HISTORY
Daria Morgendorffer, the show's title character and protagonist, first appeared on MTV as a recurring character in Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head. MTV senior vice president and creative director Abby Terkuhle explained that when that show
"became successful, we created Daria's character because we wanted a smart female who could serve as the foil"
Daria's original design was created by Bill Peckmann while working for J.J. Sedelmaier Productions during Beavis and Butt-Head's first season. During production of Beavis and Butt-Head's final seasons, MTV representatives, wanting to bring in a higher female demographic to the channel, approached story editor Glenn Eichler, offering a spin-off series for Daria. In 1995, a five-minute pilot, Sealed with a Kick, was created by Eichler and Beavis and Butt-Head staffer Susie Lewis (although written by Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil). Among 4 other animated pilots pitched to the channel, Daria performed the strongest in focus groups, especially among middle-school-aged participants - a fact that bothered MTV initially, as they felt their core audience at the time was instead 18- to 24-year-olds. But after show staff argued that college students don't really watch much television, MTV approved a series order of 13 episodes; both Eichler and Lewis were signed onto the series as executive producers
The first episode of Daria aired on March 3, 1997, roughly nine months before Beavis and Butt-Head ended its original run. Titled Esteemsters, the episode established Daria and her family's move from fictional Highland, the setting of Beavis and Butt-Head, to the new series' equally fictional locale of Lawndale. As well as introducing Daria's parents and younger sister, Quinn, as principal supporting characters, the first episode also introduced Jane Lane, Daria's best friend and confidante. Other than a brief mention of Highland, Daria did not contain any references to Beavis and Butt-Head
The series ran for five seasons, with 13 episodes each, as well as two TV movies and two TV specials. The first movie, Is It Fall Yet?, aired on August 27, 2000, and took place between seasons four and five. MTV planned an abbreviated six-episode sixth season, but, at Eichler's request, this project was cut down to a second movie, Is It College Yet?, which served as the series finale on January 21, 2002.
During Daria's production, Grandstaff, Eichler, and Lewis had intentions of making a show where women appealed to be smarter and have it directed toward its female viewers along with giving a voice to individuals who did not feel like they fit in. In contrast to audience belief, Daria had less planning and the show was left to develop more naturally, especially regarding the types of relationships the main character, Daria Morgendorffer, would have. In addition to this, the creators wanted to capture and represent what high school was like during the 90s while also portraying the different stereotypically highschool cliques. The first realization of how much the crew became attached to making Daria was after a five minute pilot was created, showing how realistic the main character seemed despite being a digital creation. The animation style aided with production by having an uncomplicated form of filming that made the angles and movements appear natural. Lewis recalled letting the storyboards in the early stages of mapping Daria out aid on how the show would look with animation. Each episode was set to have a processing and completion time be nine months in order to fit making scripts, recording voice actors, and creating storyboards.
When describing why the show took longer than expected be released on DVD after Daria's debut, Eichler recalls:
"Thatβs how long it took to clear all the music rights. It also had a lot to do with MTV. Every time they began working on the rights, MTV had another loopy hit, so their small home entertainment division had to put their resources on getting that show out. I guess we sort of got under the wire right before Jersey Shore!"