American Girls Premiere: Text-To-Speech Mayhem

The American Girl brand is one of those widely beloved things, I hear. I may not have grown up with the franchise, but that doesn't stop me from trying out the PC game from 1997 and all its absurd voices!
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● Music used in order of appearance:
Latin Quarters Jazz Band 1 and 3
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[@merchantfan]

I absolutely loved this game when I was a kid. I made a very weird and complex play with my sister that we still quote today. We recorded our voices for dialogue and even held a boombox up to the microphone to get part of a Beck song in there.

[@LGR]

That is awesome.

[@merchantfan]

We were so proud of ourselves for figuring that one out. It was "Sexx Laws" from Midnite Vultures (we were in elementary school-- our parents didn't really have any CDs off limit in their collection). I still giggle sometimes at a scene we had where two "actors" playing corpses argue about who's supposed to be playing the dead person in the scene, and then two men come in carrying a third body saying "Corpse Delivery". It's the weirdest inside joke.

[@michaelfries1443]

that is awesome. my sister and I played this too and made some weird stuff

[@Terestrasz]

I remember my sister and I had a serious play with Felicity... but included a running gag where, if a character ev er walked past a certain spot in Felicity's house, they had to stop and do the "Fall down" animation because they had a bad floorboard. XD

[@meowmocha12]

@@Terestrasz This is totally a thing kids would do. Make some ludicrous running joke and laugh endlessly about it. I remember playing Polly Pockets with a friend, and I had some lunatic in a pink Volkswagen Beetle occasionally drive through and wreck everything. Also, when playing 'house' with friends, potty-training the children (which were stuffed animals I had, rather than actual dolls) always involved explosions. Because nothing's funnier than juvenile bathroom humor.

[@dia3654]

"Is this a new Sims pack or am I going crazy?" It has more stuff than a stuff pack, and possibly more than an expansion, so I'm going to have to say this is the Sims 5.

[@fedos]

fresh oats

[@dan_loup]

*THUD*

[@madichelp0]

Brother, may I procure your F R E S H O A T S.

[@FinalBaton]

FRESH OATS. FRESH OATS.

[@callumge]

someone remind me the game thats from, it was some shitty dos game with a horse saying "fresh oats" or something

[@jnerdsblog]

Ninja Nanny, p sure

[@krock90]

*URGE FOR FRESH OATS INTENSIFIES*

[@fedos]

XanthinZarda Urge to thud oatsifies.

[@chuckleshelicopterwigwamjo7315]

*[URGE TO TRY METH INTENSIFIES]*

[@souperman72]

Clint is my favorite American Girl.

[@LGR]

💖

[@blakegriplingph]

She sells for $115, complete with a woodgrain sweater as her meet outfit and a 486 PC as an accessory. And a Goodwill playset as the big-ticket item, going for around $399.

[@MiketheBassMan]

My sister and I used to play this game for hours when we were kids. The voice recording (our incomprehensible screams) and the TTS engine trying to read garbage (!!!!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!!!;;;!!!) was (and probably still is) hilarious.

[@SquidwardTentacruel]

Krak my sister and I loved this game and did so many stupid things with it! We laughed for hours. Good times...

[@sarascott12345]

My sister and I used to play this all the time as a kid, also! So much fun! I

[@OriginalDigit]

My sister and I also used to play this game. I might've been too young to fully understand it, but I still had tons of fun messing around with the character models and different set pieces.

[@MiketheBassMan]

Thanks! DeadlyComics drew it for me.

[@glamourchick21]

I still remember some of the ridiculous lines my brother and I made the characters say.

[@RagnarTheGrey]

Sweet Christ man. Make us a full, 15 minute immature play.

[@pureicefire]

I would so watch the crap outta that

[@thronezwei4412]

This needs to happen.

[@cfjruth]

I second this!

[@dangeredwolf]

yes yes please

[@archerj2010]

a year and a half late to the party - I would easily watch an LGR 'American Girl" play. No doubt about it.

