The Three Friends and Jerry

The Three Friends and Jerry (Swedish: De tre vännerna och Jerry) is a 1998-1999 Swedish/German/British animated television series. The series was created by Magnus Carlsson[2] and produced by Happy Life and TMO-Loonland Film GmbH in association with Nickelodeon UK and Nickelodeon Germany (the latter's original incarnation shut down after this show premiered, so it instead aired on Fox Kids in the country). In the United States, the show aired from 1998 to 2000.[3]

The Three Friends & 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
Country of originSweden
Germany
United Kingdom
Original language(s)English
Swedish and German (dubs only)
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes38 (87 segments including 1 special)[1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)Matt Fleckenstein
Michael Feldman
Running time22–25 minutes
Production company(s)Happy Life
TMO-Loonland Film GmbH
DistributorHiT Entertainment (Worldwide, except Germany and Scandinavia)
Wavery Entertainment B.V. (Germany)
Release
Original networkSVT (Sweden)
Fox Kids (Germany)
Nickelodeon (United Kingdom)
Picture format4:3 (SDTV)
Audio formatDolby Surround (Seasons 1 and 2)
Dolby Digital (Season 3)
Original release1998 (1998) –
1999 (1999)

Plot

Jerry is the new kid in town who does not fit with any of his classmates. This series shows his best attempts to try to be liked by 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 as long as he helps them with their problems. They also fall in love for a group of the girls in town, who refuse to date them and refer to them as Ponks. Apart from school, the group have to contend with parents, bullies and their own conflicts.

Setting

The setting location of the series is left unclear. But the houses and architecture depicted in the series are European or Eurocentric-like, suggesting a location in Europe. The creators of the series likely took inspiration from the architecture of Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom, since the series was a Swedish/German/British co-production.

Characters

Main
  • Jerry - the new kid in town, a short blonde-haired boy with buck tooth and wearing a yellow T-shirt. Jerry is a calm and bright boy with head full of ideas. He wants to join the eponymous Three Friends, but usually meets with disapproval of their leader - Frank - of whom he is the polar opposite. Despite his inventiveness, his plans rarely succeed. Besides, Jerry is the only child of the PE Teacher and won two beauty contests as a baby due being mistaken for a girl for his cute appearance.
  • Frank - the leader of the group, a bald-headed boy who wears a blue T-shirt with a yellow number 1. The polar opposite to Jerry, Frank is a nervous and cunning child who hardly bears to be beaten. Due to his appearance he is considered the ugliest boy of the school. He ineffectively tries to win the heart of the most popular girl in the school – Linda – despite the fact they are actually cousins. He doesn't like Jerry and his ideas, thus he doesn't want to let him join the group. However, when he agrees, something usually fails and Frank rejects Jerry again. Just like the other three, he dislikes school and incredibly fears Jerry's father.
  • Thomas - a boy with a red hoodie, never seen without his big green cap. He is dominated by Frank and usually takes his side in arguments or debates. Despite hanging with Frank, Thomas has actually liked of an artist, particularly ballet dancer. He needs to hide is artistic nature in fear of being laughed and humiliated. In the later episodes it is revealed that he and Jerry caught Mimmi's eye.
  • Eric - a boy with a long blonde hair and a green T-shirt. A football maniac and the best player of the school. Just like Thomas, Eric is dominated by Frank. However, he is the only person in the group that Frank usually agrees with. In the later episodes it is revealed that Tess is secretly in love with him.
  • Linda - the most popular girl in the school, Frank's cousin to whom he is unluckily attracted. Linda is interested in boys older than her and hates her peers. Just like her cousin she is very knowing and likes to treat men as her friends, what sometimes happens to Frank and the others. Linda dominated two other girls - Tess and Mimmi - who always take her side. She considers being related to Frank as injustice.
  • Mimmi - a small Asian girl and the adopted daughter of Roy Johnson and is Linda's and Tess' friend. She and wears a blue dress with a smiley face symbol. Mimmi considers her wealth as her main asset, however, she is dominated by Linda and blindly follows her. She finds Jerry and Thomas as attractive. When she was a baby, she lost a beauty contest to Jerry, who was mistaken as a girl by Oscar, which leads to Oscar's social degradation.
  • Tess - she is Tony's sister and Linda's friend. She has short blonde hair. She wears a white midriff shirt, purple skirt, and green shoes. She loves Eric and keeps that secret from Linda and Mimmi.

Secondary characters
  • PE Teacher - Jerry's choleric father and the person the group is feared of most. He is very angry with three friends and his son, but he has a good heart and intentions. He has red hair and an athletic and muscular body. He loves to do exercises. Lives in a one-floor house with his wife and son.
  • Jerry's mother - PE Teacher's wife. She has a caring and calm personality. Jerry inherited his looks and personality from her.
  • Roy Johnson - the wealthiest person in the town, he is Mimmi's adopted father and a boss of the shop at Carlsonville.
  • Monica - an attractive brown-haired girl that works at Roy's shop. She is also Tony's girlfriend.
  • Tony - a heavy metal guitarist, Tess' 16-years-old brother and Monica's boyfriend.
  • Teacher - she teaches Jerry's class. The three friends and Jerry try to send her into space so they will not have any lessons.
  • Dick Priest - he keeps an eye on the town where everything is fine. As a priest, he works in the church. Despite campaigning against everything immoral, he is revealed to be a fan of death metal music and horror movies.
  • Mr and Mrs. Ingrid Bertwhistle - they are Jerry's neighbors. Mr. Bertwhistle is a grumpy man that loves beer and wants to contact the extraterrestrials. He is liked by the boys to some degree, however he does not fare well with Jerry's Dad, who considers him as a lazy drunkard. His father possesses a missile in his room.
  • Oscar - a local bum and drunkard everybody in the town is afraid of. Several years ago he was a wealthy and respected person. Everything changed when being a baby beauty contest juror he mistakenly gave the first place to Jerry, while Roy Johnson previously paid him to make his daughter Mimmi win. After losing his wealth he lives in an old shack.

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 bloodhanded 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 The 3 Friends and Jerry buy a yoga book to help face of against bullies.
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
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. Timo Kangas (8 March 2008). "Animerad rättstvist för glatta livet". Realtid. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 844–845. ISBN 978-1476665993.
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