Fairly Odd Parents began to suck as it got further down the road, that's basic knowledge. But, the deeds of he who shall not be named until I forget about it well into the entry made us more cynical to aspects to a childhood he claimed to have created.
I think the show sucked from the start, which most of you disagree with, but to be more specific, the show had a very bad beginning in my opinion, the original shorts, even a bulk of the first season didn't hold up as well (and of course the seasons I'd consider good have a decent bulk of stiffs.)
Some of you may point out that I essentially talked about this in my FOP/ChalkZone comparison entry, I'm giving it its own dedicated entry, and I'm going back into each short with some more detail, though the titles still escape me.
If I haven't seen one of them or I don't remember them, I'll admit it.
The First One
I won't be too hard on this as this was where everything began. The idea's ludicrous, but things would make more sense if you give it the time to grow. Not to mention... I don't remember this as well.
Too Many Timmys
Basically killed by a tacky premise, stop me if you heard this one before, multiple clones are created to take care of multiple chores, driving one person out of the loop crazy? One thing I like about episodes with this premise is that they at least tried to make it stand out from other episodes like it, for example, any episode that has the clones take on different personalities.
You can give it the benefit of the doubt of being during the earlier days of Oh Yeah! Cartoons, and... okay sure, but compared to what didn't make it to air, this is pretty dull by comparison. Take a clone-premise down to its basic components and throw in the typical Timmy-Vicky dynamic and tell me how you'd think it'd turn out.
No, seriously, I'd like you to tell me in the comments how you'd think the short would've played out with that premise.
Where's the Wand?
I haven't seen this one, beyond a clip of it shown in one of MrEnter's FOP reviews. Basically Wanda loses her wand (it was a different time, when both Cosmo and Wanda operated on the same mental frequency.) and Vicky winds up getting it. My complaints based on impressions would be rendered moot because I wouldn't know what I'm talking about.
Can humans easily use wands in Fairly Odd Parents? Most I can say is that it's just another basic premise. Other shorts would make circles around this in terms of original ideas and how they implement existing ones.
Party of Three
Only saw bits and pieces of it, or at least that's how I remember it. Vicky is let off when Timmy convinces his parents that he is old enough to be by himself. Vicky tries to expose Timmy and his fairies (and possibly him shirking his responsibilities, I don't know. Anyhow, the description on the show's wiki doesn't help, so I assume Vicky got her job back due to her claiming Timmy needed to brush his teeth.
A basic premise could be forgivable for one-offs, or done in a way that you wouldn't normally expect. But this is Butch Hartman we're talking about, and why I may be going so hard on these. His writing is as cut and dry, black and white as his religious views.
The Fairy Flu
If I had the time, a microphone, full access to Final Cut Pro at the time and abided to the stigma held by the cartoon community, I probably would've made it to the top ten when it came to the mean-spirited era of animation criticism.
If you wanted an example of that back then, this would've rung the bell. Mean-spirited doesn't have to fall under people are being mean to someone, it could be one suffering through no fault of their own. This was where Tootie debuted for the record.
After a very poor joke (and I use that term lightly, Timmy just exclaims rats, and both Cosmo and Wanda turn into them for no clear reason. It doesn't even work on an absurdist level.), Timmy bemoans having to go to Tootie's house for her birthday, while Cosmo contracts the fairy flu (every sneeze causes an unfortunate wish.)
Credit where credit is due, they do give a good reason why Timmy brings them with him to Vicky's house, but I would've just had Cosmo go to Fairy World to get himself checked out, or have a cure disclosed right away, or some third thing.
Timmy doesn't necessarily get shit on in this short, but he does get on the short end of the stick a lot of the time. I'd forgive it if the episode was funny, but this adheres to the Butch Hartman principle, if it's absurd, that's good enough for me.
I was frankly more pissed off on how Timmy got an allergy from sauerkraut even though he didn't eat it (Food-borne allergies only really take effect when the food is ingested. Refer to Stressed Eric to get a crash course on how allergies work.) Then it ends with the one cliche I hate from FOP no matter the episode. Cosmo and Wanda cracking a joke as Timmy finds himself in trouble.
What was the appeal in that?
The Temp
The introduction to Jorgen Von Strangle, but I got nothing to say on that. The episode feels clunky at best, Timmy is at odds with an elf who is assigned as a temporary fairy while Cosmo and Wanda go through a mandatory training event. Jeff (to keep you up to speed), can only grant wishes involving toys, so when the twist comes that he was a defector from Santa, I was like "No shit."
But the ending though. Was Jeff bad enough to deserve to suffer in a cult-minded elf clan? Frankly Timmy was annoying in this, especially when it came to guessing Jeff's name (that was also a slight point to Where's the Wand when Timmy questioned Cosmo's pirate name.) The episode itself was just so bland that all I could single out were the worst aspects.
All I ask was a twist where Jeff is sent away once Cosmo and Wanda return, the actual temp arrives late and Jeff was just sent to survey Timmy to judge his behavior for Santa come the Christmas sweeps, where Timmy would receive coal because of how poorly he and Jeff got along. Think about it.
The Zappy's
Ever have one of those days where you start off one way but then trail off into something entirely different? You just watched The Simpsons. That kind of analogy fits this episode. Starting off with one idea, then turning it into another, only to go back to the first when it's convenient.
