11.30
Before I begin, I have to apologize for my break last week. I wasn’t swamped with family, but rather schoolwork and a social life to take care of.
Also, I ordered this shirt as a Christmas gift. There are shirts and other pieces of merchandise for not only Ed, Edd n’ Eddy and the other three shows I tackle, but a few other Cartoon Network classics as well. If anything ehre tickles your fancy, add in the code CHEER15 at retail, and you will get a bonus 15% off until December 11th.
It’s all official, too! Anyway, I promise to make this week an engaging one, so let’s see what I have to tackle.
Dexter’s Laboratory:
“Jurassic Pooch”
This one starts of with Dexter finding a dinosaur fossil (or a turd- I can’t understand his scientific mumbo jumbo), in hopes of bringing a prehistoric creature back to life by doing so. Unfortunately, Dexter doesn’t have the ability to do such and sits and mope.
Until Dexter sees the family dog, that is. And yeah, sometimes they have a dog, sometimes they don’t. I’d call it a continuity era, if this was a show where continuity mattered. Or maybe it isn’t the family dog, but he does have a leash and was in the lab.
Anyway, Dexter combines the fossil and the dog to turn it into a T-Rex. One that acts like a puppy! And like an overgrown puppy probably would, the dinosaur wrecks Dexter’s lab, forcing him to cage the creature. Dee Dee eventually comes in and sees the T-Rex, confuses it for an actual puppy, and releases it. But of course!
And now it’s up for Dexter to capture the Jurassic pooch before it causes a bigger wreck outside, while Dee Dee just wants to play with the puppy. Dexter takes force to capture the dinosaur, and in typical Dexter tradition, fails, and the family gains a new pet Tyrannosaurs Rex.
“Jurassic Pooch” is okay, but not great. The show has done crazier concepts (or will), but this is one that seems to rely on the insanity factor of Dexter and Dee Dee fighting over a T-Rex, and is otherwise light on humor. Even the last line feels forced. I do feel that this would be a better episode for younger children, but watching it as an adult now, this left me lukewarm.
“Orgon Grindor”
This week’s short guest star’s Stromboli from Pinocchio!
Er… no, but would you be surprised if that was the villain’s inspiration?
There’s something even weirder with this short though, since it starts off with Agent Honeydew getting dressed and ready… for a date with Monkey. Ick. But hey, we’ve written about weirder things on this blog, so who’s to judge?
Anyway, this week’s villain is an old-school monkey vendor (too lazy to look up their name), and he plays his music box to bring Monkey over to him. The Grindor (this isn’t a typo- this is how the character and episode are spelt) has Monkey go out to bring him the most valuable thing in the world.
Being a primate, Monkey has no need more money, gold or all that nice stuff and brings over a picture of him and Honeydew instead.
But Grindor just was some gold, and asks for something yellow and shiny. Monkey’s response? Bananas. Lots of them. At least he didn’t piss on the guy’s hospitality.
And now Grindor is pissed, and has Monkey go to Fort Knox. Only Honeydew can stop him! But it’s a cartoon, so of course she doesn’t have to. Love conquers all, y’no?
Jim Cummings’ performance as Orgon Grindor saves the short a little, but like the previous short, it’s light on humor and the relationship between Monkey and Honeydew is just creepy. Thankfully, I think we’re coming near the end of Monkey’s run as a leading character.
“Dimwit Dexter”
For someone that tinkers away in secret like Dexter, the boy works a LOT. So much so that the little workers in his mind take note and leave his mental power plant just as Dexter shuts down.
Don’t worry, Dexter’s still alive and all. He’s just… dumb. Really dumb. Dangerously dumb. There’s just no middle ground with the boy. He either has to be the smartest boy alive, or the dumbest.
After a minute or so of Dexter dicking around like a moron, Dee Dee takes note. and decides to help Dexter out. Now he is Ginger (and I know what joke’s going to come next, so you might as well reply with it when you read this).
You know, I don’t think I would have expected to see Dexter run around in his underwear and with his hair and make-up set like a little girl, but this episode has it. It also has a bunch of neighborhood kids we’ll never see after this episode laugh at Dexter’s clowning around. And in typical television fashion, just after Dexter does his most embarrassing act of stupidity, his mental state returns to normal.
Well, if you want a change of pace from Dexter’s Laboratory, this short is it. It’s pretty juvenile overall, but I do think that it’s the most fun of the three shorts this episode, which was overall a disappointment.
But hey, you gotta laugh when Dexter put a goldfish in his tighty whities. That’s my highlight this week.
Johnny Bravo:
“I Used to Be Funny”
Oh, this one. I remember this being a good one, but it’s been a while.
Johnny’s just minding his own business in an alleyway, except a clown’s standing by his side, doing clowny stuff. The guy’s pretty old-fashioned in his humor, a striking contrast to a fellow, more contemporary clown who shows up and attempts to take his side of the street. Now the two jokesters attempt to prove what is funnier- the old or new school.
