Thursday, August 30, 2012
Big Announcement!
Well, everyone, I've got some big news: I'm taking Confessions of a Geeky Son Live! That's right, now I'll be on YouTube, reviewing through video. This does not mean I'm abandoning my text blog, it just means it will receive very little attention while I make my videos. Hopefully I'll be smart enough to remember not to set a deadline for myself, because that will be incredibly hectic. Anyways, you can find my channel there now, and coming soon, I will be posting a review of the 1974 Doctor Who serial, The Ark in Space.
Monday, August 20, 2012
TV Show Review #2
Well, I thought long and hard about what TV show to review next. For a while, I was planning on doing the new Doctor Who show, but it got so long, I realized that one needed to be split into chunks, if I was going to continue it at all. I still don't know for certain if it will materialize, but it might. Then, after I got home from a weeklong vacation, I figured it out. It was a show I'd been watching for years, even after it ended. A show that, no matter how many times I stop watching, manages to pull me back in again and again. Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to review one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.
Kim Possible
Yep. That one. For those of you that don't know, Kim Possible is a Disney cartoon (red flag, I know, but bear with me) about a high school cheerleader who saves the world from supervillians. Yes, you read that right. It is an action show, but it also relies heavily on humor that makes fun on secret agent and action movies. One of the high lights included an episode where Kim was forced to take her school rival on a mission, and the villian captured them and placed them in an obligatory over-the-top death trap. Naturally, the rival asks why the villian needs a conviluted trap when he could find an easier way to kill them. Both the villian and Kim look at her exasperatedly and shout "It's just the way it's done!" That was one of the shows greatest strengths; it knew it was rediculous, and it reveled in it.
Anyway, onto the charecters. Obviously, there's Kim (voiced by Christy Carlson Romano), your average crime-fighting teen. She's confident, capable, and always able to find a way to defeat the bad guys. However, she also deals with many of the same problems normal teens do, such as dating, school, and of course, friends. Enter Ron Stoppable (voiced by Will Fredle), who's practically Kim's polar opposite. What she stresses over, he shrugs off. What he stresses over . . . I don't think anyone does. He's also a bit of a geek which immediatly earns him points with me. Tying up the action trio is Rufas, Ron's pet naked mole rat. Yes, those are real animals, and no, they do not act anything like him. Rufas is simaler to Ron in many ways, but doesn't hesitate to point out when he has a differing oppinion on something. He also provides support to Ron when Kim is not, or simply not there to give it. Then there's the rest of the Possible family. Mr. Dr. Possible is a rocket scientist and Mrs. Dr. Possible is a brain surgeon. And yes, it gets weirder. Kim also has two ten-year-old twin brothers, Jim and Tim, also known as the "Tweebs" or twin dweebs. They're geniuses like their father, and occasionly help Kim with equipment. However, most of the time they're not needed, as she has a supergenius website manager and equipment creator, Wade, who is so smart he's already graduated college, and he's also ten. The supporting cast doesn't get much coverage, so when I start covering the seasons, they'll probably be in the background. Anyways, we've covered the heroes, now let's move on to the villians.
The most recurring villian of the show is Doctor Drakken. He's a mad scientist with blue skin (don't ask, I don't know) who wants to take over the world. And no, I'm not bother with the meme. He has a sidekick named Shego, who can create harmful energy bursts around her hands. When she's not busy fighting Kim, she's mocking Drakken's ineptitude. However, Kim does have a larger rouges gallery than just these two. There's also Monkey Fist, who has bio-engineered hands and feet so that he's part monkey, and he seeks ultimate mystic monkey power. Then there's Senor Senior Sr. (voiced by the late Ricardo Montalban) and his son, Senor Senior Jr. , European millionaires who want to take over the world (in Sr.'s case) because they have nothing better to do with their free time. In addition, there's Professor Dementor, a more competent Drakken, and finally, Duff Killigan, the "world's deadliest golfer". Yeah, it's a lot to take in, but thankfully most of the episodes focus on one villian at a time. Now, moving onto the seasons!
Season 1
Well, what can I say? This one started the show and set up the basic premise. Admittedly it was kind of weak compared to later on, but it is still really good, and at some times it really shined. Other than that, it also set up plot threads that would be important later on, like Ron gaining mystical monkey powers. Highlights from the season include "Bueno Nacho", "Tick-Tick-Tick" (the first episode, chronalogically), "Monkey Fist Strikes", and "Attack of the Killer Bebes".