[@ABomb1980]

"sometimes I have a sudden urge to fart on this chair"

[@LGR]

Don't we all?

[@clutteredpictures7421]

Lazy Game Reviews nooo yes

[@rommix0]

The cheesy music pretty much sold it for me XD

[@horesfan400]

*Fart noises*

[@phreeze83]

was lmao xD

[@larryinc64]

I would like to see an entire video just of you making scenes in a program like this

[@n00dl3gal]

As someone who was OBSESSED with American Girl back in the day (seriously, for a while we had our own private shopper at their Chicago store, it was insane), I can shed a bit of light as to why this program is about plays. See, in an effort to make the dolls and books more of a franchise, spin-off titles were published. These ranged from cookbooks to paper dolls to a collection of short plays. These plays were all just the first book in each respective girl's series- Kirsten's play was "Meet Kirsten," just condensed. The preview scenes you can view from each girl are actually just segments from each play. This is also why the Samantha play was included- to give users a chance to see what the plays were about (and then go buy the rest).

[@MirandaStreeter]

n00dl3g@l What in the heck is a private shopper?

[@n00dl3gal]

Basically if we wanted something that wasn't in stock, we'd get first pick because she would grab it for us. We got it because we spent so much freaking money on them- like we didn't just have the dolls, we had the dolls that looked like us and multiple playsets and all the books... God, we were spoiled.

[@cygil1]

@@n00dl3gal This must be a 1% thing. Thank god I grew up normal.

[@n00dl3gal]

@@cygil1 it wasn't even a normal thing, we only got them for Christmas and birthdays. But... ok, yeah, def something my parents spent way too much on in retrospect.

[@alalalala57]

@@cygil1 Nah, at least not anymore. You can hire private shoppers these days and its somewhat affordable.

[@clochard4074]

I want those sprites in doom. It would easily become the funniest mod ever made.

[@albertamalachi3560]

Bill Clod This. A thousand times, this.

[@FedorovAvtomat]

Even then the Tim Allen Doom takes the cake on the funniest mod ever.

[@Ash0512]

FedorovAvtomat can I have the link?

[@RussellTeapot]

+FedorovAvtomat *EEEEHHHUUUU??*

[@nrdesign1991]

OH HO HO HO HO HOH!

[@Cat-Lady-Snufkin]

Maybe it's a sign that I'm immature, but I laughed at every "play" you showed.

[@Terestrasz]

My sister and I had this and Opening Night. Let's just say a lot of our plays in Opening NIght were... immature and bizarre. (and in the case of one, downright mean spirited. :( my sister made a play where the characters talked about what a bad person I was and depicted me doing things like peeing in her coke or eating her cake.) This one we actually took *SOMEWHAT* seriously.

[@Blackadder75]

You can drop the 'maybe'

[@talkingrevolver9700]

The FRESH OATS gag at the end got me good.

[@MysterySolvingLady]

This game was my childhood. I spent so many hours making stupid plays that made no sense. I still have the game and on rare occasions watch the plays I made forever ago and laugh hysterically at the bizarre sense of humor I had as a kid.

[@J4yy_]

If possible, upload it to KZbin so people can laugh as well! :D

[@shann75]

MysterySolvingLady i know what u mean.. I do remember my friend and I saying stupid things like u are a doo doo head lolol

[@bryndal36]

Oh, the fun you and Pushing Up Roses could have with this software. Maybe the two of you could do a collaboration on it.

[@madichelp0]

This program is a meme waiting to happen.

[@Jaybiooh]

JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN

[@fixman88]

I was wondering how long that was going to take...

[@megamisaikou6675]

agreed.

[@Terestrasz]

I had to laugh at some of the plays that exist on KZbin making Mrs. Ford evil. My sister and I used to do it too, though not perverted evil, just giving the kids deadly (and stupid) homework assignments. "class, today's homework is to fall down in the streets." Sarah: "We'll get killed!" Addy: "Can't we eat a stick of butter again?" Harriet: *angry expression* "Addy, no. Not the butter!"

