Animation Unlimited

You know, I hate stupid spineless TV execs that do stupid things.

If you have kids, you may know of a show on the PBS Kids Sprout cable network called the Good Night Show. It starred a girl, Melanie who "airs soothing stories and cartoons designed to get an audience of 2-to-5-year-olds ready for bed. Each night, Martinez guides a puppet character into dreamland." ( Kids' show host fired over 'Virgin' video - AP Story/CNN) It was schmatlzy, my wife wanted to get the girl a change of clothes because the outfit was god-awful, but my son liked it.

Well, Miss Melanie had a bit of a comedic past. She starred in a couple of 30-second bits called "Technical Virgin" which lampooned PSAs for staying a virgin though,lets say other means. This was 7-years ago, and when PBS found out, they canned her. You can find them on Google Video.

Like my 2-year old is ever going to see that? He has not asked where she went yet, but she is clearly confused by the show being gone.

I like the column that By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist wrote, and he mentions some of the things I did in my Letter to PBS.

Speaking of which, here is the body of my letter to PBS....

I'm writing to express my displeasure with the dismissal of Melanie Martinez from the "PBS Kids Sprout Good Night Show." I feel the act was rash and short-sighted on the part of Sandy Wax.

My 2-year-old son is a fan of the show and watches part of it each night. He is going to miss seeing her, and change can be tough for toddlers. I have watched one of the "Technical Virgin" videos on the Internet as to investigate the incident regarding her dismissal. Although Melanie Martinez's part in them is certainly not appropriate for children, I see no reason why any Sprout viewer would ever know that she did them or what difference it makes. I would not allow my 2-year-old to watch George Carlin's comedy, but Mr. Carlin does a wonderful job in doing the voice-over for "Thomas the Train."

This double-standard reeks of sexism, and I implore management to reconsider this action ... and don't you dare remove the Thomas episodes that Mr. Carlin does in order to "level the playing field." Ms. Martinez is a good show host that appeals to toddlers, and that is your audience after all.

Towhich I got this....

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding PBS KIDS Sprout’s decision to no longer have Melanie Martinez appear as the host of The Good Night Show. Ms. Martinez has been an important part of Sprout and we are saddened that this difficult decision had to be made.

Our foremost priority is maintaining the trust of the parents and families we serve. With this in mind, the management of Sprout determined that the short films in which Ms. Martinez appeared were inappropriate for her role as a preschool program host. We apologize for any disappointment that our decision has caused you and your family.

Sprout remains committed to The Good Night Show as a valuable tool for parents to help children wind down after a busy day. Plans are in development to launch a new season of the program with a new host in late 2006. In the meantime, regularly scheduled programs within The Good Night Show (e.g. Dragon Tales™, Bob The Builder™, Thomas & Friends™) will continue to air in their designated time slots with new short-form content replacing Ms. Martinez’s segments.

Thank you again for your comments.

Sincerely,
Amelia
Viewer Services

Pretty much a "we don't really care what you think" answer.

Not sure what more to do about this really... other than get the word out that their overreaction. Feel free to Write PBS and let them know how you feel.

Well, last nights DVR session yielded the end of the series and surprisingly both episodes were pretty heavy on Beast Boy.

"Titans Together" effectively brings the Brotherhood of Evil arc to a close. It actually could have brought the series to a close better than the last episode does, but that is neither here nor there.

Beast Boy gathers together the remaining young heros and comes up with a plan to make a final assault on the Brotherhood of Evil. There was some good action on the part of some minor players, and the all-out battle at the end of the episode was quite entertaining. It was nice to see some real ass-kicking going on for a change, and good to see Beast Boy not played up like a chump. He helps save everyone, the arc finally draws to a close, and the show probably could have ended right here.

But it didn't.

I have really mixed feelings about the final episode in the series. In "Things Change" we find the team coming to terms with the fact that the city has grown up quite a bit without them. Before they get to dwell too long before they are battling a new menace. In the midst of the fight Beast Boy spots Terra, a former Titan and Slade double agent who was killed after trying to save everyone during the final battle with Slade.

However, it is not the Terra he once knew. She no longer remembers being a Titan, or anything about her past. Beast Boy does his best to jog her memory, but in the end she remains a normal high school girl. It's a fairly melancholy end to the series, and the focus is entirely on Beast Boy. It has the feel of an Anime coming of age story, and it uses many of the conventions and shots that you might see in one. In fact, I saw a lot of influence that may have come directly from Kare Kano, the influence shines through here. The problem with the episode is that Terra was a very strong character with a lot of following, I can imagine that her return like this did not go over very well with the Titan loyalists out there. She comes back, but for all purposes, one has to wonder why. At least we got to see Slade one last time...

