#doris teavee

[jaydencoolguy]

Concept work for some of the CATCF parents! See if you can guess who's who. :^)

[webwizkid]

It’s Teavee Time!

[brbuttons]

The Entire UK Tour Teavee Family (norman doesn't count)

Started it in December before we saw the show, and adhd'd finishing it. After finally seeing the show 8 times in 2 weeks, we managed to get it done by the final day to pass on the prints to Leonie (Doris) & Teddy (Mike).

Mrs. T deserves this W moment, Mike is such an ass to her in this version.

[alicewhimzy]

Augustus; Vhy does your mama alvays do ze laundry so loudly?

Mike; So everyone knows that no one is helping her.

Doris; (slams the washing machine door closed)

[sorry-mom-ive-sinned]

Listening a bunch to What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, It's Teavee Time!, and That Little Man Of Mine, all different versions of Mike Teavee's intro song in the various musicals, I have a few different opinions.

First off my order of favs are: 1. Its Teavee Time! 2. That Little Man Of Mine 3. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, and I'll tell you why. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Is too focused on a narrative that I feel just... doesn't really apply to Mike? At least not to this Mike. Like the lyrics "We teach our kids that when they lose they're winners. That everything they do, they do the best". This is clearly a commentary on america, like the whole song is, but this version of Mike isnt a kid that would be told that. He's a genius. A evil shit nose kid of a genius, but still a genius. He hacked his way into a golden ticket for God's sake. I feel like the lyrics of this song (and broadways Vidiots) apply the most to 1971 wwatcf Mike. That Mike is definitely not a genius and kind of stupid, with a clearer obsession with guns and fictional dumbed down violence. Musical Mike is a genius whose obsessed with real genuine violence.

And the rest of the song just, doesnt feel that much about Mike? All the versions of the musical focus too much on his mom for my tastes, but the broadway version is the most egregious here with Ethel. Theres more time devoted in the song to her being overwhelmed by her sons antics then what his antics actually are. This is why I like Its Teavee Time! the best. It devotes the whole song to talking about Mike's violent streak as well as Doris' direct reaction to how extreme he is. I honestly find Doris much more empathic than Ethel, given that West end Mike comes across as more of a terror in my opinion, and she seems more genuinely exausted by it all. Thats just my perception though.

That Little Man Of Mine is good, more focused on Mike which I like, but Mike barely sings in this version of the song which makes me very sad. Honestly Mike barely sings in the musical period, at least compared to some others, and that makes me so sad as he is very much my favorite of the bunch. Idk, I just like how the West end version focuses in a bit more on how much of a little shit he is, and the message in Vidiots seems more directed at him and the musicals interpretation of his character. Honestly I think the broadway version would be improved if they went for a more book/wwatcf version of his character, even though I like that interpretation a bit less overall. I think it just would of fit more with the messages they seemed like they were trying to convey surrounding him.

Also Doris seems more like she wants the best for her son, while Ethel seems more like she's already given up on him. Doris line of "...Where he'll make some brand new friends. I pray to God he fits in with the gang" and later on in Strike that, Reverse it when she tells him to "Play Nice", shows me that she cares more. Ethel doesnt have lines like that, and instead its more focused on her alone, with added jokes about her alcoholism. Idk, I just dont like it.

Conclusion: Doris>Ethel (in my opinion)

[creez-un-compte]

Doris Teavee should have been at the club regardless of her age

[justa-sadjellyfish]

Jackie Hoffman I love you but…

Doris Teavee>>>> Ethel Teavee

[incorrect-catcf-quotes]

Seriously, "The Little Drummer Boy" literally never made sense to me. Especially after I had my own kids. Like, I have an infant. It's FINALLY SLEEPING. And some kid comes up and asks to play a drum? As a gift?! NO. A thousand times no. Get out of here, kid. Come back when you can hum a melody quietly.

Doris Teavee

[duckgens]

was watching the good place with my gf tell me why 2005 norman and doris teavee were there-

[jackdoesstuff]

what never fails to piss me off is mrs teavee singing in vidiots like THATS YOUR FAULT!!! YOU NEGLECTED YOUR SON

[thevillainsfangirl]

The Teavee family make me sad.

Yes, the Teavee family from the iconic childhood tale, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s their story, the Buckets are just at the forefront of it.

Specifically, those 👆🏽 versions of the Teavees, from the 2005 film and the 2013 musical, though I will also look at the National Tour for the Broadway version because of the song they use in it.

Now, let me start off with this: I firmly believe that Norman and Doris Teavee love their son, and they are doing their best. Their best just isn’t very good. (They literally suck so bad as parents in ‘71, as he has 0 basic manners and they’ll let him get a gun for his 12th birthday! However, I don’t see them in the first movie as Doris & Norman anyway, and I think their names are different.)

...

I first want to cover the musical. Here, Michael is a feral child; he is violent, he is... “high-spirited,” he smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day (it used to be more)... he has set their cat on fire and chloroformed a nurse (which makes me wonder if they needed a nurse for him?), he somehow stole a German tank, and he is on house-arrest... at only 10-years-old. Because of all this, Doris is a high-strung alcoholic who is deep in denial. Meanwhile, Norman seems... disconnected; he gives off the vibe that he has dissociated in order to cope with his own son. (I know the intention was most likely to paint him as a clueless sitcom dad, but I personally don’t see it that way.)

