History YMMV / AsToldByGinger

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: After about 15 years, the fact that the show's run was in the early to mid-2000s becomes more and more eapparent, with mentions of stuff like VHS-tapes and players, scrunchies, pagers, Carl and Hoodseys' few attempts to achieve pre-Website/YouTube fame along with the hairstyles and clothing worn by many of the characters, especially Courtney's hair and wardrobe along with Ginger wearing boho-style girly clothing, cargo pants, and baggy jeans (pre-skinny jeans and jeggings). The episode "The Right Stuff" featured a banner for a science fair proclaiming its then-current year: 2000. There is also the Gripling's ostentatious lifestyle (pre-Great Recession) and Mipsy's 13th birthday bash (again pre-recession and more or less similar to ''Series/MySuperSweetSixteen'') and the rich, popular girls all having cell phones (as a sign of their parents' affluence and of being spoiled). Ginger, Dodie, and Macie are often seen having three-way phone conversations through their homes' landlines as this was before online chat services became mainstream. The same can apply to Carl, Hoodsey, and Blake communicating through walkie-talkies. YMMV on Ginger's clothes, though. Given her financial status compared to characters like Courtney and Miranda, she doesn't dress to be stylish--the more boho pieces could be some of her mother's old clothing.

* ValuesResonance: Over two decades later, the series is still praised for dealing with issues that cartoons typically avoid like death or depression. It concerning SlutShaming, having strong AmbiguouslyGay characters, and other such things make it especially popular in today's time. The episode where Dodie becomes the morning speaker and reveals the list of kids who have lice, is especially resonant with issues like doxxing and hacking into private accounts and revealing information like nude photos. It also was set in [[MiddleSchoolIsMiserable middle school]] -- rather than High School, long before many works ''about'' Middle School became popular during TheNewTens.

** "Never Can Say Goodbye" can be interpreted as having Aesops about not jumping to conclusions (Ginger assuming Darren is shunning her based on misunderstandings) and how useless the "silent treatment" actually is.

** Some fans go overboard with the Dodie hate. It's worth noting that the show usually does call her out for her worse actions ("Wicked Game" being the exception, but Macie was just as much to blame in that situation). Usually if she does something overboard, she learns AnAesop and she often does apologise -- and in "Lunatic Lake" she tries to apologise for her mother's treatment of Carl. She does apologise at the end of "Wicked Game" too but the subsequent fallout is never explored. This also ignores many times that Ginger has done bad things to Dodie -- such as her rather mean-spirited April Fool's Day pranks -- but since Ginger is the POV character, the audience can usually see when she regrets it.

* DesignatedVillain: Simone for going after Darren, even though she didn't know he was spoken for, because Dodie didn't just come out and tell her. Notably Simone still tries to buy Ginger gifts when she's hospitalized for appendicitis.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Dodie is the most hated character in the series due to being an AttentionWhore who frequently backstabs Ginger for personal gain despite being her best friend. She's even more hated than Miranda, the AlphaBitch who regularly bullies and blackmails Ginger. Although Miranda is [[HateSink intended to be despised by viewers]], being mistreated [[WithFriendsLikeThese by a friend]] comes off as worse to them since she's one of the [[DesignatedHero quote-on-quote protagonists]]. Plus, Miranda is actually quite funny for being a DeadpanSnarker and surprisingly quotable so that has earned her some favor. While Dodie doesn't anything to earn her favor.

** Creator/MelissaDisney would voice a villainous character named Courtney in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'', whose also an IdolSinger.

** The poem "And Then She Is Gone" is vague. Was the girl depressed and DrivenToSuicide? Is it about a girl who escapes reality through {{escapism}}?

