Joe Eeee
Joined Jan 2001
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Joe Eeee's rating
In a satellite and cable TV universe where originality is a sure-fire formula for obscurity, "Sitting Ducks" was one of the brightest spots on the Cartoon Network schedule. Now banished indefinitely, it's poised to become a home video classic.
"Sitting Ducks" strikes just the right balance between cuteness for the children and sophistication for grown-ups. The friendship between Bill, an amiable self-assured duck who lives in Ducktown and Aldo, a towering 'gator from neighboring Swampwood is at the heart of the series. And what heart!
Bill and Aldo's friendship begins in an unlikely manner (without divulging too much, one was hoping to eat the other) but grows into a partnership that offers no end of comic possibilities. Aldo, we find out over time, is not just another mindless green duck-eating machine but often displays wisdom, ingenuity and even morality.
The series' setting of Ducktown is populated with an assortment of other feathered folks who are as quirky as Bill and Aldo's friendship, including Dr. Cecil, a general practitioner and aspiring dentist in a burg where not a single citizen has a tooth! To him, Aldo is a godsend, a king-size chance to ply his long unused dental craft.
The cuteness of the series is pierced from time to time by the dangers of alligators and ducks living at each other's doorsteps. Though a truce exists between Swampwood and Ducktown, 'gators regularly plot to make a meal out Ducktown's citizens. In an episode poking fun at reality TV, a duck cameraman is eaten (off-camera) by alligators. In another, Aldo is trying to curb his appetite for duck by wearing duck hormone patches prescribed by Dr. Cecil. The patches give him a hankering for duck fare. When he chomps a fly right out of the air, the insect's dying cry reverberates all the way to the next spoken line. There are also a few instances of potty humor but that's probably what sold the show to Cartoon Network.
Though "Sitting Ducks" has gone dark on cable and satellite TV, it shines brighter than ever on home video.
"Sitting Ducks" strikes just the right balance between cuteness for the children and sophistication for grown-ups. The friendship between Bill, an amiable self-assured duck who lives in Ducktown and Aldo, a towering 'gator from neighboring Swampwood is at the heart of the series. And what heart!
Bill and Aldo's friendship begins in an unlikely manner (without divulging too much, one was hoping to eat the other) but grows into a partnership that offers no end of comic possibilities. Aldo, we find out over time, is not just another mindless green duck-eating machine but often displays wisdom, ingenuity and even morality.
The series' setting of Ducktown is populated with an assortment of other feathered folks who are as quirky as Bill and Aldo's friendship, including Dr. Cecil, a general practitioner and aspiring dentist in a burg where not a single citizen has a tooth! To him, Aldo is a godsend, a king-size chance to ply his long unused dental craft.
The cuteness of the series is pierced from time to time by the dangers of alligators and ducks living at each other's doorsteps. Though a truce exists between Swampwood and Ducktown, 'gators regularly plot to make a meal out Ducktown's citizens. In an episode poking fun at reality TV, a duck cameraman is eaten (off-camera) by alligators. In another, Aldo is trying to curb his appetite for duck by wearing duck hormone patches prescribed by Dr. Cecil. The patches give him a hankering for duck fare. When he chomps a fly right out of the air, the insect's dying cry reverberates all the way to the next spoken line. There are also a few instances of potty humor but that's probably what sold the show to Cartoon Network.
Though "Sitting Ducks" has gone dark on cable and satellite TV, it shines brighter than ever on home video.
While many will snort "Chance! Nothing but chance!" when asked about the game show "Press Your Luck", the rules of the game turned the big board bonus round into a true exercise in strategy.
To refresh your memory, after the 3 contestants earned spins by answering 4 general knowledge questions, it was time to face the 18-square big board, with its changing prize values, score-zeroing Whammies and flying cursor. In motion, the big board was possibly one of the most hypnotic devices ever created for a game show. The contestants stopped the cursor on one of the squares by mashing an over-sized button (the same button used to buzz in and answer a question to earn 3 spins instead of answering it as a multiple-choice question for 1). It was also customary to chant "No Whammies. . .big bucks. . .no Whammies. . .big bucks" before shouting "STOP!" and hitting the button.