[@blakegriplingph]

@@Jaybiooh aeiou

[@Topian_music]

I'm 98% sure there was an 'Eldritch' expansion pack for this which added some cosmic horror themed backdrops, better suited to some of the voices. I could be wrong though.

[@Tadesan]

F’tagen!

[@TheMerauder75]

7:54 Oh god, I caught that ninja nanny reference...

[@LGR]

Not sure if that's something to be proud or ashamed of ;)

[@echoes28]

Fresh oats.

[@cappantwan2978]

*_SNORT_*

[@TorinnDerg]

**ominous music playing** Dead.

[@Sir_Newkirk]

WHY ISN'T THERE A MODERNIZED VERSION OF THIS!!!! Seriously though, I'd like to see something like this using today's hardware and software.

[@blakegriplingph]

There ought to be someone who's up to making an Unreal Engine 4/Source remake of this, Gmod style.

[@nebufabu]

The Movies was this minus goofy TTS, but plus full mid-2000s 3D, with postpro and stuff and plenty of canned animation, which probably still makes it the easiest to use game of this kind...

[@sandakureva]

Seems easy enough to do with something like Unity or Unreal. The problem is Windows users only get a single TTS voice, which is Cortana. And I believe apple has stripped down do just Siri. This is in contrast to MacOS9, which had dozens.

[@Keznen]

@nebufabu CallMeKevin's videos of him playing this are the best examples of how much potential hilarity it has. lol

[@joeconti2396]

YES!!! My sister had this when we were growing up. My friend and I used to mess with it constantly. If you made it say "la la la la la" at the end it would say "Louisiana". It also crashed CONSTANTLY. Oh memories.

[@NLS87]

"Maybe you should try meth" 🤣🤣🤣🤣😅😅😂😂😂😂

[@bigtime39384]

Maybe I should

[@ilusha88]

Can someone please recreate the bee movie in this?

[@LGR]

Bee Movie except every time they say 'bee' the text to speech voice lowers by one octave.

[@MagusMarquillin]

Don't *BEE* hasty.

[@patcollins4023]

*roses?* *vanessaaaa* *yay*

[@blakegriplingph]

Katie Logue The game actually works on Windows 10 if you know what you're doing, i.e. manually copying files and setting registry entries, but I've also uploaded a fixed repack of the game if anyone is interested. ;)

[@otaking3582]

Personally I'd rather do The Room.

[@Cosmic-Crow]

I remember having this kit for years and then finally sending in the subscription to the newsletter. Unfortunately, by that point they had stopped printing it (it's was like 2003 at that point?) They sent an apology and some American girls clothes, which was super cool of them.

[@NortonTaylor]

I had this game! I played it all the time... well until my parents found the 40 minute long murder mystery their 9 year old produced to be a little too disturbing. Truly an amazingly customizable game.

[@Roxas4ever]

Josefina was my American Girl growing up. I couldn't afford the doll, but I had all of her books. I love that you always give us a background on the game and game company, so we know a bit about how it was received when it came out. Mad props, as always!

[@LGR]

Glad you're enjoying!

[@user-gs3gk4vi3e]

The very intense tutorial girl had me dying LOL

[@Ebeeto]

I remember playing around with Spiderman Cartoon Maker way too much when I was a kid. This thing seems a whole lot more fleshed out, and I'd have loved this thing at age 8 or so, whether I knew what the American Girls brand was or not. Also, the stage plays exhibited here are all masterpieces.

[@oreview]

Yes, I had the same one, but since the left/right mechanics were based on your mouse movement, climbing walls would always flip the character model back and forth rapidly. Bought it at CompUSA, but didn't end up using it for long.

[@TonyGearSolid]

I remember getting that Spiderman maker with our Packard Bell back in the day. I messed around with it for a bit, but quickly grew bored of it and went on to play Journey Man Project instead.