Unfortunately, poor Johnny is the culprit of this test of comedy. The old clown uses classic acts against Johnny, like a “kick me” sign and a good-old fashioned pie to the face. Meanwhile, the 90’s business-oriented clown is a little more creative, using an “I hate rhinos” sign and a pie shooter against the guy. All Johnny wants is to have his date in peace.
The end result? Well, neither of them actually wins, or loses for that matter. That’s up for you to decide, in the question of the week. What’s funnier, old and time-tested or new and experimental?
One thing I noticed while watching this episode- Johnny Bravo uses the smear effect a lot. This week is no exception. Chuck Jones probably wants his royalties.
Otherwise, it’s a cute short, but not necessarily a great one. The clowns aren’t great characters, and Johnny doesn’t get much to do this time at all. As a statement of old vs. new comedy, it works okay, but doesn’t really have any answers at all, which makes me wonder if that’s the intention at all. But hey, JB’s already a step-up from this week’s Dexter.
“My Fair Dork”
There isn’t much creepier than a little girl trying to hook up with a man at least 3 times her age. Actually, there is. The other way around is much creepier.
Anyway, Lil Suzy needs a date for her school’s dance this week, and since no boy interests her, she asks Johnny to be her chaperone instead. Johnny turns her down, saying she needs to go with a guy her age and size instead. A little dweeb hears this and goes to Suzy, only to get promptly dumped. Johnny, who can obviously relate, takes refuge into the boy, and picks him up as his lil protégé.
Johnny and Lil Johnny (I think he has a name, but I’m too lazy to remember, so he is now Lil Johnny) go around Aaron City to learn the art of picking up chicks, and of course, Lil Johnny does poorly at first, but in comedic results, ends up not only doing well, but surpassing the master. So much so that he ends up stranding Johnny.
Another cute episode, even though you can call the ending coming a mile away. Ah well, at least it has a solid amount of great gags.
In other news, never, ever, turn your back on a lion.
“‘Twas the Night”
Merry early Christmas! This short served as the show’s unofficial Christmas entry until an actual Christmas special was made a few years into its run, but I think they air it out of order from this episode every now and then.
This episode features a narration by Adam West (who, spoiler alert, you will hear from again this season) based off of “A Visit From St. Nicholas”, and plays throughout the episode, including when Johnny hears someone creeping up the roof, only to deck Santa himself.
Now Johnny’s gonna take over Christmas this year, and flies all over the world to drop everyone’s one gift off. Man, it’s a good thing that Santa isn’t real. Only one gift for Christmas? Lame. Thank God for parents.
This is another episode dependent on side gags, and most of them work, thanks to West’s narration. We even get a return of Jungle Boy and some of his crew, Cronos the bear, and even Scooby-Dooby-Doo! That alone makes the episode worth it, right?
There’s a bit of a twist ending, but it all turns out fine. The story has a nice ending, and leads up to a possible sequel, which we kind of will get eventually.
And “’Twas the Night” makes for three out of three. A great week all around, especially compared to Dexter’s Lab’s mediocre episode. I may not put any of these episodes near the show’s top, but I got a lot of laughs from each, probably the third most of all.
Wish on the bald man from the second short for this episode’s highlight!
The Powerpuff Girls:
“Boogie Frights”
Before you ask, no, this has nothing to do with P.T. Anderson’s classic. But wouldn’t that be something for a kid’s show? Eh, it wouldn’t make sense. If Professor U was hung like Dirk Diggler, he wouldn’t need to genetically create his own girls.
The episode starts off with the girls getting ready for bed, and like any little kid, Buttercup doesn’t want to go to dreamland. Instead, she wants to go out and taste the nightlife. Blossom and Bubbles are more content with going to sleep, however, like any good little girls.
Until Buttercup scares the girls with visions of the Boogie Man, that is. You know him yourself, so I’ll skip the description, but it should go without saying that timid little Bubbles shrieks at his mention. Her scream wakes up the Professor to check up on his girls, and give a nice little moral on how bravery means facing your fears or shit like that. You know how it goes, but at the same time, the Professor is a really good dad, so why fight it?
It’s a cartoon, so that means that not only will the Boogie Man show up and have a plan to appear in the story, but he does almost immediately after this scene. The Boogie creature, who obviously takes his inspiration from the disco era, plans to put an end to the light by putting a disco ball in place of the sun and make it night time 24/7, so he and his Boogie minions can get down at all hours. Aww yeah.
The monsters behind the boogie succeed and go all around Townsville to wreck havoc so no one gets in their way. Their havoc eventually wakes up the girls, as they come out to see what’s wrong. Even Buttercup gets scared by one of Boogie’s minions, which means that it’s time for them to save the day.
The rest of the episode steals from A New Hope, and has the girls attempt to take off the Death Star giant disco ball. And I’m guessing you’ve seen Star Wars, so you know how this ends.
It’s a cute short, if not an especially funny one. You gotta dig the boogie regardless.
“Abracadaver”
Ho boy, this one. I remember this story being something.