The final season of Teen Titans was pretty mediocre all-in-all. I'm glad they saved face with the final 3 episodes, but I really wish they could have kept up the pace and feel of the first few seasons. Its no surprise this was canceled, and its just too bad it jumped the shark prematurely and was cancled before all the storylines were wrapped up. In the end, Titans went. Just too bad.

So we are in the home stretch of Teen Titans. Even after the abysmal "Revved Up" episode, I had to do my best to finish this out since I have been with the show for so long.

"Go" and "Calling All Titans" were a couple of the better episodes for the season. I find it fairly odd that they decide to do a flashback to how the Titans met this late in the game, and "Go" was set all in the past. It outlines how Starfire got to earth and how the Titans all got together. It was a bit contrived for my taste, but the action was good ... and it was fun seeing the characters in their early stages of heroism.

"Calling All Titans" shows how Robin's poorly executed plan of getting all the young heros together ends in disaster. There were two allusions I liked in this episode, and a few things I did not. Johnny Rancid's skidding stop along the highway was a direct cut from the classic Anime Akira, and a nice one at that. The Brain's line in the opening sequence "Shall we play a game?" was of course homage to the computer Joshua in the 1983 movie WarGames.

It still really bugs me how all the Titans are divided and conquered, and they should have seen this attack coming from miles away and episodes ago. Still, there was a lot of good action in this episode and it was cool to see all of the previous villains (sans Slade) come out of the woodwork to try and defeat them. It looks like Beast Boy is the only one left to save the day ... could be interesting, he is due his day.

Only two episodes left in the series. I'll probably watch them tonight.

How far the mighty have fallen.

It's no wonder they canceled this show. "Revved Up" was about as pathetic an excuse for a superhero episode as I have ever seen (at least on Teen Titans). Ding Dong Daddy steals a briefcase of Robins and the Titans go on a race to bring it back. Along the way, all sorts of villains show up driving wacky theme cars because they want the case as well.

Raven and Starfire get zapped by a ray and can't fly... so they steal a bad-guy bus with a rocket. The T-Car gets disassembled by the fastest running truckplatform on earth. Robin and Red-X zip on their motocycles and ride in ways that defy all physics. Ding Dong Daddy thinks he is cool but I'll pass on the beatnick. There was so much camp we just need to build fire to burn it.

I was waiting to see Dick Dastardly and Muttley chasing after the Robin at some point... where oh where are the Wacky Races now? That may have been better than this!

And to top it off, and we never find out what is in the bloody case. Utter crap. No wonder Slade went away, these guys are not worth it anymore. I'll probably finish watching the show just because, but it is a damn disappointing end to what was once a great show.

I'm caught up on all my Boondocks episodes from the DVR. I think I have seen them all now.

The show is brutal. Brutally honest, brutally funny, brutally twisted, and sometimes brutally violent.

All-in-all I like it.

The ratings appear to be pretty good, and I read recently that Cartoon Network ordered another 20 episodes of the show. The episode for Dr. Martin Luther King day was especially interesting. What if Dr. King did not die but just lay in a coma for 40 years? What would he say if he came out of it and saw society as it is? Interesting perspective on the subject, nice piece of satire.

I caught some of Moral Oral on Adult Swim. Its stopmotion animation, and from what I could tell was about a religious kid and how he goes through life. The episode I saw, Oral was drinking his own pee and selling it because he thought it would be a sin to waste it. His special juice helped the track team win state finals. To quote Cartman, "That's some f*cked up sh*t there."

Separately, I'm finally getting around to Trigun. Watched a few episodes the other day while walking my fat a$$ on the treadmill. Yes, I'm THAT guy at the "Y" who is watching toons while working out. If I were single it would be social suicide ... but I'm not so I couldn't give a damn. Found it to be a good show, pretty funny stuff. Think I'll enjoy watching Vash the Stampede get in and out of one disaster after another. Guy has some luck I'll give him that.

Short entry, but at least it's something.

It's rare that I watch a show on the day it comes out nowadays.

This weeks Naruto was good.

