Friday, December 29, 2023

Middlemost Post is a Walk of Sunshine (Season 1 review)

Middlemost Post is a Walk of Sunshine (season 1 review)


Intro

Once upon a time, there was a serious dude, his name is John Trabbic III. He used to be an alcoholic until he sobered up. And thus, it inspired for him to create a new Nicktoon called Middlemost Post. The show was in the works since February 2020, but it wasn’t until June that we finally heard words about the show being picked up for a full series. This marks the third time Nick has greenlit a cartoon created by a SpongeBob artist.


Premise

The show’s promise is best described during the theme song. During a stormy voyage sailing the seas, Angus got shipwrecked and his boat ended up at a mountain. One day, a raincloud named Parker J Cloud joined the postage service, the Middlemost Post, and joins Angus and Russell on delivering mail. You know the premise sounds so cool that I was immediately interested in checking out the show. Even better, it was an original Nicktoon, in a sea of corporately produced Nicktoons that were either spin-offs or revivals of beloved shows, which wasn’t a good outlook.


Recapping the Episodes

First Delivery: The very first episode of the show, it revolves on the Middlemost Post gang delivering a letter to someone who just wants to be left alone. Pilot episodes tend to make or break a show and Middlemost Post did not disappoint me when I first sat down and watched the premiere of it. We got to see a little of bit of other Mt Middlemost’s locations in the beginning before the rest of the episode is set at Yellow Springs, a desert full of cacti. A show like this can make a mundane job of mailman look cool - The MMP gang are delivering a letter without getting trapped. However, Angus is the one that keeps getting trapped while Parker still tries his best to deliver the letter. The character they’re trying to deliver is fittingly named Levi Alone, who doesn’t like to be around people and set up booby traps (or they’re called booty traps). While MMP is a gag driven show, this episode focused more on the story, the character interaction and the action sequences. The MacGuffin of the episode is the letter. Angus and Parker (as well as Russell) are very cooperative together, which is a good thing. When the show was first announced, people feared that they wouldn’t cooperate due to their clashing personalities, but this episode highlighted their teamwork. Midway through the episode, Angus and Parker finally decide to get serious after their repeated failures. We are then treated an amazing sequence of Angus doing stunts while trying to avoid traps as much as possible. It was such a fun scene to watch even if he failed once again. So now it’s up to Parker to deliver the letter himself. When Levi finally shows up, he read the letter. It turns out Parker was the writer of the letter the whole time, as he wanted to make Levi happy. As he slammed the door on Parker’s face, he is left in tears, thinking all the trouble of getting there was all for nothing. However, a few seconds later, Levi responded back to Parker and he thinks they’re pen pals now. All in all, it was a great start to a great show. Pilots are normally below average, but this one sets up the premise of the show very well. (9/10)


Chore or Less: In this episode, Parker tried doing chores, but he ended up hating them, leaving the ship a mess. Somehow, this episode got a little better upon rewatch. I gave it a lower score on day one due to its more laid-back plot, but the episode actually had more jokes than the previous one. The character chemistry is still strong although here Parker doesn’t get the concept of chores so he and Angus had a little disagreement on what to do. The episode saw the official debut of Lily (not counting shorts), Mayor Peeve and Ryan. They are established quite well - Lily is just doing her job while giving Parker some advice, Mayor Peeve has an one sided rivalry with Angus because his ship keeps blocking the sunlight on the city hall, and Ryan is the mayor’s assistant. Anyways, I think the reason why I’m more kind to this episode now is that it’s a relatable story. We all hate doing chores, and the characters in the show make it clear that it’s a boring thing to do since it takes away our free time. Parker wanted to enjoy them, but the progress of doing them bores him. So eventually, due to his lack of understanding Angus’ sarcastic remarks, he ended up not doing chores and the whole ship is covered in filth. This caused the whole town to notice. Everyone is nervous, but Peeve would rather see the ship gone, in which he anticipated for its demolition. Angus is holding the ship, entrusting Parker and Russell to do the right thing by cleaning up the mess. And so they did, as the town watched Angus’ butt get exposed. The mayor laughed at this but no laughed at his funny. Balance is brought back to the Middlemost Post. So the moral of the day: always do your chores on time or else your place will be a mess. (8/10)


Burt! the Musical: Aired as part of Nick’s Musical weekend, this episode revolves on Burt, the box, being used as a mascot for a recycling factory. If Chore or Less can be better through rewatch, then I think this episode isn’t as good through rewatch either. I still enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but I somehow liked the chore episode slightly better than this. During a meeting, Parker noticed the absence of Burt and Angus revealed that he accidentally threw the box away. So they went to the one environment friendly place and that is called Greenwood, the main setting for this episode. The recycling factory is home to the Recycling King who is the first character to be voiced by a guest star (Billy Porter). As you expect, due to his actor’s musical nature, he often break into song, much to Angus’ annoyance, who rather want Burt back. There is a musical number exploring why Burt is the mascot of the factory. When you put it that way, this episode is like a modernized version of the Rocko’s Modern Life episode about recycling where it featured a lot of singing. After putting up with the recycle king, it was time for the MMP gang to rescue Burt. However, he already knew the plan because one of the Reggies was fluent in gibberish, which was kinda funny to know. Overall, the episode itself isn’t really the most memorable, but it still had that MMP charm and Billy Porter’s performance was delightful. (8/10)


Saturday No Funday: After Angus kicked Parker and Russell out of the ship for bothering him, Parker thinks they’re permanently out of the ship. Well, this is such an interesting episode. A lot of stuff going on - Parker and Russell bothering Angus, Mayor Peeve in a tight jacket, and everyone getting ready for the eruption of Ned (that’s the name of the volcano). The whole episode is a such a mood whiplash and you’ll find out. It started off funny with Parker and Russell bothering Angus on his day off. But he just want to be alone. So, he kicked them out of the ship, which lead to Parker thinking he’s out of the MMP forever. Now I gotta admit, it did dragged on after while because of how disinterested Angus was and I felt like it start to get a little bland for the next couple minutes. Angus was way too hard on them, but thankfully he will regret it later in the episode. Thinking he’s jobless, he search for new places to work at, and he was hired to work for Lily, but it turns out he just packed his bags to the store, thinking it was his new home. As everyone was prepared for Ned, Parker decided it was time to live there (in which we got to see a look of Red Ridge, a place full of rocks). Russell then warned Angus about the situation and told Parker that his new “home” is an active volcano. However, before Angus could save Parker, it was too late. From the look of it, Angus thought Parker was killed off by Ned, which was a heartbreaking moment. But luckily, Parker is still alive thanks to ability to shapeshift into different things. The last couple minutes of the episode is full of wholesome moments, with Angus feeling apologetic for what he said earlier and giving Parker a small beanie. The last scene with the MMP gang watching the volcano together is arguably my favorite moment of the entire episode, especially due to the fact that Angus is now willing to spend time with Parker and Russell every Sunday. The usage of stop motion of Ned’s eruption is a major plus as well. I originally gave it an 8/10 score but it’s too low of a rating for an episode with so many nice moments, so it’ll be bumped up this time. Rewatching stuff can make a difference. (9/10)


POSTBOT 3000: After getting a deliver from the Middlemost Post, Mayor Peeve get a robot that could deliver mail as fast as possible, so he bets Angus on a mail-off and the winner gets to run the MMP. This was the first episode to be written by Rocco Pucillo, who would later become story editor for the show. He only wrote for two shows and they’re both action-packed. So, unsurprisingly, we’ll be seeing quite a bit of actiony episodes from Pucillo for the show. Anyway, this is the first episode where Mayor Peeve and Ryan play a major role to a plot. We all know Peeve desperately want to get rid of the Middlemost Post so his city hall can finally have some light. His scheme is  building a robot who looks exactly like Angus (its name is POST 3000) and challenging him to a mail-off. It started off well for the Middlemost Post until Peeve decided to cheat. Ryan is actually guarding the POST 3000, but during the middle of the mailoff, the robot kicked Ryan out at a Stinkhole in Yellow Springs. It then ends up doing a dance off with a resident while Peeve took a look of it and thinks it’s stuck. Meanwhile, the MMP has decided to split down in order to deliver mail quicker. By the time they’re all caught up, they realized that Ryan is in the stinkhole. While POST 3000 has already won the race, the MMP had no choice but to rescue Ryan instead. Angus is declared a hero according to Ryan and the POST 3000, despite winning the race, is a big jerk. So in default, the Middlemost Post won and get to keep their ship, much to Peeve’s disgust. Not top 5 material, but pretty exciting to watch. The concept of having a race of to see who delivers the most amount of mail was cool. When the mail off started, it was done like a video game before abandoning it after a minute. I forgot to mention this but the drone Parker was killed off during the race and it won’t be the last we’ll see of it. And it’s not without its sweet moment like what Angus did with Ryan. The episode was great, but in 20 episodes from now, we’re going to have an even better followup.

