Le Puissant B!

I remembered watching The Mighty B! on Nickelodeon and was nice. The characters, the humor, the writing are all well-done and I can say that this is one of my favorite Nucktoons of all time. Man, was The Mighty B! a fun show. Give this one an 8.4/10

Nickelodeon is a very mixed bag when it comes to their animated shows. There are classics such as 'Rocko's Modern Life', 'Ren and Stimpy', 'The Angry Beavers' and 'Doug'. As well as prime-'Spongebob Squarepants' and prime-'The Rugrats' (the early episodes in both cases). It also boasted some very bad shows like 'ChalkZone', 'Tak and the Power of Juju', 'Fanboy and Chum Chum' and 'Rocket Power', am also someone who has personally never cared for 'The Fairy Odd Parents'.

There are certainly far worse animated shows out there than 'The Mighty B' in my view, with it not being as bad as the really bad shows that have been listed. Not just on Nickelodeon, but also overall. Having said that, count me in as another person who has never cared for it and who considers it a lesser Nickelodeon effort. This is not being said with pleasure, this is coming from a 30 something female who still loves animation and appreciates all styles and decades as well as humour styles.

By all means, 'The Mighty B' has some good things. The voice actors all make game efforts and inject a lot of energy and enthusiasm into their characters (at times too much so). Did like the backgrounds, which does have some nice colour and detail.

Some of the music is quite cool.

However, this reviewer does have to agree that the characters are very irritating. Bessie is up there with one of the most insufferably annoying lead characters of any Nickelodeon animation, a strong case of negative character traits being badly exaggerated. Didn't care for the humour, gross out, crude humour has worked very well in animation numerous times. The writing and jokes just come over as really juvenile and generic, as well as lacking in variety and overdone in the gross out aspect to a distasteful degree.

Furthermore, the stories really lack energy and are very predictable and bland, they also go well overboard on the random-ness. Random-ness and weirdness has been known to work in animation but for it to work it needs wit and imagination and the stories in 'The Mighty B' lack both and come over as too silly and confused. Despite some nice backgrounds, the animation is not to my tastes. The colours are flat and the character designs hideous.

Overall, a long way from mighty. 3/10.

I was rather surprised at the fairly low average user rating that The Mighty B! has received. Some of the negative reviews I read are generally wrapped around the show's resemblance to Nick's older cartoons, perceived clichés, Bessie's speech impediment, her high amount of energy, and the occasional gross-out humor that is used. To me these sound like opinions of someone who has seen just one or two episodes, because even I wasn't quite sure what to think after seeing it for the first time. I had to give it an honest effort (just like a few other shows such as Invader Zim, Foster's Home or Billy & Mandy), which really led me to like it a lot as I continued to watch it.

So one point of contention seems to be the crude humor. To me, this show is a bit rough around the edges, but is not hard to handle compared to Family Guy, later episodes of Billy & Mandy and some earlier Nick toons I've seen. Only a little scene in one episode (not saying which one) made me grimace when I saw it, while many parts of Family Guy and Billy & Mandy made me change the channel. So the crudeness is unnecessary, but not by any means overbearing.

And why do some viewers seem to think this show is unoriginal, unless that is their attempt to support their negative opinions? In the case of Gwen and Portia, respectively a stereotypical hipster and valley girl, I believe they fill a role that places Bessie in her proper place, as they continually try to degrade her without a glimpse of success, adding a lot to the humor put forth by Bessie's antics. As far as Penny's stereotype is concerned, the only other character she could even relate to is Patrick Star, but their personalities are still much different and Penny is hilarious. The air-headed blonde girl Millie also cracks me up.

Even in spite of characters like Portia & Gwen, this is Bessie's show. Unlike any other female cartoon character I've seen, she is so full of energy, completely oblivious to her own popularity & appearance, and quite sharp-minded. Every other cartoon I've seen on Nick that's worth watching involves male comical characters, and any females that hold a primary role are usually not at all funny or antagonistic, since they are restrained to cynicism or being "miss perfect." I love how Bessie steps far outside this area; she's hilarious and adorable in every respect, including her silly lisp, which only adds to her personality.

Part of me wanted to hate this show, but in a way it grew on me. Only issue I have is the occasional art/animation inconsistency (noticeable if you pay enough attention.) Once you understand its humor and intent, it's really a slow-burner, nothing particularly hatable.

Mighty B! is an OK cartoon. High production value, but not totally unique. After all, kids love the same formula.

But what I think is really intriguing is the fact that this character is based off one of Amy Poehler's UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE characters, "Cassie." Cassie, played by Poehler can be seen in Episode 101: Bucket of Truth, and is called back a few other times throughout the three season run. Cassie, like Bessie, is a girl scout, she has a hilarious lisp, and her troupe name is "The Honeybees".

UCB is in my opinion the funniest most creative show ever on television... ever. But Mighty B! just seems like an average cartoon. Even if Amy Poehler and Matt Bessie, I mean Besser, have a hand in creating it.