Querida, Encolhi as Crianças

This is a television show that for its three season run consistently had some of the best writing ever seen on television. Comedies are rarely given much recognition and commercial shows for kids, never, but Honey, I Shrunk the Kids episodes are really well-crafted, witty spoofs that stand up over time. The best episode I feel is about Morpheus who rules the dream world. In this show, Nick is worried about dissecting frogs and keeps having nightmares. His sister, Amy, is worried about taking her SAT's. The plot weaves together their fears and their personal strengths and weakness (nick is logical/Amy is intuitive) in a humorous, dramatic and meaningful way. If there were any justice in the world, this script should have won an emmy and be discussed in film and English classes. If this show ever comes out on DVD, it is definitely worth purchasing.

Let's recap. The first "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" movie was the best of the series and the special effects used in it have held up extremely well since 1989. "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid" was mediocre at best. "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves" was just plain stupid. Now we have a T.V. series? What the hell? I mean, since the last two sequels to the original "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" movie bombed, what made the writers think they could possibly do a T.V. show without having disastrous results? The story lines for the series are incredibly stupid and range from Wayne getting trapped inside the T.V. to getting sent back in time. Please, just quit now. What is it with Wayne anyway? Why does he keep getting himself and his family into these chaotic situations? Besides, if I remember correctly, in "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves", didn't Diane Szalinski say that the state had strictly forbidden Wayne from ever using his machine for any reason and he used it anyway? In either case, he broke the law and should have been arrested for endangering the lives of himself, his family, as well as everyone around him.

The kids are well casted, the parents are loving and humorous. They are truly better casted than the movie. The characters do a fantastic job, and they work. They're compatable, they have loving moments. Even though the fathers problematic inventions can make plans go awry, they make it through and with pleasantly funny moments. The best episode is the one where the father joins a Canadian spy mission, and so does the family. They actually shrunk the moon.

There were two things I enjoyed about this show. The first was the actors who actually did a better job than those in the movies. The second was how the show used (odd) science and magic to put a new spin on the problems facing the cast of countless other family sitcoms.

The boy wishes he was an adult, no problem, drink a potion and he becomes an adult. The girl has a stalker, but here he is an alien. The dad doesn't get the credit he deserves at work, but why should he when his invention turns the future into a dystopia.

But while the cast was great, and the action even greater. The one thing I did not like about it was that despite being a comedy show the dialog simply wasn't funny. I cannot remember a single time I laughed watching this.

I remember watching loads of episodes as a kid and watched the movie only after having watched the TV show and it didn't stand up to the stuff that Szalinskis were pulling on the TV.

There were sub-plots involving all characters and every episode featured a new invention which went awry. It was well-acted and the humor for a kids' show was spot on. There were Bigfoots, aliens, ghosts, international spy agencies even noir. There was goofy humor, some fanservice from the beautiful Diane (red dress), Mr Jennings as the funny boss, Jake Mckenna as the neighbor who inevitably ends up involved in Wayne's schemes.

Tbh most of the Disney live action shows that came after did not even stand close to it. And given the state of live action tv from Disney right now, its better they don't remake it unless they can rediscover the 'fun' spirit of the original