Clone High

The twenty years belated reboot/sequel to the cult cartoon series Clone High is dominated by a single question. Why? Why reboot it? What is the function of this reboot? The Dawson's Creek teen dramas the show was originally satirizing are now a thing of the past, and the edgier humour must be cut out or skipped over, so why even revisit it at all? What's even more galling is that outside of its fundamental pointlessness and some lame "how do you do fellow kids" gags it's actually pretty solid, Scudworth and Mr. B are still very strong as a duo and in one episode they even give up all pretence, ignore all the new characters and just do an episode about the two of them. It's awkward. I'm now raising both my hands, open, palms upward, looking imploringly.... "why?"

I really don't think it's as bad as everyone is making it out to be, but it does lack a lot of the charm the original had. I don't entirely hate the concept of modern commentary and they definitely could do interesting things with it, but I think they're leaning too hard into it here. I'm sorry but I don't think there's any show out there that can reference TikTok without making me feel put off. The use of modern terms is also a bit overabundant for my liking, and even confused at points. You do get the tightly-written comedy of Phil and Chris here, but the rapid fire delivery gets overwhelming at times.

Aside from the narrative direction, there's also the elephant in the room -- the character design. The only new characters that actually look like the historical figure they're supposed to represent is Frida and Columbus, and at least you could tell what their characters are like upon first glance. The others feel noticeably flat and rely heavily on the voices and script. Most of them already appeared in the original show, I don't understand why they couldn't have just used them as references. As the show went on I got more used to them though and they definitely grew on me.

Overall, I can't lie, it's been a fun watch so far. It's not exactly like the original show, but I didn't really expect it to be. The only thing it really needs to do for me is slow down the pacing, dial back the modern elements a bit, and flesh out its new characters more. It's far from a misstep, but it does need some time to gain its footing.

What was once a parody of teen dramas, with excellent wit and comedy, is now purely a teen drama plagued by the stale elements that burden most other modern adult animation productions. The show's original off-the-wall and at times tender aesthetic feels like it was left in the storeroom along with Ghandi. The new character additions to the show add little to the experience with some such as Ghandi's and the S. B. O. S. F's replacements being far below their predecessors. Despite the more disagreeable portions of it, the show isn't all negatives. The animation and design while almost feeling less fitting for the series is fine, the returning voice actors do a good job, and some moments almost reach the cleverness seen in the first season. In conclusion, it's not horrible and it could have been far worse but the fact it's such a downgrade from the first season makes this pseudo-reboot not all that worth watching.

Try hard humor at its floppiest. So much of it is referencing the high points of the original that it feels like it has nothing new to say. What the writers might have had to say, surely they were too afraid to go there. I feel like Ghandi got them in so much trouble back in 2001, that the whole experienced has been stifled by the fear of being cancelled. This new reboot is full of jokes, but none of them land. The new characters are just milquetoast archetypes that other shows have done better. Frida Kahlo is a nice touch, Confucius is almost as capable as a watered down replacement for Ghandi, but still the whole thing feels stifled, bereft, and empty. Do yourself a favor and rewatch Another Period, maybe even drunk history. Everything this show tried to do this go around has been done better elsewhere by a mile. Just finished the first three episodes this morning and I want my time back.

I really enjoyed the original show, but this is just weak. So many cliche sentiments and themes. One thing that is still consistent is the comedy, but even that has died down significantly. It just isn't the same. They are missing the original flare of shock comedy, and most of the jokes don't land well. I'm still slightly optimistic about the shows future, because I can tell that all they need is there, they just can't figure out how to put it to the screen. The idea that teenagers who have been frozen for 20 years, and are now living in 2023, makes for a lot of potentially interesting stories and themes.