** Darren big time in the latter half of the series. When they get to high school, it's intended as BothSidesHaveAPoint when he and Ginger split up - showing them simply drifting apart. Except for all his insistence that Ginger isn't supportive of his football, she does still go to games and the one she misses is because of Saturday detention (and she's reluctant to tell Darren because she fears he'll jump down her throat about it). It's also easy to forgive Ginger not being 100% attentive, since there was also an episode having her developing a caffeine addiction thanks to her SadistTeacher. Darren also happily flirts with Simone, and it's obvious in "Kiss Today Goodbye" that she doesn't know he has a girlfriend (Orion by contrast knows Ginger has a boyfriend). And once he splits up with Ginger, he's a {{Jerkass}} to her in "Battle of the Bands", and in "The Wedding Frame" is already losing interest in Simone. One can only hope [[spoiler:they got together after he TookALevelInKindness in the future]].

* EarWorm:
** "At Camp Caprice-price-price we don't say mooses we say meese and we feel proud proud proud as we sing our song out loud!"
** "I'm a little seal girl/Living in the real world..."
** "Someone once told me the grass was much greener, on the other side..."
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwFxrCLIbgg The instrumental version of the shows theme song]], played during the end credits, is an ear worm in its own right. The normal theme itself is also catchy.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZiPwwm_ZsA Wrong]]" sung by Kenny Blank (Darren) at the end of the episode Never Can Say Goodbye.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TL-tmO577I Who's the girl in the pink capri? It's Courtney, it's Courtney!]]

* DesignatedHero: '''Dodie'''. You can count this girl's good qualities on one hand. She is incredibly selfish and thinks only of herself, wanting to become popular. There's many times where she sells her own friends out for a chance to become popular. She plans to publicly humiliate Courtney when she finds out she has lice, she plots to break up Ginger and Darren, and when she can't go to one of Ginger's parties she wants Ginger to cancel it. And when Carl and Hoodsey go missing on the camping trip, she runs Carl down left and right in front of his sister.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Lois rarely gets plots that don't revolve around her children, but she's a great example of a good parent who can still be lots of fun at the same time. Half the funny moments are provided by her. What's more is that she's fully accepting of Carl's eccentricities as long as he's not hurting anyone.
* EsotericHappyEnding: In "Of Lice And Men", Ginger manages to cut off the school announcement before Dodie outs Courtney for having lice... but several other students weren't so lucky, but because they are random background characters it's not treated as important.

* ValuesResonance: Over two decades later the series is still praised for dealing with issues that cartoons typically avoid like death or depression. It concerning SlutShaming, having strong AmbiguouslyGay characters, and other such things make it especially popular in today's time. The episode where Dodie becomes the morning speaker and reveals the list of kids who have lice, is especially resonant with issues like doxxing and hacking into private accounts and revealing information like nude photos. It also was set in [[MiddleSchoolIsMiserable middle school]] - rather than High School, long before many works ''about'' Middle School became popular during TheNewTens.

** It's possible that Mrs Gordon just despises Carl and Hoodsey, but it's also possible that she could have a fondness for them in a {{Tsundere}} way. Notably she allows Carl to call her 'Gordo' and addresses Hoodsey by his nickname a few times. Her final episode has her deciding to return to teaching after Carl begs her to - and she ''would'' have [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim if not for her voice actress's untimely death]].

** Dodie appears to be very insecure and have massive abandonment issues. Her attempts at becoming popular could stem from wanting to have as many friends as possible - so she's not left alone. Whenever something changes in their dynamic, Dodie's first thought is to how it'll affect ''her''. Big examples are Ginger discovering she's Jewish, the party that she can't go to and Darren being brought along to their summer fair tradition.

* BizarroEpisode: The infamous "Wicked Game" - which both Dodie and Macie rather inexplicably decide to team with Miranda and Mipsy to split up Ginger and Darren. Not only is it completely out of character for Macie to do such a thing, it's arguably so for Dodie as well; while often being portrayed as quick to do anything for popularity, Dodie had always stopped short of actually hurting her friends (and if she did, she soon realised the error of her ways). Notably the show seems to act as if this episode never happened.

** Ginger standing up to Joann in "Lunatic Lake" after the latter spent the entire episode being shrill bitch definitely counts - especially since she finally loses her temper with Joann when she starts [[BigBrotherInstinct badmouthing Carl in front of her.]] Macie throwing a bunch of maple syrup all over her also felt quite cathartic.

