Ilha dos Desafios

I remember watching 6Teen when a preview of this came on, and from the moment it said "from the creators of 6Teen", I was instantly captivated. I loved 6Teen, and I couldn't wait to see it. I was expecting to see something that had plenty of danger, but I didn't expect to have the funny in it too, especially with the third episode. There are a few fart jokes here and there, but, who cares? Every time someone did something wacky, I would laugh until it hurts. I also liked the way the characters were designed (no, seriously, they also have really good taste in clothes). I especially liked Gwen, who does have better taste than Heather by the way. Oh, and Owen, what's not to love about him? Anyway, if you just watch one episode, you'll be on the floor laughing. I guarantee it.

NOTE: This is only a review for "Total Drama Island", the first season of "Total Drama." Since TDI doesn't have it's own IMDB page like some of the subsequent seasons do, the only way to review it is on the IMDB page for the "Total Drama" franchise in general.

I have such fond memories of "Total Drama Island." The summer of 2008 was one of the best times in my life, and this show is one of the reasons for it. It kept me hooked all the way through and really left an impression on me. Revisiting it, it still is a great show to watch.

Created as a parody of shows such as Survivor and Fear Factor, Total Drama Island focuses on 22 teenagers arriving to Camp Wawanakwa to compete on a reality television show. The contestants are divided into two teams and must compete in challenges every three days. While the winning team earns invincibility, the losing team has to vote off one of their own players. Whoever is voted off must walk the Dock of Shame to the Boat of Losers and leave the island. The teams eventually dissolve and the elimination process continues until the last contestant standing wins a grand prize of $100,000.

One thing that makes TDI so good is its extremely likable cast of characters. They all have their own individual personalities and they all feel relatable in some way, like people you would meet in high school. My favorites are Trent, Gwen, Duncan, Leshawna, Cody, Bridgette, Geoff, and Owen (not just because he shares my name).

The interactions between the characters are usually quite engaging and the many storylines built up between them are played out well. We would see most of them again in later seasons, but a lot of them started going downhill and ended up getting derailed in some way. They were all at their most likable in this season.

The first season, I feel, did the best job of utilizing its cast of characters. With only a few exceptions, I feel that everyone was eliminated at just the right time.

The challenges are a lot of fun as well. A lot of them are very creative and are filled with memorable moments. With an ongoing narrative filled with all kinds of interesting stuff happening every episode, it makes you not want to miss a single one.

The show can also be quite hilarious at times and the animation, while rather basic (as to be expected from Teletoon), fits the show quite well.

This season does have a few problems, such as some toilet humor here and there and a few unfair eliminations, but they are all rather minor in the grand scheme of things.

"Total Drama Island" has a special place in my heart, and it still holds up extremely well. Too bad the sequels aren't anywhere near as good (although the spin-off "The Ridonculous Race" was pretty awesome). You should check this show out if you haven't already.

RATING: A

Sometimes, I think TD is one of the greatest shows on television. Other times, it's a major letdown and I hate it. I'll try to review each season separately without spoiling anything.

Island: this was the only season that every fan can agree is good. If you don't like this season, you probably wouldn't like the show. It does start out painfully slow, but once it gets going, it really gets interesting. Some of the best moments of the series here.

Action: I think this season was a major letdown. It felt kind of like a rehash, and the plot developments that did happen felt either forced or OOC. No new characters and very few new interactions were introduced.

World Tour: I think the first half did pretty well, but the second half had too much drama and not enough comedy. And there was a certain character who fans drew a certain conclusion about at the end, but I personally don't see it. (Remember, this review is spoiler free.) The songs were kind of hit or miss, but there were a few standouts on both ends of the spectrum.

Revenge of the Island: It was the most exaggerated and comical of the seasons. A lot of people hate this season, but I don't think it was that bad. A lot of your opinion of this season will depend on your opinion of the new cast.

All Stars: Again, I liked the first half better than the second half. As the season went on, one storyline took over the entire show and crowded out other potentially interesting story lines. I did like how well they brought together elements of all four previous seasons, though.

Pahkitew Island: I might have given up on Total Drama if this season was not good. The characters were pretty weird, but somehow they made them work. But all Total Drama seasons had problems with the ending, and this one was the worst offender.

Ridonculous Race: I really hope we see more of this in the future. Its quality was reminiscent of Island. A lot of fresh, original ideas were brought to the table here.

This show is so funny but I can't believe I was allowed to watch this as a kid. There were a lot of things that I didn't remember about the show but I'm really glad I rematched it.

The "Total Drama Series" is a parody of many well-known survival reality shows and their annoying clichés. The animated contestants are teenagers stereotypes that you shouldn't take too seriously, since it's all played for laughs. The premise has a lot of potential, but everything seems horribly written. Also, the show desperately wants the attention of older viewers, yet most of the fans are 9 or 13 years old: that's because it has horrible childish/toilet humor, which is really bad. Also, the animation is below average (though it has improved over time).

Basically, the first two seasons of the series, respectively titled "Total Drama Island" and "Total Drama Action", are uninteresting. However, the third one, known as "Total Drama World Tour", is actually much better than the rest of the series. The writing in Season 3 is good; humor and animation have improved; also, every episode features a nice song, obviously played for laughs, yet they're quite catchy so far (this was probably inspired by Disney's "Phineas and Ferb").

Overall, thanks to its third season, this is an OK show, though not nearly as good as other animated series on TV...