Interns

Interns are people used by Chris McLean to test out the challenges to make sure that they are "moderately safe."

Throughout the Total Drama series, Chris frequently mentions the interns getting injured and some even dying. A running gag throughout Total Drama is having interns test out challenges to ensure that they are safe enough, only for them to die or get severely injured during the testing. Despite this, Chris will always qualify the challenge as being safe anyway, with the commonly-used phrase "Well, that seems safe enough."

Appearances
Most of the interns are prototype designs of the contestants, mainly Duncan, Cody, DJ, and Tyler. Each season has its own featured intern, who appears the most in the season.

Featured Interns
For Total Drama Island, an intern with an orange bandanna, long brown hair, a white shirt, baggy green pants, and orange sandals was the very first design for Duncan, which was later used for Cody in the pilot and then recycled again into an intern. He is first seen as a pizza delivery man, and is last used as a cameraman for Celebrity Manhunt. This intern is also seen in the "cheesy tabloid magazine" that Chris holds up in Not So Happy Campers - Part 1. He also has several appearances in Total Drama Action.

For Total Drama Action, the main intern is an intern who is Tyler's original design, with blonde hair, a white sleeveless shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals. A third intern, featured in both seasons, is DJ's original design. He is a large man with a goatee, red cap worn backwards, a tan and red jacket, and matching shorts.

An intern is also briefly seen in The Very Last Episode, Really! However, the intern has two designs: one for the Canadian airing and one for the American airing. The Canadian intern has light skin and light brown hair, wears sandals, denim short pants, a white tank top, sunglasses and a cowboy hat. The American intern has dark skin and wears blue sandals, matching blue denim pants, a blue wristband, a white tank top and long, dark brown hair.

For Total Drama World Tour, there are two main interns. Both of them are noticeably very large and well-built. Both of their outfits also resemble Chris's outfit, with shorts and sandals, except one wears a light blue shirt and is blonde, while the other is darker-skinned, has shorter hair, and wears a red shirt.

Total Drama Island
Owen, at the beginning of the first challenge, mentions that shows like Total Drama Island have to have interns test the challenges "to make sure it's survivable." They then show a clip of Chef reluctantly testing the challenge, where Chris says that all of their interns are 'in the hospital already'.

In The Sucky Outdoors, Chris mentions that he "lost a couple of interns" to the bears living in the woods of Camp Wawanakwa. In addition, the bandanna intern appears as a pizza delivery guy who arrives at the Screaming Gophers' campsite with a pizza, and has a brief line when he asks who the pizza is for. The Gophers then find out (much to their dismay) that it's for the camera crew.

In Who Can You Trust?, during the blowfish-cooking challenge, the bandanna intern is seen jumping from the ceiling of the mess hall, spinning in mid-air, and landing behind the podium like a stunt double. Moments later, Chris pops up and the intern crawls away showing who was the one doing the impressive jump. To make it even more obvious, all of the contestants in the room could see the intern crawling away as Chris was explaining the challenge.

In Camp Castaways, Chris mentions the number of interns he had lost for a specific project, namely moving his sets into place. Also, while having fun with Chef, Chris considers sending the interns that are in the hospital a picture of them having a good time to insult them.

In The Very Last Episode, Really!, a new intern, Chase Rocks, is needed to test the final challenge, as Chris claims that all of their other interns had already died. He is injured by the sharks (though it's unknown whether or not he dies). In America, a different person is used for testing: the winner of America's challenge.

In Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island, the bandanna intern has his hot air balloon hijacked by Courtney. Courtney also sees a man in a drive-through who later becomes an intern/cameraman. Both interns return in Total Drama Action.

Total Drama Action


In Riot On Set, two of the cameramen (the bandanna intern and the large intern) quit after the names of Gaffers and Grips are made fun of by the contestants. The bandanna intern speaks once more, angrily declaring, "I'm tired of getting no respect around here!" They do, however return by Masters of Disasters. Later in the episode, two different interns (both of whom are apparently twins, and are dressed as orderlies) drag Izzy to the Lame-o-sine after her elimination and roughly throw her in.