Season 2
This is the season that really made the show. While they had an idea of where they were going in Season 1, Season 2 is where they found their path and stuck to it. Good thing too, because this season is a whopper. It clocks out at 28 episodes long, 31 if you count the tv movie, "A Sitch in Time". I'll cover that breifly, because while it was their first movie, it wasn't really important to the show. It was a lot of fun, and very clever. Michael Dorn was a phenomanal casting choice, and the fact that we got to see several of the villians teaming up did try to give the feeling that this was a threat worthy of feature length coverage. The very ending is kind of meh, but I guess it's all right. Anyways, this season continues on the arcs started in the last season, and expands upon them. Ron's status as a warrior with mystic monkey power shows up again when he's breifly transfered to a secret ninja school. The season also starts to develop Kim and Ron's relationship, giving little hints that they might become a couple later on. This is shown most prominantly in "A Sitch in Time" when Ron moves to Norway, and both of them have to figure out how to move on with their lives. However, it doesn't really develop too much here, it's more like little hints at things to come. Highlights include "Exchange", "The Fearless Ferret" (which had a great guest appearance by Adam West and a nice nod to Will Fredle's role as Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond), "The Golden Years", "A Very Possible Christmas" (even after the Doctor Who christmas specials, it's still the weirdest one I've ever seen), "Oh Boyz" and "Go Team Go" (which had some nice reveals on Shego's past). Overall, this season was very good, and set things up great for the show's final year. But they didn't count on Disney's interference.
Season 3
This season got a little weird. Whereas the last one had aroung thirty episodes, this one only had about fourteen. Add to that the fact that it took them two years to air all the episodes, and the finale aired before most of the season had finished, and you had a bit of a mess behind the scenes. However, let's tak a look the season itself. The best description I've heard given to it is short but sweet. It has plenty of great and few good episodes, and none of them were unentertaining. One of the biggest things they writers did in this season was push forward the idea that Kim and Ron were going to begin dating. It was clear right from the first episode that they were growing closer, and all throughout the season it kep happening. There was even a joke in one of the episodes about a show that would "end" if the two main charecters got together, a feeling much of the fanbase shared with the real show. At least, until "Emotion Sickness", in which a mood-altering device causes Kim to fall in love with Ron. This episode ended up being quite popular, and that was all the writers needed. Then they made "So The Drama". And that's a whole other animal. Whereas the last movie was definetly made for TV, and felt more like an extended episode, this one could've been released theatrically. It's that good. The stakes were high, the charecters were given the epitomy of development, and the animation was superb. Everything that the show was was dialed up to 12 in this movie. It's that good. And, it finally did what the writers had been planning all along: it got Kim and Ron together. And it worked. Their progression was totally believable. Anyways, that was the show's finale, and it was everything we could want and more. Other highlights include "Rappin' Drakken", "Emotion Sickness", "Bad Boy" and "Dimension Twist". All in all, the content of the season at least was a great send-off, even if Disney did screw them over with the airing schedule.
Season 4
Psych, there really was another season. While only three had originally been planned, positive viewership and fans who would not be denied convinced Disney to give the show one more shot. Somehow, they managed to get almost everyone back (the Tweebs voice noticably changed, I swear it was the voice of Dash from "The Incredibles"), and start up again. But, there was one question on every nearly fan's mind: could they pull it off? Post-script seasons rarely work, and this one had a huge change with Kim and Ron being in a romantic relationship. However, I'm happy to say that they succeded. Yes, there were some major changes, but the core of the show was still the same and it still worked. The writers clearly cared about making sure that this season lived up to the standards of the past, and they succeded. Although I will say I think Kim's old uniform looked better than the new one. It was less flashy. But, Disney wanted to keep up with fashion I guess. Anyways, this season Definetly kept going strong. And then we had the finale. In "Graduation" Kim and Ron face what could possibly be the biggest threat they've ever tackled: a full-on alien invasion. Thankfully, the race had been introduced early in the season, so we knew who they were. And, surprisingly, it was really good. "So The Drama" may have been a little better, but everybody gave their all for this two-parter (the first in KP's history), and it shows. The only bad thing I have to say about it is why did they put Drakken and Shego together? Not only is that incredibly out of left field, it's just wrong for the charecters. The humor came from Shego's disdain for Drakken, and removing it was not a good choice. But, other than that, it was a solid ending and it left the show on a high note. Other highlights include "Odds Man In", "The Cupid Effect", "Stop Team Go", "Mathter and Fervant" (which as a plus, aired on my birthday) and "Grande Size Me".
