DARIA: The Complete Seasons

Daria is an American animated television series that aired from 1997 to 2002 and was created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn for MTV. The series was a spin-off of MTV's animated Beavis and Butt-head (1993-1997).

The series had a versatile storytelling premise or "engine," used well-drawn characters, made many satirical thrusts about high-school life, and was full of allusions to popular culture, especially then-current pop music. This last element, though, has made video releases problematic, despite worldwide showings and a sizable and enthusiastic fan base for the program.

Daria Morgendorffer's first appearances were as an occasional character in Beavis and Butt-head. When this series was in its last season, MTV representatives approached story editor Glenn Eichler, offering a spin-off series for Daria. A short pilot, "Sealed with a Kick," was created under Eichler and Beavis and Butt-head staffer Susie Lewis. MTV gave a greenlight for a full series order of 13 episodes. Eichler and Lewis became executive producers.

The first episode of Daria aired on March 3, 1997 (about nine months before Beavis and Butt-head ended its original run). Titled "Esteemsters," it featured Daria and her previously unseen family members settling into their new hometown of Lawndale (having moved from Highland, the setting for Beavis and Butt-head). Now given center stage, Daria's cynical and often abrasive personality became stronger.

In May 1997, Ted Drozdowski of the Boston Phoenix praised Daria for having "taken up the torch," since Beavis and Butt-head had become "reduced to self-parody of their self-parody."

The series ran for five seasons with 13 episodes each, and two TV movies. The first movie, "Is It Fall Yet?", aired in 2000. MTV requested a sixth season (reports vary as to its length), but at Eichler's request this project was cut down to a second TV movie, "Is It College Yet?", which served as the series finale in January 2002.