In 3:10 to Crazytown, when Chef is shown testing the horse-jumping challenge. The intern's hands are only shown on screen, but his screams can be heard as Chef pushes him off of the platform. He was most likely injured or killed.

In Masters of Disasters, the two cameramen from Riot On Set return despite apparently quitting, and are seen getting close-ups of Owen after his jaw is broken.

Starting with the The Aftermath: I, a new intern (who is actually Tyler's prototype design) is introduced, and is featured as the second season's most prominent intern. He is most commonly seen in all of the Aftermath segments, with the exception of the final one. In the first, he is shown in a never-before-seen clip to be frightened of Izzy after she kicks Chef. Later in the same episode, he flees the stage when she reveals that she would hurt him the same way she hurt Chef.

The same intern is seen again in The Aftermath: II, wheeling in a wheelbarrow of Trent's fanmail. Also in the episode, the large intern and the bandanna intern are seen in the rafters above the stage, attempting to drop a spotlight on Geoff when he criticizes the lighting on the set.

The blonde intern has a line in The Aftermath: III, when he is backstage telling Owen that he was supposed to be onstage. The intern was also shown in Mutiny on the Soundstage, controlling the Monster that Duncan had to face in that episode. He was not seen in The Aftermath: IV, making that the first, and only, aftermath that he did not appear in. In Get a Clue, the two interns seen in Riot On Set and Masters of Disasters return once again very briefly, and are both seen playing zombies in Chris's movie, when both Lindsay and Duncan are watching it as a reward.

Several interns from past episodes return in Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special, and are seen to serve several different purposes. In the introduction for Celebrity Manhunt, several interns are seen, including the Canadian intern from The Very Last Episode, Really!, even though he had supposedly died, as well as the large intern. On the set for one of Izzy's movies, the blonde intern from the aftermath episodes returns, and apparently is a director of photography. Izzy then goes ballistic (for apparently "no reason") and curses at the intern. He ends up running away crying. It is revealed by Josh and Blaineley that this intern had to go to therapy for months after this incident. In the first half of the special, the intern with the bandanna is seen to be a cameraman for Celebrity Manhunt, and gets his own camera shoved onto his head by Eva during one of her freakouts at the paparazzi. In addition, he rides a skateboard all the way to Ezekiel's home on the farm. While there, he is heard speaking once again when he gives Ezekiel a little advice on how to be a true gangster. Later on, he is seen to supposedly be one of the competitors in Total Drama Dirtbags before it was revealed to be fake.

Also, the intern with the bandanna briefly appeared in an exclusive clip from Total Drama Action. Taking place after the events of One Million Bucks, B.C., Heather had successfully stolen a lock of Courtney's hair and, in the Confessional, attempted to stick it to her head using some of the tar she had fallen into earlier. However, the intern suddenly rushed into the Confessional and started wrestling Heather to get the lock of hair back, as the show had to obey Courtney due to her suing them. Although Heather resisted strongly, the intern eventually wrestled her down off-screen, snatched the lock of hair, and walked away.

Total Drama World Tour
Starting this season, it seems that all interns wear an outfit similar to Chris's (with different colors), if they are not in a special costume for a challenge.

In Walk Like An Egyptian - Part 1, two interns are first seen when the cast arrives in Egypt, as they are carrying Chris and treating him like a pharaoh. Later, one of the interns is seen fanning Chris with a giant leaf. The intern that is doing this looks like the intern from the aftermath shows in Total Drama Action.

In Walk Like An Egyptian - Part 2, the two interns were still treating Chris like a pharaoh, such as letting Chris sit on one of them like a chair. When Chris drops the urn full of scarab beetles, one intern runs away, while the other gets eaten alive by them. Later, when both Chris and Chef are at the finish line on the other side of the Nile River, Chris is seen with his feet on the dead intern's skeleton, using it as a type of coffee table to put his feet on, while Chef is similarly resting his feet on the back of the other intern, who is still alive.

In Anything Yukon Do, I Can Do Better, two interns downstream get frozen in the icy Yukon river waters, as they were supposed to rescue contestants that fell into the water.

