Lothos-3

This was a very entertaining show, and it stood out from pretty much every show at the time. Not only was it a musical show, it was set in the early 60's.

The plot is simple; Business man Nick Foley adopts six orphans to help his public relations image, but ends up caring for the girls more than he thought possible. The girls were unique. You had Rose, who was the most level-headed of the bunch. Marva was business-savvy and looked to Nick as a role model. Nina was the defensive, abrasive one. Diane was frivolous and bubbly, yet kind-hearted. Patty was somewhat tomboyish, yet overall the most relatable. Mickey was basically the comic relief child, whose every utterance oozed cuteness. Last but not least is Clapper, the British butler, who served as the moral center of the "family".

Everyone in the cast did a great job, and they were all very likable.

I watched this show with my mom religiously back when it aired. Looking back, it is sort of a bizarre 60's/80's hybrid show. The songs they recreated for the series were brilliant.

As a child, this show changed me and influenced me in ways I never realized at the time, but now looking back on DVD, I can totally see why I needed this show as a child, and why Pee-Wee and company did an EXCELLENT job of providing pure quality entertainment.

Of course, the puppets were my favorite characters as a kid, as I recall my favs. at the time were Dog Chair and the Fish...and of course Floory. :p Nowadays, I appreciate the live actors even more...although I enjoyed them as a kid as well. I'm still confused by some of the earlier cast choices just like I was as a kid.

Of course, you have the essentials...

Miss Yvonne - Most beautiful woman in puppet-land, and boy is she ever. She taught kids that beauty was far more than just appearance, it also was your state of mind and how you felt on the inside.

Cowboy Curtis - Lawrence Fishburne, and I still have a hard time seeing him as Morpheous now. I mean, who's Morpheous compared to COWBOY FREAKING CURTIS? But I digress, Curtis was complex and interesting. A tiny bit of homoeroticness in his character, but I never picked up on that really as a kid.

King Cartoon/The King of Cartoons - Two different actors played him. The first wasn't all that great. His approach to playing the King was basically he was this crazy drunk who would stagger out of the back of some taxi with a film projector and drunkenly announce the cartoon (if he could remember to). The second King was waaaay better....he's the one who had a remote control and the flowers introduced. Even as I kid I could tell he was a great actor, and he made the King of Cartoons way likable.

In the first season, the whole tone of the show was definitely different from later ones because of the cast, and it would seem Ruebens or Paragon or whoever realized this and let go of the following characters;

Mrs. Steve - Never really clear if she was really Pee-Wee's (or ANYBODY's) friend, and all of her appearances were strangely done. I just never got her, or the humor they were going for with her.

Dixie - The taxi driver who would do a trumpet solo before introducing King Cartoon. Again, whatever humor or point Dixie's character was making, it went completely over my head. She's either a tough tomboy, a lesbian (which I think is most likely), or just extremely liberated as a female.

Tito - The uber-buff lifeguard for Pee-Wee's pool. Now, this character did actually contribute something to the show; namely, a really buff stud walking around in nothing but a bikini and flexing his muscles. Of course, you were either a housewife or gay to appreciate this, because to a kid he was pretty boring and lifeless.

Captain Carl - I'm actually surprised he didn't last on the show, considering he was in Pee-Wee's live show. However, Captain Carl as a character was a little out of place on Playhouse. His humor was fine, but it never really operated on a kid level. And Phil Hartman never seemed all that thrilled around kids screaming in his face.

Eventually, when the Playhouse is remodeled we are introduced to new cast members, and they all meshed great.

Ms. Rene - In a way, she's Mrs. Steve's replacement, in that she's Pee-Wee's portly neighbor who is gossipy and a definite clothes-horse. However, where Mrs. Steve was always negative and moody, Ms. Rene was incredibly happy and light-hearted, and very very funny! "I love the outdoors, As long as I'm on the indoors"

Ricardo - I guess you could say Ricardo was a replacement for Tito, but not really. Ricardo was into sports, mainly soccer, and he was always teaching Spanish. One thing I loved about Ricardo was the guy was always laughing, and he seemed to genuinely like being there.

Reba the Mail Lady - Reba, perhaps, could be considered a replacement for Captain Carl in the sense that she's the "straight man" who always reacts hilariously to Pee-wee's zany antics. I liked Reba a lot. She pretty much told Pee-Wee what she thought of him on a regular basis (he's insane) and that would egg him on to get her to join in his games. But one thing you could always say about Reba: She was DEDICATED to her job, and you have to respect that.

Jambi - My perceptions of him are radically different now as an adult than as a kid. He was obviously going for a homosexual undertone (One time he even said "Swish? Did someone say Swish?") and John Paragon is a brilliant actor when it comes to comedic timing. "Repeat after me in the ancient language of...Jambease!" (Ooooh! :P) Overall, I recommend this series for anyone who appreciates living outside the box and appreciating the artwork Ruebens, Paragon, and company have provided kids and adults.

I find it VERY hard to sympathize with Laurie Strode (Keri Tate) in H20. Now I know the masses who's never seen another Halloween movie are now saying, "Huh? But she barely escaped her brother and she's trying to protect her son John and everything!!!"