I don’t care much for the Broadway version of this show, especially because of the song that replaces “It’s Teavee Time!” as it has nothing to do with them as characters, but it’s important to mention here because... Mike’s father (I won’t say Norman) is gone in the Broadway version. (Or is it only the National Tour where this is mentioned?) He’s just gone, he has up and left his wife and son, he has actually checked-out of the family! And I can’t even blame him; with that wife and that child, I’d honestly want to ditch them, too. Another thing worth mentioning is the song used in the National Tour of the Broadway musical, “Little Man Of Mine”, which mentions Mike still being on house-arrest for something that “they never proved”, and his mother (here called Ethel; I consider them a different set of parents, but I digress) doping him up and putting restraints on him, while also drinking and popping pills herself. The saddest part of the song is probably Mike saying that he (or they) try to find his father online every night. 🥺

Also very important to note: In both “It’s Teavee Time!” and “That Little Man Of Mine”, Doris and Ethel mention wishing they’d had a daughter instead of Mike. WHAT. THE. FUCK??? Does Mike ever hear this? I sincerely hope not! (Also, it’s simply illogical because a girl could act the exact same way that Mike does. 🤨)

Unfortunately, there’s no official recording of “Little Man Of Mine” anywhere, but the lyrics to it are here, and I’ve seen one (1) recorded performance of decent film/audio quality.

Now, on to the movie; grab some tissues, because the sads just keep on coming...

In the 2005 film... well, Mrs. Teavee doesn’t speak, and we only see her once, but she feels dead inside. She gives off a vibe that says she regrets having this child, and she and her husband haven’t been in love for years. Norman is a defeated pushover who would probably lay down in a puddle if Mike told him to because he doesn’t want to get his shoes dirty (not that the kid would care, he *was* stomping in candy goo); he tries to tell Mike to stop ragefully stomping on candy pumpkins, he tries to tell Mike to calm down in the TV room, but it of course doesn’t work, and he barely tried at all. He doesn’t understand his son, and he feels he has grown up too fast (which is probably true). And Mike, well... Mike is a lot of things, but I honestly feel like the kid is sad. He is so angry all of the time, that is not a happy child. That is a Depressed & Angry 2000s Emo Child, I can tell because I was one. I don’t know if he can tell how dead inside his parents are, if it’s because they don’t get him, if he gets picked on in school for being a little genius... but the kid is unhappy, that much I know.

But I don’t think it was always this way. I think they were a happy family once, when Mike was little, but then it started going downhill.

This newspaper article from the film (I’ve never seen in the film) paints the picture for me:

(First off: Mike looks too pure here, so can you imagine people picking up that newspaper and then reading the article? “Awww, what an adorable child!” 😊 *reads it* “Jeez, what an obnoxious little shit!” 🤨 And I sincerely can’t help but wonder how they got him to smile for the picture; his parents probably promised to buy him a new video game if he would just smile, please. I can hear the exhaustion in Norman’s voice.)

If you click on this 👆🏽 image (in Dashboard/preview mode), open it in a new tab, click the zoom magnifying glass, and look down to the lower-middle left of the paper, you should be able to read: Young Teavee also no doubt takes after his father, a Certified Public Accountant with nearly 20 years of experience. “I would always bring work home and Mikey would look over my shoulder when he was a baby,” professed Mr. Teavee. “He’s always had a knack for numbers.”

Now, I know that makes no sense because in the actual film, Mr. Teavee said that he is a high school geography teacher, not an accountant, but... let’s just go along with it for now. How precious does that sound? Imagine Mr. Teavee sitting on their couch, looking over his work, and little baby Mike is just standing on the couch and looking over his dad’s shoulder, just really fascinated by it. 🥺

What I’m getting at is: I think they were a happy family once, but then Mike started detaching and growing up, and maybe his parents marriage isn’t doing the best anymore (I get the vibe, I get the vibe), and it just all went downhill. And honestly? I think Norman is afraid of his son. Which is understandable; if I lived with that kid, I’d be scared, too. 😳

(Side-note: That newspaper says that Mike is 13-years-old? 🤨 Yeah, I don’t fucking buy it, that kid looks 10 or 11, which doesn’t sound like much, but kids are growing all the time, so they definitely look different at 13 than they do at 10 or 11. It’s possible he could be 13, but I don’t believe that, and I headcanon him as 10/11.)

I’m sure there’s something I’m forgetting, but I think I’ve said every relevant thing there is to be said so far about this candy-coated Greek tragedy called the Teavee family. My point is...

The Bucket family is sad because of their financial situation, but thankfully for them, that’s fixed by the end of the story. The Teavee family is sad in a way that I don’t think can be fixed, not if they don’t try. The Teavee family is sad because they’re broken.

[livinces2]

Are we gonna acknowledge the way that Eugene (and maybe Doris, I can’t quite tell 🧐) seems to be comforting Mrs. Gloop? 🥺 And then Wonka is just there like “Look at my Oompa Loompas!” 🙃

[mrs-teavee]

And at six I pour a shot of Mommy water

Mrs. Teavee (musical)

[nalascat]

i might just mess around and become a doris/ethel teavee fan blog

[verucastutu]

Mike: i don't cook, i don't clean.

Mrs. Teavee: *takes off the flip flop from her feet*

Mike:

Mike: yes i do the cooking ,yes i do the cleaning.

[new-berlinwall]

Tag Yourself

Doris Teavee -

Lives for that Aesthetic

Vodka ..... lots of vodka

Stares into the camera like she’s on The Office 

@ N O R M A N

Just wanted to have a good time

Still tries too hard 

Still gives a shit

Ethel Teavee -

PINEAPPLES EVERYWHERE

Lottsa snark

Klonopin

 Ativan

 Paxil,

 Valium

Needs a pill to sit down an tally ‘em

Profopol 

Librium 

Beer!!!!!!!!!!!

Thought this was supposed to be an educational tour

Too old for this shit

But tries to be the cool mom?