In Broadway, Baby!, a new intern is seen massaging Izzy in the first class compartment. The intern has blonde hair, a unibrow, green khaki shorts and a shirt, very similar to the one that Chris wears, but in a lighter tone.

In Aftermath: Bridgette Over Troubled Water, a brand new intern is seen along with the one from the previous episode. He is wearing the exact same outfit as the other except he wears a red shirt and brown shorts. They restrain Blaineley after she throws a temper tantrum, and force her out of the aftermath show. These two interns are seen to be very strong and powerfully built, as both are tall, have gnarled faces, and were able to withstand Blaineley's brutal blows (one was kicked in the groin, and the other was punched in the face, but neither seemed fazed).

In Can't Help Falling in Louvre, a new intern appears painting Lindsay's toenails. His hair is brown and clothes resemble Chris's.

In Jamaica Me Sweat, an intern tested the "Bobsled of Death" track, but Chris said he would be "Out of Commission" for ten months. He was then briefly seen in the infirmary, along with Gwen and Owen, completely wrapped in a full body cast. His size and body shape made him appear to be the same intern from the Total Drama Action Aftermath episodes (and most likely was), even though he was mostly covered. He was seen lying on a hospital bed moments before the heart monitor started issuing a long, monotone beep, implying that his heart stopped and he died. One of the interns from

In Aftermath: Bridgette Over Troubled Water, several interns appear to work in the infirmary, pushing Gwen in on a gurney. Outside, a female intern is seen serving drinks to Chris and Chef. Her design is based off of Katie's original design and the female avatar from the Best. Game. Ever.

In Greece's Pieces, two interns are blamed for Chris being misinformed about the origin of the Olympics - which they are recreating - being in Italy. One is the intern who was seen in both the first Aftermath and Jamaica, and the other appeared to be the same one from the Total Drama Action Aftermath episodes, except much taller. Chris tells everyone to grab on to something, except for the darker-skinned intern, the one who was apparently more responsible for the misinformation, and was promptly thrown off the plane. The other intern is told to go gather some information from Greece, which is their new destination, and is seen standing next to Chris the rest of the episode, only to take the Drop of Shame at the end, as he was "eliminated" by Chris's choice. The Total Drama World Tour website only lists him as "This Intern," as similarly stated by Chris right before he pushed the intern out the door.

In The EX-Files, Heather is seen talking to a bored looking intern in first class. This intern is identical to the one eliminated in the previous episode.

In Picnic at Hanging Dork, the same two interns from Greece are seen alive and well, and back on the show once again. They bring in the emus for the first challenge. An emu pecks one intern's head and he glares at it in response. Later, two identical interns come in to take an injured Sierra away on a stretcher.

Three interns capture Blaineley and drag her with her luggage off to the next destination after she wins the second chance in Aftermath Aftermayhem.

In Niagara Brawls, interns were seen dragging contestants into the cargo hold so they could be jettisoned over the Niagara River.

Two interns appear in African Lying Safari. The first one is shot by Chris with a tranquilizer ball, to demonstrate its effects. He was later attacked, then dragged off, by Ezekiel. The second was a cameraman, accidentally hit by Duncan while trying to capture Ezekiel.

In Rapa Phooey!, the two burly interns are seen helping Chef lift up the Easter Island statue that was knocked over by the plane's landing. However, when Chris calls Chef for assistance on the walkie-talkie, Chef drops the rope tied to the statue, causing it to fall back over and crush both interns.

In Awwwwww, Drumheller, the interns are scolded by Chris for accidentally burying the jet's oil supplies instead of the barrels of snakes and spiders they were supposed to dispose of. As punishment, Chris tips the barrel onto them, sending snakes and spiders all over the terrified interns. In Planes, Trains, and Hot Air Mobiles, two of the interns can be seen loading up the truck with the animals rounded up.

In Hawaiian Style, the dark-skinned burly intern is seen tying up the Doberman to Team Heather's platform right before the challenge begins. Also, he and the other burly intern (the blonde one) are seen bringing in the wheelbarrow and baby carriage that were won by Team Alejandro and Team Heather, respectively, after the challenge is over. Both interns are in the final group shot at the end of the episode when Bridgette signs off.

