Flashback Friday – Hey Dude

Remember that show on Nickelodeon called “Hey Dude”? It aired from 1989 to 1991. I used to watch it all the time with my cousin Jennifer when we were kids and my Mom was babysitting her during the summer. We watched it so much that I knew all the lines and would say Melody’s and I made her be Brad (she was a girl, not a dude).

Hey Dude was set around the fictional “Bar None Dude Ranch” near Tuscon, Arizona. It was about the lives of the ranch owner Mr. Ernst, his son Buddy and the lives of the summer teenagers who worked at the ranch. My favorite character was Melody – played by Christine Taylor.



As per the wiki page, “The owner was Mr. Ernst, a good-natured but somewhat bumbling dimwit with glasses, a slight build, and a receding hairline. He bought the ranch – in this case, ill-advisedly – seeking escape from his high-pressure job as a New York City accountant. His son, Buddy, was displeased with the change of locale, primarily because he couldn't skateboard on desert sand.

The staff originally consisted of two boys and two girls. The boys were Ted, an enterprising troublemaker, and Danny, an easy-going Hopi Indian. The girls were girl-next-door Melody and rich girl Brad, from Grosse Pointe, Michigan who often wore dressy designer outfits at work, but was a very competent horse-rider. Her love-hate relationship with Ted was a plot thread during the first half of the series.

Ted later left the show for a time and was replaced by Ernst's nephew Jake, an eccentric slacker who likes to play the drums. Not long after, Kyle, a dim but handsome cowboy type, joined the cast. Soon after that, Ted came back, and he and Kyle became romantic rivals for Brad.

The only other featured adult was Lucy, a tough and authoritarian ranch-hand. She is sometimes looked upon as a mother figure with the teens often asking her advice.”


Do you remember this show? Who were your favorite characters? Any favorite or memorable episodes?