After the contestants earned a few thousand dollars in cash and prizes, strategy came into play. If you're in the lead, do you pass your spins and hope the second-place contender can be wiped off the board? If you're trailing, do you give your spins to the leader, hoping to topple his or her empire? The four-Whammies-and-you're-out rule forced one to make even shrewder decisions. Two players who had Whammied their scores to zero passed their spins to the only one with any prizes, and since she, too, had hit a Whammy, all three were eligible to return to play again.
It isn't until you've experienced the game yourself that the strategy angle really becomes apparent. Short of trying out for "WHAMMY: The All New Press Your Luck" on Game Show Network, you can download a remarkably accurate computer simulation of the original "Press Your Luck" at:
http://www.crossbearer.com/software/press/pyl.html
To refresh your memory, after the 3 contestants earned spins by answering 4 general knowledge questions, it was time to face the 18-square big board, with its changing prize values, score-zeroing Whammies and flying cursor. In motion, the big board was possibly one of the most hypnotic devices ever created for a game show. The contestants stopped the cursor on one of the squares by mashing an over-sized button (the same button used to buzz in and answer a question to earn 3 spins instead of answering it as a multiple-choice question for 1). It was also customary to chant "No Whammies. . .big bucks. . .no Whammies. . .big bucks" before shouting "STOP!" and hitting the button.
After the contestants earned a few thousand dollars in cash and prizes, strategy came into play. If you're in the lead, do you pass your spins and hope the second-place contender can be wiped off the board? If you're trailing, do you give your spins to the leader, hoping to topple his or her empire? The four-Whammies-and-you're-out rule forced one to make even shrewder decisions. Two players who had Whammied their scores to zero passed their spins to the only one with any prizes, and since she, too, had hit a Whammy, all three were eligible to return to play again.
It isn't until you've experienced the game yourself that the strategy angle really becomes apparent. Short of trying out for "WHAMMY: The All New Press Your Luck" on Game Show Network, you can download a remarkably accurate computer simulation of the original "Press Your Luck" at:
http://www.crossbearer.com/software/press/pyl.html
And I mean that with all the love and admiration a Yank can have for the Empire.
While many American children's TV shows try to be oh, so hip and oh, so cool, with their pop references and in-jokes, "Foxbusters" cuts right to the bone with bawdy language and sight gags that will never pass Standards and Practices at Cartoon Network, even if they cablecast it at midnight. Remember, this is a series aimed at the 8-years-and-up crowd!
A few prime examples:
Sims (one of the Foxbusters, a hen, in a voice over): "It is spring and the thoughts of young animals turn to love. The sheep are leaping. The goats are doting. And the ducks are getting on rather well."
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Todd (a fox, reading an instant food label): "'Just add hot water.' Now, how are foxes supposed to do that? I can only heat water by passing it through me."
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Farmer (talking to the old tractor he's about to retire): "Oh, we were young and full of life then, and neither of us had any problem with leaking fluids."
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An online acquaintance from England sent me a CD ROM containing 6 episodes and not a single one could be aired unedited in the USA. The only real hope Americans might have of seeing the series uncut is as a "cult" item in home video. We in the colonies can only hope it happens soon.
While many American children's TV shows try to be oh, so hip and oh, so cool, with their pop references and in-jokes, "Foxbusters" cuts right to the bone with bawdy language and sight gags that will never pass Standards and Practices at Cartoon Network, even if they cablecast it at midnight. Remember, this is a series aimed at the 8-years-and-up crowd!
A few prime examples:
Sims (one of the Foxbusters, a hen, in a voice over): "It is spring and the thoughts of young animals turn to love. The sheep are leaping. The goats are doting. And the ducks are getting on rather well."
----------
Todd (a fox, reading an instant food label): "'Just add hot water.' Now, how are foxes supposed to do that? I can only heat water by passing it through me."
----------
Farmer (talking to the old tractor he's about to retire): "Oh, we were young and full of life then, and neither of us had any problem with leaking fluids."
----------
An online acquaintance from England sent me a CD ROM containing 6 episodes and not a single one could be aired unedited in the USA. The only real hope Americans might have of seeing the series uncut is as a "cult" item in home video. We in the colonies can only hope it happens soon.