(9/10)


Boom Goes the Cloud: Parker keeps making thunder noises at night, which disrupts everyone’s sleep. This is the first episode of the show I can fully give a perfect score because it got all the good qualities in a Middlemost Post episode: comedy, nightmare fuel, heart, and tearjerker. And the characters were fun as usual. This episode portrayed Angus as a protective dad towards Parker. We got to see Parker’s former dark side as a raincloud who would always ruin people’s lives, which only happened during his night booms. The episode can provide you a little bit of foreshadowing when you rewatch it and I’ll reveal the twist in a little bit. So, the night booms occurred three times throughout the episode, and they all involved a painting, a wedding, and a sewer. This disrupted everyone at the mountain that they became sleepy. Viewers can relate to this situation as loud noises can ruin your sleep (like me every time I have to put up with barking dogs every night). After almost losing hope, Angus asked Lily for help. She offered him an underwear that would help Parker not get night booms anymore. However, it failed as he still end up having another nightmare and it got to the point that he almost left Mt. Middlemost forever. This is one of the most sympathetic moments of Parker in the entire show. However, thanks to Angus’ motivation, he was able to stay. In the end, it was revealed that Parker was eating a new dessert from the Middlemost Toast which makes the consumer pass gas. Of course, this being a Nickelodeon show doesn’t surprise you as they love their fart jokes. Angus prevented Parker from eating more and their nights have gotten better without the thunderclaps. Originally my favorite episode, I’ve found a few more episodes superior to this, but my rankings won’t be revealed until the very end of this journal.

(10/10)


I Named It Whiskers: Parker and Lily try to get rid of one of her inventions gone wrong - a robotic rat. A few members from the Middlemost Post Discord server consider this one of the weakest episodes of the show, but I don’t think it wasn’t forgettable or anything. I mean, come on, how could you not like this episode when it got some great action? And its smart humor is still present and it’s just as funny as most episodes of the show. So, when Parker finds out the Somewhere Store is a mess, Lily tells a flashback story of how it happened. She invented a rat-like robot to clean up the store, but instead it ends up going haywire. And she named it Whiskers (in which she dropped the episode title after the end of flashback). Parker and Lily try to find a way to destroy it without making the store a mess, to no avail. Lily then built a caterpillar robot to take care of Whiskers herself and you’ll notice it resembled like Caterpie. While this is all happening, Parker is in charge of Somewhere Store, and we treated to this hilarious sequence where a customer asked him for a few things and keeps questioning what’s going on with the store. However, the Caterpie lookalike robot is destroyed and now Whiskers is running around town. Luckily, Parker can shapeshift so Lily uses him as a weapon. And so, they finally destroyed Whiskers with Parker’s icy powers. Unfortunately, the store is still a mess so Lily tries to invent another device but it ends up chasing them away instead. Overall, this was a great episode that showcases Parker and Lily’s friendship/teamwork. Oh, and did I forget that Angus and Russell were completely absent in this episode? Yeah, it definitely felt a tad different.

(9/10)


How Angus Got His Groove Back: When Angus cannot find his lucky beanie, he ends up like a child, so Parker must go on a search to get him a new beanie. This was a rather interesting episode to say the least. My opinion on it has changed somewhat on rewatch, but let’s recap the story first before I can give you my final thoughts. Angus ends acting like a manchild when he doesn’t find his lucky beanie that was passed down from his family. So while Parker and Russell look for the perfect way to make a beanie, the now babyish Angus is left at the Middlemost Toast where he is being babysat by Ms. Pam. Once they do create a beanie, they finally gave it to Angus, but then his face melted off. In the end, the whole event for 80% of the episode turned out be a dream and Angus’ beanie was in the toilet the whole time. This used to be my least favorite episode of the entire show, but I felt like I was too harsh on it as the first half of the episode was funnier than the rest which kinda felt a bit dull. I’ve found a few episodes worse than this now and you’ll find out later. I liked the main plot better as it had Parker and Russell looking for the perfect beanie but the subplot with Ms. Pam babysitting Angus didn’t provided that many good moments (although there’s one interesting moment during storytelling where she wanted to be a movie star but is stuck running a restaurant). I think what soured me was the “all just a dream” twist meaning most of the episode’s events were pointless. This was script coordinator Mo Moffet’s writing debut and while it’s not their greatest start, all writers have to start slow before finding their magnum opus in the long run. 

(7/10)


The Tooth Hurts

Parker accidentally knocked out Russell’s tooth, so they hide from Angus so he won’t find out, but Angus fears Parker doesn’t want to spend time with him after planning a day with the little nimbus. The first episode written by AJ Marchisello, who is known for writing action cartoons. Though, this show is an odd man out as it’s zanier than the other shows he worked on. So, most of his episodes have a sitcom feel to it, similar to Katie Chilson’s episodes. One day, Parker was playing ball with Russell until he accidentally knocked out a tooth of Russell. As a result, Russell keeps barfing out delivery mail. Parker asks Lily for help and they unsuccessfully try to find a replacement tooth. While this is all happening, Angus plans the perfect day to hang out with Parker, but he suspects that he’s busy due to what happened with Russell. Later on, Parker finally confessed what happens and cried a whole river at the Middlemost Toast. Despite all the trouble, Angus laughed it off because Russell always keeps a spare tooth in her trunks, thus solving the episode’s problem. It may have been have a copout ending, but it was still a funny episode. I liked how Russell acts out of control when she only have one tooth, which is why Parker needed to find a replacement tooth in the first place. The subplot was also funny, as it revolves on Angus trying to spend a perfect day with Parker, but he makes a big deal about being left out when he tries to hang out with other people in town. There’s not too much to say about the episode (not that it’s forgettable or anything, it was still worth watching). On another note, this is the first episode to have an The End card.

(8/10)


The Middlemost Toast

Angus, Parker, and Russell are ready to spend the day on getting free toast, but they must endure a long waiting line. The Middlemost Post gang are prepared to get free toast, but everyone in the mountain is getting their hands on it. As Angus missed out on free toast the previous year, Parker and Russell try to find a way to cut in line without the line goers noticing. As they finally got to the last piece of free toast of the year, the angry mob stops them from having a good ending, but Parker saves the day. This is such a great episode. Granted, it’s not perfect as there’s one major flaw with the story - cutting in line so you can have a piece of toasted bread for yourself can comes off as selfish to some viewers. Either way, the episode contained some of the show’s most hilarious moments such as Parker dying from impatience, Mayor Peeve dropping the toast, Ryan getting hit by a raccoon, Angus doing a potty dance as he couldn’t hold it in, and getting the other people to get out of the line. The last minute of the episode is my favorite scene as it had Parker doing the right thing by sharing the last crumb of bread by toasting it with his thunder powers. Everyone gets a satisfying ending and that’s the type of episode I loved seeing. (Well, except for Ryan)

(9/10)


My Buddy, Buddy

Parker befriends a leprechaun named Buddy, but it turns out he’s not an actual buddy. I’ll be honest with you, this was a pretty forgettable episode. The plot kinda went nowhere and it could be predictable with how the leprechauns were portrayed. It begins with Parker introducing Angus and Russell his new buddy named Buddy (fitting name, am I right? More like ironic as the episode progresses) and his father. Angus is fine with this at first until Russell noticed that the leprechauns were only using Parker for gold. With the help of Lily, Angus and Russell search for Parker so they can stop the leprechauns for exploiting the little nimbus. While this is happening, Parker is oblivious to this until Russell saved the day. Ok, so what I just described to you is the plot of the episode. It doesn't sound bad at first, but the episode starts to the drag once the leprechauns become evil. Parker was too clueless to even notice that Buddy and his father were using them as an object rather than being actual buddies. The subplot was better since you had Angus being overprotective for Parker, Russell getting ready to attack, and Lily with an invention. The episode starts to pick up during the last few minutes and it was satisfying to see Parker getting saved from those leprechauns. The ending is just great to watch as well as we see Buddy and his father flown away. But this won't be the last we'll see of them. Despite my beef with the green creatures, Ian James Corlett did a great job pulling off Irish accents. I wish the episode was executed better, but not every show's episode is going to hit.

