I was trying to get away from little kid cartoons after August, but after “The IT Crowd” went over like a lead balloon, I thought I’d give in. “Recess” holds a special place in my heart. I was a Nickelodeon kid, but this was the rare show that got ahold of me outside of that range. And that’s mainly because this show was amazing. It’s not quite as mature and thoughtful as “Hey Arnold” but it is still great. I find that I like shows with a ton of interesting characters, and this show had that in spades. Along with a great host of characters, the show had a ton of great stories. Not a ton of continuity, but as stand-alone 11 minute blocks, they were bar none top notch stuff. So I’m sorry I don’t tend to be a negative reviewer, but get ready for one more love fest. Maybe next week I’ll talk about “Square Pegs” or something.
YAY! The kids love SJP
I’m going to start with a side character. Not the usual as far as these kinds of things go, but this is how we are doing it. I’ve got two words for you : King Bob.
Look at that cool guy. He’s ruling that playground. He’ll send you off to your death at the hands of 6th graders throwing dodge balls for standing in his sandbox. He will lock you away under the jungle gym for cutting in line at the water fountain. This guy was the monarch of monarchs. The only problem is when you look to his future. It could go one of two ways. Either Bob goes to high school and remains popular and gets all the girls or, more likely, he will be tortured. You know those kids he used to boss around while sitting on his reclining throne, they are going to whip his behind. If Bob plays football, you can be sure he’s taking extra hits. If he does baseball he’s taking a few pitches to the head. Anyway it goes, I see Bob reaping what he sows in high school.
Anyway, let’s move on to other people. Our main cast is a six piece. We’ve got T.J. Detweiler who was the scrappy leader and troublemaker of this band of oddly mixed children. His best pals included Vince who was the super athletic black kid, Gretchen who was the super smart kid, Gus who was a jellyfish, Mikey a giant poet and Spinelli, the small yet fiery tomboy. Sounds like a motley bunch right? Throughout the show the kids learn, strain friendships, pull crazy pranks and help the entire school on multiple occasions. That’s actually one of the weaker points of the show. Somewhere towards the end of the series the creators decided to make the kids self-aware of how great they are. Just skip those episodes. I’d also skip the episodes where poor Vince is confused about his sexuality thanks to Mikey and broke down.
I’d love to focus on each one of those people but I have to list some other great characters and I don’t want to hit 3,000 words here:
Miss Finster was the crotchety old school marm that disciplined the crap out of the kids.
Randall Weems was her right hand man. He is a 4th grader that was the school narc.
Principal Pete Prickly who seems to miss being a kid yet also hate kids.
Lawson was Vince’s main sports rival, who never beat him at anything.
Miss Grotke was such a hippy teacher that she didn’t shave her legs and made Mr. Simmons look normal
Menlo was like Randall in the sense that he worked in the office at the school cause of nerd.
The Ashleys were debs that were all rich yet somehow went to this seemingly low class public school
Hustler Kid sold stuff like hall passes and fake tickets to stuff.
Cornchip girl ate chips. Swinger Girl swings. Upside down girl hangs upside down. The Diggers dug. End.
We’ve got the kindergarteners running around like savages. Knarf and the dorks sitting inside. All the kid’s parents , all the other teachers, Mundy, Skeens, Sleepy kid, The Mayor, Skinner, a crap ton of others and most importantly, Hank the Janitor.
And even more dirty stuff
Aside from about 100 great characters, they had fantastic stories. Let’s just look at a couple if you’ll indulge me. The second episode is called “The New Kid.” This episode tackles the issues of segregation and bullying. “The Great Jungle Gym Standoff” dealt with the right to protest and more civil rights activities. “Big Brother Chad” showed all of us as kids what we’d grow up to be. I can let you watch this to figure it out: NEATOOOOOOO!!!! (open in new tab)
“Speedy We Hardly Knew Ye” introduces a whole generation to death and “The Box” makes them understand psychological break downs. “Swing on Thru to the Other side” dealt with freaking cults and hero worship. WHAT?! There are a ton of allusion to history and other fun stories, but I’ll end with referencing the episode “Germ Warfare” where Gus tries to eradicate the playground of small insignificant germs. I don’t want to sound anti-Semitic, but if this idea isn’t lifted from the Holocaust, I’ll apologize to Disney right now.
I could go on fawning over this program, but I’ll refrain in hopes that someone reads this whole thing. Just know that this is quality programing. If you have kids, make them watch it. If you’re still a kid at heart, watch it. Just watch it, that’s my advice. I’d be careful not to listen to me…
"You'll live to regret it forever!"
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