Weekendering: The Weekenders: Season 3: Episode 7: Father's Day/Follow the Leader

The Weekenders Disney 

Previously, don't want to seem like nagging, but you should read the past episode incase you didn't [here]

Episode 7a: Father's Day 

        Tino's father is a background presence in the series, meaning  whilst the character hasn't shown up we've seen things that have to do with him and the impact that has.  Tino's mom dating Dixon comes in to play and knowing that Tino doesn't see his dad much, but the man is alive.  Tino is the only member of the group with a single mom and a divorced family. 

            Tish, Lor, and Carver are at the pizza shop. Carver is trying to get over his fear of worms before he and his father go on a Father's Day fishing trip.  Lor and her brothers are going to amusement park, Telsa Park, thankfully her large family gets a discount. Tish is going do some old country tradition of brining cheese to the needy. (What?)  Carver breaks the wall this time and tells us that the group decided to not talk about Father's Day around Tino since his father lives on the east coast and doesn't get to see him much. (west coast show) 

            Carver lies that he wants to be a worm-ologist and that's why he looking at worms.  The friends try to hide Father's Day, which also makes me wonder do they know if Tino looks at calendars. Also the a running gag that Lor doesn't know how many brothers she has shows up here. It's over 10!  Thanks to Carver's lie he's been brought to the museum's warm exhibit. (Amazing timing really!)  I kind of wonder if Tino knows and is deciding to mess with Carver to see how far he'll go. Also some writer on this show saw Fear Factor and decided the museum should have an exhibit that apparently lets a patron get covered in worms. 

            Tino helps Lor's lie of her 10+ brothers get get well presents for their multiple knee surgeries. Tish, herself, isn't doing well with all the cheese she has eaten. Tino is messing with them after all. It is admirable that the trio cares about Tino that much to get terrorized, spend money on stuffed dogs, and eat tons of cheese just to make sure he's not sad, it's sweet.  Tino says he's fine and they shouldn't have tried to hide Father's Day. 

            He lets them mention what they are doing with their dads on Father's Day, but then he starts to feel like he does miss out. That evening he's having dinner with his mom and Dixon. Dixon invites him to spend time with him and his daughter, but Tino squeaks that he's fine.  

   

             Tino has a strange dream where his favorite comic book character Captain Dread-Not gives him advice on how he's feeling to talk to someone. I also love the transition card for the days being used when Tino says midnight for it give a quick orange Sunday.  He decides to find someone to talk to, again at midnight.  Talking to Carver doesn't work since again it's midnight.  That morning, Carver wakes up and says he needs to help Tino. I also like how his father also hates fishing but thinks Carver likes it, a reversal of Carver thinking the same.  

            Carver calls Tish to help him.  Then it cuts later, where Tino wakes up and everyone is at his house.  That means his friends and their fathers and Lor's brothers, and Dixon and his Mom. 

             Tino is alright with his parents' divorce that's been depicted in the series, in "Dixon" he wasn't bothered that his parents were divorced. He was alright with Father's Day in this episode until he realizes that his father and him don't see each other much and he can't do the things his friends were going to do on the day.  It's a relatable problem, in a way that also can work with kids and maybe even adults with deceased fathers too.  I liked the solution here of talking about how you feel, it's a simple thing and yet a smart idea. 

        I'll re-mention the first half of the episode too. The friendship connection here is shown strongly that the trio go out of their way to make sure Tino doesn't feel bad about Father's Day. I think it was a sweet thing and the episode plays with it with some humor so it doesn't feel overly sweet. Tino messing with his friends there was funny.  It's a great thing to see and fitting for characters we've seen for 3 seasons and knowing them how they interact this is a great way to show the show really understands their characters.  Then later, Carver seemed to not be focused because it was midnight, but later races to help Tino when it's morning is well done scene and shows their bond.  