(6/10)


Love Letters

Parker desperately wants to know who is Angus’ lover. Another not too strong episode, but its humorous moments made up for it. The episode starts off with Angus having a bad hair day and he's embarrassed about it. While he fixes his beard, Parker finds a love letter and believes Angus has a love interest. So they want to reveal the whole mountain about Angus' secret admirer. When Angus finds out, he is embarrassed at the situation and soon everyone at Mt Middlemost suddenly becomes lovestruck. Once Angus finally tells his own love interest, everyone aren't impressed who he really loved and they finally leave him alone. When it comes to secret admirer episodes, they are hit or miss. When it hits, it can allow for a character to successfully express their romantic feelings. When it misses, it just becomes one big awkward mess. Luckily, this episode, while a tad weak at times, hits more than misses, and doesn’t come off as cringeworthy. Even the climax was done in a unique way, as you have every in the mountain falling for Angus. It was just funny to watch the guys fall for Angus. But all of this chaos ends once Angus finally told the truth: his true lover is, believe or not, the ocean. This caused everyone to leave in disgust. And the episode ended with the funniest moment, with Angus’ beard coming out, which scares Parker and Russell away.

(7/10)


Darker Parker

While serving everyone snowcones during a heat wave, Parker uses so much of his colors that he becomes a goth. When Angus notices a change of the little nimbus’ personality, he decides to take them to the doctor. Parker continues to act like a goth until they realize that saying no is the solution and eventually he would turn back to normal again. Meanwhile, Mayor Peeve wants to enjoy his day as he’s the only one with shade, but soon his building will get invaded by unwanted guests. What can I say? Darker Parker easily one of my favorite episodes of the show, it’s top 10 or even top 5 material for me. Episodes where characters change their personality for the sake of a plot tend to be my favorite (see Patrick SmartPants). When I first heard about it, I knew I was going to be treated with a genuine hilarious episode and I was not disappointed. Darker Parker led to some of the finest performance from Becky Robinson, who pulled off the emo side of the little nimbus. Their trash talking is just priceless, and at one point, there was even a your mom joke. Worth noting during the doctor scene, there was a subtle reference to SpongeBob as it featured a pineapple. I really like the moral of the episode: you have to say no no matter how much you want to say yes. It’s been done before, sure, but the show’s execution of it worked because it was required for Parker to return back to normal. That’s not all - the subplot with the mayor trying to find shade is just as funny as the main plot. And it works as well because for once he isn’t plotting to destroy the Middlemost Post and his plans still fail because people want to get some cool air. So yeah, this is worthy of a top 5 episode, and although the show’s fandom is small, I can see Parker’s emo self being a fan favorite.

(10/10)


Lady of the Tree

The Middlemost Post gang goes to the forest to deliver a package to an old lady tree, but she may or may not be an evil witch. This episode is not bad, but the perfect word to describe it: mediocre. The storyline follows the Middlemost Post as they head to a forest and deliver mail to a home inhabited by an old lady. But they have an unfortunate encounter with her, as they’re unsure if she’s evil. And she ends up almost killing the gang, but when the day gets saved, Parker invited her to the Middlemost Post. You can easily tell it’s one of MMP’s weakest episodes because I was feeling it with a predictable plot. Not a lot of shows done this plot, but when it does, it always the same story every time. The first half was harmless, even with the episode still being low on laugh worthy moments. But once the witch starts to express evil intentions, that’s went the episode lost me. I was like “I saw it coming” when I first saw it. The climax was very contrived as you get the gang in peril as they’re about to be killed by the witch. But it gets solved in a half baked way: Parker wants to make amends with the titular character after a sob story and the episode just ends abruptly. This won’t be the last we’ll see if her, but surely her next appearance won’t be as much as a letdown as this. I love the show, but even great shows aren’t immune from duds, and this is a rare dud.

(5/10)


The Sleepover

Parker has a sleepover with Lily, but doesn’t know to plan one, so the little nimbus asks Angus for help. So they plan a whole night of doing many activities at  once, but this still doesn’t win Lily over, much to Parker’s disappointment. When Parker and Angus goes over to Lily’s store, Parker confessed that they never have a sleepover before which is why they had a hard time planning one. Turns out both Lily and Angus also never had sleepovers in their lives before. The episode ends as Angus prepares to join Parker and Lily on their first sleepover, as they laugh at the word “jam jams.” Middlemost Post doesn’t focus too much on its premise of delivering mail, but I can forgive the writers because they do a great job at making episodes with a simple story. The episode’s biggest strength is chemistry between the characters. We have Parker trying to bond with Lily, but they struggle to plan a sleepover, so with the help of Angus, they try to make it a good sleepover. Angus served as the co-organizer of the sleepover, making sure it goes smoothly. The activities they did were pretty fun scenes, even if it went by pretty fast. This is a contrast to the beginning, where it was a tad slow. So yeah, the pacing was the only issue with the episode and it takes a while for Lily to feel truly excited for the sleepover. But the last few minutes make it worth it and shows you that the show’s biggest strength is character interaction.

(8/10)


The “B” Word

Russell smells, and the only way to clean her is to take a bath, but she is terrified at the thought of hearing that word. One utterance of the word bath and she will go berserk. So Parker and Angus try to find a way to clean her without saying the “B” word. But when all their plans fail, Russell’s odor spreads all over the mountain. And the angry mob form, chasing the Middlemost Post everywhere they go. The situation is solved once Russell dived into a lake and had a great time taking a bath. Well, this was an interesting episode to watch. If the ending of the episode made it obvious, Angus and the residents plan to do a chase sequence every 6 months whenever Russell doesn’t take a bath. Russell functions like a cat and the sight of water freaks her out, which makes sense. All of the attempts of keeping her clean were funny to watch, especially when the air plugs ran away. The chase scene was an exciting sequence especially in one shot where was a bowling pin knocked over in live-action, once again making good usage of mixed media. Pretty much everyone appears in this episode due to Russell’s odor affecting the mountain. The last scene was just nice to watch seeing the plot get resolved even if it was all an attempt to get Russell to be clean. So when you come across this episode, the B word means bath not another word for female dog. And I know people will take Parker’s “you say the b word” line out of context.

(9/10)


Dog’s Best Friend

Angus is a dog magnet, but he finds out the only dog in the mountain that hates him is Ms. Pam’s pet pug Jelly after unintentionally hurting her feeling one day. So he try to find ways to get her to like him. All of his attempts to win her over failed, and this includes kissing Jelly while in a dog costume. In the end, Jelly still remains the only dog to hold a grunge with Amgus, making the whole thing pointless. This is an episode that somehow got worse on second viewing. Maybe it’s because I’m not a dog person, but while the plot isn’t bad, it just went nowhere. It’s also surprisingly light in comedy. The only moments that got laughs/chuckles out of me was the sandwich debate (which is why Jelly hates Angus in the first place) and Angus in a dog costume. While I do like the attempts of winning Jelly over, they all had a predictable punchline: she continues to hate Angus. And the ending pretty much sums my feelings on the episode: all those attempts were for nothing, and the episode just abruptly finished. And of course, it ended with a pee joke. I don’t expect gems after gems, but this is one of the show’s most forgettable episodes.

(6/10)


Out of Shape

After earning day off from work, Parker becomes out of shape and enlists Lily to help them get back into shape. She then takes a science experiment about the four matters. Parker becomes a group of ice, a flat surface, a nucleus, and a fart cloud. In the end, it doesn’t even matter (the fifth matter), as Parker is back in shape again. The episode ends with a photograph montage. It’s a surprisingly relatable episode. Viewers can relate to Parker here - you can be a workaholic and then one day off, you’re suddenly out of shape. Parker is sympathetic as usual as you feel for their unhealthy shape. All the scenes of Lily trying to convert Parker back to normal were exciting and not to mention, educational for the young ones. The target demographic will learn a thing about the state of matters in addition to taking science lessons. The last couple minutes was very sweet, and it showcases why I love this show. This episode doesn’t get a perfect score though due to the beginning dragging on a bit (like Parker struggling to get out of the couch), but it’s not too frustrating where I give it a lower score.

(9/10)


Premium Parker

The Middlemost Post go on vacation to celebrate rate the anniversary they met each other, but once Parker saved a man, they started hanging out with him and his wife more than with Angus and Russell just to join a premium club membership. Despite this, Parker still tries to make time to hang with Angus and Russell, only to be invited to an VIP dinner. However, once they get there, the couple were about to leave after a meal, much to Parker’s sadness. Once they came crawling back to Angus and Russell, Parker confessed they got ditched. Angus reassured them and promised they can have a great time together, and so the episode ends with a montage. It’s one of the few lesser episodes, but thankfully the good outweighs the bad. Parker isn’t a smug jerk in the episode but seeing the little nimbus ditch their friends/co-workers to hang out with a couple just feels out of character for someone like Parker. It just doesn’t feel right to do this during the middle of a vacation. But they were able to learn from their mistake in the o. The ending montage is sweet and even in the episodes where there’s nothing noteworthy to talk about, can still contain such moments. Though, the comedy is rather light as well, putting a bigger emphasis on character interactions.