In Hawaiian Punch, an intern in a heat-resistant suit was seen putting out the fire on the platform Cody and Alejandro fought on. He was then seen sinking into the water on the sinking platform. Either this same intern, or one in an identical suit, threw a sample effigy into the volcano, getting splashed by the lava and running off, screaming. He was last seen after the commercial break, bandaged head-to-toe and wheeled in a wheelchair by Chef. Additionally, one more was seen holding one of the large ice cubes on his back so that its coolness, blown by a fan, could keep Chris and Chef cool.

Trivia

 * Overall, there have been fifteen different interns shown on-screen in the series so far. These interns are:
 * The intern with the orange bandanna, wavy brown hair, green and white shirt, baggy green pants, and orange sandals.
 * He is Duncan's original design from Camp TV, and was later recycled into Cody's design, before being recycled again into this intern.
 * The large intern with the goatee, red baseball cap turned backwards, red and tan jacket, and matching shorts.
 * He is DJ's original design from Camp TV.
 * The blonde intern with the white tank top and khaki shorts.
 * He is Tyler's old design from Camp TV.
 * Many interns later in the series, particularly throughout Total Drama World Tour, seem to resemble this intern, leaving it unclear as to if any of these interns are actually this one.
 * The two interns who dragged Izzy to the Lame-o-sine in Riot On Set.
 * The one that Chef kicked off the diving board, and most likely killed, in 3:10 to Crazytown.
 * The intern with the white tank top, cowboy hat, sunglasses, and blue shorts; seen in the Canadian version of The Very Last Episode, Really!.
 * An intern with similar clothing to the above intern (minus the cowboy hat and sunglasses), but with dark skin, seen in the American version of the aforementioned episode.
 * Two interns that appeared in Anything Yukon Do, I Can Do Better, frozen in the water.
 * In Jamaica Me Sweat, a female intern was seen for the first time, as the vast majority of interns are male. She also served drinks to Chris and Chef Hatchet and seemed rather content, possibly indicating that only the males are exposed to danger, or this intern had not seen Chris and Chef's true nature.
 * Three interns in Total Drama World Tour, who have been shown to have outfits that look like Chris's but with different colors. They are also shown to not have Chris's pants and shoes but the alternative, which are the shorts and sandals.
 * The blonde burly intern with a unibrow, light blue version of Chris's shirt, and green shorts.
 * The dark-skinned burly intern with a red version of Chris's shirt and tan shorts.
 * The one that Chris "eliminated," who initially has the exact same appearance as the Total Drama Action Aftermath intern, except that he is taller and has a different outfit.
 * In Hawaiian Punch, an intern was seen wearing a large, one-piece yellow suit that completely covered his body, performing dangerous tasks such as putting out a fire and demonstrating dropping a dummy into the volcano. First, he appeared to die when the wooden platform he was on sank into the shark-infested waters. Later, he appeared demonstrating how the final two would have to drop a dummy into the volcano, only for the backsplash of lava to cover him completely. He was later seen being wheeled away in a wheelchair, his body completely bandaged up, by Chef.
 * Out of these fifteen interns, eight have died: the two seen in alternate versions of the Total Drama Island finale, the one who died in 3:10 to Crazytown, the intern from the Aftermaths (killed by scarabs in Walk Like An Egyptian - Part 2), the two in the Anything Yukon Do, I Can Do Better, and the two in Awwwwww, Drumheller.
 * The one episode of the series that features the most amount of different interns is the Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special, with five: The bandanna intern, the large intern, the TDA Aftermath intern, the blonde burly intern, and the Canadian intern from the Total Drama Island finale.
 * Coincidentally, this episode features at least one intern from each of the first three seasons.
 * All three of the major interns are seen to have two or more different occupations on the show:
 * The bandanna intern is seen as an intern, a cameraman, a pizza delivery guy, a stunt double on Total Drama, and a cameraman for Celebrity Manhunt.
 * The large intern is seen as an intern and a cameraman.
 * The blonde intern is seen as an intern and the director of photography during one of Izzy's movie shoots, and is the aftermath's main intern.
 * An Intern was eliminated for the first time ever in the series during Greece's Pieces. This intern was forced to take the Drop of Shame.
