Todd and the Book of Pure Evil

"Todd" plays out like a Canadian "Buffy" with a little more risqué humor and lots more gore: a group of high school students team up to fight evil (invariably caused by the titular Book) and have to defend themselves and their fellow students against a monster-of-the-week type occurrence. Except that they don't very often succeed in keeping the body count to a minimum.

Being produced outside of the United States, "Todd" is a lot less MOR than most American series: the producers are unafraid to veer off into directions that will send some accidental viewers running for the hills, especially if said viewers have homophobic issues.

The four lead characters are well cast, but the supporting actors are simply a joy to watch. Chris Leavins (as guidance counselor Atticus Murphy) and Jason Mewes (as Jimmy the janitor) steal most every scene they're in, but even one-line characters get the talent they deserve.

The overall tone is very dry, which brings out the dark humor in even the most gruesome scenes. The ensemble's collective timing is some of the best comedic group work I've yet seen.

The only problem I can find with "Todd" is that the 20-minute episode length limits the show to sitcom-like story lines, with little attention spent on larger story arcs: things get out of hand, the gang saves the day (sort of), and things reset for next week's episode. Should it get picked up again, I don't really see "Todd and the Book of Pure Evil" evolving into something that could be quite as heart-wrenching (or as emotionally involving) as Joss Whedon's magnum opus.

But hey, if you're a fan of intelligent horror comedy, this show is for you. Here's hoping some guy in a suit will find enough financial incentive to renew "Todd" for a third season. Tell your friends.

This is simply awesome. Combination of high-school show, comedy and horror, that packs clichés of 80's and 90's into catchy 20 minutes portions of pure fun. All accompanied by lots of weed and heavy metal. Plus, in the main supporting role, we have Jason Mewes, Jay from legendary Jay and Silent Bob duo. The only flaw of this show is that it was canceled after two seasons, so the main story is left incomplete. However, every episode has own rounded plot so they can be watched separately. Also, an animated movie that should finish the story is announced and it's expected very soon. Recommendation for everyone who loves metal, weed, 80's horrors, teen comedies, things so stupid that they're ingenious and good fun. I saw all 26 episodes in just a few days and I yearn for more.

9/10

The other day, I turned to the Canadian science fiction channel, Space to watch the season premiere of Supernatural. In the slot preceding that, they had put another premiere - the new series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, which was based on a short film of the same name that I had seen and found cute but underwhelming a few years earlier. I had no expectations whatsoever, but was soon giggling like a madman and enjoying myself in a way I hadn't done since Buffy was in its heyday. To be fair, Buffy got off to a bit of a slow start, not really making the most of its great cast and promising premise until season 2. Todd, however, hit the ground running. The title character (Alex House) is a seemingly irredeemable slacker/stoner who spends most of his free time daydreaming about heavy metal stardom and making it with the school hottie, Jenny Kolinsky (Maggie Castle). Jenny is trying to track down the Book of Pure Evil because she suspects it has something to do with her missing father. Todd finds it first and uses it to become the heavy metal guitarist he's always dreamed of being...engaging in a guitar duel that was so funny it brought tears to my eyes. Naturally, there are dire consequences. Todd's music mesmerizes the entire audience at the Battle of the Bands, endangering a good portion of the student body and the teaching staff. Ultimately, the book moves on to find other pawns - which Crowley High offers in abundance. While I initially thought the premise too thin to sustain an entire series, the idea of moving the book from person to person opens up a whole world of plot possibilities. The characters and supporting cast are terrific. I particularly enjoyed the 3 Fubar-style hoser/muses in the parking lot who provide fuzzy minded advice and inspiration to Todd. Chris Leavins infuses the school guidance counselor Atticus Murphy with swell geeky evil. This series has plenty of edge, in the form of foul language, political incorrectness, loud music and juvenile gross-outs, but what makes it special is the warped cast of characters, the high-octane imagination and the sharp writing. The Canadian viewing audience gets to enjoy something exclusive and fabulous while waiting for the rest of the world to recognize what a gem this is. Hopefully it builds the large and enthusiastic audience in its homeland before taking off to conquer the world. As the three muses observed after Todd's concert debut, "So it begins anew..."

When I first saw this show, I was at my buddies and he had the space channel on. We weren't really paying any attention to what was on the t.v at the time, but there just happened to be a Todd and The Book of Pure Evil marathon on, but again we weren't really paying attention. Once we ran out of things to talk about, my gaze fell to the screen in-front of me. At first I thought it was YTV we were watching, because it was very obvious that it was Canadian made show(LOVE YOU CANADA) and it was based around a few high school kids, which didn't click in "ADULT SHOW" at first. BUT THEN.......I heard a magical curse word and my ears started to perk up, then there was a ridiculous amount of blood and my eyes widened, then I found Todd and the Book of Pure Evil...This show is absolutely hilarious, and full of bad jokes, blood and gore, and everything else that makes a good Canadian slasher comedy...oh yeah and Jason Mewes was a bonus...this show is classically ronchie and I love it. I think anyone who enjoys politically incorrect topics and swearing with excessive cheese would give this a GOLD! If it made me laugh 13 episodes straight, I say Amen!

I came across this show while channel surfing and found it on a cable channel I can not name.I was not sure what to to think because I had never heard of of before. The first episode I saw was "rock and Roll Zombies know best". I could not believe what I was watching. This show had me hooked! After that I hit the web and trekked down the entire first season. All I can say is that this show is brilliant! Some episode are slow, such as the giant baby one, but in total this is very entertaining, funny, and just damn great. I am ticked that there is no way for me to see the originals in all there uncensored glory! The FCC and whack job parents groups would all have heart attacks if some one tried to bring this show to America. I wish that American TV could put something like this out there. I was glad to see that there was a 2nd season approved, so I will be waiting to some how get to see them. I would say that this has great promise of some how becoming a feature film. I would go see it if they did that. If you want to be entertained watch this show. If you do not give this a chance then "You are as smart as a monkey, and sadly not one of the smart monkeys"