(7/10)


Toast of the Town

Ms. Pam hosts a reality show about toast where people of Mt. Middlemost compete against each other on to have the best toast. Plenty of people competed for the show, but they had a lot of flaws with their toast such as making their foods hard as a rock, so they were disqualified. The final three are down to Angus and Russell, Mayor Peeve and Ryan, Vs Russell and Jelly. What can I say about this? I love this episode, it’s among one of the greatest of the whole show. I’m no reality show fan, but as long as you’re watching a competition show, you’ll be interested to know who’ll be the winner. Every minute of this episode is full of laughs and you’ll be amused all the way through the every end. I think the funniest moment was that Mayor Peeve and Ryan were finally able to win, but got disqualified at the last minute because of the mayor’s ring being on their toast. I was rooting for all of them obviously, but Jelly and Russell stole the show. So no surprise there seeing the victory goes to pets who actually excellent chefs. The interview scenes were interesting and showcases how they were able to cooperate at making their toast. I’m unsure how to rank this episode, so we’ll find out at the end of the journal to see where it would end up on.

(10/10)


Ariel Force One

A hot air balloonist crashed into the Steadfast, much to Angus’ horror. The person introduces her as Ariel. She travels all over the world and the Middlemost Post follows along with her for an adventure. Angus isn't thrilled to spend time with the person who destroyed her ship, so he is determined to prove he can be adventurous, but with disastrous results. Oh boy, was I really excited for this episode. It introduces a fan favorite character named Ariel who is voiced by Michaela Dietz, which is her first Nickelodeon role. And she totally nailed her performance, which is as radically as it sounds (she says dude quite a bit). The rewatch made me enjoy the episode a lot more and my score was only lower because of Angus, but I understand where he was coming from. His jealously got the better of him because he wanted to have an exciting job like Ariel’s rather than being stuck as a mailman. The episode was full of laughs and most of it were at his expanse as he tried to be adventurous. During the scene where Parker tried to console Angus for having a good job, we are treated a few flashbacks (from the show itself and a couple events that didn’t happened). And in the final scene, we bid farewell to Ariel but reassured that we haven’t seen the last of her. And indeed, we won’t, we would have one more appearance of her again. I won’t review every single season 2 episode as I feel like I’m getting burned out longer reviews, but I will definitely do an analysis review of Mayor Ariel, which is arguably one of the best episodes of the show.

(10/10)


Itsy Bitsy

During a cold snap, Parker brought home a spider who they called it James. However, Angus is terrified of spiders and doesn’t want them in his ship. Parker attempts to hide the spider as much as they can, but things get worse when James started hatching baby spiders. Angus is disgusted and advised Parker to get the spiders off his ship immediately. And so they did, but much to Parker's sadness, the spiders are freezing themselves to death. So Angus let Parker keep the spiders for a little while. While I had a fun time watching Ariel Force One, this episode is just a step down, and it’s a shame considering it’s sandwiched between some amazing episodes. It plays out like your typical pet bug/spider episode except that it’s more focused on the fact Angus is terrified of spiders. So of course, the episode is going to feel repetitive when most of it is just Angus being nervous or running away from James the spider. Despite this, it’s not that gross of an episode and it doesn’t even reach my bottom 5 of the show, since it’s harmless. John DiMaggio actually pulled off an outstanding performance here especially when Angus yelled at Parker to get the spiders off his ship immediately. Not to mention, there were a lot of great drawings courtesy of Gabe Del Valle. It’s a pretty slapstick heavy episode if I say so myself, despite being revolved on a phobia. Angus might have been a bit harsh commanding Parker to get rid of the spiders, but even the ending shows you that he’s still kind enough to keep them at the ship.

(6/10)


They’re All Named Reggie

While delivering the mail at Purpleton, the Middlemost Post gang all get separated from each other during an escort mission to bring a baby home. So they must find each other and escape from the weirdness that is Purpleton. Steve Borst sure knows how to write bizarre episodes for the show. But unlike Lady of the Tree, I was interested in the story all the way through the very end and it didn’t had a contrived twist that already soured my opinions. It’s pretty much on the same quality as his previous effort, The ‘B’ Word. The whole episode showcased how out of this world Purpleton is because as the title states, they’re all named Reggie (even the newborns). You have Parker and Russell minding their own business with a Reggie and have no problem with them despite Angus’ warning. Angus, on the other hand, struggled to be seen or adapted to the lifestyle of Purpleton, but he learned to embrace it and went on his way to reunite with Parker and Russell after entrusting a Reggie (despite what he said earlier). I really liked that one gag where Angus became John DiMaggio for a couple seconds (I can’t find the trope name for it). Russell was a pretty good mother figure for the Baby Reggie, and all the moments with it was just nice to watch. It’s not a perfect episode though as they really didn’t found out whose owner for the baby, and the problem wasn’t resolved. Even then, the ending of the episode just felt a bit random meaning that Russell actually brought the baby home with crystals. But yeah, this is definitely season 1’s weirdest episode yet. But a couple a season 2 episode will out weird it even more.

(9/10)


Same Ol’ Same

A beloved rapped named Old Skool visits Mt. Middlemost. Everyone is excited to see him perform his hit song The Same Ol' Same, but the rapper himself has grew tired of performing the song. Parker tries to reassure Old Skool that trying new things is better than doing the same thing over and over. So, he has decided to record a brand new song, which wins over the mountain. I wasn’t expecting much with this episode at this first, but when I heard that an old school rapper was literally going to voice a fictional old school rapper (whose stage name is literally Old Skool), my exceptions went higher because I am a huge rap enthusiast especially before it went downhill sometimes in the 2010s. Old Skool is a fitting way to name a guest character because his voice actor is an actual old school rapper named Del the Funky Homosapien whose debut album was in the 90s when rap was at its peak. And I can proudly say this is in my top 10 for various reasons. The main reason of why I loved this episode so much (besides being a huge fan of classic rap music) is simple: it brought in an amazing message of how doing the same thing over and over again gets tiring and trying new things is the way to go. Seeing Parker convince Old Skool to try new things is your usual wholesomeness for the show as all of the adventures led to Old Skool coming up with a new school. It's understandable why he originally didn't want to do the concert. One hit wonder artists don't have much of a successful career outside of that one song they want to listen to. So it's not surprising the residents just wanted him to rap The Same Ol' Same, but he decided to prove them wrong by performing a kickass rap that recapped the events of the episode. The storyboard artist stated it was presented similarly to the song sequences in Disney movies, but with a hip hop fare. And it is well done because it takes a lot of skill to do that. I loved Angus in this installment, acting like a fangirl towards Old Skool, as well as the beatboxing competition against the mayor. Yeah, he was easily the funniest part of this episode. So yeah, even if you aren't rap fans, I do think this episode is still worth a watch. Old school rap fans will definitely dig this one if they ever check out this show.

(10/10)


Cloud of the Month

Angus rewards Parker Employee of the Month (or in this case, Cloud of the Month). However, Parker lets his success get to their head (literally) that they make unnecessary changes to Middlemost Post. Angus has had enough of their antics, but regret it when Parker gets depressed. So, he tried to make it up to them. It’s an interesting story where employee of the month award is the main focus. Nicktoons seem to be very fond of that plot. I do like how the episode acknowledged one thing that the rest of the show hasn’t done: the Middlemost Post don’t wear uniforms, which has always surprised me that they never do while on duty. Parker’s growing narcissism was amusing to watch especially where they keep changing the MMP’s policy. Of course, this eventually gets out of hand to point Angus gets fired.

(8/10)


A. Plumber

During a shower, Parker accidentally clogs the bath with a watermelon, so Angus calls a plumber. Unknowingly to them, the plumber is actually Ryan in disguise, all part of Mayor Peeve's plan to destroy the Middlemost Post. Ryan as a plumber is named Rocco and spends more of his time with Angus that Peeve decided to take of the situation himself.

(9/10)


Scary Stories to Tell Your Cloud

Parker, Angus, Russell, and Lily tells scary stories. The first story is called.

(10/10)


I Know What You Did Last Mail Off

The Parker drone from Postbot 3000 returns from the dead and it's out for revenge. Parker must team up with Mayor Peeve to get rid of it.

(10/10)


The Pumpkin Pageant

The Middlemost Post enters a pumpkin pageant in an attempt to beat the mayor's pumpkin. I'm going to stop describing the plots with greater details so I can go straight to the episode's strengths and weaknesses.

(8/10)


Dolores Moody

Parker finds out that one of the rock resident is really grumpy and attempts to make her happy, but to no avail.

(4/10)


P.I.R.A.T.E.

The Steadfast has been stolen by a pirate, so Parker, Angus, and Russell challenged him to various games in order to keep it.

(8/10)


Inside Russell

Angus and Parker go inside Russell

(9/10)


The Stinkhole Chronicles

In order to save Angus, Parker and Lily go on a gaming simulation, where a bunch of a familiar video games are featured throughout the experience.

(10/10)


Parker Saves Christmas

Santa Claus comes to Mt. Middlemost. But when he gets injured, Parker and Angus must take over to save Christmas.