        The middle part of Tino's Mom and Dixon eating dinner with Tino was well placed. I liked that Dixon offered to spend time with Tino on Father's Day inviting him. Later, Captain Dread Not giving  an answer to help was different too. The ending was nicely done and shows that Tino is a valued person by so many and it's great to see.  This episode taking place on a Father's Day weekend does a great story and something different with the day, it's nicely done, fun humor too. 10/10. 

More after the jump

Oh Yeah! Cartoons! #34: APEX Cartoon Props & Novelties

Nickelodeon 

            Previously,  Losing your brain is a difficult thing to deal with, find out how to get it treated [HERE] 

  #34 APEX Cartoon Props & Novelties

Season 1, Episode 7a

           We have a cartoon created Larry Huber, whose other project he co-worked on "ChalkZone" was the lucky one to get a few shorts and a full series.  Let's take a look at a solo work he did. 

            You know the Acme company that supplies Will-e Coyote with his stuff that doesn't seem to work out for him?  This is a short about a company like that called as the title says APEX Cartoon Props & Novelties, which helps cartoon characters get rid of villains that bother them.  A fox and opossum are cartoon villains who don't like the company.  They decide to go on a tour to stop the company. 

            What is funny is the things the company makes that takes all the stuff you've seen in cartoons like the fake wall that characters run into, it even does the joke of how sometimes one can run into one too. Then some gag doors, getting runover by a train.  There's lots of anvils. 

            The fox and opossum don't have the best time a and then even get exploded.  I will say that this one doesn't have a lot to write about of what's going on, it's more an endless amount of classic cartoon gags all stuffed together in a short amount of time. It's things you'd see in classic cartoons though slightly toned down because 90's.  The main characters are not really interesting even as villains there's not much to them. It's not really anything too funny either.  

             The concept of a store that helps characters with villains and pests is an interesting one and could make for an interesting series. Here it was more like a cartoon commercial with some gags thrown in then even a looped back around start.  It's not a strong short, not awful though.    

        That's it for now, tune in next time, when we send a package to some road runner. 

Oh Yeah! Cartoons: #33: Max (a double bill)

Nickelodeon 

Previously,  A monster can really cook [Here] 

#33.1 Max and His Special Problem 

Season 1, episode 5a 

          Max has a pair of shorts and that means  I will be covering both.  This was created by Dave Wasson , whom you might know if you know about Time Squad. He also worked on The Buzz on Maggie.  This short about Max won him an Emmy. 

            So what is Max's special problem?  He works in a office space and doesn't seem to the most productive worker.  He also has comically large pencils. Anyway, he sneezes and sneezes so hard his brain has popped out. I like how his reaction is that "uh-oh".  Max's boss seems to understand some what and has him take care of it.  There's some dark moments int his too, like touching his brain hurts him, and I think he killed a guy with a pencil.  

            He goes to the doctor to get this taken care of, but then leaves his brain on top of a taxi which drives off then a dog takes it around town. (Dog takes a guy's brain for a walk, interesting) Thankfully Max finds his brain in a shop and goes to the doctor's office.  He now has to sign dreaded forms. This surgery has an audience to see this amazing marvel. The surgeons do some math and tic-tac-toe to figure out his payment. (this really something about our society) They find the best way to get the brain in there is to have have him un-sneeze it back into his head.  Back to normal day and this time he's able to keep his brain in his head when he sneezes, but burps his heart instead. 

             This short is very sound induced.  Only a few lines are spoken, so it's very much carried by sounds including the music and Max making screams, grunts, etc. It's an interesting direction that gives this short a distinctness to it.  The music itself is very jazzy. The montage of Max's brain being carried by a dog, being fed to by a kid, doing poetry, and being punched has a nice score.  The other sounds work to fill in the space like the sound of a pencil being taken out of a guys' head going 'pop' , the lights turning on in the operating theater. How the surgeons dampen the sounds. 

            The running gag of the guy that got an errant pencil stuck in his head shows up twice it's a nice carry over to connect back to Max.  There are little things that are fun to notice in rewatching. Pretty fun short and it was a very special problem indeed. 

More after the jump 

Arthur: Season 2: Episode 1: Arthur Meets Mister Rogers/ Draw!

