PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Connecticut in real life seems to be either really poor and downtrodden, or ridiculously wealthy and stratospherically priced, at least in my opinion. Sheltered Shrubs, with the exception of the upscale Protected Pines neighborhood, seems to be a legit middle-class community. It is implied in one episode that New York City is no more than a few hours away (likely closer since Sheltered Shrubs seems to be modeled after the real-life Old Greenwich, Connecticut). The presence of older vehicles is more than likely based on what the animators chose to draw rather than the inability of the characters to afford nicer, newer vehicles...

Lois Foutley's vehicle for the entire series is a late 1970s Volkswagen Beetle that she bought new, and her ex-husband drives a really old pickup truck; The Bishop family's conversion van strongly resembles a 1979-1991 Ford E150; The Gripling family owns at least two Rolls-Royce motorcars, one of which is a stretch limousine; Lucky Junior High principal Milty drives a 1970s-1980s wood-paneled station wagon that resembles a Ford Country Squire; Dr. Dave drives a generic early 2000s 4-door luxury sedan; a generically drawn 1990s police car is prominently featured in the pilot episode.

Considering that my aunt and uncle are very successful, and the family vehicle from 1986 to 1997 was an '86 Plymouth Voyager that they bought new, a 9+ year old conversion van for the Bishop family makes sense. My dad drove his 1996 Pathfinder regularly for 9 years until he treated himself to a 2003 Honda S2000 in 2005, and replaced that with a 2002 BMW 325Ci in 2006. The Pathfinder was driven when he needed 4-wheel drive, which is why it had relatively low miles for its age when we traded it for the Tacoma.

 

I don't even like seeing snow in a cartoon setting, lol.

 

Also, one fairly well-known fact is that Courtney Gripling was supposed to end up having a crush a on Ginger Foutley, but network executives shelved the idea for unknown reasons. Having re-watched the series extensively over the last few days, it actually makes sense to me that Courtney could be a closeted bisexual or lesbian, based on her mannerisms throughout the series. She is always fascinated, and at times even obsessed, with Ginger throughout the series. She is only 12-14 for the duration of the series, and likely doesn't understand her feelings...

I am 99% sure that Ginger is straight. At the end of the series finale, she is shown to have married her longtime childhood friend Darren Patterson and had a baby girl with him. Darren is black, and Ginger is a redhead. The final scene is shown to be in a book shop; Ginger is a successful author who has written a collection of short stories about her youth, called what else but As Told By Ginger, and is reading it to an audience consisting of her friends and family members. Darren is in the audience, holding a darker-skinned redheaded baby girl. Courtney Gripling and her best friend Miranda Killgallen are not shown in the audience. I have read a fanfiction where the author paired Courtney and Miranda together as a lesbian couple, albeit having been broken up for many years prior to this non-canon storyline.

As a straight guy, I am probably the worst possible person to assess the thoughts and feelings of a lesbian, or even a straight woman for that matter; However, I am 99% sure that Miranda, like Ginger, is also straight. Courtney never shows any obvious romantic interest in Ginger or any other female classmates, but she is very interested in Ginger and often downright obsessed with Ginger throughout the series.

The way I see it, in the untold story line, Courtney and Ginger probably explored their feelings for one another when they were in their late teens or early twenties. but Ginger ultimately ended up marrying Darren; I know several straight girls who hooked up with other girls in various ways when they were younger, due to unresolved feelings and/or being intoxicated. Despite her obsession with Ginger, Courtney does show interest in boys. In my opinion, I think that Courtney Gripling was/is bisexual. There is currently a cartoon on Nickelodeon called Loud House that prominently features a same-sex couple. I honestly think it's great, but that's just my opinion. There was also the episode of animated series Arthur that featured the kids' 3rd grade teacher marrying another man. Again, I have a few gay friends and I am very strongly in favor of gay rights.

So yeah, if there was to be an official storyline between Lois and Dr. Dave's wedding, and the future scene where they're all gathered in a bookshop and I were in charge of writing it, I'd do the following:

• Ginger and Courtney have a brief romantic relationship when they are between the ages of 18 and 25, but Ginger still ends up marrying Darren Patterson.
• Courtney also ends up marrying a guy, possibly Darren's older brother Will.
  
• Hoodsey dates numerous women between high school and the start of college, but ends up with Ginger's friend Macie (it is actually shown in a season 1 episode that Hoodsey has feeling for Macie; Hoodsey is only two or three years younger than Macie, so this relationship could work; Hoodsey and Macie are seen together in the final scene of the series finale).
• Carl's girlfriend/wife is NOT seen in the final scene, but he probably ends up marrying his middle school crush, Noel Sussman.
• I could honestly see Courtney's younger brother Blake marrying Miranda, even though Miranda is about six years older than Blake, and starting a family. That would be an ironic twist of fate.

 

Did your girlfriend's kids ever watch this show? Some people might liken it to an animated soap opera, but I am a straight guy and I will shamelessly admit that I absolutely love the show now as much as I did if not more than I did when I was in middle school; The series debuted on Nickelodeon less than two months after I started 6th grade.

 

I am not sure if they did or not, the youngest kid is 11 and he does like to watch Nickelodeon.

 

It's been off the original Nickelodeon channel for over a decade!

 

The cars of As Told By Ginger...

Lois Foutley's VW Beetle compared with a real one!

 

The Bishop family's Ford E150 (With some hints of Chevy G20) and it's real-life counterpart!

 

I wasn't aware of that, just knew that he liked that group of channels.

 

Tow truck seen in the opening credits; Looks like a combination of a Studebaker Champ and a Jeep Gladiator...

 

The Gripling family Rolls-Royce...




I think that the Gripling car most closely resembles a 1977-1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II, as poorly drawn as it is...

 

The Lightfoot family's Range Rover...




Which looks like this toy (as pointed out to me by another member on IMCDb when I started the ATBG vehicle page back in 2016)...




But, is actually is probably one of these...

 

The Griplings' new limousine...




I previously said I though the new Gripling limousine was a bespoke 1998-2002 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph with a hint of 1981-1985 Cadillac Seville and 1981-1983 Chrysler Imperial; I am sorry to say this, but I think it looks more like an Excalibur...

 

There are exceptions to the rule where I actually like Excaliburs though...






Kinda looks like Cruella DeVil's car...

 

@shakerhood

Like this post if you loved 101 Dalmatians as a kid, and fast-forward to about 1:49 in the video to see Cruella DeVil handle a manual transmission like a boss!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei-2hZTmDpk

 

Seeing her handle a manual transmission like that almost allows me to see past the fact that she was really a sociopathic bitch who almost murdered 99 innocent Dalmatian puppies!

 

That yellow car in the background of the ATBG screenshot is totally a BMW 2002...

 

@shakerhood

I think my car pictures are attracting some new viewers!

 

You gotta like that!

 

In 2003, one of my middle schools teachers had a black 2000 Acura TL and an old red VW Beetle convertible; One day, she decided to drive the Bug to school. She got in the car, but before she could even start it she literally put her foot through the floor and unintentionally created her own Flintmobile! Damn rust; She did get the car fixed though!