The Off Beats

Theme Song

The theme introduction to the shorts always consisted of this short poem, spoken by Grubby Groo (voiced by Mo Willems):

Dey nervous, dey nebbish, dey small, and the Populars don't like 'em at all. But that's okay, life is sweet. Dey cool. Dey the Off-Beats.

The introduction to the original pre-Kablam shorts uses a different variation from when they were named The Misfits.

Dey nervous, dey nebbish, dey small, and the Populars don't like 'em at all. But that's okay, dey don't call it quits. Dey cool. Dey the Misfits.

The Valentine's Day special uses a different variation of the theme song specifically for the special:

They nervous, they nebbish, they small, and the Populars don't like 'em at all. It don't matter, dey hip. Dey got they own friendship. But when love is in the air. It can cause quite a scare. And sometimes it's hard to define. What goes down on Valentine's.

The Off-Beats

Betty Anne Bongo - Betty Anne is the realistically thinking "leader" of the clique. She can usually be found playing her bongo set. She also often sings her own little theme song, the lyrics consisting of: "My name is Betty Anne Bongo, I sing this little song-O, I sing it all day long-O!" along with rapidly banging on her bongos (although on one occasion, she sings it without the aid of her bongos). Betty was originally against puppy love as she did not see the point of it since friendship is another option, but then developed a crush on Brad Groo. She is voiced by Mischa Barton.

Tommy - Tommy loves his plaid coat, so much so that in one episode it is the basis for the plot when it is sent to the cleaners and he goes temporarily insane. On numerous occasions he breaks his calm demeanor and loses his temper causing him to shout with words coming out of his mouth, usually startling his friends and himself. Betty is able to copy Tommy's movements and yelling voice at ease, and Repunzil is able to do the same as shown in the Valentine special. His catchphrase is "Let me just say..." when confronting the Populars, accompanied by his yelling (voiced by Kevin Seal). He also claims he is an outsider in the pilot. He seems to love fishing as he did it in the pilot and "The Statistic". Tommy is voiced by Mark Wagner.

Repunzil - Repunzil is the youngest in the clique, and at times can be quite naive. She is known for her floor-length hair (which is why she was named after the fairy tale character Rapunzel). She can be slow-witted at times because of her young age and does not know how to tie her shoes. Repunzil is also an animal lover as she ordered a lot of animals (and a toaster) in the "Sweepstakes" episode and kept on setting up September with a duck and an elephant as a crush in the Valentine special. Also on the same special she has a crush on Tommy and tries to give him a Valentine's chocolate gift before eating it. She also gets mad at her mother for doing her hair in a goofy way. She tends to say: "Sometimes I hate my mom". She is voiced by Trisha Hedgecock.

August - August is the most technologically inclined brain of the Off-Beats, however, many of his gadgets often failed or backfired unexpectedly. While some episodes imply that August makes his gadgets himself, others imply that he purchases them. He also has an interest in impressing The Populars and gaining their respect. August and his dog September are the only characters to appear at least once in every episode. He may have a crush on Tina since he tries to get her to be his valentine with an invention he made which resulted him getting thrown in the punchbowl at the party. He is voiced by Dylan Roberts.

September - August's sarcastic talking dog, is usually ambivalent to most situations and plot-lines. Despite that, he does enjoy the company of the Offbeats. September is also paid to like August as shown in one episode and has a contract that permits him to have at least one day off. Despite his natural intelligence, he can not seem to open a simple can of dog food. He can play the bagpipes as shown in the last short. One of his past stories was that he fell in love with a falling cat named February which his dog friends found strange. Eventually, a dog war broke out and he and his girlfriend had to flee Paris before the dog invasion. Although she said she would be at the train station, she never showed. They finally reunited when February fell onto September's turntable during the dance making September happy again. He is voiced by series' creator Mo Willems.

Grubby Groo - The beatnik-looking adult friend of the Off-Beats, and the only one who realizes what big jerks the Populars are as shown in the pilot and 'The Sprain". He works in a cafe called Cafe Ad Hoc which is famous for its special ice cream called the Junkyard Sundae. He golfs as shown in the last short. He also has a nephew named Brad (voiced by Bradley Glenn), who Betty Anne has a crush on. Brad helped him set up the Valentine's Day dance. He is voiced by creator Mo Willems.

The Populars

The Populars are the clique popular kids, usually seen, led by Tina, traveling in a huge nose-in-the-air clump. Whenever they come across an adult, they all put on phony smiles and pretend to be really nice. But Grubby Groo knows that they are just hiding their evilness. The Populars not only walk together, but they sleep and live together as well, and each individual is allowed a bathroom break which enables separation of the group to commence. This is how Beth was able to talk to Tommy without getting into trouble.

The Populars seem to be the inspiration for the antagonists, The Delightful Children from Down The Lane, in Codename: Kids Next Door a cartoon Mo Willems had also worked on.

Tina - Tina is the mean-spirited leader of the Populars. If the Off-Beats ever show any self-esteem, she is there to squash it. Despite being spoiled and her bad attitude, she seems to be intelligent as she is curious about Betty Anne's inability to react to her negative comments. Some of her insults make little or no sense, or are deemed too childish as in one episode when calls paddleball "Stupid" and says that Betty Anne will get "bumpkis" once Repunzil wins the Sweepstakes. She is something of a stereotypical "school diva". Voiced by Kathleen Fasolino.

Beth - Tina's sidekick in the group. It is her job to warn the Populars whenever a grown-up is near; she usually shouts "Adult!" Then the Populars begin their phony "nice" act. Once she and Tommy fell in love with each other, and they had to keep it secret. Voiced by Tara Ketterer.

Billy - A boy who wears a red beanie cap. A running gag in the series usually involves Billy saying something that will anger Tina, and then the Populars literally throw him out of the group, causing him to crash into something (most likely a trash can given the sound effects) and scream. Voiced by Jimmy McQuaid.

The remaining Populars are voiced by Tim Duffy (P Boy), Keith Franklin (Hat Boy), and John Morgan (Back Boy)

Stand Alone Short Films: 1995

The animation was choppier and the character's voices are younger. Also, the bean-shaped logo for The Off-beats was green instead of pink and a Nickelodeon arrow logo appeared at the logo. These episodes were made to promote the premiere of KaBlam!.

Season 1: 1996-1997

The first season features The Off-beats pink logo without the Nickelodeon arrow logo.

Season 2: 1997-1998

Specials: 1999

Note: In this episode, Tommy is seen without his hat for the only time in the series, revealing that he is bald. This episode reveals September had a girlfriend that is explained ina backstory. This episode also proves that the Populars do in fact sleep and live together, and each individual member is allowed a bathroom break. Repunzil is shown to yell like Tommy. She is the second Off Beat to do so; the first was Betty Anne. This was also the very last episode produced by Mo Willems who moved to the Cartoon Network to create Sheep in the Big City.

Production notes: As the original voiceover child actors and animators returned, everyone was set for the production as cited in a press release: "We've had the same team of independent animators and voiceover kids for the past four years, so everyone really understood their characters and was ready to jam". It was produced in 1998 and aired on Nickelodeon in 1999 during the Nickel-O-Zone era rather than only in KaBlam!. This is the first 30-minute episode, and the only holiday special. Willems uploaded the music score for the cartoon's theme song, the flashback of September's girlfriend's story, and the sad valentine song September played at the dance at a low volume because of the horrific lyrics. The script for the full episode was also uploaded and then removed. Thought to be lost the episode was finally uploaded to YouTube.