STU TV

Summary: When Stu hits it big with the next great must-have invention, he and Didi agree to make a reality show to cash in on their fame. The entire group agrees, but the kids have varying opinions as the show gets crazier and crazier. Will the drama ever stop?

CHAPTER ONE

Angelica always loved this part, the getting dolled up in her mother's side of the master bedroom closet. Her hair would be professionally set in one of the newest styles, and her outfit would consist of designer items discussed by a team of stylists. Every moment outside of that room would be about staying glammed up on filming days, the only exception being excursion shoots, which were hit and miss. They always involved doing something with everyone at some fun destination. Season 1 they went to a theme park (in Texas, in July, oh my god!), and Angelica hated it. Why would a place build a giant working ride depicting Stu's annoying product? Angelica had no idea.

Like the other kids, she didn't get what all the fuss was about. He started in commercials that went viral. Angelica's dad thought it was because he made a great cooking product that made cooking eggs hassle-free (which was a fluke. The toy was supposed to turn wax into superhero-shaped crayons, then Tina and Tony, Phil and Lil's younger twin siblings brought down eggs, and the rest is supposedly history).

Drew was wrong about Stu's product being the center of all the attention. People did love the product, but Stu was the next great TV pitchman. And a network wanted to cash in, then another, and Stu and Didi decided to spread the wealth. Phil and Lil's parents were instantly on board, and Chuckie's dad was no problem. The Carmichael's didn't mind making a few appearances either, so that left Drew with a tough decision. He couldn't refuse, not with his wife and daughter interested in the fun. They even got a new custom-built house out of the deal, plus tons of money. Who could refuse that?

Drew wanted out more than anything in the world, enough to make him Stu's biggest nemesis on the show. The producers knew they needed more conflict after a fluffy Season 1, so when Drew picked a fight on camera early during filming for Season 2, they couldn't resist.

And neither could Angelica. Being in private school kept her away from the camera, but her father's larger role meant more screen time for her, and more outfits and all-out glam sessions. And more screen time with her being a bully to the babies, which she loved. Most of the world apparently hated her, and they praised the show for allowing Confession Cams with the kids to document how they felt about her. Angelica wanted one of those. People needed to know her side of the story, namely because she was tired of people blaming her father for her so-called bad attitude. She'd been teaching those babies about the real world for years, and she started on her own because they were just too dumb for their own good.

Carmen, the hair dresser for the day, spun Angelia's chair around with a smile, "All done here, sweetheart. Send your mom in when you pass by her to get your makeup touched up."

Angelica was eager to obey because that meant she'd get to filming quicker. This morning Stu was supposed to come over with some schematics he'd worked out of his next possible invention, which was his main purpose on the show (1. Inventing new things, 2. Pitching the old and the new, and 3. Being a dad to his boys, an uncle to Angelica, and a father-figure to the rest). Drew was supposed to tell him it was stupid (because it was), and Angelica was supposed to be in the background getting ready for school. Her mother would serve her breakfast, but the men would get in the way, namely play fighting but sometimes it got real, really real.

They were filming the third season now, so conflict was easy to find by now. Stu hadn't had another good invention since the fluke egg cooker thing, and Drew was eager to play his usual role as the brother who told him the truth about his designs and prototypes. Sometimes these sessions got ugly, like during the Family BBQ Episode during Season 2. The entire table of food for the group got flipped over, so the kids started up a food fight, and it was all-out pandemonium...which fans LOVED. Angelica hated it, namely because she got baked beans in her hair and Dil called her a drama queen just before Phil threw a deviled egg in her mouth so she couldn't say anything back.

This season would be different, and this was the start. Angelica had her makeup touched up by Suzanne, a new girl who did pretty well. She even gave Angelica the little eye liner wing thing she loved so much before blowing a kiss Italian style and sending her downstairs, where the production crew was running around like mad staging the kitchen, preparing multiple pancakes for Charlotte to pass to Angelica. Thankfully they gave her a real muffin to eat—those pancakes were meant for the floor.

