatie van 3 vrienden en Jerry - kijkwijzer.nl".
  13. "Drei Freunde… und Jerry: Sendetermine Premiere Austria".
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