Codename: Kids Next Door

I saw the pilot to this series way back in 2001, now a couple of years later, Cartoon Network have come back with a full-blown series of this show.

To be honest, this is one of the most original and funny shows that I have ever seen, to spoil it would be crazy, go and find out for yourself!

I got into this show while the first season was in reruns, but before the second season began airing. The show had promise. It was amusing, the characters were fun, cute, charming, and seemed to have dynamic personalities. The plot couldn't be taken seriously, but then it wasn't supposed to be--the show was a comedy after all.

In the second season things started to change. Mainly I felt the writers began taking the show too seriously and trying to play up the more "serious" aspects, while the comedy became more tame and "forced" sounding, causing it to be less funny. Moreover, the characters began to shed their charm and personality in favor of adhering to some classic stereotype, and often the show loved to shove its "obviousness" down your throat. For example, Numbuh Four got the distinction of being "the stupid one." Afterwards, every last line the character spoke seemed meant to showcase his stupidity--even going so far as to misspell four-letter words. Numbuh Three used to like stuffed toys, but became a fan of Rainbow Monkeys in particular, and every episode she was in she had to mention Rainbow Monkeys at least once.

In the third season, things totally hit the dirt. The show became so full of itself that every little idea had to be beat into the viewer's head. Rainbow Monkeys were no longer Numbuh Three's private obsession--everyone except Numbuh Four liked them, and they were a key theme in nearly every episode. Numbuh Four's stupidity got shoved even more down our throats. Characters and ideas you were sick of by this point would recur on a regular basis. The budding romance between Numbuhs Three and Four was made so obvious that it became almost a torture to watch, making me just want to say "Okay, they're in love, we get it already!" Since then, not only have the above problems continued to get worse, but we've also had travesties such as musical episodes, and the show began making regular use of one of the most overused clichés on Cartoon Network: Random, out-of-nowhere child nudity. It went from being promising to being a trite humdrum brainkiller that talks down to its audience. It has lost its value.

I really enjoy this show because of its humor, colorful characters, and great voice actors. I'm sure there's many people who wouldn't care for this type of show, but it has a HUGE Internet fan base, with many many many fan sites devoted to it (check out ericandamelie.tripod.com or numbuh69.proboards39.com/index.cgi.) Also, the show's creator answers your emails and he's very cute. ^_^

Anyway, the show is about an organization called the Kids Next Door. The show follows one sector of the organization in particular, Sector V. The leader of Sector V is Nigel Uno, aka Numbuh 1, and his fellow team mates (operatives) are also known by their codenames: Numbuh 2, Numbuh 3, and so on. There are five operatives in Sector V, and each bring a unique skill/gift/characteristic to the show. For example, Numbuh 2 is an engineer, and he's obsessed with airplanes. Once in awhile, he may crack a *few* witty puns. Numbuh 3 is Japanese, and kind of an airhead. Numbuh 4 is Australian and the "tough guy" on the team (he's also the shortest!) While Numbuh 5 is American, and does the spying for the team. You may like it or not, but I say just watch it once. You never know.

Codename: Kids Next Door is a cartoon depicting a 5 child chapter of "super agents" part of a much larger organization known as "The Kids Next Door". Using their tree house fortresses sprawled across the globe and their handy "2x4" technology the kids are out to stop "adult tyranny" as well as their super nemeses the "The Delightful Children From Down The Lane" with their evil leader "Father". I personally think this rivals anything Gennedy Tarkovsky has put out in terms of originality, excitement, and humor. This show is chock full of parodies from various niches of pop culture that rarely fall flat, and never get tiresome unlike other cartoons that just take it way too far (Robot Chicken and Family Guy to give some examples). Some of the main characters can get on your nerves (they are brats after all) but the premise and the awesome villains often make you forget the minor annoyances. This show recently ended a few months ago, and I was sad to see it go, but the ending was very fitting. I would recommend this along with Avatar: The Last Airbender as two recent cartoon series that appeal to kids, teenagers, and adults as cartoons with good artistic merit.

At first I thought that this was going to be stupid but then I read the comments on the imdb and since everybody thought this cartoon was great I watched it and everyone was right-it was awesome!!! All the characters were unique had their own background. The villians are really funny too! The Cartoon Network usually has good shows, at least better shows than most of the cartoons on The Disney Channel. Also, has anyone but me noticed that Numbah Three and Numbah Four like each other?