(9/10)


Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Parker thinks they're all grown up when they gain a bit of hair, but it turns out to be something else.

(8/10)


Dentist Trip

Russell is due to a dentist appointment, and Parker hides inside her and experienced a trippy sequence. This is when we know about the origins of the show.

(10/10)


Ranch on the Side

After a ketchup shortage, Parker is treated with ranch sauce and grew addicted to it that they started to fall in love with the dressing.

(7/10)


King Cloud vs Smogzilla

A dangerous smog cloud has spread over the mountain and Parker must save the day.

(10/10)


Conclusion

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Nick Yearly Recap 1992: Arcades, Sketches, and Guts

Nickelodeon Yearly Recap 1992: Arcades, Sketches, and Guts

Nick Arcade
In the early 90s, Phil Moore hosted a video game themed show for Nickelodeon. Back then, video games were still seen a fad to certain group of people and they were barely escaping their arcade era (which the early years of gaming were arcade themed). Not too long after this show came out, video games went to the third dimension. But I am going off topic, we’re supposed to be covering a game show on Nick, not the history of gaming. Every episode has two teams of young contestants getting tested with two questions before the winning team get advanced to the gaming section of the show. Mikey’s World revolves on a boy named Mikey and you control as him in different situations, but you have to be on the lookout for any bad guys. Then towards the end of every episode, we are treated to a hybrid segment called The Video Zone where the winning contestant are teleported inside a video game and have 30 seconds to reach the goal. The winning prizes are what you typically see in other Nick game shows. Well, as a video game lover, I can say I love this game show and it's one of the best game shows Nick has ever produced. Phil Moore is a fantastic host and he's super passionate about the job. Casual viewers will just see this as a normal game show, but game lovers will see Nick Arcade as a one of a kind game show. You still have your usual quizzes, but once the question section is over, we are treated to a simulation of a game (one made for the show and one that is actually an arcade game). The arcade sequences are great, but I especially love the one towards the end of every episode where the winning team are teleported inside a game. It's just so cool to watch. There isn't much else to say about this show other than the fact you'll be recognizing a few games like a beta version of the 2nd Sonic game, where Nick star Melissa Joan Hart infamously failed at game for not being an experienced gamer. Though otherwise, younger gamers won't really know much of them, but it doesn't matter as long as you read gaming history articles. So yeah, this has been one of the first things I watched through Paramount+ when I joined and it's worth the hype. Some people want this show back on the air, but honestly, Nick has enough reboots as it is and I don't think arcades are relevant anymore unless you go to places that have them. But even if it were to happen, I'll be down to it. Maybe with newer technology it will make it cooler.
(10/10)

Roundhouse
Before All That and after the days of You Can’t Do That on TV reruns, there was another sketch show called Roundhouse that was part of the original SNICK lineup. It was pretty much identical to YCDTOTV, but modernized for the 90s and there’s a musical twist as well as an emphasis on pop culture references. The titular roundhouse provides the main setting for the show and it's where all the fun stuff happens, from telling jokes to singing and dancing. I got to be honest with you, I wasn't expecting much with a show like this. When I sat down and binged the first season, I asked myself, will this be worth watching since it's a product of its time? And when I did, I got mixed results. On the bright side, the pop culture references, while dated, kind of worked as they feel a bit less dated than the ones told in YCDTOTV (even though I preferred that show and its jokes more). And I could tell, the actors had a great time performing their lines. But on the other hand, when the jokes fail, they really failed and really show you how 90s it could be at times. But if I have to give out the biggest problem with the show is that it's a semi-musical. Am I supposed to be watching a musical or a sketch comedy? What  purposes do these songs serve other than to fill up the time? Most of them don't make sense to me and they sound as old-fashioned as they can be. I mean, when you look at the other sketch comedies, they did have some musical aspect, but they weren't the main focus, they were usually used at the end of an episode. These numbers feel like a chore to sit through and sometimes I just feel like I want to watch the show for the laughs and nothing else. I don't know why but that's just me. It's not the worst thing ever of its kind. Welcome Freshmen (which was a sketch comedy during its first two seasons) was more nihilistic than Roundhouse and at least I could enjoy some aspect more here, even if the flaws hold it back. For being one of SNICK's first shows, it's so forgettable and even I've forgotten much of the show and when I wrote this review, I was trying my best to remember what I saw. Overall, while not a bad show, it's not something I want to watch the entire run and I personally like YCDTOTV, All That, and especially The Amanda Show more. It says a lot when we haven't heard from the cast members of this show compared to the others (then again, Welcome Freshmen's cast are even more obscure than this show's cast) other than the fact one of them died at a young age.
(6/10)

Wild Side Show
(Skipping because I couldn’t find full episodes)

Nickelodeon GUTS
This is about the Nick game show, if the title makes it clear, not that new pop album that came out this year. After previously hosting a game show for Nickelodeon (Get the Picture), Mike O’Malley would become the host of GUTS. Moira Quick serves as the referee, reporting on the status of the contestants. Three young contestants compete against each other in four different athletic events. Instead of pop quizzes, this show has an athletic spin to it, and just like Marc Summers with What Would You Do being a departure from that format in Double Dare, the same thing apply to O’Malley (except that it’s more about sports rather than comedy). Except this time, O’Malley ended up being on a slightly better game show than the previous where as Summers’ second game show wasn’t as good as Double Dare. Both O'Malley and Moira did a great job as host and referee, and while I am not much of a sports myself, this is one of the few times I'm willing to watch something athletic. There isn’t much else to discuss about the show although it is one of the few game shows to pop up in a Nicktoon many years later with Sanjay and Craig. The writers took a rather interesting direction with it. All in all, for the Gen Z folks, I definitely recommend giving GUTS a watch if you want to experience how 90s it was.
(8/10)

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Nick Yearly Recap 2022: Good Content, Bad Schedule

2022: Good Content, Bad Schedule

As we enter the third year of the 2020s, Nickelodeon has another good year under their belt, but there’s two hiccups down the road: a crappy live action show of The Fairly OddParents and the live feed becoming more and more of an afterthought now that their content are thriving on Paramount+ (which makes up most of their profit aside from Star Trek). So in shorter words, good content, bad schedule. Let’s get right to it.

Warped!
It only had 13 episodes, but I reviewed the whole thing here: https://felixsaenzreviews.blogspot.com/2022/10/its-warped-review.html?m=1
It was easily my favorite Nick show to come out of 2022, as you can tell.
(9/10)

The Tiny Chef Show
The second collaboration between Imagine Kids, this show follows Tiny Chef hosting a show as prepares to cook various of plant based foods. During the climax, he struggles to make a food and gets interviewed with a celebrity (such as Tabitha Brown, Josh Dela Cruz, Kristen Bell, etc.). He is accompanied by his friends, Olly, Henry, and Ruby, who helps him succeed at cooking. Every segment has an educational segment on the episode’s food. Well, judging from what I described, it’s another laid-back Nick Jr show that will obviously be cancelled after a season or two because it’s not hectic like Paw Patrol and Blaze and the Monster Machines. But if you’re a show of these type of shows, enjoy them as much as you can because they will be gone before you know it. And from the first season I watched on Paramount+, I had a blast. Not only it is cozy as heck, but it is also educational for the young ones who want to cook food. And as a food lover, it sure gonna make hungry thinking about the food Tiny makes.
(9/10)

Big Nate
I wanted to do a separate review for the show, but I realized there isn’t much to talk about every episode. It is the first time Lincoln Pierce’s comic book series got adapted to a television series, and as someone who read very little of them while passing by the library store at the local mall, I can see the appeal. Big Nate, just like The Peanuts Movie, really translate well from comics to 3D animation. I know people have grown wary of computer animation, but please believe me when you take a look at this show. It’s so uniquely animated that I thought I was watching something theatrical. Speaking of big budgets, I’m surprised to see the show playing a good amount of licensed music. I guess being on a streaming service takes more risks in addition making more PG rated jokes. Yes, they have some of them, which is reminiscent of 90s Nicktoons. Who knew how different this show would be if it was on cable as originally intended? Nate Wright himself is a portrayed as a troublemaker, but he’s more toned down here. His sister Ellen is voiced by the girl who played twins on a Disney Channel sitcom (despite being a Nickelodeon production).

