La Ferme en folie

If you know anything about Nickelodeon, you should know how much they love SpongeBob, cancelling other show before they even give them a chance. They were good shows, but there was one show that was PHENOMENAL. It was called, "Back at the barnyard".

This show's origin goes back to 2006. There was this movie called barnyard. The movie had the characters from the show fighting off coyotes that killed the leader of the barnyard. The movie was a bomb, but it managed to spawn a show, this show was in a different tone than the movie, fancying slapstick humor over a coming-of-age story. On paper, this shouldn't have worked, but I'm so glad it did.

The show follows the adventures of Otis the bull and his friends. These adventures range from building a sphinx and babysitting a clam to shooting milk at aliens and throwing a birthday for their farmer. What My favorite part is about this series is that you'll never know what's going to happen next. One moment could be having the characters making a bucket of glue, the next they're getting that glue back so it doesn't explode all over the place. We need more shows like that with random humor!

Back at the barnyard is A MASTERPIECE! I'm so sad it only got two seasons, but that's probably a good thing because it wouldn't go into seasonal rot, unlike *cough* SpongeBob *cough*

Just last night, I was replying to a thread on the Rockos Modern Life boards about Best and Worst shows on Nickelodean. And I was shocked when there were those who picked this as one of the worst, though not as shocked at how many people picked Avatar:The Last Airbender as one of the worst. Look, Back at the Barnyard is not Nickelodean's best not even close, I would pick Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, Doug and The Angry Beavers over this, but it sure the hell beats ChalkZone, Zoey101 and Rocket Power, and I truly think the gem that was once Spongebob has jumped the shark.

And I will be honest, I think this show is better than the movie. I didn't like the movie really, but despite some predictable moments and some parts where the humour went over my head, Back at the Barnyard isn't bad at all. The animation is colourful and better-modelled this time around, while the music is good too. The writing and humour are random but it is funny, and while the stories have their predictabilities they are at least interesting. The characters are much more likable this time too, and the voice acting I had little problem with either.

Overall, this isn't really a bad show. Not outstanding, but better than people make it out to be. 8/10 Bethany Cox

If you liked the movie Barnyard like i did, you are not gonna like the series better. the series is basically a diversion of the movie, and is basically about the barn animals' efforts to cope with their barn lives. this is not one of nick's best shows. it's no much compared to the earlier shows on nickelodeon like fairly odd parents and spongebob squarepants.

Back at the barnyard is an okay show, it's not gonna stand out like the other shows did and it might be canceled after a couple of more seasons, but since it's intended for 6-10 year olds, it'll be somewhat amusing to them.

People often diss this show, and I just can't understand what's wrong with it. I'm not going to spend time arguing every point made, I'll just praise it: My little brother watches Nickelodeon, and as far as I can tell it just went down the toilet since the nineties. I used to love Spongebob and the newer episodes I've watched are godawful. So it does my heart good to actually laugh out loud at a new show. Though it's not as thoughtful as older shows, as I've grown my sense of humor has become more immature, and I can understand why people enjoy stupid stuff. My favorite comedy show now is probably Robot Chicken, which goes under fire for the fact that it's dumb. But what did people expect? But I'm not reviewing that. I'm reviewing Barnyard. Barnyard is ridiculous in plot, has mastered the art of "random humor," but still manages to have a decent storyline. It's like if Robot Chicken kept a plot as opposed to brief clips, but for children and not fart jokes (thank god, by the way. I actually hate fart jokes even though I like Robot Chicken, and am sick of all the fart jokes in kid shows). All in all, it hasn't disappointed me yet and I look forward to watching it in the future.

Compared to the film it was based on, it was a major improvement. Very hilarious moments, such as Pig abruptly interrupting each episode to break the fourth wall in a humorous and charming way. Otis' relationship with Abby the cow is very interesting to watch. Plenty of likable characters, such as the main animals: Otis, Abby, Bessy, Pip, Pig, Freddy, Peck and Duke. The theme song is very catchy. Some endings are either really good or very funny. Very intimidating main antagonists, such as Snotty Boy and Mrs. Beady. Original and creative stories and plots, such as Otis, Freddy and Pig dressing up as girls and ending up dating Snotty Boy and his friends in the episode "Some like it Snotty". Talented voice acting, especially from Wanda Sykes, Tino Insana, Cam Clarke and Rob Paulsen. Great jokes. Intelligent and clever writing.