The State of Things According to Me

I consider Codename: Kids Next Door to be the last great Cartoon Cartoon. Billy and Mandy is okay, but I've never been crazy about it. KND, meanwhile, has all the right stuff. Yes, it's a kids' cartoon full of silly jokes having to do with underwear and boogers, but it's also one of the few GOOD action cartoons out there. Even more impressive is the epic scale of its stories and the relationships between the good guys and the bad guys. Remember when it was an event whenever your favorite villain appeared on a show? The Joker in Batman, Vegeta in DBZ, Gary in Pokemon -- usually the hero's most fearsome archenemy. KND revitalizes that kind of excitement with its stories -- whenever the Delightful Children From Down The Lane show up, you know something major is going to happen ... Father might even be involved!

Anyway, it appears that the adventures of the Sector V crew are finally coming to an end, with the series finale airing the 21st. I'm sad to see it go ... I hope it gets more re-run time than Johnny Bravo. Ah, Johnny Bravo ... truly the epitome of animation greatness! Second to none ... ooh, except maybe Time Squad! Aw, remember Time Squad? That was great...

In all seriousness, I'm very disappointed and disheartened by the original shows that have been popping up on Cartoon Network. Camp Lazlo and ... ugh, it pains me to even type this name ... My Gym Partner's a Monkey simply lack the creativity and charm of their predecessors. Class of 3000 has entranced me with its bright colors and honestly cool music numbers, but the standard animation and stories that the majority of the show is composed of is very, very bland.

On the other hand, Foster's is really good. I've begun to tire of Bloo's overbearing personality taking control of each episode, but stories like The Little Peas and Make-Believe It or Not remind me why I loved the show in the first place.

Meanwhile, I don't even watch cartoons on any other channel. Is ABC's equivalent to One Saturday Morning still on? Fuck, if it's not airing Pepper Ann, I don't even give a damn. It is a dark time for children's animation.