"Alright let's get everything ready. Stu is already waiting up the block for his shots. As soon as Charlotte is done, we'll get started," the director for this segment, Charles Michaels, said using a megaphone. Charlotte appeared on cue and took her place by the counter, where a pan was set over the stove (it was off) and butter was placed beside her. After some minor adjustments, they were left alone for the door shot.

Angelica knew exactly what she'd say in the Confession Cam here:

It takes FOREVER for Dad to get his shot right. It's not because he isn't ugly enough to Uncle Stu or because anyone messes up their lines or anything. The director always wants to see how bad things can get BEFORE the big fight for some reason, and Michaels is the worst! He'll reshoot things for as long as he can for this sole reason, and it is the most annoying thing you'll ever see EVER!

Thankfully today he only took a few shots, then they did a walking shot (in two takes) into the kitchen. Charlotte kept her cue with Angelica and passed her the plate with the butter knife still on top. The men, arguing and shuffling around the room, bump Angelica and she drops the plate, shattering it on the floor. A shouting match ensues, and once it's over, they do one more take for good measure.

Once they're satisfied, the show's over. Stu storms out, heading back to his house to work on the prototype to go along with the schematics, but that would be in a few days at a large family dinner being hosted at their new, huge, custom-built house. Angelica's Confession Cam for that?

I cannot believe the house my aunt and uncle got thanks to that silly egg thing. The boys have their own huge rooms, and a game room, and a movie room, and Grandpa has his own guest house in the back with a doggy door for Spike so they can avoid filming. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen! And the fence is great. Even I can't get in without special clearance. It's like they live at the White House...except it's green and yellow.

Angelica didn't mind if it was over for her. Her shot with the pancakes was enough to get her noticed, even if it was just a few seconds and she was technically in the background. She still go to go to school in her outfit and in her makeup, and she'd still get there in a private car with a body guard sitting in the passenger seat, making her the most fly thing in her entire school.

Confession Cam: Tommy and Dil Pickles

"Our dad got famous for making the Eggstraodinaire, but he normally designed toys. Dil actually came up with the idea because he wanted a crayon that was red like Iron Man but looked like Iron Man too. Dad started with green and Reptar, but the twins helped him see the design's true potential," Tommy explained.

"Yeah, Dad's inventions are always hit and miss, but like most things, it's hit or miss. This one was a huge miss at first, then Tony and Tina went down with some eggs mom left out. We were all in the backyard and didn't know what happened until we heard all the screaming," Dil smiled, shaking his head as Tommy picked up where he left off:

"Mom smelled the cooking eggs and ran down there. In the slot mold thing for the crayon were perfect eggs, the white cooked solid and the yolk a little runny. Dad capitalized on it and started tweaking the design. He gave it settings for hard scrambled, sunny-side up, and some others. He wanted to give it a poaching option-"

"That didn't go so well," Dil interrupted, shaking his head.

Tommy laughed, "It didn't, but we were proud of Dad anyway. He really made a good invention and we were really happy when it did so well."

"But if we could do it again, the both of us, we'd beg Mom and Dad to get these stupid cameras out of our house," Dil said with a stern expression. Tommy said nothing more, but all he had to do was nod.

The house was quiet when Tommy and Dil stepped inside. Didi was in the guest house with Grandpa Lou helping him with his television according to the guard. They had to have one of those now, someone who always stayed on the compound just in case they had another Incident.

During Season 2's filming, they were putting out Season 1 on television, and their address was leaked. They had intentionally moved to a remote piece of land outside of town, but it didn't matter. Once people knew, they formed a crowd outside the gate...except for one. She was a crazed woman, apparently mildly schizophrenic, who lost her two sons in a car crash, two sons that did look a lot like the boys. She didn't really have a plan, but her general idea was to climb the fence, get into their rooms, kidnap them, and raise them as her own. She got into the kitchen, where Didi was baking cookies with Tony and Tina while the rest of the kids were downstairs in the movie room playing video games. That was the last day they stayed at the house alone, even though the rolling pin sent that woman running like Satan himself was on her heels.