To break it down. Timmy's tooth gets loose, and it seems like the episode would focus on that, then all of a sudden Cosmo and Wanda get invited to take part in an award show against Jorgen. The tooth premise only comes back when Jorgen causes Timmy to lose his tooth. I feel like there was some missed opportunities here. If it were up to me I'd incorporate elements similar to Super Bike, where Jorgen takes winning seriously and so do Cosmo and Wanda, to a further extent.
On the tooth portion, Timmy fears losing his tooth, and there could've been an interesting idea where Timmy finds himself at odds with the Tooth Fairy for refusing to give it up, perhaps a trial of sorts. Interestingly, the Timmy losing his tooth plot was brought back for a later episode, though Timmy is willing to lose it. That one also has it where the Tooth Fairy and Jorgen hit a snag on their relationship. It was more interesting than what we got here.
Scouts Honor
This one also struck a nerve in terms of how it was executed. Just a bundle of missed opportunites and punishments that don't fit the crime. Timmy tries to earn a merit badge for finding a mythical creature, it winds up being a bust. Vicky blackmails the Cream Puffs to do all her chores, not that it's important, like the episode makes clear.
Vicky tries to scare the Squirrely Scouts, she gets caught and framed like a mythical creature and put in an exhibit, all for what amounts to no good reason. Timmy was more selfish in that for trying to get a merit badge, hell, he is as selfish as Rudy Tabootie was arrogant in later seasons of ChalkZone. It's the condescending kind of selfish, where he plays the ignorance card. Once you notice it, you can delete that draft on that long detailed comment you wrote to put me in my place.
This episode felt rushed, like if Butch didn't get it done in time he would've lost a slot in Oh Yeah!'s episode of the day.
But this episode basically showcases how poorly Butch writes antagonists, and most characters. They are incredibly one-dimensional, and he wants you to pick one side only, there is no room for a different perspective. For a time, Vicky seemed to have been punished simply for existing and one minor incident she didn't even know the extent of its damage, at least that's how it feels. The episode that debuted Chompy is a good example of it, she got framed for supposedly stealing him, is still locked up in the end, and all she really did was give Timmy a wedgie in that. So, to circumvent complaints, from then on Butch worked to make her as evil as humanly possible, don't want people to see things differently, that's not in his bible.
Ed, Edd n' Eddy had a similar principle with the Kanker sisters, but at large they were just around when the Eds were doing something obviously wrong, otherwise serving as an unavoidable obstacle. I can see why they come around so often, I wish they didn't and there was some variety, but it's handled better here than Butch handled Vicky. Do we have another, possibly more angsty, Jonathan Davis on our hands?
Grojband used a similar framework when it came to Corey and Trina's relationship. But it kinda makes more sense here, Trina's at a point where she becomes more bratty, theories as to why she's such a bitch can come easily to mind, plus, we can imagine Corey isn't the best brother in the whole world since he exploits his sister's emotions and steals her diary to write hit songs. The only reason I refuse to watch the show is because I imagine it would get repetitive quickly (and I got my Laney icon on Instagram from a TommyPezMaster review.)
But back on this, I hated how Vicky's demise wasn't wrought through the Cream Puffs and her using them as a means to an end. If the Cream Puffs got Vicky to suffer the way she did at the end, it would hit better because they got the confidence to stand up to her evilness. Heck, if this was a competitive badge task, the scouts on either side would work together to stop Vicky when she tries to scare the kids. But never go to Butch with that kind of complexity, his head would collapse.
Funny thing is, the Cream Puff aspect was actually explored in the very first Fairly Odd Parents video game. They knew, well somebody knew or made a hell of a guess.
The Really Bad Day
Never saw it, full stop, next.
Super Humor
This is another episode that feels rushed. Timmy wishes he could become different superheroes, each backfiring every time. This hits hard because I actually consider the superhero-oriented episodes of FOP to be the high points of the show. Chin-Up would be my favorite episode of season one, though I consider that season to be 90% dire (Apartnership is the only other episode I like from it.)
The episode ends with Timmy making an otherwise vague wish, which leads him back to his home in his livingroom. How it led to that is what made me dislike this episode, just some rushed, clunky writing, par the course for writers who'd fold when they're given five minutes for a plot.
Any Extras
I was not a fan of the art style used in the shorts. We all know how bad of an artist Butch actually is, and it shows through these shorts. I said it before, but I'm gonna say it again, ChalkZone had better consistency when it came to its art direction, like only one character really changed.
I'm conflicted on Mary Kay Bergman's take on Timmy. I for one miss her and wish she got the help she needed to keep her from leaving this Earth, but... I guess I heard too much of Timmy's current voice to the point any other one coming out of his mouth felt weird to me.
I'm tempting the fates here, but I didn't like Cosmo's voice in this. I like the idea of Cosmo and Wanda both being idiots, but Cosmo's voice... same principle as above I guess. But, Cosmo's penultimate voice helped to distinguish it from Timmy's dad's voice, so I can see why Darren Norris made the change.
Conclusion
I can say with certainty that these were the worst offerings on Oh Yeah! Cartoons, it just pales in comparison to all else. It had some interesting shorts that could've had more staying power as shows, it gave us ChalkZone, and sure, FOP has some good episodes, but I'd call it the weakest offering when it comes to Nickelodeon's classic lineup.
So, why do I persist when it comes to FOP? Well I did grow up with this show, I saw a lot of it, so I do have a connection. Also, I'm one of the few people who'd even consider season 0 to be shit. My edge is that I'm willing to go against popular opinion now and again.
This won't be the last time I cover something FOP related, fair warning.
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