[7.1/10] This one gets credit for the idea. I’m a sucker for Stay Tuned-like stories where characters get sucked into T.V. shows and movies. It’s a fun opportunity to riff on various genres, and it’s a great use for a character like Control Freak, who’s already established as an obsessive pop culture buff. His aspirations to be cool in his favorite on-screen stories give him a decent motivation, and the setup gives the show a chance to poke fun at both various pop culture properties and hardcore geeks.
The catch is that this one is about an inch deep. I love aimless riffs on classic T.V. and movies, but the jokes here are pretty thin. Most of the visits to B-movies and classic sitcoms and kids shows result in little more than the show pointing at them and yelling “They existed!” There’s some minor novelty and mirth from seeing the Titans tossed into various other shows and settings (I particularly got a kick out of Cyborg finding himself trapped in a soap opera), and there might have been more novelty still if they’d been playing with the actual properties and not lawyer-friendly ripoffs.
But on the whole, this episode doesn’t make as much of its genre-hopping loose comic feel as it might have, which makes it into a minor disappointment given the endless potential of the premise.
Still, this one is light and energetic. The constant channel flipping gives the show an opportunity to be nimble on its feet. It doesn’t have much to say about any of the shows or films it invokes here, but there’s some joy to be had in the simple mash-ups. Plus, while it comes a little out of nowhere, Beast Boy dipping into his own nerdy knowledge to use the rules of Control Freak’s fictional rules against him makes for a good resolution.
On the whole, this one works perfectly well as a lark, and while I’d probably still rather watch Robot Chicken for this sort of thing (maybe their D.C. Comics special?), this isn’t bad either.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-08-03T16:59:39Z
[7.1/10] This one gets credit for the idea. I’m a sucker for Stay Tuned-like stories where characters get sucked into T.V. shows and movies. It’s a fun opportunity to riff on various genres, and it’s a great use for a character like Control Freak, who’s already established as an obsessive pop culture buff. His aspirations to be cool in his favorite on-screen stories give him a decent motivation, and the setup gives the show a chance to poke fun at both various pop culture properties and hardcore geeks.
The catch is that this one is about an inch deep. I love aimless riffs on classic T.V. and movies, but the jokes here are pretty thin. Most of the visits to B-movies and classic sitcoms and kids shows result in little more than the show pointing at them and yelling “They existed!” There’s some minor novelty and mirth from seeing the Titans tossed into various other shows and settings (I particularly got a kick out of Cyborg finding himself trapped in a soap opera), and there might have been more novelty still if they’d been playing with the actual properties and not lawyer-friendly ripoffs.
But on the whole, this episode doesn’t make as much of its genre-hopping loose comic feel as it might have, which makes it into a minor disappointment given the endless potential of the premise.
Still, this one is light and energetic. The constant channel flipping gives the show an opportunity to be nimble on its feet. It doesn’t have much to say about any of the shows or films it invokes here, but there’s some joy to be had in the simple mash-ups. Plus, while it comes a little out of nowhere, Beast Boy dipping into his own nerdy knowledge to use the rules of Control Freak’s fictional rules against him makes for a good resolution.
On the whole, this one works perfectly well as a lark, and while I’d probably still rather watch Robot Chicken for this sort of thing (maybe their D.C. Comics special?), this isn’t bad either.