Transformers EarthSpark
Separate review coming soon:
(8/10)

Face’s Music Party
Remember that face who took up the entire screen when you were watching Nick Jr as a child? Well, many years later, he is back with a brand new show for today’s generation of preschoolers. This series revolves on Face functioning as a video jockey, playing various of pop songs and nursery rhymes, all matching the themes of an episode. For example, in the first episode, Friendship/Bugs, they played songs that had to do with friends and insects (such as Together by Sia, The Ants Go Marching). They even get permission to play actual music videos, if they don’t provide actual animation or a rerecording the music video with kids. All of the remixed nursery rhymes are accompanied by animation. All of music box segments are live action segments featuring kids recording music. Every episode ends with a dance party segment. Sometimes, there will be music videos from Nick Jr shows, and I was really surprised seeing Backyardigans in the show considering it ended many years ago. I’ll be honest with you - when I first heard about this show, I didn’t expect much with it. Nick have been too much on a nostalgia trip lately that I feel tired from all the stuff that were being brought back for sake of it, but I ended watching the whole season on Paramount+ and ended up enjoying more than I expected. Just like a lot a majority of modern Nick shows, it’s very comfy and serves as background noise if there’s nothing interesting to watch. Face makes his long awaited return with a brand new voice - Cedric L Williams (as Chris Phillips is better known as the Nick Jr announcer nowadays, something he’s been doing for the brand for nearly 3 decades now), and he does a great job as the role. The live action/animation hybrid is utilized well just like in Blue’s Clues as you have Face interacting with actual children. The musical sequences are a good watch, although it gets points off for playing a few lame songs (but they don’t have a choice since some of them have to match the theme of an episode). Overall, it’s a decent addition to the Nick Jr block, but I doubt they’ll ever renew it because of their Paw Patrol addition lately. 
(7/10)

Monster High
Monster High has been around since 2010, and went through a couple reboots. This is just the second reboot, making it the third generation. G1 lasted about 6 years and spawned a bunch of media. But G2 was short lived and fans hardly remember about it. So the franchise took a break for a little while until Mattel and Nickelodeon team up to produce the next generation. G3 focuses more on Clawdeen as opposed to Frankie in G1 and Draculaura in G2. And before anyone asks, this is mostly focused on the animated series, but I suppose I will get my honest opinions on the live action adaptation out of the way. They are on the same level of quality as the Zombies movies on Disney Channel. They were only made just so the costume department can make the corniest wardrobe ever. And not to mention, to cash in the musical aspect that Kenny Ortega popularized with High School Musical and later Descendants. In shorter words, they simply suck and I don’t know why Nick prioritize them more than the cartoon, but that’s Hollywood for you. They always favor cheap drivel. The show’s premise is basically the same as the other media they done (monsters living their daily lives at a high school), except with a big emphasis on Clawdeen’s life and of course, some great representation done by Maya Lichian. And while I never had time to keep up with the show’s premieres, I have to say, this is the best piece of Monster High media ever produced, period. Yes, even better than the movies they made previously, which were alright, but they suffered from being cliched teen movies.
(8/10)

The Really Loud House
Hadn’t seen it yet, will do a separate review of live action Loud House content.

The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder
Easily the worst Nick show of 2022 by a margin.
(2/10)

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Liv & Maddie Scorecard

Liv & Maddie Scorecard

Season 1
Twin-a-Rooney: 7/10
Team-a-Rooney: 8/10
Sleep-a-Rooney: 7/10
Steal-a-Rooney: 6/10
Kang-a-Rooney: 7/10
Skate-a-Rooney: 8/10
Dodge-a-Rooney: 6/10
Brain-a-Rooney: 7/10
Sweet 16-a-Rooney: 9/10
Fa-la-la-a-Rooney: 9/10
Switch-a-Rooney: 8/10
Dump-a-Rooney: 7/10
Move-a-Rooney: 7/10
Slump-a-Rooney: 6/10
Moms-a-Rooney: 8/10
Shoe-a-Rooney: 8/10
Howl-a-Rooney: 7/10
Flashback-a-Rooney: 9/10
BFF-a-Rooney: 7/10
Song-a-Rooney: 8/10
Space-Werewolf-a-Rooney: 9/10

Season 2
Premiere-a-Rooney: 8/10
Pottery-a-Rooney: 7/10
Helga-a-Rooney: 8/10
Kathy Kan-a-Rooney: 7/10
Match-a-Rooney: 8/10
Hoops-A-Rooney: 7/10
New Years Eve-a-Rooney: 8/10
Bro Crave-a-Rooney: 5/10
Upcycle-a-Rooney: 7/10
Rate-a-Rooney: 9/10
Dention-a-Rooney: 8/10
Muffler-a-Rooney: 8/10
Gift-a-Rooney: 8/10
Neighbors-a-Rooney: 8/10
Repeat-a-Rooney: 8/10
Cook-a-Rooney: 7/10
Prom-a-Rooney: 9/10
Flugelball-a-Rooney: 7/10
Band-a-Rooney: 8/10
Video-a-Rooney: 8/10
Triangle-a-Rooney: 6/19
Frame-a-Rooney: 9/10
SPARF-a-Rooney: 6/10
Champ-a-Rooney: 8/10

Season 3
Continued-a-Rooney: 9/10
Voltage-a-Rooney: 8/10
CoStar-a-Rooney: 7/10
Haunt-a-Rooney: 8/10
Cowbell-a-Rooney: 8/10
Grandma-a-Rooney: 9/10
Meatball-a-Rooney: 7/10
Ask Her More-a-Rooney: 7/10
Joy-a-Rooney: 8/10
Ridgewood-a-Rooney: 8/10
Coach-a-Rooney: 7/10
Secret Admirer-a-Rooney: 7/10
Viva-La-Rooney: 8/10
Dream-a-Rooney: 8/10
Home Run-a-Rooney: 8/10
Scoop-a-Rooney: 5/10
Choose-a-Rooney: 8/10
Friend-a-Rooney: 6/10
SkyVolt-a-Rooney: 9/10
California-a-Rooney: 8/10

Season 4
Sorta Sisters-A-Rooney: 8/10
Linda & Heather-A-Rooney: 7/10
Scare-A-Rooney: 8/10
Sing It Louder!!-A-Rooney: 8/10
Slumber Party-A-Rooney: 6/10
Cali Christmas-A-Rooney: 8/10
Standup-A-Rooney: 7/10
Roll Model-A-Rooney: 9/10
Falcon-A-Rooney: 7/10
Ex-A-Rooney: 6/10
Tiny House-A-Rooney: 9/10
Big Break-A-Rooney: 7/10
Sing It Live!!!-A-Rooney: 9/10
Voice-A-Rooney: 9/10
End-A-Rooney: 8/10

Saturday, June 24, 2023

The Schneider's Bakery Child Stars - Where They Are Now?

The Schneider's Bakery Child Stars - Where They Are Now?


            Nickelodeon is known for having child stars who tend to be more stable than Disney Channel stars when they grow up as adults. However, there are some exceptions to the rule as we all know the stereotypes of child stars having a troubled adult life after their childhood. But I’m starting to notice a pattern - most of the Nick stars that had gotten into trouble or some sort of controversy was associated with Dan Schneider, who has become a hot topic when it comes to the work environment. This journal will take a look at which child stars from Schneider’s shows is faring right now. I’m not counting former stars from All That and Kenan & Kel as he didn’t created the shows. But most of them have either faded to obscurity or still have an active career in entertainment.

The Amanda Show
Amanda Bynes
The former All That star had a great successful post-Nick career that would last until 2010. Her next television show was What I Like About You, which aired on the WB from 2002-2006. She mostly did movies, like Big Fat Liar, What a Girl Wants, She’s the Main, Sydney White. Her last acting role was on Easy A. Since then, she has sadly retired to take care of her mental health. I’m a big fan of Amanda, and it bums me that she won’t be getting a Lindsay Lohan-esque comeback any time soon. Before 2012, for the longest time, she was looking to avoid that curse of popular Nick/Disney girl not going crazy only to subvert that. I hope it’s not too late for Amanda to truly get her stuff together. I blame her ex Paul Michael for not improving her mental health because it's like we're back to square one again (minus the drugs). I think we need all of her former costars to support her because she isn't getting the help she needs, even after her freedom.

Raquel Lee
The only person of color cast member of The Amanda Show. She was only on the first season of the show, before getting hired (most likely for racist reasons, knowing Dan’s attitude with women and Poc). Like Alisa Reyes, Raquel ended up voicing a character for The Proud Family, a show from Disney Channel (ironically, it was supposed to be a Nick show but rejected). She was not a bad actress, but like Angelique Bates, she deserved better and could’ve stayed if it wasn’t for Dan’s racism.

Drake & Josh
Drake Bell
Both Drake & Josh were former Amanda Show cast members, and their outstanding performances led to their own show. After Drake & Josh ended, Drake actually did work for the ICarly theme song. He even made cameo appearance in iCarly and Victorious. Then, he got cast as Timmy Turner for the live-action Fairly OddParents movies. Yeah, he didn’t got much of a post-Nick adult career, as they kept him around a little longer. Thankfully, he was able to branch out beyond Nick and become the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the animated shows that aired on Disney XD. However, once his time as the spider hero was done, he hadn’t done much work since then. Eventually, Drake has gotten into some hot water, and sadly he joins Amanda as another cast member from a Schneider show who has a troubled adult life. Unlike Amanda, who I show concern every time something bad happens to her, I have lost respect for Drake and while I still love Drake & Josh, it might be hard to rewatch the show now because of his actions lately.