[@winter.nevada]

As someone who was the target audience and absolutely LIVED for American Girl anything, I can confirm that Premiere was used to make fart jokes 98% of the time. I also distinctly remember the Mac version having access to all the Mac system voices. More than once there was a robot storyline or someone drowning in my plays.

[@beloveddagger2892]

I had this as a kid and would always write crazy stuff with my family like, “Where’s the bathroom? I have to go poo-poo.” The text to speech made everything even funnier. If I wanted a character to yell and typed out, “Aaaahh!” the text to voice would pronounce every letter individually instead of one sound. I liked using Samantha’s world for writing mysteries in particular. On a completely different note, I would love to see the movie The Room acted out on American Girl Premiere.

[@SpikeEye]

BelovedDagger Yes to the last part.

[@RS250Squid]

AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAah! Text to speech has its weird quirks!

[@haverdee23]

i know this video is six years old at this point, but as an adult collector and former child that grew up with american girl dolls, i really appreciate that you didn't make fun of dolls or the concept of the brand (at least in what it originally was)! pleasant company produced a LOT of play scripts, theater kits, and dress like your doll outfits. i think a lot of the focus on plays comes from the way most kids play with their dolls, which is acting out stories and scenarios, just like a play! i used to come up with bizarre scenarios all the time to act out with my dolls, so your stories made in the program isn't out of left field lmao

[@redor6033]

My cousin had this! It was a cool game, well for people who liked doll house. It was fascinating for me too when I was a boy, it's like having my own stage! Then the sims came out, and we left this game somewhere. Nice found man! Keep bringing up those sweet memories

[@Cosmic-Crow]

A lot of the props in this game are actual American girl furniture (such as the side chair at 6:22, that was included in the Felicity set). For a kid really into American girls, it was so cool to be able to make a play with stuff that you own in real life.

[@JuliaZeeGreat]

I had this game as a little girl and I loved the crap out of it! I even still have the baseball hat somewhere, though it's much too small for my gargantuan adult head. We also had a Simpson's game that was similar to this. No text-to-speech, but it had voice clips from the show from nearly every character you could ever want. Does anybody know what that game was called?

[@rommix0]

That would be the Simpsons Cartoon Studio.

[@JuliaZeeGreat]

Thank you! I could not for the life of me remember what that was called!

[@BlooditeDrakan]

Oh hell, I remember that software! It was amusing for a short while, but it had nothing on what 3D Movie Maker could do at the time.

[@meowmocha12]

Ha, when he said he didn't have the hat, I was thinking to myself, "It's probably made for children, and wouldn't fit his head anyway."

[@DrewChapman1987]

Clint, this is probably the funniest video review you've done - maybe tied with that horrifying Ninja Nanny game ("fresssshhh ooooaats"). And just like that, I heard "fresssshhh ooooaats" at the end of this video while typing this comment.

[@JesseBrohinsky]

Now I want a series of videos with short plays created using this game.

[@EmmightySofia]

My siblings and I made some horrendous and unforgettable productions with this beautiful program as kids. We still quote them to this day. Our own friggin' creations, mind you. This game is iconic in my heart.

[@MooKyyLOL]

Someone should make a web series using this program, that would be the shit

[@krisfrosz133]

6:58 - Amazing scriptwriting. 10/10

[@Bornahorse]

LOL oh wow I never thought you would review something like this. XD I loved American Girl growing up, I didn't have this game but had the Dress Designer one. American Girl made activity book/kits to go along with their dolls (cooking/crafting/etc) and one of them was a series of plays and theater related things with scripts and things, so I am assuming this game was born from those materials as well. A computer game about making a play with these girls isn't too much of a stretch because most of the girls in their stories do participate in a play or some sort of production. The text to speech thing is a little... wow. I would be interested in seeing how you like the American Girls Dress Designer game though! Don't worry, there's actual dialogue in it, no creepy text to speech. XD

[@emmarose4234]

Bornahorse I had the Dress Designer too!