So the girls join the Mayor and Miss Bellum at the old location of a Townsville theater that the Mayor used to go to as a kid. This obviously makes the Mayor nostalgic, especially after seeing a poster for a magician he saw here as a child, the great Al Lusion. A performance that turned out to be his last.
We even get to see this performance via flashback. Huh, didn’t know that even as a kid, the Mayor had his monocle. During this show, Al Lusion calls a little girl up to the stage and takes her teddy bear as a part of the show, making it disappear. The distraught little girl pulls off his pants, to reveal that Lusion has actually hid all of his tricks inside of his pants. Which means he’s not only a fraud, but a creep, too. Somehow, this doesn’t matter anymore, as the magician trips into a bed of nails, as it closes on him, ending his life.
This haunting scene leads to a moment of silence, quickly interrupted by the smashing of the theater. Ba-bam. One artifact from this relic remains, however- the thorned tomb of Al Lusion.
Eventually Lusion rises from the grave as a newfound zombie, with the titular name Abracadaver. The zombie roams across Townsville and scares the citizens, with his horrifying image and magical abilities, while the girls are coincidentally watching a zombie movie on the boob tube.
A zombified magician up against the girls? This can’t be an easy fight, can it? Surprisingly, it isn’t. Especially since Blossom bears a striking resemblance to the girl that was responsible for Al Lusion’s life.
Abracadaver uses this to his advantage, and, well, why spoil the rest? The girls make it through eventually, but you’ll have to see to find out.
This isn’t a very funny episode, but has great atmosphere, and works as a scary story for an otherwise safe show. This would be an everyday thing for Courage, but the fact that Powerpuff never really went out of its way to scare like in this episode.
In fact, while I know “Abracadever” scares a good amount of people, I believe “Boogie Frights” wasn’t a walk in the park for fans either. We just had a Christmas story for Johnny Bravo, while Powerpuff Girls gets solid Halloween tales. Go figure.
Buttercup will grab Bubbles’ goat if I didn’t pick this scene from the first short as the highlight.
Ed, Edd n’ Eddy:
“Read All About Ed”
It seems that the first few episodes of the show start off with establishing sequences to show off just how different the Eds are. This time, we see how they wake up each morning.
Eddy’s z’s are rudely interrupted by Rolf’s lawn-mowing service which we’ll never see or hear from again.
Ed doesn’t wake up until later, and makes due with a lack of sheets by cuddling up with the opposite side of his bed. Yeah.
And Double D wakes up precisely at the sound of his alarm and makes sure that every inch of his room is set up perfectly.
This all comes into fruition as Eddy sees Double D wake up bright and early to start up his paper route job, and decides to join in to score some serious cashage by upping his workload. As Edd makes a nickel a day for his route around the Cul-De-Sac (what a shit pay), Eddy decides to order more papers to give him more routes to make more moolah so they can get more jawbreakers.
Except in typical Eddy fashion, when their papers drop by the next day, he’s sleeping in. Double D and Ed take it upon themselves to deliver the papers without their tiny buddy. But hey, Eddy eventually does wake up and smell the coffee, and it’s up to the three to work on their load.
The rest of the episode consists of the Ed’s delivering their papers. Well, of Ed and Double D delivering the papers. Eddy just sits there and reads for the most part, except for a brief moment where Eddy shows just how girly his throw is. Poor Double D even gets attacked by a dog, and Ed loses his pants during the day.
Eventually the Ed’s create a paper-throwing device to help their load go by faster, and it works, until Ed pulls a “little” goof, and it’s all downhill from there. The Ed’s end up having to pick up the papers in the pouring rain, and leads us off with our title, and the end of the short.
I remember this episode being shown fairly regularly back in the day, and it is indeed a good one. Light on plot and supporting characters, but I think the differences and balances of the Ed’s make up for that, and this turns out to be a fun one.
“Quick Shot Ed”
It’s spring cleaning time for Eddy, even though it’s still summer. He and the boys go into his attic to arrange stuff, when all of the sudden they find an old camera and decide to dick around, and even use it to troll Kevin for a change.
Eddy’s new idea? Why not take pictures of the kids of the Cul-De-Sac and make a calendar out of them. Which sounds nice in theory, but how are they going to get the kids to stay and have their pictures taken?
We follow the Ed boys on their wild safari to take pictures of each of the kids, and the end result turns out to be a mix between Animal Planet and Candid Camera. Plus, everyone goes mad. And did you know that Rolf is a weiner?
All goes well until the Kankers get their way, and five the boys hell. Now the Ed’s will never see the light of day again.
Another short light on plot, but makes up for it with more character appearances than the previous one, and just as many good gags. I think it’s even the stronger of the two shorts this week, which altogether makes for a good episode of the show.
The scene where Eddy wakes up and sees all the papers the boys have to deliver in the first short is this week’s highlight. What a great gag.
Overall:
Dexter left me cold this week, but the other three shows made up for it, even if Powerpuff was heavier on spooks than laughs. I might just go with “’Twas the Night” as the best this week, if only for all the little callbacks to previous Johnny Bravo episodes. Now let’s see what these shows can really do!