Josh Peck
Both Drake & Josh were former Amanda Show cast members, and their outstanding performances led to their own show. Before he joined the cast for The Amanda Show, he was on Snow Day. Unlike Drake, Josh was able to branch outside of Nick. He was casted as the voice of Eddie the possum for the Ice Age movies. He has a good amount of movie roles as well. His latest film role is Kenneth Bainbridge on Oppenheimer. Like Drake, Josh did had a couple of post-D&J role on Nick. He was the voice of Casey Jones on the 2012 reboot of TMNT (Nick’s first show for the franchise). And many years later, he reunited with his costar Miranda Cosgrove on the ICarly revival. You can tell Josh has a more successful career than Drake ever did because he was able to still show up on tv. He has main/guest/recurring roles for shows such as The Mindy Project, Grandfathered (a short lived FOX show), Fuller House, Turner & Pooch, and How I Met Your Father (which stars former Disney star Hilary Duff). So, if Drake wasn’t able to live a stable life as an adult, then I’m glad Josh hasn’t gone off the deep end…for now. He was always the funnier titular character for Drake & Josh.

Zoey 101
Jamie Lynn Spears
Before Zoey 101, she was a main cast member for All That (which came back after a year hiatus, and retooled with a new younger cast). Before that, she was simply known as Britney’s little sister. Nepotism at its finest. I'll be honest, after what we know about her, JLS is among one of Nick's worst stars. Not because she's Britney's sister or anything, but her acting came off as flat throughout Zoey 101. Her character was the weakest as a result (though Austin Butler wasn't as memorable as well). And the show's ending coincided with Britney's conservatorship coming into effect after her public breakdown, meaning she and JLS weren't on good speaking terms. When it comes to the debate of freeing Britney, JLS shows no support to her big sister whatsoever and that caused me to sour my opinions on her. I'm sorry, but Jamie Lynn is just shady and I really hope she doesn't ruin Zoey 102 too much. On the topic of her career, she went to become a stay at home mother for a while, until she came back in the spotlight as a country singer and ended up marrying a man with the same name as her (so basically Jamie Squared). She has returned to acting starring in a Netflix show called Sweet Magnolias.

Alexa Nikolas
Sharing the same birthday as Jamie Lynn, Alexa played Nicole Bristow, who became Zoey's best friend. See the irony in that? She was only in the first two seasons until she was written off the show, for being boy crazy. In reality, her actress had a nasty incident behind the scenes, all thanks to family matters (yes, Britney was there the day Alexa was fired from the show), and based from what she recalled, everyone were bullying her, and that's how the feud between her and the rest of show cast started. Since 2019, Alexa has become vocal on the situation and will try to do anything to expose the cast of Zoey 101 for the way they treated her. Of course, it wasn't a surprise when the sequel movie got announced and she was not happy about it happening. While she did eventually patched things up with Britney, it's look like JLS and the rest of the Zoey 101 cast members are Alexa's worst enemies forever...

Kristin Herrera
She was only a cast member in one season. Kristin played Dana, and I honestly forgotten about her (but she is still more memorable than James, Austin's season 4 character). I remembered her and Nicole not getting along at first, but that's about it. Like JLS, her performance came out as flat, and I feel like the reason for my low opinions on season 1 is because of her. No reason is given on why Kristin left the show after the first season, but some might say her age played a factor. She was the oldest main cast member at the time. Despite this, the cast somehow still remembered her and reunited with her many years later for the All That revival.

Erin Sanders
Erin played my favorite female character on the show, Quinn who was a science nerd. Her acting talents were good enough for Nick to cast her in another show, Big Time Rush, in which coincidentally, her character dates someone named Logan. She's so unrecognizable nowadays that in the sequel movie, Quinn's hair is blonde and no longer wears glasses. Then again, Quinn had some of the best character development for Zoey 101.

Sean Flynn
Sean hadn't done much acting (that I'm familiar with), so I won't comment too much. His character was alright, but the whole “will they or will won’t” situation between him and Zoey wasn’t going anywhere so they had to write him off the cast during the final season. Just watch the season 4 premiere (or was it Goodbye, Zoey?) and you know what I mean 

Matthew Underwood
Like Sean, Matthew didn’t really do much acting before and after the show (although he was also on an episode of Avatar The Last Airbender whose character he voiced was similar to his Zoey 101 character). With that said, he was still memorable performance wise, although I’m not too fond of Logan myself as he was rather jerkish for most of the show’s run.

Christopher Massey
JLS isn’t the only cast member to be related to a famous person. Here, we have the older brother of Kyle Massey, playing Michael Barret, who is one of my favorite characters on the show. Like with most of the cast, Chris hasn’t done much acting elsewhere, limited to just guest appearances (including one episode of That’s So Raven).

Austin Butler
Ah, yes, we have the guy who was omnipresent on Nickelodeon and Disney back in the day. You should see his resume, he was really everywhere. He was in Ned’s Declassifed, Hannah Montana, ICarly, Out of Jimmy’s Head, you name it. For Zoey 101, he actually played a character in a season 3 episode before getting a main role for the final season, replacing Chase. Not gonna lie, James was not that memorable of a character and he was as bland as Zoey. But I’m not surprised that one of the actors for the least interesting characters on the show has ended up being a big star with Elvis being the role that Hollywood finally took notice of his talents. We deserved more famous Nick stars.

ICarly
Miranda Cosgrove
Before Nickelodeon, Miranda was on School of Rock starring Jack Black. Then, she got casted as troublemaker Megan Parker on Drake & Josh. As divided as her character was, Miranda’s performance was outstanding enough to be casted as the lead role of Carly Shay for ICarly, which would become Nickelodeon’s most popular sitcom while having some guest appearances of various Nick sitcoms throughout the years. As a result, Miranda became the highest paid child actress. While I wasn’t too fond of her performance as Carly (the show is when Schneider and co-writers started to emphasis on loud humor), Miranda was a main cast member for Nick for nearly a decade, which was impressive for someone her age (she was around 9 when she was first casted as Megan and already became an adult by the time ICarly ended). Once her time at Nick was up, she went to college for a while and took a break from acting (though, she was already voicing Margo on Despicable Me movies when ICarly was still in production). She eventually returned to TV on a short lived show called Crowded (funnily enough, the same time her former costar Josh Peck was on another short lived sitcom). Several years later, after appearing in some music videos and other stuff, she would return to her most iconic role with the ICarly revival for Paramount+. While Miranda is no means my favorite Nick star, she’s among the most iconic of them all and I’m glad she’s still doing well because you don’t see many child stars living long enough to live a stable life.

Jennette McCurdy
At the time ICarly was big, Jennette was just an actress who was doing her job and have a dedicated fandom. Her character Sam Puckett was proven popular that she and Cat Valentine from Victorious were given their own spin-off series. But one day, Jennette and Ariana weren’t getting along and it led to the cancellation of the show, despite being a success. It’s just to show you that just because your show is a hit doesn’t mean it’s immune from behind the scenes controversies. And many years later, we finally found out that Jennette didn’t have a strong passion for acting because it’s all thanks to her now decreased mother pushing her to be an actress at such a young age. As you can tell, Jennette has quit acting to become a bestselling author. Last year, she published a memoir about her life and why she’s glad about her mother being dead. I won’t go into details, but if you have the memoir, it will sum up what she’s been up to since Sam & Cat concluded.

Nathan Kress
Seeing how his character on iCarly was a director for the webseries, it was only fitting that once the show ended, Nathan himself became a director for Schneider’s next shows (Henry Danger and Game Shakers). He even appeared in a Game Shakers episode, addressing the whole shipping wars on ICarly. Acting wise, he haven’t done much of importance, other than voicing one of the main characters on Pinky Malinky. So yeah, technically, Nathan has never left Nick after all these years, even before he reprised his role as Freddie for the revival.

Victorious
Victoria Justice
Prior to Victorious, she was Lola Martinez on Zoey, joining during the second season. Then, she went on to play a main role for a tv movie called Spectacular. She was popular enough to be cast as the lead role for Victorious as well making various appearances at Nick (including a theatrical movie that was rated PG13). Once the show wrapped production, Victoria went to do a short lived series for MTV. She had a few more television appearances before moving on to focus on movies. Not gonna lie, I wish Victoria made it as big as Ariana because her fans are insufferable whenever Victorious gets brought up. And only because she one of my favorite actress/singer to come out of Nick. But as you read the Victorious section, you’ll notice this show had the most successful cast as they barely went through shady situations.

