Unfortunately the show doesn’t really hold up today. Not
only is it intolerably bland and unoriginal, it’s also irredeemably anchored in
a cesspool of 1980s clichés, laden with your typical 80s synth soundtrack
stings and often laughable faux-cool dialogue (which was clearly dictated by a
far older generation of writers with absolutely no concept of coolness). And
yes, it’s about as ‘80s’ as you can imagine, with the teens teaching Denver how
to do ‘cool’ things such as skateboard. Luckily Denver can inexplicably talk
(voiced by Pat Fraley), making it much easier for the gang to communicate with
him.
The show, for its time, is not *bad* as such, but mediocre
at best. The writing is slow at times and the characters, generally, are rather
flat. The villains are your usual cookie-cutter baddies, and precisely why
Morton Fizzback wants a dinosaur for his rock concert is beyond me. One can
assume it’s because Denver can ‘rock out’ – or at least that’s what’s implied
by the bizarre opening sequence which sees Denver sporting a pair of sunglasses
and strumming a garish pink guitar. Yeah, this is the 80s, alright. Keeping in
mind that it had some pretty hefty competition on TV at the time – such as DuckTales and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – this show stood no chance and was
cancelled after two seasons. Having seen a handful of episodes, I can tell you
it’s a surprise it lasted that long. Episodes released on home video include
the teens’ excursion with Denver to an archaeological dig, and Denver’s
discovering his talent as a gourmet chef. It’s not the worst thing you’ll ever
see, but you have to admit it hardly coincides with the ‘cool’ image they were
going for, indicative of the show’s opening and infuriatingly catchy theme
song. I mean, seriously, what were the writers thinking? There’s a talking
dinosaur alive in the 1980s and what do they do? They have him become a chef. Really?!
Maybe this is too ‘cool’ for me to appreciate…
As if the show couldn’t get any cooler, it was also
recommended by the National Education Association. I’m not really too sure why;
perhaps it was bland and inoffensive enough to meet their criteria – honestly
it’s so generic and clean, you feel somehow ironically unclean after watching
it. There’s certainly nothing hugely educational here, at least no more so than
any other generic animated television series. There are little redeeming
aspects of this series – the soundtrack is oftentimes unbearable, and often
mixed so badly that it overpowers the voice acting. Speaking of which, there
are some familiar voiceovers here, including the likes of Kath Soucie and Tress
MacNeille. But despite these, the majority of voices are disturbingly out of
place, with many of the male actors trying too hard to sound like your stereotypical
goofy teenage Californian, with the long hair and high waist jeans to
complement the overall ‘look’.
Despite the criticisms, it’s still worth a look, if only to
observe one of the lesser, less durable animated series of the 80s.
Unfortunately, however, it’s worthy of your attention more so as an example of
how *not* to appeal to young audiences. No matter how ‘cool’ they tried to make
the show, Denver was probably dated
the moment it first aired – some might even call it prehistoric. But that pink
guitar was pretty cool, right?
 |
| Then again, maybe not... |
For more posts,
Follow me on Twitter: @Felixidhan
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/idonthaveanose
No comments:
Post a Comment