Let's Watch This: An Episode of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show"

NOTE: Please do not take any of the little nitpicks in this review (or any of my other reviews, for that matter) seriously. I write these reviews in the hopes of making people laugh. Those nitpicks are really just dumb little observations that I'm attempting to make jokes out of, not complaints that add to whether or not I like something.

NOTE #2: No disrespect is meant towards anyone who worked on the show I am reviewing today. I'm sure they are all very nice and talented people.

NOTE #3: If you like this show, that is great. Go ahead and like it. I'm not judging you.

Hey, paisanos! We're reviewing The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

You're probably familiar with this show already if you spend a lot of time on the internet. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show premiered in syndication on September 4th, 1989, created by Andy Heyward for Nintendo, Saban Entertainment, and DIC Enterprises. In fact, this was the first of THREE cartoons starring the iconic plumber to be created by DIC. Maybe we'll review the other two cartoons another time, maybe we won't. We'll see.

Each episode started and ended with a live action segment starring Mario and Luigi, portrayed in both animation and live action by Captain Lou Albano and Danny Wells respectively. This would show their lives in Brooklyn before they arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom, doing odd jobs for folks like Dr. Frankenstein, Inspector Gadget, and Cyndi Lauper. Sandwiched in between these live action bits were an animated segment where Mario and Luigi would help Princess Peach... I mean, Toadstool (voiced by Jeannie Elias) and her servant Toad (John Stocker) protect the Mushroom Kingdom from the evil Bowser... I mean, King Koopa (Harvey Atkin). The writers mostly used this as an excuse to do spoofs of various books, films, what have you.

Apparently, Nintendo was reluctant to do the show from the start and decided to end the show after production of the first season (consisting of sixty-three episodes) - which is why DIC made two more shows based on Super Mario Bros 3. and Super Mario World instead of just making more seasons of THIS show. Today, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show is mostly well-known for how corny it supposedly is. Ah yes, and every episode released on Friday had an animated segment based on The Legend of Zelda instead. I'm going to review an episode that doesn't have a Legend of Zelda segment because I've never played any of those games, ergo I don't think I'm a good choice to review an episode of a show adapting them.

Actually, we'll be reviewing the sixth episode, which consists of the segments "The Mario Monster Mash" and "Rolling Down the River". Does The Super Mario Bros. Super Show live up to the "hype"? Let's find out!

Let's Watch This: An Episode of "The Buzz on Maggie"

I have a confession to make. I'm afraid of flies. All bugs, really, but especially flies. I don't know why, I think it's a combination of the buzzing sound they make and those big compound eyes. Those compound, pupilless eyes. I know they're harmless, but they just scare the bejabbers out of me. So it's fortunate for me that this show starring flies makes them cartoony enough to NOT give me the willies.

The Buzz on Maggie premiered on Disney Channel in June 2005, the creation of South Park writer Dave Polsky. Taking place in the tiny inset-populated town of Stickyfeet, the show focused on an energetic teenage girl fly named Maggie Pesky, voiced by Jessica DiCicco (one of her first voice acting roles), who aspires to be a rock star. She attends junior high school and has to deal with typical teenage girl problems like babysitting her younger siblings, having a crush on her math tutor, dealing with the popular girl in school who hates her guts because she's not rich like her... y'know, basically the same stuff Penny Proud was already dealing with, except Penny was human whereas Maggie was a bug.

Maggie was designed by Dave Wasson of Time Squad fame (note to self: do a review of Time Squad at some point), who also served as a director on the show. In an interview with Animation Magazine, Dave said that he was influenced by Disney, Tex Avery, and Warner Brothers cartoons from the 1930s, which is why the characters wear white gloves. Maggie's home town of Stickyfeet is also located in a dump because, as he put it - "As an animator, that concept gives you a lot of visual opportunities. Who can resist building a whole city out of garbage?!"

Only one season of The Buzz on Maggie was produced, consisting of twenty-one episodes (each one consisting of two segments). The show received mostly positive reviews from critics, the show got the flyswatter when it had only been on the air for two months because it was doing lousily overseas. Then it was only aired at night, when most kids would likely be asleep, until 2008 when it was pulled from the schedule, pretty much torpedoing any chance of the show finding a new audience and maybe getting at least one more season. Oh, and only three episodes were released on DVD as part of an extremely rare promotional kit and it's not on Disney Plus. Fortunately, you can find episodes of the show on YouTube.

Today, The Buzz on Maggie is at best a cult classic. As for me, I remember watching the show when it was on, though I haven't watched it since it aired on TV so I don't know how well it holds up. We'll be watching the show's ninth episode, which consists of the segments "Slumber Party" and "Spelling Bees", to see if this is another cartoon that deserved better or if Disney made the right call taking a can of Raid to it. Let's get started!

Let's Watch This: "Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown" (1980)

NOTE: Please do not take any of the little nitpicks in this review (or any of my other reviews, for that matter) seriously. I write these reviews in the hopes of making people laugh. Those nitpicks are really just dumb little observations that I'm attempting to make jokes out of, not complaints that add to whether or not I like something.

NOTE #2: No disrespect is meant towards anyone who worked on the special I am reviewing today. I'm sure they are all very nice and talented people.

NOTE #3: If you like this special, that is great. Go ahead and like it. I'm not judging you.

Who wants to talk about another Peanuts TV special? I do!

By the 1980s, the folks making these Charlie Brown specials probably realized that they'd run out of holidays. There was a Christmas special, a Halloween special, a Thanksgiving special, an Easter special, even an Arbor Day special. And presumably, they realized that folks would think A Charlie Brown Cinco De Mayo was a dumb idea... actually, what WOULD that special be like? Would Snoopy have some sort of stereotypical Mexican alter ego? In what way would Charlie Brown get put the wringer?

Well, anyhow, before they started recycling holidays (I personally like It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown, but I know I'm probably in the minority), the folks making these specials started whipping up specials with plotlines that probably would've worked better for episodes of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show than full-length specials. Though, to be fair, they were doing this as far back as 1974 - It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown isn't anything to write home about.

Long story short, at one point somebody asked, "What if Snoopy decided to join the circus?" and that's how we got Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown. This is one of those specials that you rarely see people talk about. Airing on CBS on October 24th, 1980, the only truly noteworthy things about it are that A) it won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program and B) it introduced a character named Fifi, who would appear again years later in The Peanuts Movie. Oh, and it was one of the first Peanuts specials to be released on VHS.

I have never seen this special before. As a rule of thumb, if it never aired on TV at any point in the 2000s, chances are it's a Peanuts special that I've never seen (unless it was included as a bonus feature on the DVD of one of the holiday specials, like It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown was). But what luck, it's on Apple TV, so I can watch it now and do a review of it. Is Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown good? Let's find out, shall we?