|
 As
far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as too much TV. Though
we all need to take a break from the goggle box from time to time,
that doesn't mean we can't fit in at least four or five hours of
small screen entertainment each and every day. Six or seven if
there's something good on. And once I'm done watching movies and
hour-long sci fi dramas with Star Trek somewhere in the title, I
divert my attention to cartoons, nothing that lasts more than half
an hour, the perfect length for a defective attention span. These
are the shows I think of as the entertainment cement that fills the
cracks in my evening.
I watched a lot of cartoons growing up, most of
them rubbish, from the quality of the animation to the weakness of
the writing. But that's mostly what we had back in the Seventies, so
that's what we watched, because we didn't know any better. So we got
by. Not like today. Thanks largely to the success of The
Simpsons and the proliferation of dedicated cartoon channels,
we're now so spoiled for choice I have barely enough time to see all
my favourites. I've always loved Warner Bros cartoons. As a kid, Looney
Tunes were the one thing I watched that were both beautiful to
behold and very, very funny. Tom and Jerry I liked, but I adored
Daffy and Bugs, not to mention Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote, who I
wanted desperately to catch and consume both Tweety and the Road
Runner, so smug and probably tasty.
As a relative adult man I love them all still,
and thank heavens I didn't grow out of cartoons because when Warner
Bros. turned their hand to serious superhero action in the early
Nineties, I was there to cheer them on. In the years before Batman
Begins finally presented an accurate portrayal of the Dark Knight on
the big screen, the only place to see decent Bat-themed action was
on the telly. Dark and mysterious with proper care and attention
given to the characters, Batman's animated adventures can now be
counted in their hundreds, and there's not a single one of them I
don't like. FYI, The Caped Crusader can currently be seen in
superhero team-up show Justice
League Unlimited, co-starring Superman, The Flash, Martian
Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern. And that's an
awful lot of hero for your money. So many awesome powers, so many
shameless costumes, so many giant, killer robots to destroy...
First things first: The
Simpsons. Not only the greatest cartoon of all time. Not only
the greatest sitcom of all time. But the greatest show of all time,
no question. My obsession with the Simpsons runs deeper even than my
lifelong devotion to Star
Trek. Only my family is more important to me than the Simpsons,
and I'm talking immediate family here. All hail Homer.
Cancelled long
before its time, Matt Groening's Futurama
blended the humour of The Simpsons with the sci fi invention of Star
Trek, a perfect blend of laughs and nerdery so densely plotted and
packed with gags you can watch it over and over, finding new things
to laugh at every time. All hail Bender.
 Now
in its ninth season, South
Park continues to stun and amaze, easily the most fearless show
on TV and definitely one of the funniest. Not for offendable types,
but for lovers of edgy satire and poo jokes it's hard to beat. All
hail Cartman.
Cancelled after in its second season then
renewed for a third and cancelled again, Family
Guy has risen from the grave a second time with a fourth season
currently playing in the States. That's because the show has so many
vocal fans, and more significantly, so many loyal consumers aching
to buy the box sets, that Family Guy will not be denied. All hail
Peter.
Though on
the surface it looks like it's strictly for kids, Spongebob
Squarepants is the one show I can watch with my wife and kids
that we all love equally. So very silly, so instantly beguiling. It
was my cousin Ronald, just turned 40, who put me on to Spongebob and
the denizens of Bikini Bottom. My kids adore Spongebob and Sandy
(the squirrel). My Mrs. loves evil Plankton. But me, I can't stop
thinking about greedy old Mr. Krabbs, who talks like a pirate,
laughs like Popeye and thinks of nothing but money all day. All hail
the lot of 'em.
I feel like I've just gotten started but
already it's time to wrap things up. Before I'm done though I want
to send a big shout out to American Dad and Robot Chicken, two shows
which haven't made it to the UK yet but believe me, when they do
you'll know all about them. And just in case you think I'm faking my
love of cartoons, or at the very least exaggerating my obsession,
you should know what my daughter's middle names are. Maia's the
eldest, almost four. She loves Angelina Ballerina and her middle
name is Leela, named after the one-eyed pilot who kicked so much
butt in Futurama. Phoebe, meanwhile, is two. She loves Peppa Pig and
her middle name is Harley, named after the Joker's girlfriend in the
Batman cartoons, Harley Quinn.
I'm not a psycho or anything, I just really
love my cartoons.
Next week, I'm moving on to live action tv
sitcoms, another great reason for never going anywhere or doing
anything other than watching television.
See you then!
Marshall
What's Your
View?
What did you think of this article? Click here to contact our editorial
team.
Can't Find What You're Looking
For?
Tell us what you like
and we'll suggest titles based upon your preferences! Click here for more
information.
|