[@treetreem]

I was absolutely obsessed with this game and the American Girl franchise. I can assure you I got immeasurable enjoyment from this game. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!

[@Khanemis]

This seems like an early predecessor of The Movies. I have to say I kinda admire its (at least as it seems from this video) wide variety of assets to use to create scenes and quite a number of options for each scene. I could imagine spending a lot of time with this back in the days (even with that American Girls license I would probably despise as a child).

[@brandonreina1428]

The 4 PC games are mentioned in your Lazy Game Reviews video: Let's Talk About Me! CD-ROM, McKenzie & Co. CD-ROM, Rockett's New School and Barbie Fashion Designer. My mom bought Rockett's New School (old PC game from 1997) off of the Smart Kids Software store website a few years ago.

[@altrogeruvah]

I was in the middle of drinking tea, when I heard the "What the dick / I am from Pittsburg" line. The tea came through my nose when I started laughing uncontrollably.

[@freezetile8588]

When watching an LGR video, drinking is never a good idea. XD

[@danielgehring7437]

I love how this educational channel about obsolte computer stuff gives me bigger, more frequent laughs than most any of the comedy content I've seen on KZbin.

[@oktal3700]

The text-to-speech sounds very much like WOPR from Wargames. "Would you like to play a game?"

[@krisherrick4261]

I was OBSESSED with this game as a kid!!!! Thank you so much for giving me this nostalgia gift. I'll never forget crowding around the speaker with the volume turned all the way down so our parents wouldn't hear us making the robot voice say swears. I also remember a lot of purposefully misspelling words to get it to pronounce them correctly (it had particular trouble with the word "imbecile"). What a gem.

[@jwlez2814]

the american girls premiere was also the name of a short-(ish)lived performance venue and program (i think) in one of the big american girl stores in nyc (? again, not sure) that ran sometime in the 80s to the early 00s! they put on shows based on certain characters' stories :) just some context on why this uh ... exists

[@AesculapiusPiranha]

One of those voices reminds me of the Flamingo from that surreal show in Max Payne. "THE FLESH OF FALLEN ANGELS."

[@jansenart0]

LGR, you're teaching me stuff, and I thought I knew a thing or two about old software. You're probably the only one who'd be able to identify the source of the software for this.

[@tlinrin887]

at nearly 40 fart jokes still make me laugh

[@Tempest87]

I had this as a little girl and it was my favorite. I wasn’t wealthy enough to have the dolls but loved being able to create worlds. This was my Sims before Sims.

[@camotech1314]

🤣🤣🤣

[@SpicyChickenGodAJ]

Fresh oats...

[@44caliberclark47]

This was a truly strange video about a strange game, but having played this as a kid (and thinking it was just a fun, regular old childhood hallucination) this was a great video to see from you! Awesome as always!

[@AschKris]

It goes to show that games are really more than the sum of their parts

[@belles_library]

Had this game way back in '97. The text to speech really scared the hell out of me.

[@Sentientpotatoh]

Omg this game was my childhood! I remember finding it incredibly confusing and not user friendly at all, and yet I played it incessantly. Thanks for sharing!

[@amyscanlan9838]

Oh my gosh! I used to play with this for hours! With all of the music and sound effects and clothes I mostly just goofed around. Totally didn't realize I could film a "movie" for years.

[@pureicefire]

Holy crap I was so into these dolls, books, etc. as a kid. Actually me and my little brother both. They added a ton of other characters over the years. My favorite was Josephina though. >_>

[@kbhasi]

I have a feeling this and/or "Opening Night" is going to become an Internet meme eventually...

[@TheOpponent]

Pit-Fighter: American Girls Edition

[@owlredshift]

Donating to your patreon because of this episode. This is the one that pushed me over the line.

[@laureninaboxx]

I have many fond memories playing this game when I was ~7 or 8. Thank you so much for making this video! It warmed my cold, millennial heart.

[@Hamboarding]

I love watching your videos sober a lot but watching them on opioids is an awesome experience as well! Keep up the good work, been watching for years and I'm not anywhere close to getting bored, thanks for so many videos over the years!