Arthur  PBS 

Episode 1a: Arthur Meets Mister Rogers 

            This the ultimate PBS cross over, of the ages.  I have to mention that Arthur wore it's PBS life in a pride in away that most other shows didn't on the network. Like, this show did air on other channels in other countries, but had PBS stuff in it , like mentioning Antiques Roadshow and Nova.   The show wasn't really afraid of mention and having real human people we know in the show. (Minus Lance Armstrong, but we all have regrets)  This one was probably the first of the episodes to ever have that happen. 

         Mister Rogers, or Mister Fred Rogers, and I hate that I might have to do an explainer here, had a show on PBS called Mister Rogers' Neighborhood a show that predated PBS by a few years  and ended in 2001. He passed away in 2003. Mister Rogers and his show were probably the first thing one would think of when the name PBS was brought up, that or Sesame Street, but they don't matter for this post. (Then why'd you bring that up?)   

            This episode is the first episode of season 2 of "Arthur" which aired on October 20, 1997. They went for a strong start here.  Let's get in to the episode.  

        Arthur has big news that Mister Rogers is coming to the school, tomorrow.  Prunella, Muffy, and Binky react in a way of saying that Mister Rogers is a baby thing. Again, I get what the plot is going to do because Arthur decides not to tell people that Mr. R is going to be staying at his house, because of that reaction. But, it's freakin' Mr. Rogers, a real life guy on TV, I don't think any kid would act that way, even if his show was for younger viewers, it's freakin' TV star!   

           Mr. Rogers is played by Mister Rogers who is staying at the Read House because they know him somehow.  D.W is really happy he's at the house  and Arthur doesn't want people to know now, because he doesn't want to be embarrassed and made fun of.  Also to be fair, Arthur shouldn't have listened to Prunella, Binky, or Muffy, I mean really.  

             Arthur does things to hide that Mister Rogers is at his house, even pretending he wants to change his name to Fred. D.W wants to take D.W for a walk around. I do think it's fitting Arthur would think that people [Binky and Prunella] would laugh at him for being with Mister Rogers, because he's eight and would think that way,  as much as D.W wants to show him off.  I like how Mister Rogers plays along. Buster being Buster is impressed when he sees Mr. Rogers even forgets his name.  See, Arthur, Buster is a great friend.  Arthur tells Buster not tell people. 

                Brain, Prunella, and Rubella are at the ice cream shop and Rubella thinks Arthur has been taken by zombies and worries that everyone else could end up zombie slaves. A) I didn't zombies did slavery, B) If this was Buster, he'd be saying Aliens, C) it's funny that the eldest character here is saying this.  

         I do love Buster's reactions with Mister Rogers it's wholesome and sweet.  Rubella. Prunella, and Brain decide to peek in Read's windows because sure.  He also ends up thinking that zombies have taken them. I love how Arthur saying that Buster is there for homework help snaps him into thinking zombies are a possible true answer. 

               The police show up because a neighbor thought the trio were prowlers.  Now the news shows everyone that Mister Rogers is at the Read house.  Arthur feels bad and Mister Rogers comes to talk to him.  I like how everyone is impressed that Mr. Rogers was at his house and even Binky is impressed when he shows up.  

            This episode also introduces Arthur lore that Arthur messes with his glasses when he lies, it does show up in other episodes too, it's nice someone used as his thing.   This episode is pretty great, more than just having Mister Rogers in it, it's has some funny moments too. The heart is really nice here too and Mister Rogers brings his charm.  I think it fits that this show was going for an older kid audience than many parts of PBS Kids fare where 8 , like Arthur's age, would be where a kid might see things like Mister Rogers as a baby or out of their age range type thing.  Arthur built up an occurrence in his head after seeing the other kids react in a way that worried him and plays with that through. The message of a true friend wouldn't be mean shows through like Buster, his best friend, doesn't even hint at making fun of Arthur is really happy to see the Mr. R.   