Tommy and Dil knew to trust the guards, but Didi was still unhappy about them, rather the need for them. It was Grandpa Lou who hated all of this "tomfoolery." He spent more and more time in the guest house and less and less time with the kids, something both boys hated. Dil was old enough to remember what his grandpa used to be like, and he hated it, just like the others.

Once the boys made it to Tommy's room, Dil pulled his camera out of his backpack and set it down on the center of the table Tommy could use for anything. Today it was for a private meeting to discuss what was going on with their lives.

"So I've been thinking, big bro, and I feel like we should be honest on these things, but not honest to the network. Does that make sense?" Dil asked, straddling a chair and looking up to Tommy.

Tommy shook his head. He was used to his brother being a little strange (though he was less strange, thanks to therapy, now that the show was being filmed practically year-round to accommodate the need for two seasons a year PLUS holiday specials), but this didn't make much sense to him without the possible weirdness behind it.

Dil sighed, "Okay, let me spell it out for you. We're thirteen and twelve respectively, not really old enough to really say much to anyone about anything. We're kids for another five and six years, so we can't do anything. But we can be honest and post ourselves, then see what happens," Dil smirked.

Tommy could follow him now. The show gave the kids the cameras because of the Angelica drama. Tommy knew it was Angelica being Angelica. She'd always had this chip on her shoulder because she was older, and now that she could be older, in high school at a prep school, AND famous, she was rubbing their faces in it every chance she got, especially on filming days. So the cameras were passed out to see how they felt, but Tommy knew where this was going.

The network allowed them to upload the content directly if they wanted to. Most of the time they went to the production assistants, who would take the camera to their command posts and upload them for them, which meant some videos were censored for being too silly, too serious, too something. For the kids of Stu Pickles it was especially hard because the show runner lived in an RV next to the property, and nothing could get by Harvey, unless they uploaded the videos themselves.

"We need to be smart about this, and we need to talk to the others. Do you think they're home yet?" Tommy asked. Dil shrugged and they moved to Tommy's computer, which was set up at a professional-looking desk, though it had been painted a bright shade of blue to match the rest of the boyish room.

The kids maintained private accounts on an obscure social media site so they could stay in touch without phones, and without the public catching wind of them. They had their own accounts on the big channels, but they were run by people working for the show, not the tweens themselves. This was different, and it was always clear if they were on or not because they could literally flipped a switch.

"Chuckie flipped but not the others. Oh, there's Kimi. I bet the twins are next," Dil said, watching the screen. Tommy refreshed, and sure enough, Phil and Lil flipped their switch at the same time, probably from their shared bedroom.

The boys started a new forum thread and let them know what they were thinking of doing. It was subject they discussed often while they were alone together, which was usually on-set when the adults became the main focus, "on-set" meaning at one of their houses. Everyone used their money for larger houses, so it was easy to sneak off, even at Phil and Lil's with the five-year-olds running around.

The subject was easy: They all felt betrayed that their lives were a soap opera. Now that Season 3 was starting, none of them saw an end, but they couldn't see a way to express themselves either. This was that solution, so Dil proposed it, explaining it with Tommy's help so everyone could follow them.

The responses were easy to follow: The kids were in. They were tired of being directed around in their own houses, lights all over them while they ate their cereal of the week (usually from a sponsor with bad food), and tripping over members of the production crew on their way to the bathroom. While the cameras were meant to spill on Angelica or give more detail to the adults' squabbles, they were now going to use them to take back their lives.

A/N: Hey guys, so it's been a long while since I dabbled in the Rugrats fandom, but it's a place I'm looking into. The Arthur fandom just doesn't give me much anymore in the way of community, and I've been wanting to branch out to something else for a while. So here I am.

Inspiration for this piece? I read a book recently where this girl was living a total nightmare in a reality show family, and it made me wonder what would happen if Stu finally invented something and his life became a reality show. So, here it is. What'll happen next? We'll see:)

I'm totally open for ideas and comments so review or PM me if you have anything to say. I'll get back to you when I can.