Rugrats: All Grown Up! (SPOILERS)
Paul Evans
US who are waiting until November and Nick UK who, erm... are...?
Review and opinions to follow the obligatory spoiler space:
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Today's episode: Susie Sings The Blues
"Quiet! Everybody's a critic!" Says Angelica as the local dogs give their
opinion on her singing abilities. In fact, this little scene indicates what this
episode is about - talent, or the lack of it in Angelica's case!
The opening credit sequence introduces us to the teenage versions of the
characters we know and love - Phil, Lil, Angelica, Chuckie - and those that we
(well, I anyway) don't - Kimi and Susie. The plot is opened up straight away
with Susie singing (badly) the "Star Spangled Banner" and a talent 'scout'
congratulating her on how good she sounded. It is this 'scout' Beverley Jones
who forms the central plot and plays along what really must be a tired and
rehashed storyline - star-struck kid desperate to hit the big time, a thief who
knows what to say, $1000 exchanges hands and said kid ends up being screwed.
Because this forms the central plot, I'm going to put it to one side and
concentrate more on the sub plots, because these proved to be far more
entertaining.
First, we have Chuckie. We are introduced to him as a boring, unadventurous kid
who is desperate to break this mould - he wants to be daring, to pull pranks, to
put himself at risk and admires those who do it but lacks the self-confindence
to do it, and is reminded of this lack of confidence when he looks at his food:
lactose-free cottage cheese, white bread without crust and the vanilla ice
cream! Basically anything that is safe.
"I was going to get the chocolate swirl bar, but nooooo, I chickened out at the
very last minute!"
Chuckie decides that the best way to break out of himself is to do something
daring - he steals basketball shoes from the school gym and glues them to the
toilet ceiling!
On the flip-side, we have Angelica. As usual she is out seeking attention and is
none-too-pleased with Susie upstaging her musically, so she suggests a talent
show, with herself as the main act. Cutting a long story short, she messes up,
almost causing a riot, and Susie, who has just lost $1000 of her sister's money
shows up to save the day.
And back to the main plot. Susie is duped into believing she is talented by a
'talent scout' who turns out to be a fraud. The scout, who I mentioned earlier,
persuades Susie to hand over $1000 through emotional blackmail ('if you want, I
can cancel the deal!') and tells her to arrive for an audition at a random
address, which turns out to be an abandoned office. Cue standard lectures from
family about irresponsibility and being over-trusting. That's it.
This is one episode that tries to cram too much into 20 minutes, and although it
does in the main, pull it off, the clichéd main story puts a dampner on
otherwise very funny sub-plots.
There seems to be something missing with this episode - the characters though
obviously being older, just don't appear to be themselves. Angela is just the
same height as say, Phil and Lil which is a bit odd, considering the age
difference, and Susie's character appears to be very two-dimensional. There was
more of a Hey Arnold! feel than a Rugrats one, and the story was too moralistic
for it's own good.
The next episode is being shown on CITV on Friday, so I'll post a review on
Saturday.
Paul.
Don Del Grande
>CITV aired the first episode of All Grown Up! at 4pm today, beating Nick in the
>US who are waiting until November and Nick UK who, erm... are...?
>
>Review and opinions to follow the obligatory spoiler space:
>
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>Today's episode: Susie Sings The Blues
>
>And back to the main plot. Susie is duped into believing she is talented by a
>'talent scout' who turns out to be a fraud. The scout, who I mentioned earlier,
>persuades Susie to hand over $1000 through emotional blackmail ('if you want, I
>can cancel the deal!') and tells her to arrive for an audition at a random
>address, which turns out to be an abandoned office. Cue standard lectures from
>family about irresponsibility and being over-trusting. That's it.
>
>There seems to be something missing with this episode - the characters though
>obviously being older, just don't appear to be themselves. Angela is just the
>same height as say, Phil and Lil which is a bit odd, considering the age
>difference, and Susie's character appears to be very two-dimensional.