I will also mention the word from us kids segment  here, being the kids wondering how Mr. Rogers was turned into a cartoon worked. It's a nice little look at animation and voice acting. 

            A great start to season 2, and a good memorable episode. 8/10.

More after the jump. 

Arthur: Season 3: Episode 11: Double Tibble Trouble/Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival

Arthur   PBS 

Episode 11a: Double Tibble Trouble 

       The Cold Open: DW and her friend Emily seem to be going on a dangerous journey and this danger is the Tibble House. The terrible twin duo boys who like to terrorize others on the Earth. 

    The Episode: You know the way to tell the Tibble twins apart is the scarfs they wear, Timmy wears red fitting a high energy personality and Tommy wears blue.  That's for this episode to put out how these two interact and how they are different when cleaved.   First the whirring and playing playing plane crashing into gasoline tanks. (Uh help)  D.W notices that Tommy is alright unless Timmy eggs him on to something, and she'd like to see how he would be if Tommy was out of the picture.(She's going to have him taken by the mob?)  She makes a wish, a disturbing one, that she could only play with Tommy without Timmy.  Even though it was a helicopter, her wish came true.  

         Timmy is out sick, Tommy is also wearing the red scarf because the show really wants us confused. Tommy doesn't really know what to do without Timmy and seems less energetic.  D.W and Emily are enjoying this.    They want to cheer up Tommy to get his mind off of Timmy but that's hard. In a twist, D.W and Emily try to be like Timmy to work with Tommy. They take turns to be Tibbles which again defeats the thing in the first place. 

            D.W finds out that she doesn't like being a Tibble and quits. Thankfully they got quit feelings at the right time, when Timmy is well and now Tommy is sick. Timmy is happy that they helped his brother out.  Now, D.W and Emily get to fill in for Timmy.  Now where's an episode where Tommy or Timmy fill in for D.W?

            Simple episode, pretty fun to see some Tibble stuff to a point. D.W and Emily pretty much having to be Tibbles to fill in was something different and kind of interesting.  It was very nice to see this work the way it did.   

More after the jump

Arthur: Season 1: Episode 13: So Long, Spanky/ Buster's New Friend

Arthur PBS 

       Episode 13a: So Long, Spanky 

      The Cold Open: D.W has a bird name Spanky (that's a name) and that Arthur mentions that he's not a big fan of the bird. He does feel a little sad for him though since he does have to be D.W pet.

The Episode:  A little of season 1 flavor for us this time. You get a bit of that early Arthur charm. This episode deals with death.  Death of pet, but death.   D.W was talking to her bird and notices he's a little sick and thinks to get him some water but then death. D.W brings Spanky to her father to tell him he's not getting up and David explicitly says dead. But this is a PBS show and PBS shows for children aren't shy,  so death ,  a heavy topic, gets a spotlight here. Commendable.  I think this is one of the first Arthur "issues" episodes where the show takes an approach of looking at a more serious topic and working with it. 

          I am concerned that Arthur just runs into the kitchen and asks is something dead? like that.  But he does care when he finds out that Spanky has died.  D.W asks a question about if Spanky will ever wake up and her father says he won't, he's gone.  They do a funeral for Spanky.  Also a toad shows up and that's important for later. 

           This episode does give some nice Arthur and D.W moments, though he might be acting too quickly on the idea of helping her find a new pet.  She tells the toad that it can't stay in the can she put on top of Spanky's grave, then in jumps into her backpack and scares two kids whose plan were to scare her. (Also Billy and Bobby seem like protype Tibbles that didn't make it)  Later is causes some havoc in her preschool class. 

             Later the toad comes back and helps get D.W's purse that fell out of her hand. (Sentient toad) When she's getting tucked into bed, she asks about Spanky again, and then the todd shows up in her bird cage. She then chases him around her room. The next morning, she wants to find him and seems worried about him after not seeing him.  She finds him when she thought her mom had put him the washing machine, then he leaps through the house.  

            Finally, she decides to make him her pet. 