 * This makes him the second non-contestant to take the Drop of Shame. The other was the meat grinder.
 * This makes the Intern the first non-competing human to get eliminated.
 * Each season has its "main intern," the one intern who appears the most in the season.
 * The intern with the bandanna was the main intern in Total Drama Island.
 * The blonde intern with the white tank top was the main intern in Total Drama Action.
 * The two burly interns who wear outfits similar to Chris's are both the two main interns in Total Drama World Tour.
 * The two burly interns in Total Drama World Tour (the one with dark skin and the other who resembles the Total Drama Action Aftermath intern) have been seen to "die" the most amount of times out of any other interns in the series, as they experience situations that appear to kill them (or at least would be lethal to regular people), but they appear in later episodes, alive and well.
 * In Greece's Pieces, both were pushed out of the Total Drama Jumbo Jet, one for giving Chris false information and one who was "eliminated" (although the latter did have a parachute, while the former didn't).
 * In Rapa Phooey!, both were crushed by an Easter Island head that they, along with Chef, were attempting to pull up back into place.
 * In Awwwwww, Drumheller, Chris punished them for burying the jet's reserve fuel by pushing over a barrel full of snakes, rats, bugs, and other poisonous creatures, which instantly opened and unleashed the creatures within. The interns fell off-screen with the creatures pouring onto them, and were not seen for the rest of the episode.
 * Currently, Total Drama World Tour features the most amount of interns of any season of the Total Drama series so far, as it featured seven interns.
 * In the Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special, many of the interns had cameos in the Celebrity Manhunt opening theme, namely:
 * The large intern from Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action, who gets randomly kicked in the groin by a woman.
 * The Canadian intern from The Very Last Episode, Really!, who is eating at a restaurant and chokes on some spaghetti.
 * The burly blonde intern seen in Total Drama World Tour, who appears in the airport scene along with several tourists and civilians.
 * The female intern's silhouette is often seen in scenes with crowds, such as the crowd in Rock n' Rule.
 * Of the fifteen interns the series has seen, only seven have appeared in more than one episode.
 * The bandanna intern, who is tied with another intern for the second-highest amount of appearances of all the interns, with seven: The Sucky Outdoors, Who Can You Trust?, Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island, Riot On Set, Masters of Disasters, The Aftermath: III, and Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special.
 * Technically, if his appearance in the Total Drama Action exclusive clip is counted, then he has appeared eight times in the series, thus having the second-highest amount of appearances of any other intern.
 * The blonde burly intern, who has more appearances than any other intern in the series, with eight: Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special, Broadway, Baby!, Aftermath: Bridgette Over Troubled Water, Picnic at Hanging Dork, Niagara Brawls, African Lying Safari, Rapa Phooey!, and Hawaiian Style.
 * The dark-skinned burly intern, who is currently tied with the bandanna intern for the second highest-amount of appearances of all the interns, with seven: Aftermath: Bridgette Over Troubled Water, Greece's Pieces, Picnic at Hanging Dork, Niagara Brawls, Rapa Phooey!, Awwwwww, Drumheller, and Hawaiian Style.
 * The large intern, who has appeared in five episodes: Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island, Riot On Set, Masters of Disasters, The Aftermath: III, and Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special.
 * The blonde intern, seen in most episodes of Total Drama Action Aftermath, who has appeared in five episodes: The Aftermath: I, The Aftermath: II, The Aftermath: III, Mutiny on the Soundstage, Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special, Walk Like An Egyptian - Part 1 and Walk Like An Egyptian - Part 2.
 * The third intern in Total Drama World Tour, who is also dressed like Chris, who appeared in four episodes: Can't Help Falling in Louvre, Greece's Pieces, Aftermath Aftermayhem, and Awwwwww, Drumheller.
 * The Canadian intern with the white cowboy hat, sunglasses, white tank top, blue shorts, and sandals, who appeared in two episodes: The Very Last Episode, Really! and Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special.

Gallery
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