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"There's no telling what the future holds, besides rainbows and happiness"
Mikey in "Big Ol' Mikey"

Michael Robert "Mikey" Blumberg is one of the six main characters and a member of The Recess Gang. He is the most sensitive and most forgiving in the group. He is also the best poet in fourth grade, coming up with poems at any time. He is of German heritage.

Mikey is a talented singer (Baritone), and only ever sang in the boy's bathroom until Principal Prickly and Miss Finster overheard his voice and arranged for a private music teacher, Miss Salamone, from Spiro T. Agnew Middle School to replace Brandon for the upcoming PTA Spring Fling shortly after he swallowed a bee and was stung in the voice box in the episode "The Voice". From thereafter, Mikey was able to sing confidently and even speak in his "singing voice" on demand.

Personality

Many think that Mikey is a bully just because of his height, but, as once described by T.J. Detweiler, "he wouldn't hurt a fly". There is a hidden agenda about Mikey, and that is his love for "Bonky the Dinosaur", a dinosaur similar to Barney the dinosaur loved by kindergartners in the episode "Bonky Fever" He also appears to be the naivest of the group, despite being the oldest. Mikey has a passion for arts, especially singing and poetry.

Despite his goody goody, hippie-esque façade however, he does have a passive-aggressive, very needy, immature, selfish and manipulative side to him. This is hinted at in several episodes, like subtly guilt-tripping Spinelli into performing with him in "Dance Lessons", behaving like a full-grown baby (throwing tantrums etc.) out of sheer emotional dependency towards his mother by the time his 10th birthday was just around the corner in the episode "Bonky Fever", getting all delusional and immature about his one-sided crush on Miss Salomone in "The Voice" as well as taking the senior citizens' rejections in "Old Folks' Home" very personally, only being okay with the visit as long as he gets all the adoration and attention, being rather ignorant of his friends having a good time there and getting along with the seniors due to his own selfishness, making him quite hypocritical.

He also quits quite easily, like the time he wanted to become a safety ranger in "Officer Mikey" and got in by unorthodox means, but dropped his 'dream' by the time of lunch.

Relationships with other members of the gang

T.J. Detweiler

T.J. is good friends with Mikey. In "The Breakup", T.J. says he "appreciates his insane spiritual gifts". However, he is sometimes embarrassed by Mikey's behavior. In "Tucked in Mikey", after Mikey read a poem inspired by Menlo, T.J. claimed, "for once, it didn't embarrass me". He also was a little embarrassed at Mikey's comment that the 5th and 6th grader's club was a "rainbow hug of togetherness". But T.J. respects Mikey despite his behavior, as seen at the end of the episode "Rumor Mill".

Gretchen Grundler

Mikey and Gretchen rarely interact. It remains to be seen as the status of their friendship. However, during the episode "My Fair Gretchen", Mikey falls to the ground and dramatically shouts his anguish after the gang is informed that Gretchen will be leaving for a different school. Also, during this episode, Mikey is the one that thinks of a plan to get Gretchen out of leaving. This indicates that they are great friends, but just do not interact much.

Vince LaSalle

Mikey looks up to Vince, which is the focus of the episode "Copycat Kid". Mikey wishes he could be "cool" like Vince and be sporty (and was quite capable of shooting baskets in the episode) until Vince copies him. In the end, Mikey realizes the value of himself as an individual. The two remain good friends afterward.

Ashley Spinelli

Mikey and Spinelli are polar opposites. Mikey is large and peaceful, while Spinelli is small and more violent. Mikey's sincerity and calm demeanor sometimes get in the way with Spinelli's attitude ("Gus' Last Stand", "Rumor Mill") The two share a rare moment of friendship in the episode "Dance Lessons", where Spinelli puts aside her tough attitude for Mikey's sake. She also was ready to defend Mikey when Randall made jokes about him in "Stand Up Randall", which Mikey appreciated but said it was not necessary. They both also have a love for animals. In "Operation Stuart", they are the most dedicated to rescue Stuart over the rest of the gang.