** Courtney's reputation is nearly ruined when she gets headlice, but she's saved at the last minute. We see in "No Hope For Courtney" just what that could have been like - and even Miranda abandoned her for the new clique.

** The show also predates ''Film/MeanGirls'' by about four years. Given Dodie's pathetic grasps for popularity, it's easy to see her as a proto-Gretchen - and it suggests that her insecurities would not go away by being in the clique. And in both, the protagonist is a red-haired girl singled out by a popular blonde.
** Miranda initially tried to set Ginger up with Darren so she could have Ian all to herself - then later on, Darren gets his braces removed and all the girls [[SheIsAllGrownUp suddenly notice how attractive he's become]] and ''Miranda'' ends up dating Darren. They break up, but do on fairly amicable terms, all things considered.

** The final scene depicts Ginger apparently telling stories from her childhood and teenage years in the form of a book - called [[TitleDrop As Told By Ginger]]. This predated the rise of "Animated storytime" channels on [=YouTube=], books like ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', the rise of middle-grade fiction about [[MiddleSchoolIsMiserable Middle School]], but ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' also ended in a similar way.

''[she makes a sympathetic face for a second]''\\

--->'''Macie:''' ''[to Ginger and Dodie while wearing the Little Seal Girl costume]'' Do I look like a girl who's concerned with what's cool?

--->'''Lois:''' GINJAAAAAH! ''[slams the photos on the table demanding an explanation]''

** Ginger's Copper-Colored Ponies song. It's without a doubt corny, and should have been completely cringeworthy. And yet, the context of singing in front of a camp with dozens of kids you know watching and her obvious embarrassment makes the whole scene very endearing. And just sort of... works. Courtney later refers to it as "nauseating".

** Dodie has been forgiven for a lot of things but her behavior in "Wicked Game" - trying to split Ginger and Darren up - makes her irredeemable to most viewers. Closely followed by her attempts to humiliate her fellow students in "Of Lice and Friends", and demanding Ginger cancel a party just because she can't go in "The Easter Ham". Those three incidents are notable because, while she does get called out on her behaviour, she never actually acknowledges that she was wrong.

** Some fans go overboard with the Dodie hate. It's worth noting that the show usually does call her out for her worse actions ("Wicked Game" being the exception, but Macie was just as much to blame in that situation). Usually if she does something overboard, she learns AnAesop and she often does apologise - and in "Lunatic Lake" she tries to apologise for her mother's treatment of Carl. She does apologise at the end of "Wicked Game" too but the subsequent fallout is never explored. This also ignores many times that Ginger has done bad things to Dodie - such as her rather mean-spirited April Fool's Day pranks - but since Ginger is the POV character, the audience can usually see when she regrets it.

** Dodie is widely disliked by fans but she does get her comeuppance numerous times - getting hit with a football, Macie accidentally punching her in the face, and usually getting called out for her worse deeds.

** Lois in "Kiss and Make-Up" and "Cry Wolf". Both times she forbids Ginger from either wearing makeup or shaving her legs. The former is a harsh move, since Ginger and the girls don't want to start doing it full time and only want to wear it for their school pictures - and Lois's reasoning of not wanting her to grow up too fast falls rather flat. Then for the latter, she has no good reason to prevent Ginger from shaving.

** Brandon in "The Easter Ham". He's working ''for'' Carl and Hoodsey in the beginning, and doesn't listen to their feedback or direction - making him come across as ThePrimadonna for not being willing to tone his act down.
** Darren big time in the latter half of the series. When they get to high school, it's intended as BothSidesHaveAPoint when he and Ginger split up - showing them simply drifting apart. Except for all his insistence that Ginger isn't supportive of his football, she does still go to games and the one she misses is because of Saturday detention (and she's reluctant to tell Darren because she fears he'll jump down her throat about it). It's also easy to forgive Ginger not being 100% attentive, since there was also an episode having her developing a caffeine addiction thanks to her SadistTeacher. Darren also happily flirts with Simone, and it's obvious in "Kiss Today Goodbye" that she doesn't know he has a girlfriend (Orion by contrast knows Ginger has a boyfriend). And once he splits up with Ginger, he's a {{Jerkass}} to her in "Battle of the Bands", and in "The Wedding Frame" is already losing interest in Simone. One can only hope [[spoiler: they got together after he TookALevelInKindness in the future]].