[@catanaition]

This game reminds me of Storybook Weaver which was like 90% of my computer usage from the age of 7-10.

[@jekkabailey4928]

aw man, I had this game as a kid and it was amazing! I loved it so much. I do remember being bummed that there wasn't Josefina in it though, she was my favorite! Thanks for a bizarre trip to memory lane!

[@meriisamu2051]

Steamed hams but recreated on American Girl premiere

[@blakegriplingph]

Turns out I'm not the only one with that idea xD

[@rebekahj82]

AAAHHHHH I love this! Thanks so much for this video. I collect American Girl Dolls and I have the tin and user guide from this game. Still waiting to find the entire set.

[@Notsbaby]

FRESH OATS!

[@RaccoonHenry]

this might be your funniest episode yet! I sincerely thank you for the laughs!

[@user-hardbrain]

LGR, please do a Let's Play video for this!!! highlight of this clip 8:07

[@newq]

Someone make a channel of just purely this game with the characters saying weird, unsettling absurdist bullshit and I can die happy. Oh my god I laughed so fucking hard at this. This is better than any drug.

[@ashknoecklein]

I never had or was into the American Girl dolls but I was born in 1981 so I do know what they are all about. And plays are totally in step with the product line. Children are encouraged to imagine themselves living the lives of the American Girls as they read the stories. This is just like an interactive version of that.

[@TheWellHungPony]

Those were some entertaining scenes. I look forward to your American Girl machinima series that's no doubt currently in production.

[@sheepishly6942]

Oh my god, it sounds exactly like Tomodachi Life.

[@kidwolf0015]

Actually... You're kinda right. Especially the "low-pitched" female voice.... Odd.

[@Bazongaz13]

Aw man, I used to get this game all the time from the library when i was little. This video is bringing back memories.

[@Churchtastic]

This was the wrong thing to watch idly during work. I barely contained my goggles at Clint's fantastic plays. Great episode!

[@daniloospina1225]

Loved it! Please, PLEASE do an entire episode of a play you've made using this program, I need to see other urgencies the characters might have aside from farting in a chair. I beg you!

[@DESUDESU24]

Oh god. My sister had this game.While people did plays about actual stories and drama, my sister made them fall over all the time, spinning, lighting randomly changing, inanimate objects moving and spinning, inappropriate sound effects, and making the characters walk though walls, in the thin air, and generally more erratically. Not to mention absolutely stupid messages. It was lit af. Sadly I think the drive that all those plays were on is long since dead and gone... Still, glad to see that we weren't that odd by watching you also make silly things.

[@TheOnlyToblin]

That reference at the end...god, all the memories of Ninja Nanny just came back...

[@Kataang102]

Oh my god American Girl was my childhood and I'm an adult collector now, I always love hearing about new American girl products I never heard of

[@Biedronecqa]

there should be series of nonsense done with this game on youtube already. I'd waste many hours on watching them for sure.

[@mspenrice]

Why did this not become a whole series of programs that kept running into the present day? I wouldn't have been into the American Girls franchise per se, but having something like this to play around with in my later school days (which a version released around the same time but with different IP would have been dead-centre of) would have been awesome. Even more so for the janky TTS engine. Better still if it was later upgraded with the ability to put your own assets into the engine. Closest thing I can think of is some kind of hollywood movie theatre management simulation game where you made short scenes as a component minigame. Or that Microsoft Kids Studio thing (or whatever it was called... I never remember the name from one encounter to the next) that we mucked about with a lot at the time.

[@tf2redpie]

Now review Microsoft 3D movie maker

[@kevinhunter6457]

Garfield?! There's a software program about my favorite childhood comic book! I can't wait to see that, I'm so excited! Can we see it soon, Clint? It is such a pleasant discovery!

[@LGR]

There are lots of Garfield games actually, just take a quick look online!

[@Kumimono]

I humbly suggest you do the outro blurb with this software, every time, from now on.