Daniella Monet
She was already an adult when the show premiered but prior to that, she guest appeared on Zoey 101 as Rebecca in three episodes. She had various of roles pre-Victorious, including a main role in a short lived sitcom during 2004. But it wasn’t until Victorious that she became more well known. Like Victoria and Miranda, Daniella was pretty much everywhere at Nick, also making a bunch of appearances (whether it was main or guest). She was the live action version of Tootie for the Fairly OddParents tv movies (remember those?) She was Bertha in those Fred movies (and even appeared in the show itself). Even after Victorious was long over, she was still appearing on Nick, her biggest role was being the host for Paradise Run. Her most recent acting role was Cousins for Life, another Nick production. Since then, she has became a mother and is now focusing more on motherhood.

Elizabeth Gilles
One of the youngest cast members of Victorious played a moody character (who wasn’t my favorite, despite  nailing at the role). Liz didn’t do as much projects as Victoria and Daniella, but she was on Winx Club (when Nick produced the dub). She would reprise the role as Jade in a Sam and Cat special, and it would be her last contribution at Nick until she did a voice role in Welcome to the Wayne of all shows. Since then, she got casted as the role of Fallon Carrington on the CW show Dynasty (yeah, the CW has became a dumping ground for former Nick/Disney stars). During her time at Dynasty, she guest starred on both Family Guy and The Orville, which were created by Seth MacFarlane. As you can see, Liz and MacFarlane have collaborated with each other several times and it’s an odd pair.

Ariana Grande
The most well known example of a successful Nickelodeon star. Before her, Kenan Thompson was arguably the most successful Nickelodeon veteran thanks to SNL. But, at the time Victorious came out, she came straight from Broadway. Little did we know in 2010, Ariana Grande was going to make it big as a pop star. During her time at Nickelodeon, she did a voice role on Winx Club and from what I heard, she was really miscasted. She was on a TV Movie called Swindle, which featured a bunch of current Nick stars at the time. Let’s be honest, the only reason why Sam & Cat came to be was because Jennette and Ariana shared a birthday and their characters were super popular among the fans. The show in particular was a hit but was cancelled once the stars got into an argument. It’s no coincidence this all happened when Ariana’s music career was taking off. Despite her busy career, she still make tv appearances. She hosted SNL a couple times (which is funny considering she gets to appear with Kenan, the most successful male former Nick star). She has guest judged on RuPaul’s Drag Rave a few times. She was on Scream Queens for a few episodes. The rest of her tv filmography are self appearances. She’s currently filming the Wicked movies as the role of Galinda Upland, so she’s taking her singing career on hold for a while. I’ll say this, I have no ill against Ariana and I’m glad to see someone from Nickelodeon made it this big, even if I’m not the biggest fan of her music (as it’s basically diet Mariah Carey). I doubt we’ll ever get someone from Nickelodeon made it as big as her again. I mean, Disney Channel already birthed out a bunch of successful pop stars.

Matt Bennett
He’s the least popular of the entire cast, but even after his time as Robbie Shapiro was over, he was still appearing on tv. He got to reunite with Ariana and Liz a few times, though. He’s one of the best aspects of Victorious, so he deserved a little more exposure. These days, if you’ve been following Matt, he’s doing some sort of comedy tour.

Leon Thomas III
Leon is without a doubt the most successful male cast member of Victorious. He did a few stuff before the show came out, most notably the voice of Tyrone from the Backyardigans. Even during his time at Victorious, he did the singing voice of Monster from Robot and Monster. Since then, his acting career has slowed down somewhat, but he’s more well known for being a songwriter. I always knew Andre Harris has it in him because his character was the only one that genuinely got along with Tori.

Avan Jogia
Before Victorious, Avan was in a couple Nick Tv movies, one of which had Victoria Justice as a cast member, so basically he met Victoria before Victorious was greenlit. He would later do another movie with Rags. After the cancellation of Victorious, he starred in Twisted, which of course was an one season show. Since then, his resume mostly consists of movies with the occasional television appearances. Beck may’ve been the least memorable character of the show, but his actor sure have a bigger career than Robbie’s.

Henry Danger
Jace Norman
Nickelodeon’s biggest star during the late 2010s. Henry Danger was proven to be really popular that they gave Jace a whopping five TV Movie between 2014-2018, one of which was given a sequel because dogs are profitable. The funny thing is, before he was on Nick, his first acting career was on Disney. But after a guest appearance on the superhero sitcom The Thundermans, I guess they saw potential in Jace so they casted him to play a superhero. Just like any other popular actor, Jace has made plenty of appearances on Nick, that it’s hard to list his non-Nick roles during his time at Henry Danger (Spark A Space Tail and another movie but he was credited under an alias). You can tell Nick won’t let the guy go when he became a producer for the DangerVerse and have his character appear on Danger Force every now and then. He’s talented, sure, but he need to expand beyond Nick. He can’t be known as Henry Hart / Kid Danger for the rest of his career.

Riele Downs
Prior to being cast as Charlotte Page, Riele was in a bunch of stuff as a little girl. I’ll be honest with you, Riele’s acting is good but I really dislike how her character on Henry Danger is the butt of jokes. For someone who’s the only non-white main character on the show and arguably the smartest of them all, it just comes off as racially motivated especially when your writing room is full of whites. Unlike Jace, Riele did moved on from Nick. She did a movie called Darby and the Dead, playing the titular role. And she’s also on Bel Air. And I’ll say, good for her. Let her be more than just the smart girl who was constantly abused by her peers.

Sean Ryan Fox
Around the same he got casted as Jasper, Sean was originally going to be Lincoln Loud on The Loud House, but his voice dropped (this was pilot only). He did, however, was the voice of Jake in the Disney Junior show Jake and the Neverland Pirates. So what is Sean up to nowadays? One look at his IMDb and he hadn’t been acting since Henry Danger ended. I guess he’s busy with college and stuff. You know, for a show so popular, it’s surprising to see someone fade from obscurity so quickly. And I’ll be honest, Jasper became my least favorite character during the final season because he wasn’t as useful as before.

Ella Anderson
Ah, Ella Anderson, best known for being typecasted as a spoiled brat. Even before viewers know her best as the loud and obnoxious Piper Hart, she was already playing characters that just as spoiled as her, such as Hazel on ANT Farm, Darcy Stewart on Dog with a Blog, Jenny Kenne on Liv & Maddie (all Disney Channel shows, mind you). I blame Schneider and writers for why most viewers has such sour opinions on Piper, myself included. They forced Ella to shout every single of her lines as Piper and I feel like it wasn’t good for her vocal cords. But come the fifth season, Piper has significantly mellowed out and was no longer the worst character on the show. Her tone went from shrill to just sarcastic. I’ll admit, the final season gave Ella a potential to finally break out the stigma of playing brats, but right now, she hasn’t much work since the show ended. Like Riele, I’m rooting for her to play better roles in the future that won’t be wasted by poor writing.

Game Shakers
Madisyn Shipman
Pre-Game Shakers, she was on the Peanuts Movie (this is animation so it must’ve been recorded before that show was even a thing) and was on an episode of Sesame Street. After Game Shakers was cancelled, she would later have roles for Red Ruby and Call Me Kat. I’ve been actively following her on social media, and nowadays, she’s been a singer (surprise, surprise) and a brand ambassador for Playboy of all things. The Playboy job surprised me, but hey, it’s cool to see child stars literally grow up to do adult stuff. I just wish her character Kenzie Bell was more interesting, because she wasn’t bad, but she suffered from wooden acting.

Cree Cinnicho
Out of all the Game Shakers kids, Cree’s acting career surprised me the most. She’s still active, having roles for Mr Iglesias (which featured another former Nick star in Gabriel Iglesias, who was briefly on All That), the Sex and City continuation series, Stay Awake, Robot Chicken (that show attract so many actors), and Big Sky. It’s a shame her Game Shakers character is only remembered for having a strange name (Babe isn’t kid friendly). As I mentioned, the kids all suffered from poor scripts, leading their performance to come off as flat, so I hope Cree’s acting has improved since then.

Benjamin Flores Jr.
Henry Danger didn’t reused any cast member whatsoever, but Benjamin is among the two veteran cast members for Game Shakers (the only being his tv dad, Kel Mitchell). He was on The Haunted Hathaways and a couple of tv movies for Nick. During his game as Triple G, he was cast to be the new voice of Gerald from Hey Arnold for the Jungle Movie. After the cancellation, he’s still doing work, although it’s hard to tell if it’s the same level as Cree.

Thomas Kuc
He played the least important character on the show. One look at his IMDb shouldn’t be a surprise that he done so little with his career. He was in a Nick seasonal special, some random movie, and since the cancellation of Game Shakers, he has only showed up in some random short film, a music video, and a teen show. Calling it now, just like Sean Ryan Fox, he’s going to fade from obscurity pretty soon.