** Hope Rogers giving herself a makeover to become popular does help get everyone's attention, but her old look with the beret and side part was still quite cute - and the haircut she gives herself would later become identified with snobby middle-aged women.
* ValuesDissonance: The big twist in "The Wedding Frame" is that Nikki [[spoiler: is a cross dresser]], which is depicted as even worse than the fact that she was hired to sabotage Lois and Dave. This plays on a number of tropes that have not aged well regarding [[spoiler: trans women - such as CreepyCrossdresser, UnsettlingGenderReveal and that all trans women are deceptive and disgusting]].

** One episode has Macie's parents forget her birthday - and while Macie schedules an appointment with them to talk to them it will end up in July. Ginger, upon hearing this, gets angry and ''walks right on into a private session'' to call Macie's parents out on their misdeed. This can easily be interpreted both as "You sometimes have to break the rules/make a scene to do what's right" but also "Sometimes people need a little help to stand up for themselves", as Macie's parents would have presumably gone weeks or even ''months'' without realising their mistake had Ginger ''not'' busted in on them with a patient.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The end of "Wicked Game" is never followed up on. Ginger discovers that Dodie and Macie took part in a scheme by Miranda and Mipsy to sabotage her relationship with Darren. It looks like it'll be a two-part episode, but no other episodes continue on from it. The plots examining Dodie and Macie's reasons for taking part, and Courtney's disillusionment with Miranda and Mipsy, are never explored.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Dodie is the most hated character on the show due to being a selfish AttentionWhore who frequently betrays Ginger despite being her best friend. She's even more hated than Miranda, the AlphaBitch who regularly bullies and blackmails Ginger. Although Miranda is [[HateSink intended to be despised by viewers]], being mistreated [[WithFriendsLikeThese by a friend]] comes off as worse to them since she's one of the [[DesignatedHero quote-on-quote protagonists]]. Plus, Miranda is actually quite funny for being a DeadpanSnarker and surprisingly quotable so that has earned her some favor. While Dodie doesn't anything to earn her favor.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Dodie is the most hated character on the show due to being a selfish AttentionWhore who frequently betrays Ginger despite being her best friend. She's much more hated than Miranda, the AlphaBitch who regularly bullies and blackmails Ginger. Miranda is already [[HateSink supposed to be despised]], but being mistreated [[WithFriendsLikeThese by a friend]] comes off as even worse to the viewers. Plus, Miranda is actually quite funny for being a DeadpanSnarker and surprisingly quotable so that has earned her some favor. While Dodie doesn't anything to earn her favor.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Dodie is the most hated character on the show due to being a selfish AttentionWhore who frequently betrays Ginger despite being her best friend. She's much more hated than Miranda, the antagonist who regularly bullies and blackmails Ginger. Miranda is already [[HateSink supposed to be despised]], but being mistreated [[WithFriendsLikeThese by a friend]] comes off as even worse to the viewers. Plus, Miranda is actually quite funny for being a DeadpanSnarker and surprisingly quotable so that has earned her some favor. While Dodie doesn't anything to earn her favor.

** Dodie has been forgiven for a lot of things but her behaviour in "Wicked Game" - trying to split Ginger and Darren up - makes her irredeemable to most viewers. Closely followed by her attempts to humiliate her fellow students in "Of Lice and Friends", and demanding Ginger cancel a party just because she can't go in "The Easter Ham". Those three incidents are notable because, while she does get called out on her behaviour, she never actually acknowledges that she was wrong.