[@SayySanDiego]

I thought I was the only one who had this game as a child!!! I'm so happy you reviewed this! Brings back so many memories, I used to make the boy pass out and then the American girl fall on top of him ;) hahha ahhhh childhood

[@bethanyhitchen3989]

2:39 Sure do love them Judy Garland inflections 😂

[@zonderafspraak]

My sister had this game growing up, and my best friend and I (both guys) would totally play this game ALL THE TIME! We would make all kinds of hilarious plays about people dying, nuclear bombs going off, farts, etc. This was my childhood.

[@jorenmartijn]

My god, how far we've come. Tomodachi Life and Miitomo have way better speech synthesis than this junk (the synthesizer, not the game, though thats' up for debate). :P

[@romajimamulo]

Really? Miitomo has shit speech synth

[@jorenmartijn]

Still miles ahead of this game. At least in Miitomo you can say the word shit. :P

[@romajimamulo]

I'm pretty sure you can say shit in this game

[@Terestrasz]

This game has no word blacklist.

[@alise4494]

I keep coming back to this video for "Come any closer I will throw a pinball at you. And walk away slowly." The dramatic midi music just kills me for some reason.

[@amphitrite3660]

I had this, but I'd totally forgot about it now. I thought it was boring and creepy, plus it crashed all the time. You had more fun with it than I did. I think there were actual American Girl plays performed at the American Girl Place stores (which have restaurants and all sorts of activities in them, so they're more than just stores). They were also published.

[@lezgo_]

This is great! I was a big fan of the American Girl brand as a young girl. So cool to see something odd and different on the channel now and then!

[@stephaniewinegar]

I remember playing this when it came out (I was 7) and being extremely disappointed at the horrible text-to-speech. I loved American Girl dolls and stories (though my family could never afford one, those things are $100 just at the starting point), and I wanted desperately to hear Samantha say the lines I gave her in the play. Instead, I got... Well. You saw lol. This makes me want to try to locate a lot of old games I used to play in the 90s.

[@parimabartender]

To Colin Thompson who grew up in shelburne vermont, dude do you remember writing FARTHEAD on the speak and spell 34 years ago when we were 4? Dude. So awesome.

[@deadmetalbr]

Jesus, Clint, if this keeps up you'll enter a new age of unparalleled strangeness.

[@kulrigalestout]

Back when Downton Abbey was nearing its final season, there was a story commercial thing running between shows on PBS about a young girl who loved the show. Seems her story was special because overcoming Tourrete's, but at the same time common enough to not warrant a full 25-30 minute show. Anyways, she loved Downton Abbey so much that she started writing fanfics and heavily researching the time period to get a fuller appreciation of the characters and their world view. This was probably made with girls like her in mind, someone who is fascinated with a certain American Girl's story and wants to tell tales of her own within a particular setting. Some hidden educational value may come from the inspiration to learn more about specific time periods to make more historically accurate (therefore believable) scripts.

[@GypsyxDarling]

I honestly don't know how I missed this! I was 100% the target demo at the time it was released: a young girl who loved American Girl and creative type games. I did have a game similar to this by Theatrix called Hollywood. A little more generic and weird, but my friends and I loved it. It had a similar wonky TTS system that my friends and I learned how to game with strange punctuation and phonetic spelling - which worked great if you were just listening to what they were saying, but looked strange when it displayed the "script" below.

[@KzintiCV]

I remember only having a demo for Opening Night as a kid. I didn't even play around with the demo that much, it's probably a program I'd appreciate a lot more as an adult than I would as a kid.

[@user-xk1zt2ds4b]

Im a straight 28 y/o man and Im not ashamed to say I LOVED playing this game in '99. The text-to-speech robot was so funny and provided new gameplay that never got stale, AMAZING VIDEO ! SUCKY

[@PartTimeSarah2]

Dude, I remember this!! It was SOOO COMPLICATED! Didn't stop me from playing it for hours!