What's missing? You mean Tommy and friends DON'T teach this "talent
scout" a lesson and get Susie's money back? This show suddenly became
about 1000% more interesting... (The one episode that aired in the
USA so far, "Coup DeVille", ended with the predictable "Lil won't
accept popularity without Phil".)
>There was more of a Hey Arnold! feel than a Rugrats one
I think that's the object. I think "Hey Arnold! in seventh grade with
the Rugrats characters" best describes the show. (It doesn't look
like they're doing anything that's "junior-high-specific", the way a
number of episodes of As Told by Ginger are done.
-- Don
Paul Melville Austin
like a present waiting to be unwrapped
Steve Mindykowski
is direct-to-video here), I have a feeling that "All Grown Up" is
practically "As Told By Ginger", played by the Rugrats.
And with that in mind, I predict that it'll become part of CBS's
Saturday morning line-up in the 2004-2005 season -- it'll definitely
meet E/I guidelines, with stories that definitely have a moral, unlike
the main Rugrats series, which, for the most part, was to have fun.
--
--
Steve Mindykowski
rugr...@tampabay.rr.com
http://www.rugratonline.com/
Home of the UNOFFICIAL Rugrats Online!
ungvichian
> CITV aired the first episode of All Grown Up! at 4pm today, beating Nick in the
> US who are waiting until November and Nick UK who, erm... are...?
Meanwhile, Canada showed this ep first, at least salvaging some pride
for North America... YTV showed it this past Friday. BTW, although I
asked you to do this, I'm a bit surprised you actually followed
through on it. Good job.
> The next episode is being shown on CITV on Friday, so I'll post a review on
> Saturday.
That ep is the only one that has been screened in the US so far: "Coup
DeVille", where Lil has problems with Phil and Chuckie has problems
with PE.
NickUKFan
like As Told By Ginger. It didn't have that animation, that quirky
appeal, that fantastic writing. All Grown Up's allright, a hell of
alot better then the latest episodes fo Rugrats.
I think we might be getting All Grown Up! on Nicktoons TV UK in
November, alongside new Ginger. Afterall, it has been said new
episodes of Ginger and other new shows will be shown in November. More
then likely to be All Grown Up, they'll want to show it everyday to
beat CiTV.
ungvi...@thaimail.com (ungvichian) wrote in message news:<4837c056.03100...@posting.google.com>...
ungvichian
of most surfers as intellegient enough to know. Meanwhile, I have a
couple questions:
1. Do you think that Susie's singing talent will be mentioned again in
subsequent eps?
2. What about Susie herself? I have this feeling that she will be a
regular character in the series (she was at best a recurring role on
Rugrats).
3. Opening titles: did they feature the Rugrats blowing bubbles, or
were they clips from eps, as shown here?:
http://www.rugratonline.com/growupoc.htm
4. Were there any flashbacks in this ep? A PR release I've read said
that there would be flashbacks in this series...
Paul Evans
"ungvichian" <ungvi...@thaimail.com> wrote in message
news:4837c056.03100...@posting.google.com...
> Now, I don't label my spoiler space as such, because I actually think
> of most surfers as intellegient enough to know.
marked 'SPOILER' in the subject and just left a gap in the message, and people
accused me of ruining a show! Sometimes, people need to be lead by the hand!
Meanwhile, I have a
> couple questions:
> 1. Do you think that Susie's singing talent will be mentioned again in
> subsequent eps?
Very likely. I'm wondering if continuity will play a role in this show (there
didn't seem to be much continuity in the original Rugrats, though I could be
wrong), or if her talent may be the only thing that will get the most mentions.
> 2. What about Susie herself? I have this feeling that she will be a
> regular character in the series (she was at best a recurring role on
> Rugrats).
She is there on the titles, so it's safe to say she will be a regular.
> 3. Opening titles: did they feature the Rugrats blowing bubbles, or
> were they clips from eps, as shown here?:
> http://www.rugratonline.com/growupoc.htm
(digs out the tape)
It's both. There's clips for the main sequence, with Weekenders -style
introductions to each character (a pic of the character slides in and their
names appear, all against a sliding multi-coloured patterned backdrop). The
blowing bubbles bit occurs just at the end of the opening sequence.