Gus Griswald

Mikey is better friends with Gus than any of the other members. The two are often seen taking the same side of things (Recess: School's Out, Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade, "The Candidates"). They have offended each other occasionally ("The Break-Up", "Germ Warfare") but were quick to forgive one another. They both appear to be the naivest in the group- most likely with Gus being the newest kid and Mikey's child-like personality. They are also the only members of the gang who have constant younger friends; with Mikey's being Tubby and Gus's being Hector and Cornchip Girl, who he also seems to be friends with.

Appearance

Mikey is the largest and tallest member of The Recess Gang, having a large, chubby appearance. He wears a white partially untucked t-shirt, brown pants and teal blue sneakers. He has blond hair similar to Gus. When directly facing the screen, it's also visible that he has a mild case of strabism.

Trivia

  • His singing voice was performed by the late Robert Goulet.
  • Mikey is the only member of the main six whose birthday has been celebrated in an episode, which was "Bonky Fever", Gretchen mentions her birthday party in "The Girl Was Trouble", however, it was only a flashback.
    • This episode confirms that Mikey is the oldest member of the group, as they mention he is the first in their gang to turn 10. Therefore, his birthday is before March 23rd, which is Gretchen's birthday.
  • Mikey is based on Paul Germain's friend back in elementary school.
  • Mikey has a similar name to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
  • According to "To Finster with Love", Mikey weighs 112 pounds.
  • In the Arabic dub, his name is changed to Magdy [مجدي].
  • Mikey had the second most episodes focused on him out of the entire cast, after T.J.
  • Mikey appeared in every episode of the series.
  • His pee wee pal was Zedd, who he taught to be calm and enjoy nature.
  • Unlike other members of the gang (especially Spinelli, who has polar opposite interests and traits with him), he rarely gets angry.
  • He is the only one in the gang to be suspended from school, only out of spite by Menlo and Randall (he was released from suspension by recess time).
  • In "The Voice", he sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen".
  • He likes to dance and has been in Mademoiselle Pavlova's dance classes for quite a while.
  • The Kindergartners mistook him for Tubby's dad in "Operation Stuart".
  • The only person who can eat more than him is Kurst the Worst.
  • He appears to be the most respectful towards authority figures in the group, rarely saying a bad thing about Principal Prickly, Miss Grotke, Miss Finster, etc.
  • Mikey is tied with Gus for having the most episode titles with his name out of The Recess Gang, at 5.
  • He along with T.J., Vince, Spinelli and Gretchen are the only characters to appear in every episode.

Gallery

Photos The Recess Wiki has a collection of images about Mikey Blumberg



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Media: Recess (Episode List) | Recess: School's Out | Recess: All Growed Down | Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade | Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street

Characters: T.J. Detweiler | Vince LaSalle | Ashley Spinelli | Mikey Blumberg | Gretchen Grundler | Gus Griswald | Captain Bradley | Cornchip Girl | The Diggers | Hustler Kid | Erwin Lawson | Miss Grotke | Muriel Finster | Becky Detweiler | Dr. Phillium Benedict | Menlo | Brock | Peter Prickly | Kojak | Butch | Ashley Armbruster | Ashley Boulet | Ashley Quinlan | Ashley Tomassian | Wallace Fenwick | Brandon the Singer | Gelman | King Bob | Chucko Kowalski | Jocko | Randall Weems | King Freddy II | Cheay | Spencer | Swinger Girl | Upside-Down Girl | Gordy | Hector | Miss Lemon | Lunchlady Irma | Tubby | Jordan & Jerome | Flo Spinelli | Bob Spinelli | Guru Kid

Songs: Recess Theme Song | "We Shall Not Be Moved" | "Jingle Bells" (Recess Version) | "The Otter Dance" | Bonky Theme Song

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