That may be true, but Laurie is by far the WORST "heroine" of the HalloweeN series for one very good reason: The b**ch left her daughter, Jamie Lloyd, behind in Haddonfield for Michael to track down and kill. And I'm sorry, but Jamie Lloyd went through 5 TIMES MORE than Laurie ever had to go through...she was only nine when she lost her foster-sister Rachel Corruthers, as well as many other valued friends. All Laurie did was lose 2 friends and a hospital staff. Boo-hoo.

I suppose it's not truly Laurie's fault, as opposed to Jamie Lee Curtis...who feels that any Halloween with her face not plastered in it isn't worthy of being a Halloween (despite the fact that the late great Donald Pleasance loyally was in every one aside from 3).

The truth? Jamie Lee's (as much as I do truly like her) career was beginning to slip, so naturally she thought that jumping on the horror bandwagon would jumpstart her career. It's obvious with the 10 million + tv shows she did, where she gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. Sorry to say she hasn't done much better, unless you call VIRUS a step up. :)

Halloween H20 is mediocrity at it's best. A shoddy script that fails to deliver except to the lowest common denominator of horror fans whos only experience with the genre began with "Scream". From that start I can see where they would think that H20 was phat, but in all honesty it's pretty lame.

The first 20 minutes or so were awesome (thanks to the SPECTACULOR return of Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers), but the rest of the movie was just a mess!

Kevin Williamson did not want to "ignore" Halloweens 4-6. He even told Jamie Lee Curtis that he "liked little Jamie Lloyd and wanted to include her memory in the movie." But no...Jamie Lee Curtis wanted to make this HER movie alone.

Why, I'm surprised Michael was even in it at all! All the other talented cast wasn't. Josh Hartnett was sorely wasted, as was others like Jodi Lynn O'Keef and Adam Arkin and LL Cool J. Michelle Williams was boring to boot in this movie, however. She contributed nothing....again possibly because everyone but Jamie Lee got about 5 minutes to actually act.

Michael Myers was all wrong in this...he ran, jerked, and you could see his eyes. The music was NOT Halloween music, instead it was actually lifted right from the Scream soundtrack. The cheap scares and corny one-liners stunk up the movie. Ugh!

Now let's movie onto Jamie Lee Curtis' acting itself, shall we? When I watch H20 (Halloween Water?), I don't see Laurie Strode 20 years Later. Not at all. I see Jamie Lee Curtis running around acting drunk and stupid. Everything Jamie Lee did to make Laurie SPECIAL and UNIQUE was thrown to the wind. Her cool walk (almost a waddle), staring, laugh, and sense of humor was ABSENT in this movie. What was NOT absent was Jamie Lee. She really should have put more effort into bringing back the Laurie we all remembered and loved...even alcohol wouldn't have changed her THAT much. Worse off, we saw WAY too much of her! I think for every 1 minute one of the other actors got of screen time, Jamie Lee got about 10. This was The Jamie Lee Curtis Show, with tonights Guest stars being Michael Myers, Josh Hartnett, Janet Leigh, and LL Cool J.

Other BAD things about H20....killing off Nancy Stephens was totally uncalled for. Marion Chambers could have EASILY filled in for Dr. Loomis (but then it wouldn't be the Jamie Lee Curtis Show, would it?). Speaking of everyone's favorite loony psychiatrist, why wasn't Dr. Loomis' REAL voice in the movie? Instead of lifting his voice from the original Halloween, they hired some hack named Tom Kane (who sounds very little like Donald) to do it.

Janet Leigh's cameo was uncalled for. Sure, it was a cute gag...but it WAAAYYYY too in-jokey for a Halloween movie. Hearing Janet say such stupid things like "the women's shower dranes are clogged" and "if I could be MATERNAL" make it sound like an in-joke reserved for Scream...and it would have worked BEAUTIFULLY there, but not Halloween....besides that she actually repeats a line Sheriff Brackett said in part 1 "It's Halloween, I guess were all entitled to one good scare."...NOT clever.

The movie is riddled with plot holes. Judith Myers was 16, not 17. That normal 90's looking mother was driving the first car invented by the Amish. Michael needed to get past the school gates even though he managed to get inside earlier when Molly saw him through the window. Later Sarah and Molly are watching SCREAM 2....a sequel to a movie which actually showed clips from Halloween 1 in it. This is ditzy at best for them to include. It's like saying "we know this movie is fake! But were so clever!"

H20 stole MANY scenes from other Halloween movies, as well as others. Seeing Laurie smash Michael out of the car, wait for him to stand, then barrell into him and knock him far off the road was taken DIRECTLY from Halloween 4....only that time Rachel Corruthers did it ten times better.

The opening scene with Marion Chambers was a direct Casey Becker rip off....speaking of Casey Becker....at the end Jamie Lee tells Molly to "get out...drive down the street to the Becker's!" This was a rip-off of both Halloween 1 and Scream 1. Charlie's cork-screw death was used in Friday the 13th part 4. There were MANY other rip-offs....too many to name.

Some people say only Jamie Lee can make a Halloween good. I beg to differ...if you think good drama is seeing Laurie Strode lustfully flirt with Adam Arkin while telling him her life story, I suggest you rent Halloween 4 and see little Danielle Harris. In it, Jamie Lloyd opens her closet and pulls out a picture of her thought-dead mother Laurie Strode....she stares at her picture before busting into tears. THAT is drama. :)

I give this movie a 3....it's certainly NOT the best Halloween. It's only better than Halloween 5 and 3.