        The episode doesn't linger on the death and how D.W handles it, but it does bring it up as part of what happens to Spanky, a bird we only saw this episode, and brings that as something that happened.   It handles the topic with care but doesn't into stretching it for the entire plot as much. D.W asking questions that fit well with her age and what could be her way of trying to understand.  I liked Arthur trying to help her, and the Toad was pretty fun.  

        It's a good episode, unless you are a bird. 

More after the jump 

Weekendering: The Weekenders: Season 3: Episode 6: Best/ Broken

The Weekenders Disney 

Previously: you poor soul. [read here] 

Episode 6a: Best 

   This episode's title has a lot riding on it, I mean "Best" is a bold name. Is this episode the best?  What's best about it? This is about those school year book thing the best hair, best dressed, stuff like that. Tino hasn't been given a best of most thing and he's not happy about it.  He didn't even get Best Tino. ( I think he's best Tino)  Tino also demands a recount ,which might come back into play. 

       This has caused him to worry what his legacy will be and he has a spot of how he sees his friends doing well -20 years in the future- and he's not doing well in that future.  He's decided that he's going to focus on the next year and try to get the most or best thing.  Like he goes around smiling, whistling (which goes badly), he messes up a bush.  Later, he tires to have the best physique, which is bold for Tino. 

            The friends want Tino to get out of this funk and try to think of ideas to help.  Guy had to be wheeled home and the friends come over and give him the Best Friend Award as they explain why he's a great best friend.   It's a great moment there. 

            We get a rare Monday appearance as the kids go to school and that recount thing comes in to play where there was one vote for "Most Sarcastic" which Tino is.  

             I love how the recount thing came into play at the end, it could have just been a simple random line, maybe someone thinking about the 2000 election when they made this ,but it was nice to see it come in to usage. It fits that Tino is very sarcastic at times. The other part where the friends give him that award and tell him he's a great friend worked because this is season 3 and we've seen how he does do a lot for them when they need him.  It did that well, without being to sappy.

        There's some funny moments that work great  here as well. I think it's a fun episode, not the best, but it was most(ly) fun.  I give it 7.5/10 

More after the jump 

Weekendering: The Weekenders: Season 3: Episode 5: The Most Dangerous Weekend/ Charity Case

The Weekenders  Disney 

        Previously,  Tino  tires to be a lone wolf, that goes not well.  [read here] 

Episode 5a: The Most Dangerous Weekend 

 

                Tino has sprained his wrist.  This is an interesting plot as in many cases we as people do something and then it goes wrong and we might not want to do it again. Sometimes, this is a good thing like this is how we found out that fire burns and hurts and passed that down to the masses  at some point.   Sometimes it goes wrong. Tino went skating without his wrist guards and fell down causing his sprain.  I love how Tino's mom takes over his 4th wall break to explain what happened.  Also doctor is also a magician which is something. 

            Tino has now got it in his head that average everyday things you do can be dangerous. (not reading this blog though. Switching tabs on the other hand, is bad.)  He has decided to "take precautions" by padding the kitchen and rest of the house. He's gone out dressed like he's going on a hike. It is funny he is trying to be safe but also using a putty spreader for the sun putty wouldn't that be dangerous, Tino?!  I hope SPF-182 was a Blink 182 reference.  

            The friends, mostly with Tish, have decided to work with Tino in the hopes he'll snap out of his paranoia.  I think that also goes badly as it seems to have spread to them. Though they are kind of able to shake it and working again to help Tino.  They after waiting all day for him to get ready for the beach, they give up and leave. Tino's Mom helps (again) to bring up the idea that maybe all this worry might affect his friendship.  So he comes to clarity. 

                  This one is fine. Really the concept over thinking how something can be dangerous is very human and having an experience where something you do normally then it going wrong and causing injury can have an affect on what you think about things. The episode doesn't rachet it up to take it too seriously. It does fit Tino's character as he does tend to get into a thought of over reacting. The friends really did stick with him long  enough until they justifiably get mad when it takes him six hours to get ready and making them miss a beach day. Again six hours.  I give it 7/10. 

More after the jump