Overall, this show was great. It had decent animation that got better as the show went on, great charecters, great humor, and just a great sense of fun. Really, it's hard to imagine someone not liking the show. I can't reccomend it strongly enough, it is one of the best animated shows I've ever seen, if not THE best. If you find it on youtube or somewhere else, give it a look. You won't be dissapointed.
Kim Possible
Yep. That one. For those of you that don't know, Kim Possible is a Disney cartoon (red flag, I know, but bear with me) about a high school cheerleader who saves the world from supervillians. Yes, you read that right. It is an action show, but it also relies heavily on humor that makes fun on secret agent and action movies. One of the high lights included an episode where Kim was forced to take her school rival on a mission, and the villian captured them and placed them in an obligatory over-the-top death trap. Naturally, the rival asks why the villian needs a conviluted trap when he could find an easier way to kill them. Both the villian and Kim look at her exasperatedly and shout "It's just the way it's done!" That was one of the shows greatest strengths; it knew it was rediculous, and it reveled in it.
Anyway, onto the charecters. Obviously, there's Kim (voiced by Christy Carlson Romano), your average crime-fighting teen. She's confident, capable, and always able to find a way to defeat the bad guys. However, she also deals with many of the same problems normal teens do, such as dating, school, and of course, friends. Enter Ron Stoppable (voiced by Will Fredle), who's practically Kim's polar opposite. What she stresses over, he shrugs off. What he stresses over . . . I don't think anyone does. He's also a bit of a geek which immediatly earns him points with me. Tying up the action trio is Rufas, Ron's pet naked mole rat. Yes, those are real animals, and no, they do not act anything like him. Rufas is simaler to Ron in many ways, but doesn't hesitate to point out when he has a differing oppinion on something. He also provides support to Ron when Kim is not, or simply not there to give it. Then there's the rest of the Possible family. Mr. Dr. Possible is a rocket scientist and Mrs. Dr. Possible is a brain surgeon. And yes, it gets weirder. Kim also has two ten-year-old twin brothers, Jim and Tim, also known as the "Tweebs" or twin dweebs. They're geniuses like their father, and occasionly help Kim with equipment. However, most of the time they're not needed, as she has a supergenius website manager and equipment creator, Wade, who is so smart he's already graduated college, and he's also ten. The supporting cast doesn't get much coverage, so when I start covering the seasons, they'll probably be in the background. Anyways, we've covered the heroes, now let's move on to the villians.
The most recurring villian of the show is Doctor Drakken. He's a mad scientist with blue skin (don't ask, I don't know) who wants to take over the world. And no, I'm not bother with the meme. He has a sidekick named Shego, who can create harmful energy bursts around her hands. When she's not busy fighting Kim, she's mocking Drakken's ineptitude. However, Kim does have a larger rouges gallery than just these two. There's also Monkey Fist, who has bio-engineered hands and feet so that he's part monkey, and he seeks ultimate mystic monkey power. Then there's Senor Senior Sr. (voiced by the late Ricardo Montalban) and his son, Senor Senior Jr. , European millionaires who want to take over the world (in Sr.'s case) because they have nothing better to do with their free time. In addition, there's Professor Dementor, a more competent Drakken, and finally, Duff Killigan, the "world's deadliest golfer". Yeah, it's a lot to take in, but thankfully most of the episodes focus on one villian at a time. Now, moving onto the seasons!
Season 1
Well, what can I say? This one started the show and set up the basic premise. Admittedly it was kind of weak compared to later on, but it is still really good, and at some times it really shined. Other than that, it also set up plot threads that would be important later on, like Ron gaining mystical monkey powers. Highlights from the season include "Bueno Nacho", "Tick-Tick-Tick" (the first episode, chronalogically), "Monkey Fist Strikes", and "Attack of the Killer Bebes".
