Air Date: November 22, 2014

A story: Phoebe seeks to outsell Max at the school art auction.

B story: Max is concerned about losing followers on Evilgram.

Any episode with the nutty Sarah is ok with me!

Line of the episode #1: What’s that on her face?  A whole lot of crazy!

In this episode, we get another visit to the world of competition between Max and Phoebe.  Max is apparently very talented in art (or as Ms. Madsen states, “Funny and talented”) while Phoebe is lacking talent in artistic endeavors (or “always on time”).  Phoebe can’t understand why, as twins, she shouldn’t be equally as talented as Max when it comes to art.  She soon finds out that Max has been having Billy steal artwork from the dumpster behind the art school.

Phoebe’s masterpiece: Mt. Suckamanjaro.

Phoebe has Billy acquire a piece of artwork for her.  The vase comes from the Hiddenville Art Museum (who knew they had an Egyptian wing!)  In the end, the vase is safely returned to the museum – and Max builds additional cred on Evilgram. We do get a couple of cliches:

• The battle of the bidders (twice!)
• The funky dancing oblivious security guard.

What I appreciated about this episode were some of the tie-ins to the previous experiences by the characters.

• Dr. Colosso notes that Max had his edge when he was shooting rockets to take down satellites (from Report Card)
• Phoebe is still woeful at art.  In Report Card, she tells Tyler and Ashley “Art’s kind of my thing.”  Tyler’s response “No its not!”

Line of the episode #2: Yea, I snuck in here, but don’t tell your mummy.

Number of Thunder-twin screams: 0

Overall, not a bad episode.

 

Kirby Buckets is a (relatively) new show on Disney XD.  According to the Disney XD press release,

• “A young boy’s vivid imagination bursts onto screen.”
• “Outrageous adventures of a young aspiring animator.”
• “Joined by his animated characters each with their own vibrant personality.”

Kirby, played by Jacob Bertrand (formerly of Marvin, Marvin; he’s a lot better here!) is surrounded by the usual oddball friends Fish and Eli.  He’s seemingly in constant competition with sister Dawn, and her trusty sidekick, Belinda (played by Tiffany Esperson, formerly of Bucket & Skinner, she’s a lot better here!).

The show is created by Gabe Snyder and Mike Aber (who created Supah Ninjas!, one of my favorites) and executive produced by Kirstofor Brown (of Beavis and Butthead fame; you can see shades of B&BH in many of Kirby’s animations).

The discourse between Kirby and Dawn reminds me of Max and Phoebe of the Thundermans, or Phil and Pim on Phil of the Future.  Its typical pre-teen/teen brother/sister angst.

I watched the episode “Happy Prank Williams, Jr Day,” the annual celebration of pranking in the town.  Apparently Mr. Williams (who founded the town) biggest prank was the Geoffrey, “the funniest, most outrageous prank ever.”  No one has been ever been able to figure out that Williams last words “at 115 on 11.29.48” means the combination to the only locker left from the original school.  Apparently they had combination locks back in the day … back in the 1800s.  Fortunately, Kirby figures it out (or we wouldn’t have an episode).  A series of coincidences leads Dawn to uncover the prank, which we never see.  As Kirby states “it was just one big trick.”

Kirby Buckets has the same vibe as many of the other Disney XD/Disney/Nick shows that have preceded it.  What I didn’t understand was the role of the animations.  Kirby doesn’t appear to interact with them at all and they don’t appear to serve any additional purpose other than comic relief.  I’d like to see the animations take a more active role in future shows.

That said, considering the target audience, Kirby Buckets isn’t too bad.  It was funny (I’m a big fan of inside jokes and witty ways of phrasing things – Pranks? No thanks!)  The characters seem genuine and Bertrand et al certainly didn’t graduate from the teen school of overacting.  If you have kids pre-teen and early teen, KB is worth more than a drop in the bucket.

Air Date: November 1, 2014

A story: Phoebe and Max work together to win tickets to a MKTO concert, but a mishap with the paper-shredder at home appears to destroy the tickets. (Source: IMDB)

B story: Hank brings home a super shredder for Thunder Purge, which Billy welcomes to the family and Nora sees as competition.

Line of the episode: “I don’t need your pity poultry.”

Number of ThunderTwin Screams: Zero.

So, apparently, someone thought it was time for the “Very Special Guest Star” episode of the Thundermans.  Hence the appearance of MKTO.  And someone thought it was Max’s turn to have a crush on someone.  Oyster makes another appearance (Max’s best line: Clam it, Oyster!)

A well-constructed sitcom episode deftly weaves the A and B stories and the writer’s have done an admirable job here.  Phoebe is crushing on MKTO (yes, another Phoebe crush) and is trying to win concert tickets.  Max is crushing on a girl at school, Cassandra, who just happens to be a big fan of MKTO.  Max offers to help Phoebe win the tickets if he can have one ticket.

Max’s deception earns him payback – he gets pooped on in line (earning him the nickname “Birdturd”), and through a series of misfortunate events, never makes it into the concert.  Meanwhile, Phoebe, who believes the tickets have been shredded, ends up at Splatburger alone when MKTO arrive for a pre-concert meal.  She’s treated to a private concert.

Powers are barely used to advance the A story here and that’s ok.  It reflects Phoebe’s desire to be a “normal teenager.”  And once again, Max’s duplicity comes back to bite him on the butt.

On the down side, Billy’s obsession with Shreddy is a bit creepy.  The Max or Phoebe has a crush stories have gotten repetitive.  And Cherry would undoubtedly had a crush on MKTO as well.