Courtesy Cartoon Network
REGULAR SHOW and MAD
Friendly Rating: All ages will like it.
Safety Rating: Probably better for older kids, with lots of slapstick violence and gross out humor.
Quality Rating: Good subversive fun.
New series premiere tonight on Cartoon Network as part of their new quarter-hour shows on Monday nights.
Regular Show (no the) is a traditional slapstick silliness cartoon about a racoon named Rigby and his blue jay pal Mordecai, who work as groundskeepers in a park and generally cause trouble, such as using a magic music keyboard to send a co-worker to the moon.
Courtesy Cartoon Network
Mad is the satire magazine brought to life. Both shows run about 15 minutes and are interspersed with 15-minute episodes of Adventure Time with Finn & Jake - another cartoon I pretty much enjoyed.
The thing with being in that 9, 10, 11-year-old age group is that you’re just about to break into that whole adolescent thing, but aren’t quite there yet. It’s when you start to see the gross-out humor – fart jokes, crap jokes, stuff like that. If you remember back, it’s probably when you started reading Mad Magazine. You’re aware enough of popular culture to get the satire, but not quite ready for some of the more grown up humor of, say, National Lampoon (or whatever’s taken its place).
Subversive humor, like in these two shows, is perfect for this age group. You, as the adult, may not approve of everything you see here. But sometimes letting your kids “get away” with something will scratch that rebellious itch without them going too far and doing something they shouldn’t. And let’s be real. Spy vs. Spy is till pretty darned funny.
And I am off for the weekend. Wishing everyone a happy and fun Labor Day!
