justplainalf Reviews

Dinosaurs (1991–1994)

Generally excellent

[16 April 2005]

This show ran the gamut from really bad to really amazing. I for one never was a fan of the obnoxious baby (no, I don't gotta love you), but the rest of the characters were very well-done. Several episodes were hilariously spot-on.

Fran & Earl getting their marriage license renewed ("Earl, let's go upstairs and pretend it's Thursday" is a line I *still* quote to this day).

Robbie "coming out"...as a vegetarian. ("I can't be an herbivore! My dad's a carnivore, my mom's a carnivore..." "Well, it's not necessarily hereditary.").

Robbie's howling (featuring Robbie buying the "So You Want to Learn to Howl" 8-track).

The two-episode "Nuts to War" ("What happened to your eye?" "A pointed stick with my name on it." "Gee, what are the odds?").

And although the finale was extremely heavy-handed and depressing, I give them credit for doing a completely unexpected and serious one instead of the traditional "and they all lived happily ever after".

Best self-referential joke: Real watching sock puppets on TV. "Hey, Fran, you gotta see this. Sure, they're puppets, but they're really funny." To which Fran says, "Forget it - I'm not watching puppets." Probably the reason the show didn't make it.

Dog City (1992–1994)

Good, occasionally great series

[16 April 2005]

An extremely bizarre set-up that worked more often than not. Eliot Shag, a Muppet, was the sole animator (and, one would assume, did all the voices?) for an animated noir series starring Ace Hart, Private Eye Dog. Ace functioned as Eliot's alter ego - suave where Eliot was unsure - and would occasionally stop the action of the cartoon to argue plot points with his creator. This provided the show with its best moments: Ace wanting to use a .45 despite Eliot's steadfast rule against guns, Ace's refusal to do anything "science-fiction-y", and of course Ace's frustration of never getting together with police-dog Rosie.

Some excellent characters in this show. I for one hate the ubiquitous "cutesy" kids that these shows always have, but Artie (and his animated counterpart Eddie) managed to be fun and endearing rather than annoying. Replacing the rather innocuous Colleen with the more headstrong Terri was a good move. The writers apparently tried to "up the hip quotient" on Eliot in the second season, ditching his sweater and giving him a Hawaiian shirt. I actually preferred him more as the awkward loner, but that was fine. Like many shows of its ilk, it did run out of steam at the end, padding itself out with pointless bits like "Madog's Poetry Corner" and "Terri & Dot". Still, a definite cut above most of the other animated/children's programs of the day. Cool-as-heck theme song, too.

Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron (1993–1995)

Deserved a better fate

[16 April 2005]

Extremely well-rendered cartoon, with good characters. They did a good job with the "double-life" of the main kats: mechanics by day, vigilantes by night (usually). The bad guys could be a bit formulaic, and the show sometimes got a bit tech-happy ("check out THIS weapon"), but for the most part, a good show. It always seemed to be on at the wrong time - way too early, and paired up with "2 Stupid Dogs". Rumor has it Ted Turner caught an episode and ordered it yanked. The final episode was a hastily-thrown-together "best of" show, which was even lamer than most attempts at same. That shouldn't detract from it being remembered as a great series from the early days of the cartoon renaissance.