> 4. Were there any flashbacks in this ep? A PR release I've read said
> that there would be flashbacks in this series...
None in this episode.
Paul.
Paul Evans
"NickUKFan" <steph...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:75bee3f6.03100...@posting.google.com...
> I saw just about more then half of it. In my opinion, it was anything
> like As Told By Ginger. It didn't have that animation, that quirky
> appeal, that fantastic writing. All Grown Up's allright, a hell of
> alot better then the latest episodes fo Rugrats.
>
> I think we might be getting All Grown Up! on Nicktoons TV UK in
> November, alongside new Ginger. Afterall, it has been said new
> episodes of Ginger and other new shows will be shown in November. More
> then likely to be All Grown Up, they'll want to show it everyday to
> beat CiTV.
>
Paul.
Paul Evans
"Steve Mindykowski" <rugr...@tampabay.rr.com> wrote in message
news:gqqgb.13530$qw.11...@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
> While we Americans have seen 2 episodes so far ("Susie Sings The Blues"
> is direct-to-video here), I have a feeling that "All Grown Up" is
> practically "As Told By Ginger", played by the Rugrats.
>
> And with that in mind, I predict that it'll become part of CBS's
> Saturday morning line-up in the 2004-2005 season -- it'll definitely
> meet E/I guidelines, with stories that definitely have a moral, unlike
> the main Rugrats series, which, for the most part, was to have fun.
>
show that was at least as fun as early Rugrats, and perhaps I still might,
though the first episode struck me as a over-moralistic Hey Arnold!
I've already mentioned this, but I thought that the writers tried to cram too
much in with this episode. Rather than gradually introduce the characters over
two or three episodes, they were all thrown in together, with complex sub-plots
that actually turned out to be far more interesting than the main plot itself.
Paul.
Paul Evans
"Don Del Grande" <that_d...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b034ovom69ck2vgeo...@4ax.com...
would've been fun. At the end of the day, I know for a fact that if I had been
conned out of $1,000, I would be very pissed off!
(The one episode that aired in the
> USA so far, "Coup DeVille", ended with the predictable "Lil won't
> accept popularity without Phil".)
>
I hope the series doesn't go the same way as this.
> >There was more of a Hey Arnold! feel than a Rugrats one
>
> I think that's the object. I think "Hey Arnold! in seventh grade with
> the Rugrats characters" best describes the show. (It doesn't look
> like they're doing anything that's "junior-high-specific", the way a
> number of episodes of As Told by Ginger are done.
>
That's probably it.
Paul.
ungvichian
> "ungvichian" <ungvi...@thaimail.com> wrote in message
> news:4837c056.03100...@posting.google.com...
> > Now, I don't label my spoiler space as such, because I actually think
> > of most surfers as intellegient enough to know.
> You'd be surprised! There's been a couple of instances where I have clearly
> marked 'SPOILER' in the subject and just left a gap in the message, and people
> accused me of ruining a show! Sometimes, people need to be lead by the hand!
Hmmm... never got that when I added my gaps.
>
> Meanwhile, I have a
> > couple questions:
> > 1. Do you think that Susie's singing talent will be mentioned again in
> > subsequent eps?
> Very likely. I'm wondering if continuity will play a role in this show (there
> didn't seem to be much continuity in the original Rugrats, though I could be
> wrong), or if her talent may be the only thing that will get the most mentions.
In Ginger, continuity also plays a significant role. Go down to
www.shelteredshrubs.com and check the site's ep guide.
>
> > 2. What about Susie herself? I have this feeling that she will be a
> > regular character in the series (she was at best a recurring role on
> > Rugrats).
> She is there on the titles, so it's safe to say she will be a regular.
Susie only appeared in the Rugrats titles from 2001 onwards, but she
isn't much of a regular on that show is she?
(BTW, no comments on remaining replies.)