Frankie

[Medikor]

It's very good. My computer is very new, and I can't do anything like that.

[Voxxyn]

I really, really, REALLY hope that the writers remember to give Frankie some more episodes for Season 5. Right now, it looks as if "The Big Cheese" will be the closest Season 4 will get to such... and ironically, although it was funny and I even have a screencap of it as my current avatar, it's an episode that seems like it was only pressured into existence by network executives and advertisers who want to hype Cheese as hard as possible.

I say "ironically" because it brings me to something that I'm fearing more and more each day. With Foster's slowly getting more merchandising deals and mainstream attention, I have a horrible feeling that the writers will start relying more on the "Foster's Five" and heavily-hyped recurring favorites like Cheese and Goo so that they can appeal to the kids and get even more mainstream attention--and, as a result, neglect Frankie more and more, to the point that she's reduced to a minor footnote that appears once in a while. Sadly, because she is neither part of the so-called "Foster's Five" or a recurring character that Cartoon Network is hellbent on shoving down everybody's throats, I feel that CN executives and merchandisers could start swaying Craig and the writers into doing exactly that.

I'm doing my best to keep an open mind, but it's almost impossible. I fear that such could very well be the case.

[Cassini90125]

Check the review for Episode #49, "Emancipation Complication", on the CN site. It looks like Frankie has a major role in that one.

[Medikor]

Frankie will alway's be a forrunner for the show. I find that it's like they find any excuse to put her in the show. "My so called wife" is a good example. She wasan't necasary, but it was nice to see her there. Plus, Frankie is a useful character to use when friction or an added touch is needed.
Frankie is popular. And I don't think we'll be seeing any less of her.

[billytheskink]

Frankie's role in the show is too large for her not to appear in the majority of the show's episodes, that's the way it has been thus far. She probably won't be featured or a major player in as many episodes as the big five, but she'll get her screen time.

She had a pretty big part in "Bus the two of us", among other recent episodes.
It may simply be difficult to make Frankie-centric episodes entertaining for the wide variety of Foster's fans. We certainly saw such difficulty come out in the much-maligned "Imposter's".

[Cassini90125]

Thinking back to the short episodes like "Seeing Red", they could write one that's Frankie-centric. I'm thinking about a simple storyline where we follow her on a trip to the supermarket and watch her deal with the "joy" of picking up groceries, something we've all put up with. At the end of an exhausting day of bargain hunting, dodging shopping carts, and dealing with incompetent store workers she returns to Foster's, where Bloo complains that the chips she picked up are not salt & vinegar flavor. Short, amusing, and all Frankie.

[Voxxyn]

No offense, but I HATE that premise. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's so funny about Frankie struggling too hard for something, only to get proverbially spit in the face at the end as "reward" for her efforts.

Frankie's misery is hilarious when it's either done in a purely goofy way("Cookie Dough") or there's some justice at the end("Busted" and "Crime After Crime"). But that idea sounds like a shorthand version of "Imposter's".

And if they actually made that into an episode, it would only confirm the fears I expressed on my last post: the "Foster's Five" and Cheese/Goo would get all the attention and lots of full-lenght episodes, and all Frankie gets is a "shorthand episode" where she gets ripped apart from start to finish.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Well I do think Frankie on some sort of level, does enjoy doing the whole grocery thing because in truth it's all part of her taking care schtick. She loves taking care of imaginary friends and people and as angry as she gets, I think on some level she enjoys it.

Frankie obviously is also the only one aware that if she doesn't do this stuff then NO one will. It's like in Aqua Teen Hungerforce when Frylock moved out, and Shake and Meatwad ended up living in a chicken disease suffocating house. She's the glue to holding up Foster's and everyone in it.

I think though if she gets another episode like "Setting a president" she needs to have involvement with someone like Bloo or Mac. Frankie isn't the kind of person to make mischeif or troubles for herself, that comes from people around her or set ups like Goofball, the cookie thing, or the security code.

Frankie needs a Bloo to piss her off so we can laugh at her reactions, Frankie is good at playing off of others and no matter who it is Herriman, Bloo, or Cheese, I think Frankie's best work is when she's working with someone rather then going solo. Mac and Bloo can work as a whole for an episode.

Certain characters cannot. Frankie can, I'm just saying I think it'd be alot better and funnier if she played off someone else.

[Cassini90125]

Originally Posted by Voxxyn

No offense, but I HATE that premise. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's so funny about Frankie struggling too hard for something, only to get proverbially spit in the face at the end as "reward" for her efforts.

None taken. The idea behind it was that it's something everyone can relate to. Plus, unlike that loser Goofball, it's not an aggravation directed specifically at her, it's just an annoying part of life. I guess I'm thinking more along the lines of life's little hassles, and the accompanying little triumphs, rather than it's major heartaches. Seeing Frankie frustrated is one thing; something like another "Imposter's" is out of the question.

By the way, guys, guess who's thread is the first on the Forum to reach 300 posts?

[Voxxyn]

I get what you mean by focusing on "life's little hassles"; Frankie's frustration itself isn't what bothered me. What bothered me(and greatly) was the ending to that premise, with Bloo whining about the chips not being what he expected--as if you were suggesting it would end with Frankie being sent to the mall again and thus forced to repeat those hassles. If you cited a different ending with some form of payback for her, it would've been cool with me, but that one... well, it may not be as painful as "Imposter's", but it's still very much slapping her in the face despite her efforts.

EDIT: Congrats to everybody for reaching 300+ posts!