Swankmotron’s weekly Clone Wars recap has recently left this robot ruminating on the following: Cartoons are the single best form of televised entertainment right now.
Yes, I enjoy Lost. I love The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I even really like non-geek shows like Life or The Mentalist. But with BSG to be no more within just a few short weeks, where will we then go for our geek fixes?
Hopefully you are already turned on to the following:
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
The Clone Wars
Spectacular Spider-man
Wolverine and the X-men
All of these are cartoons, and I believe, ounce for ounce, minute for minute, provide some of the best entertainment value around. Especially if you have kids, set up your DVR timers now and enjoy.
Since its premiere on NickToons, I have been amazed at how much Wolverine and the X-men has gotten right. They get it right with the mutant paranoia. They get the oppressive government registration and control right. They get the heroism of being a good guy in the midst of a system where they are automatically the bad guy. And they have kick-ass action sequences to boot (Kitty Pryde phasing an entire attack helicopter into a building? Actually seing Nightcrawler use his teleportation and agility to take out an entire group of people for extended sequences? All awesome.) Plus, great acting, along with voice actors that sound like they should (a first for an X-men adaptation).
Even more, as I watch the most recent arc of Heroes that started a month ago, I keep thinking, “Wolverine and the X-men did this sooooooo much better.” That’s probably more of a commentary on how bad Heroes has been, but Wolverine and the X-men is simply something you should not miss.
Unfortunately, unless you have an awesome cable lineup or all of the channels on Dish or DirecTV, you probably don’t NickToons. Fear not! The interwebs are here to save you with full episodes. It’s just like Al Gore intended.
Batman The Brave and the Bold is just great fun. It’s a Batman show that is dark and gritty at times, but incredibly kid-friendly. I watch it with my 3-year old, who remains fixated on it, unlike when I have tried to watch Batman Beyond or the older Animated Series with her.
I also love the cavalcade of voice actors on this. Diedrich Bader as Batman immediately brings to mind his masterful work in both Office Space and Napolean Dynamite.
You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Especially from Batman?
John DiMaggio also shows up as underwater doofus royalty Aquaman, who is so un-self-aware of how totally lame he is that he brings Aquaman back around the continuum of coolness. Yes, Virginia, Aquaman is fun again. Plus, you can occasionally hear some “Bender” in his voice. And then you get guest voices like R. Lee Ermey playing old-timer boxing cat Wildcat... it brought tears to my eyes: tears of laughter and tears of joy.
Full episodes are available at CartoonNetwork.com and new episodes air Friday nights at 8/7 Mountain. Set your DVR, order some takeout, and make a night of TV on Friday with this, Clone Wars, Terminator and Dollhouse. Short of a hot date with a cute guy or gal robot of your choice, this is the best way to spend Friday nights. Better yet, make THIS your date for this Friday.
And then this brings me to the more adult cartoons. The Simpsons (now in HD!), Family Guy, American Dad, King of the Hill in its final season, the vast majority of Adult Swim’s lineup. In fact, when The Venture Brothers is on, that is the best show on television. Hands down. But we just have to wait years between seasons….. The point is, these are all still funnier than 90% of the shows parading as “comedies” on network TV (I’m looking at you, 2 1/2 men). And, at this point, I’m not sure which of the primetime police procedurals or reality shows are intended as comedies or merely come across that way (CSI: Miami? The Bachelor?)
The point is, cartoons rule. I challenge you this: make a top 10 list of the best shows currently on TV and do not include one animated show. You simply can’t do it. You should watch more animated programming. It’s good for your geek and robot soul.