PA Review: "Nicky Gone Bad" / "In Support Of"
Juan F. Lara
The "Nicky Gone Bad" short was first run last 11/1, but with a rerun of
"Romeo and Juliet". Then the short "In Support Of" was first run on 1/24, with
a rerun of "Crush and Burn". So I've been waiting all this time for these two
shorts of the final 13th. episode of "Pepper Ann" to be run together before I
review them. But for months now ABC has been splitting up all PA episodes and
randomly pairing off shorts, and so I don't know when these two shorts will be
shown together, if ever. They reran NGB last Saturday and ISO a couple of
weeks back, so I'm reviewing them now.
SPOILER WARNING
"Nicky Gone Bad"
Written by: Mirith J.S. Colao
The only short with Nicky in the starring role. I laughed at a couple of
the gags ( "They'll learn soon enough. It's a right-handed world." ), but I
found this short very uninvolving.:
Colao ran the gag of Nicky doing something bad but people not realizing it
well into the ground by tiresomely repeating the gag seven times in a row.
Also, the bad things Nicky did weren't all that bad. ( "You chew?!" "And it's
not even sugerless." ) Colao might've been trying to be ironic here. In that
case I would've laughed if someone rolled their eyes about this. But no one
noticed. So the only impression I felt was, "She can't do any worse in a TV-Y
cartoon." :-|
Nicky apparently wanted to change because of how her friends took her for
granted. But neither Nicky nor anyone else point out her friends' treatment
of her, and by the end of the short the big issue changed to what Nicky should
do. So Nicky's motivations got muddled.
And the short overall felt staged. For instance at the beginning, Nicky
came off as someone roleplaying an overachiever rather than a kid with an
overachieving personality. This self-conscious tone could work with cartoony
characters like Timon and Pumbaa. But I found it a barrier that kept me from
caring about either the story or Nicky.
And someone should complain about Mr. Carter's unfair biases. :-)
"In Support Of"
Written by: Matthew Negrete, Nahnatchka Khan
In contrast, I found "In Support Of" entertaining and believable. The
script seemed well structured with smooth transitions between funny scenes.
For instance I liked the library sign and the billboard. Both were plausible
ways of getting Pepper Ann to go research in the library and then to go back
home, and good sight gags. The short also didn't have the scene of one
character reciting a lengthy speech on the message, which many PA shorts
( including NGB ) do have. Instead the writers summed up the message in one
sentence ( "Everyone develops at his or her own pace." ) and used it as a
running gag. So this short didn't have the heavy-handed tone of "Have You Ever
Been Unsupervised", or feel staged like NGB.
I thought that most of the gags in this short were clever. I particularly
enjoyed the "Batman" parody. That sketch worked in bra references ( the
signal, Supportra's super powers ) without emphasizing them. Also Vera had a
LOL cameo that got its humor from her personality. Similarly, Moose's scenes
highlighted the sketch in Veronica's Treasures. I laughed at her willingness
to go along with PA's idea, and her sudden expertise in bras.
I figured that Coach Doogan meant something else when she mentioned
"support". The explanation at the end still felt contrived. Likewise the
scene at Mr. Hickey's office. C'mon, did Doogan really need to send PA to the
principal and bring PA's mom to school? And no way could Lydia be clueless
enough to embarrass Pepper Ann the way she did. These moments were the only
bad moments of the short, but at least the scene of Pepper Ann on the
trampoline was still LOL. :-)
BS&P had a curious policy in this short. They let through gags like the
Waterworks sight gag that I wouldn't have expected them to permit. Those gags
helped make this PA short notably funny. On the other hand, no one was allowed
to actually say the three-letter b word. And the short couldn't show anyone
actually wearing a bra, and so showed Moose only from the shoulders up when she
was modelling the bras. This policy seemed particularly ridiculous when you
remember the standard outfits of Ariel and Jasmine. :-) And I really wonder if
BS&P problems postponed this short from its apparent airdate of 11/1 to 1/24,
when it debuted with no advertising about it being a new short.