The edits to the blood are now minor. Somuchso that I could not tell what was cut. Better yet, the edits to the dialogue are minor. Sasuke finally said he wanted to "KILL" his brother, not "destroy" as was previously said. Its a whole different connotation.

Sasuke sacrified himself for Naruto, and Naruto finally went Fox on us. Next week we'll see his powers. Should be a good ride.

Oh and for those of you that have missed everything till now, Cartoon Network is doing a New Year's Marathon of all the episodes back to back .... in case you have nothing better to do.

It's late. No more for tonight. Zzzzzz

Strange combination.

I watched the first 3 Episodes of Boondocks. I don't think it's a runaway hit, but the show has some potential. The first episode starts with the following line by the main character, Huey (while at a party of white people), "Excuse me. Jesus was black, Ronald Regan was the devil, and the government lied about 9/11. Thank you for your time and good night." At this point the whites run off screaming.

No controversy there at all!

The good thing about the show is nothing is sacred. They take shots at government, pop culture, race, and current events. The language is rough, and unless you are prepared to hear the word nigga about 40 times an episode, you'll be in for a shock. There are some laugh-out-loud moments, and some that may make you squirm, but it is entertaining ... And that's the point after all.

On the flip side, I watched Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU Vol 3 in English last night. Once I watch it in Sub I will get a full review up. It was a fairly even release, but I really enjoyed seeing Captain Tessa return. What can I say? I've always been a fan.

Well it seems I was not the only one that did not think much of the current season of Teen Titans. So far, Cartoon Network has not opted to renew for a Season 6. According to Animation Insider the prospects are bleak.

Can't say I'm surprised.

Add the recent bloodbath at WB Studios to the mix, and you have a recipe for Titans Turnover. It's a damn shame too, the show had a great start and a lot of potential through Season 4. Guess they really did jump the shark with the Season 5 opener.

Holy cow that was a pain in the ass. Note to self, don't get so far behind on TV shows even when you have great DVDs waiting. It's late, so here is the 30-second version on the final round-up.

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo - wacked hair-bear bunch fighting against the baldies. It's snot for you! Well, maybe it is, depends on your thing.

Loonatics Unleashed - not as bad as feared. Kiddy for sure, but some good lines in there by a few of the revamped cast. Not your Papa's Looney Toons, but what is? All the creators of Papa's toons are dead.

Teen Titans - Still not as good as last season, but better than the first few episodes.

Family Guy - New season still has it, but don't tell that to the evil monkey in my closet. Don't need him getting any ideas.

New DVR should go in tomorrow... now I'll have 60 hours of video to get behind on. DOH!

Well, after much internal debate, I can now declare that the dub for Naruto is done well enough for my tastes.... at least for now. I know I bashed the hell out of it in my first review, but I did state a caviet it sometimes takes a few episodes for a show to hit it's stride.

Well, it's at a full gallop now.

Last weeks episode: "Kakashi: Sharingan Warrior" finally put to rest some of my fears, and forced me to accept that some cuts must stand on TV. I still have some issue with Maile Flanagan as Naruto, but he is flowing out of her much more naturally as a character ... so I'm less concerned than I was. Kate Higgins is doing well as Sakura and Yuri Lowenthal makes a good Sasuke.

However, I get more and more impressed with Zabuza and Kakashi as the show progresses. Steven Jay Blum (best known as Spike on Cowboy Bebop) as Zabuza was a perfect fit, and Naruto fans should count themselves as fortunate to have landed this talented VA as the first real villain of the show. Pitted against Dave Wittenberg as Kakashi (who has had some very memorable and diverse roles including Sora in .hack//SIGN and Kei Kusanagi in Please! Teacher), and you have two foil characters that have a ton of electricity when they clash.

Most impressive of all in "Kakashi: Sharingan Warrior" is the sequence these two voice actors dual each other with ninjitsu techniques, voicing the jutsu "in-time" with each other in Japanese. In a surprise move, Viz chose not to translate the jitsu, instead keeping it true to the original Japanese script. It had to be an extremely difficult sequence to pull off and direct, and it turned out incredibly well. I'll count this as the turn-key moment that sold me on the dub. I went back and rewatched the original sequence on the fansub, and I almost like this version better.

Now that is something.

That's not to say that I would buy the Toonami version of the show. The edited version is due out on DVD in December, but I think I'll wait for the uncut version of Naruto when it hits the shelves next year. Fortunately, Viz will be releasing it uncut, but we will have to wait a bit longer ... at least, for now.