woodway77

The series is going fine with the stories but I've reached the limit with the clumsy, oafish, lout expressed in the extremely disappointing character of Inspector Mallory. Investigatory technique which would raise gales of derisive laughter at a Girl Guides meeting combined with an unenlightened, bullying persona. Not one of the prior inspectors could be said to have any great empathy or connection with the Father's powers of deduction, but Mallory, as written, lowers the tone to an astonishing degree, featuring a smoking, drinking lecher (The Smallest of Things) who might just prefer to arrest the entire village each time a crime is committed, just to prove that he's on the job. A ridiculous caricature who gets progressively more disappointing and who I'm sure is causing viewers to give up on the series.

My son and I just discovered "Little Bill" awhile back on the Noggin network, and we both love it. It has wonderful elements designed to engage the audience - believable characters, sensible situations, great tempo-setting music and plausible story lines. A careful watcher will discern the elements of Mr. Cosby's social ethos in this show - families which come in all shapes and sizes; social situations where we learn tolerance, dignity and proper expression; and my favorite, people who actually do something about a situation, instead of just complaining about the government or social pressure (race, ethnicity, status, etc).

The solid portrayals of family members and middle-class workers also help to dispel the media-blitz myth of African-Americans as either poor people on welfare, or rich criminals, sports stars or rappers, another hallmark of Mr. Cosby's quest for recognition and dignity in the black middle-class. Altogether, a very fine show with values galore that most families with kids will enjoy.

Sorry to be the wet blanket covering up the previous positive comments, but this show absolutely makes me psychotic. It is far too loud, too in-your-face, too garish, too ridiculously stupid to be believed. Disclosure: I tend to a bit of grumpiness concerning vapid children's shows, so to validate my response I had several parent friends watch some episodes and let me know their thoughts. Unanimous opinion was that it is not worth the videotape it's made on. One friend commented that to both him and his wife the show looked like "the winner of a film-school or college pretend-contest to create the most bizarre, ridiculous children's show ever attempted." Our kids don't like it either, quickly losing interest or requesting other things. Sorry again to be the drudge but Nick really laid an egg with this one.