Doug and The Beets

If you watch enough of this series, you’re sure to come across Doug and Skeeter’s favorite band in some capacity. On Nickelodeon, they’ve made 3 cameos, but their songs also make several appearances. Either in the background, accompanying a montage, or being sung by any of the characters (like Patti in “Doug’s secret song”). Back in the earlier days of Nickelodeon, some of their commercials were music videos featuring songs and sequences of their series. This cross-promotion was absolutely genius. Good times.

Not counting real bands that’ve played fictional versions of themselves in various movies, The Beets are arguably the coolest fictional band ever. They’re obviously a take on The Beatles with an equally fanatic young audience. Cue up a song on the radio and every character is compelled to grab a random Beets wig, seemingly out of thin air, and rock out on air guitar.

The members include Monroe Yoder on bass guitar, Flounder on guitar, Chap Lipman on drums and Wendy Nespah on keyboards.

Back when I was watching this show as a kid, The Beets left a lasting impression. With an ear worm like “Killer Tofu”, how could they not? But I don’t think I appreciated them as much as I do now. 
Now that I’ve developed an attachment to various musical artists, I can more easily relate to Beets-Mania and the ups and downs Doug went through with them.

There are tons of memes on Facebook that stress the importance of friends that introduce you to good music. Skeeter fits that description perfectly. Doug knew nothing of The Beets when they met so Skeeter took it upon himself to give him a comprehensive education about them and their music. Anyone who has a friend or family member like that should consider themselves lucky.
One common theme that seems to repeat itself over the three episodes The Beets appear: a concert is on the horizon, but the two of them have to overcome a series of obstacles standing in their way.

Doug Rocks
They find out from Rodger about a local concert, but tickets are already sold out. They win a pair from a radio contest, but after Skeeter lets his enthusiasm get the better of him at dinner, his dad grounds him. By the time he’s “un-grounded,” he and Doug missed the concert.
But at the Honker Burger, they have a chance meeting with the band. One of the series highlights for sure.
They run into Rodger at the end when he tells about them seeing the band through his binoculars in the back row. Of course he bragged about getting closer to the band than they did- unaware of what just took place. But I’m kinda surprised he didn’t make up an elaborate story like meeting them backstage to rub it in.

Doug’s Hot Ticket
With so many near misses and mishaps, Doug and Skeeter really went through the ringer this time.
Tickets to a concert sell out when they’re next in line, but Doug lucks into a pair thanks to his sister Judy. (She got them from a date but had no interest- go figure!)
They travel to Bloatsburg on the Beets bus, which is packed with other diehard Beet-niks. Here and other places in this segment, you learn all kinds of cool trivia about the band, including the original name of their biggest hit. (Supposedly it was changed from "Szechuan Bean Curd" because that  was too hard to rhyme). As someone who's really gotten into little known trivia of music, there was a lot of fun dialogue.

At a diner pit stop, they strike up a conversation with truck driver Charlene (kind of a cool character we only see for a few minutes). Unfortunately they’re so distracted that the bus leaves without them.
I know the DJ said it was meant to be a 10 minute break, but it was kinda irresponsible of him to not making sure two unaccompanied minors were on the bus before leaving.
Doug and Skeeter are lucky enough to get a ride from the local sheriff (whose basement hosted The Beets rehearsals before they became famous and his sock inspired their song “Where’s My Sock?”) to the venue, but somehow left their tickets behind. (Seriously? How?)
By pure coincidence, though, the stage crew arrived late and Doug offers to help them move the equipment. Not only does this land them backstage passes but they get a little more face time with the band. 

Doug Meets RoboBone
Newly elected as student activities chairperson, Doug launches a campaign to get The Beets to play a concert at their school. But after succeeding, assistant principal Mr. Bone quashes it because he doesn’t deem their music appropriate for a school function.
Would’ve been nice if he mentioned that before the petition began...
As is often the case in times like these, Doug asks himself “What would Quailman do?” Inspired by various comments made by his friends ("It's like Mr. Bone is programmed to say no to everything."/"Yeah, like a robot. The subject is closed. The subject is closed"), the alter ego of Mr. Bone in this sequence is a robot from outer space. His primary objective: boss people around. Several of Doug's classmates wind up in eternal detention for trivial offenses.
Side-note: the first time I heard the phrase “pray tell” was in this cartoon and for years, I thought it was one of those random identifiers you used for a person instead of their name.

The way Quailman wins in the end is a little too simple, but it’s hard to argue with the results. Robo-Bone and his army decide to torture everyone with their yodeling, but when Quailman suggests they sing in the same key, their sound isn’t just more tolerable, it ends up being worthy of a musical career. 
Ultimately, the solution Doug finds is striking a compromise. Mr. Bone’s complaint was that The Beets weren’t as wholesome as his group, the Bluffington Yodelers. So Doug suggests making them the opening act. It goes over really well for everyone. The Beets even get a spark of inspiration- their new song “I need mo’ allowance” (which we also hear during a montage for "Doug Inc." where Doug starts a lawncutting business with his friends) actually works yodeling into the chorus.

Between that and writing catchy songs about tofu and missing laundry, there really was nothing The Beets couldn’t do.

Except stay together, unfortunately. I didn't watch much of the ABC part of the series, but I'm pretty sure the band broke up sometime during it. I skimmed the Wikipedia page for further info and it sounds like they broke up the first time (and the next several times) over silly reasons.