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Okay, I've seen this show enough times now to finally give a review and I feel it's necessary after reading some of the inane comments I've ever read on the internet in consideration of Mr. Meaty. It seems the creative potential of the American public to respond to genius like this series is starting to dry up. Prior to the late 1990s, Nickelodeon seemed to be overshadowed by Cartoon Network, but the tables have turned over the past few years and some of the most innovative cartoons on television currently are broadcast on the former. It's depressing, but it seems the days of Dexter's Laboratory are coming to an end. Nickelodeon, on the other hand, has really managed to bring their status up amongst critics, no longer relying on the absolute garbage that is Spongebob Squarepants, a series that relies so heavily on animation styles and humor basically stolen from Ren and Stimpy one wonders why anyone even watches it. Ren and Stimpy was one of the cartoons that really put Nikelodeon on the map, in spite of controversy, and since then nothing has really caught my attention that much on the channel, though there are several good shows. Enter Mr. Meaty. Mr. Meaty is one of the greatest shows I have ever seen, and to see something like this on a channel considered primarily for children while holding what I would assume would be one of the best spots on the schedule really raises my spirits for commercial American culture, even though this series is actually from Canada. Mr. Meaty is a show where all of the action is filmed using puppets. However, unlike a show like Eureeka's Castle, Mr. Meaty is heavily laced with some of the most abstract and avant garde humor I've ever seen from a children's show. Not only is it criticized as being one of the grossest shows on television, at times the humor though not bad in any way, clearly was intended for adults and that makes me happy. Kids sometimes will laugh at anything goofy so they've got enough of that here, but it takes some clever scripting to get the adults. At any rate, Mr. Meaty features wonderful caricatures you'll swear you've seen in droves at any mall by using puppets with heavily exaggerated bodies in order to achieve this effect. Some of the girls act so similar to teenagers I've seen it's somewhat disturbing, since everyone tends to look so strange due to the fact that these are some of the creepiest puppets ever. Case in point is Edward R. Carney, the man who owns the restaurant in the series and rides around on a wheechair with bull horns on it and looks almost like a diseased, green, oozing skeleton of a man who talks with an exaggerated, Texan accent. In a recent episode, Parker and his friend create a girlfriend out of meat products, DNA from some girls they know and Parker's own DNA, which ends up being a puppet that looks essentially like someone without their skin, with flies all over the place (done using sticks that are meant to appear visible instead of clear so they look even more ridiculous). But that's not all you can expect here. First, throw in some creative lyrics and you've got yourself an excellent soundtrack. Mr. Meaty has a hilarious opening theme, featuring a line that's apparently offended vegetarians and vegans: "All of God's creatures, fresh off the grill!" Kind of funny they take offense to that, because the series is clearly a slap at the fast food industry and our tendency to overeat meat products, not to mention our general mistreatment and disregard of animals in the process. I'm surprised they're actually offended by it, if anything they should revel in it because there have been numerous occasions I've seen clever cracks at fast food restaurants and our opinions of them. They generally separate the main action with songs like this, hilarious cut shots featuring frying chicken nuggests and such ala' Batman, and heavier rock for other scenes. Throw this all together with the most creative plots of all time and you've got a great show. I've never seen a show so creative with scripting, especially when one looks at the generally drab and overused structure of American media currently. All of the action in Mr. Meaty occurs in a fast food restaurant, from which the show gets its title, inside of a mall and it's pretty amazing they've managed to be this innovative considering the fact that the majority of the action occurs in the same location every time. The two main characters who work at the restaurant, Josh and Parker, face a variety of strange adventures from their space in the food court. In general, most shows on television anymore, especially those for children, rely on reused gags, phrases and clichés in order to attempt to make people laugh. The herd will generally laugh at anything as long as it fits these familiar models, but to really get the attention of people like me, you need something like this show. There's not much more I can say without reviewing particular episodes. All I can say is if you're looking for one last hope for underground fans who watch movies like Meet the Feebles and old shows like Ren and Stimpy, it seems Nickelodeon has finally returned to its former glory with this series. Every episode I've seen thus far has been absolutely hilarious, and thankfully the corporate power behind this beauty has yet to chage its format or take it off the air, as many people have apparently been crying about. Such people, are, however, total idiots. Watch this show, and if you don't like it, which you may not, then go back to Jimmy Neutron or some other sort of drivel.
score 10/10
sjsz 2 December 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1535076/ |
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10-11-2020 01:57:04