Codename: Kinder von nebenan

I really enjoy this show because of its humor, colorful characters, and great voice actors. I'm sure there's many people who wouldn't care for this type of show, but it has a HUGE Internet fan base, with many many many fan sites devoted to it (check out ericandamelie.tripod.com or numbuh69.proboards39.com/index.cgi.) Also, the show's creator answers your emails and he's very cute. ^_^

Anyway, the show is about an organization called the Kids Next Door. The show follows one sector of the organization in particular, Sector V. The leader of Sector V is Nigel Uno, aka Numbuh 1, and his fellow team mates (operatives) are also known by their codenames: Numbuh 2, Numbuh 3, and so on. There are five operatives in Sector V, and each bring a unique skill/gift/characteristic to the show. For example, Numbuh 2 is an engineer, and he's obsessed with airplanes. Once in awhile, he may crack a *few* witty puns. Numbuh 3 is Japanese, and kind of an airhead. Numbuh 4 is Australian and the "tough guy" on the team (he's also the shortest!) While Numbuh 5 is American, and does the spying for the team. You may like it or not, but I say just watch it once. You never know.

Codename: Kids Next Door is a cartoon depicting a 5 child chapter of "super agents" part of a much larger organization known as "The Kids Next Door". Using their tree house fortresses sprawled across the globe and their handy "2x4" technology the kids are out to stop "adult tyranny" as well as their super nemeses the "The Delightful Children From Down The Lane" with their evil leader "Father". I personally think this rivals anything Gennedy Tarkovsky has put out in terms of originality, excitement, and humor. This show is chock full of parodies from various niches of pop culture that rarely fall flat, and never get tiresome unlike other cartoons that just take it way too far (Robot Chicken and Family Guy to give some examples). Some of the main characters can get on your nerves (they are brats after all) but the premise and the awesome villains often make you forget the minor annoyances. This show recently ended a few months ago, and I was sad to see it go, but the ending was very fitting. I would recommend this along with Avatar: The Last Airbender as two recent cartoon series that appeal to kids, teenagers, and adults as cartoons with good artistic merit.

I don't think it is the best Cartoon Network cartoon though, Dexter's Laboratory was definitely the most consistent, smartest and most engaging of all their shows put together. While some episodes are very repetitive and there are later episodes that meander quite considerably, Codename:Kids Next Door is one of the funnier and original recent Cartoon Network cartoon shows with a great concept. The story lines are creative, the writing is intelligent and funny, the animation is done in a unique visual style, the theme tune is memorable and the characters are likable with unique personalities, Numbah 1 being the smartest and Numbah 3 being the cutest. The voice acting isn't necessarily award worthy but it is solid and delivers the dialogue perfectly. Overall, funny and original, even if like Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy it lost its way in the later episodes. 8/10 Bethany Cox

When I was watching Cartoon Network as usual, I saw a commercial for Codename: Kids Next Door. When I saw it, I thought this would be a totally lame show with kids who are brats and think that adults want to take over everything. I was wrong.

This show by far one of the best shows on Cartoon Network. It is funny and it has great animation. The dialogue and all the gadgets are funny. For Example: The Flu Bug(a.k.a. The Common Cold)had a mucus squirting machine. The machine was defeated my Numbuh 2's mother's Chicken Soup Machine. That was sheer bliss. It was uproarious. Watch this show. It is way better than Ed, Edd, and Eddy.

Young or old, if you enjoy cartoons and animation, then you'll enjoy Kids Next Door. The show's concept is relatively simple: a secret agency composed of ten year-olds fights evil adults; the result is a imaginative world that is both inspired by several genres and movies and creates a distinct universe. The comedy is wide-ranging in the ages it appeals to, the action is entertaining despite the show not being the pinnacle of animation, and the plots are original while paying homage to it's sources: many of the episodes are homages with a KND spin that works extremely well. The characters that make up this rich universes might seem like stereotypes at first, but they grow into completely three-dimensional beings that can be both fun and poignant.

Hands down, KND is one of the best original shows on Cartoon Network, keeping with the explosion of comic creativity in the channel that is leagues ahead of most other kid-oriented channels (Nick and Disney come to mind).