Season 2
This is the season that really made the show. While they had an idea of where they were going in Season 1, Season 2 is where they found their path and stuck to it. Good thing too, because this season is a whopper. It clocks out at 28 episodes long, 31 if you count the tv movie, "A Sitch in Time". I'll cover that breifly, because while it was their first movie, it wasn't really important to the show. It was a lot of fun, and very clever. Michael Dorn was a phenomanal casting choice, and the fact that we got to see several of the villians teaming up did try to give the feeling that this was a threat worthy of feature length coverage. The very ending is kind of meh, but I guess it's all right. Anyways, this season continues on the arcs started in the last season, and expands upon them. Ron's status as a warrior with mystic monkey power shows up again when he's breifly transfered to a secret ninja school. The season also starts to develop Kim and Ron's relationship, giving little hints that they might become a couple later on. This is shown most prominantly in "A Sitch in Time" when Ron moves to Norway, and both of them have to figure out how to move on with their lives. However, it doesn't really develop too much here, it's more like little hints at things to come. Highlights include "Exchange", "The Fearless Ferret" (which had a great guest appearance by Adam West and a nice nod to Will Fredle's role as Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond), "The Golden Years", "A Very Possible Christmas" (even after the Doctor Who christmas specials, it's still the weirdest one I've ever seen), "Oh Boyz" and "Go Team Go" (which had some nice reveals on Shego's past). Overall, this season was very good, and set things up great for the show's final year. But they didn't count on Disney's interference.
Season 3
This season got a little weird. Whereas the last one had aroung thirty episodes, this one only had about fourteen. Add to that the fact that it took them two years to air all the episodes, and the finale aired before most of the season had finished, and you had a bit of a mess behind the scenes. However, let's tak a look the season itself. The best description I've heard given to it is short but sweet. It has plenty of great and few good episodes, and none of them were unentertaining. One of the biggest things they writers did in this season was push forward the idea that Kim and Ron were going to begin dating. It was clear right from the first episode that they were growing closer, and all throughout the season it kep happening. There was even a joke in one of the episodes about a show that would "end" if the two main charecters got together, a feeling much of the fanbase shared with the real show. At least, until "Emotion Sickness", in which a mood-altering device causes Kim to fall in love with Ron. This episode ended up being quite popular, and that was all the writers needed. Then they made "So The Drama". And that's a whole other animal. Whereas the last movie was definetly made for TV, and felt more like an extended episode, this one could've been released theatrically. It's that good. The stakes were high, the charecters were given the epitomy of development, and the animation was superb. Everything that the show was was dialed up to 12 in this movie. It's that good. And, it finally did what the writers had been planning all along: it got Kim and Ron together. And it worked. Their progression was totally believable. Anyways, that was the show's finale, and it was everything we could want and more. Other highlights include "Rappin' Drakken", "Emotion Sickness", "Bad Boy" and "Dimension Twist". All in all, the content of the season at least was a great send-off, even if Disney did screw them over with the airing schedule.
Season 4
Psych, there really was another season. While only three had originally been planned, positive viewership and fans who would not be denied convinced Disney to give the show one more shot. Somehow, they managed to get almost everyone back (the Tweebs voice noticably changed, I swear it was the voice of Dash from "The Incredibles"), and start up again. But, there was one question on every nearly fan's mind: could they pull it off? Post-script seasons rarely work, and this one had a huge change with Kim and Ron being in a romantic relationship. However, I'm happy to say that they succeded. Yes, there were some major changes, but the core of the show was still the same and it still worked. The writers clearly cared about making sure that this season lived up to the standards of the past, and they succeded. Although I will say I think Kim's old uniform looked better than the new one. It was less flashy. But, Disney wanted to keep up with fashion I guess. Anyways, this season Definetly kept going strong. And then we had the finale. In "Graduation" Kim and Ron face what could possibly be the biggest threat they've ever tackled: a full-on alien invasion. Thankfully, the race had been introduced early in the season, so we knew who they were. And, surprisingly, it was really good. "So The Drama" may have been a little better, but everybody gave their all for this two-parter (the first in KP's history), and it shows. The only bad thing I have to say about it is why did they put Drakken and Shego together? Not only is that incredibly out of left field, it's just wrong for the charecters. The humor came from Shego's disdain for Drakken, and removing it was not a good choice. But, other than that, it was a solid ending and it left the show on a high note. Other highlights include "Odds Man In", "The Cupid Effect", "Stop Team Go", "Mathter and Fervant" (which as a plus, aired on my birthday) and "Grande Size Me".
Overall, this show was great. It had decent animation that got better as the show went on, great charecters, great humor, and just a great sense of fun. Really, it's hard to imagine someone not liking the show. I can't reccomend it strongly enough, it is one of the best animated shows I've ever seen, if not THE best. If you find it on youtube or somewhere else, give it a look. You won't be dissapointed.
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