Nevertheless I was glad that this fun short eventually made it to the air
and stayed.
QUOTES
Pepper Ann: That was a perfect healthy emotional outburst.
"You boobs! How many times have I told you: Put the tomatos across from
the lentils!"
"Busted..."
Lydia: Pepper Ann, do you want breasts?
Pepper Ann: What?!
Lydia: I'm baking chicken. Do you want breasts or thighs?
Pepper Ann: But mom, aren't you the one who always says be prepared,
better safe than sorry, yadda yadda yadda?
Moose: The only miracle here is that someone would buy this.
Pepper Ann: No big deal? You guys didn't just flash the whole school.
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In my review of the first episode ( "Ziterella" ) I commented a lot about
Sue Rose's particular approach to cartooniness used for PA's dream sequences.
At the end of season those dream sequences were still what I enjoyed the most
about the show. The series seemed unique to me because of it casual tone
towards cartoony sight gags. Pepper Ann could shrink to doll size in "Have
You Ever Been Unsupervised" and no one was amazed, or Nicky could ignore the
two angels in NGB when she reached for her textbook. So the show could usually
make smooth transitions between reality and PA's dreams. Composer Pat Irwin
greatly contributed to this tone through quiet scoring that rarely called
attention to a sight gag.
The show had an appealing cast. Kathleen Wilhoite did a great job vividly
portraying the passion PA would throw into everything. But Danny Cooksey's
Milo Camalani turned out the breakout character of the series. He could
balance out PA's anxiety attacks by being upbeat and optimistic, but he had
his own personality quirks that could throw him off balance in shorts like
"Crush and Burn". Moose was my own favorite character though. She was
usually the only character onscreen who'd stay calm and rational, acting like
a mature adult instead of a seven-year-old. The other characters had their
moments. Sometimes the writers would make Lydia too clueless, and the plotline
of PA thinking her mom was uncool was overused. But Lydia could usually be
sensible enough to be respected, as she was in "Thanksgiving Dad" and most of
"'Snot Your Mother's Music." Nicky Little was a secondary character in all
eps except for the weak NGB, and everybody else had only minor roles. But I
didn't find any of these recurring characters unlikeable enough to detract from
the series.
But while the show had a strong cast and artistic style it usually had
weak plotting. "Ziterella", "The Big Pencil", "The Environ-Mentals" and
many other cartoons had plots that I didn't care about. Pepper Ann's anxiety
over getting a pimple or winning a science contest may have been plausible,
but I felt a barrier that kept me from being as involved as she was. I might
feel this way just because I'm not the show's target audience, or because it's
a non-furry show. Still I agree with Andy Hill's description of "Pepper Ann"
as a style-over-substance show.
Also, "Pepper Ann" had a couple of message shorts like "Soccer Season"
and "Doll & Chain" that hammered the message all the way through and cast PA
as a dumb heavy so that she could learn a lesson. Many other shorts also had
that one annoying scene of a character reciting a message that most of this
year's Disney TV cartoons have had. "In Support Of" and "Thanksgiving Dad"
showed that the staff could put in the message more subtly and entertainingly,
and so I hope the second season won't have any more SS's and D&C's.
"Pepper Ann" turned out the best Disney TV series with new episodes this
year, but in a weak field. As time has passed I'm liking "Recess" less and
less due to its bizarre premise and one-dimensional characters. "Jungle Cubs"
took a dip in quality thanks to a replacement of the original staff, and "101
Dalmatians" was consistently mediocre until its last few episodes. In contrast
"Pepper Ann" had a good cast and a premise that worked. Even so I rarely felt
enthusiastic for this series and I don't know exactly how to make it more
involving.
- Juan F. Lara
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jfl/intro.html
Milo: I'm out here creating while you drink Boobleberry Chill-Aid, intimidate
the locals and tend to your empire.
Ryan Mead
First off all,What was the waterworks gag?
Secondly,I love the show,I love what you say of it,and I only have one
thing to say...
Is it fishstick day?
Ryan Mead
mo...@webtv.net