"Lamb Chop's Play Along: The Guys" episode-TV Show Review

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

Do you ever wonder if Lamb Chop’s Play Along would get down and serious in some of its episodes? Well, one example would be the episode “The Guys.”

            I watched this episode over and over on Youtube, and I gotta say that this was one of my favorites besides “The Wallet” episode, because it touched down on an important lesson at the end of the show. The storyline for this episode was pretty good at the time, because everything said in that story is clear and understandable.

            So let’s check out “The Guys,” and see if this episode holds up?

 

Act 1:

 

We start with Shari asking Charlie Horse to babysit Lamb Chop for the afternoon, but he says that he has plans at that time. So Shari asks him about his plans. Charlie tells her that the “fellas” are coming over to the house.
-“Fellas”? What, are you in a gang or something? If that was the case, then this show wouldn’t be G-rated.

            Then Charlie reveals that his friends are coming over.

-He said that to clarify the “fellas” part of his speech.

            Charlie then asks Lamb Chop to “get lost” for the afternoon, because the guys (his friends) were going to do “things.”

 

-They say the word “things” as if it was a curse to say it. How that word gets emphasized in this story is so snobby and annoying, that what… it gives them a bad taste in their mouths?

            Charlie clarifies himself again, saying that he wants Lamb Chop to do something away from the house while the guys are there. He suggests that she go to a movie, and that he would pay for her ticket. Lamb Chop takes the bait and asks what’s playing. Charlie tells her about a movie having to do with a wolf-man eating all of Pittsburgh.

 

-It’s revealed that that movie is a scary movie. So Charlie Horse having Lamb Chop go to a scary movie is like giving her up to strangers that are shady and mean. Wow, what a jerk.

 

Act 2:

 

Charlie Horse asks Shari to sign something for him.
- Is it a permission slip? No. Is it a waiver? No.

Shari asks Charlie why, and he says that he wants to impress the guys by telling them that he knows a celebrity.

-Why ask Shari for an autograph if it’s easier to show her to the guys, so that they can meet her in the flesh? Autographs from people that you know personally are so overrated.

            So Shari takes the piece of paper from Charlie, and sees that the paper is folded. She asks about this, and Charlie’s answer:

Charlie Horse: “So what? You don’t need a whole sheet of paper just to sign your name. Sign it, sign it.”
-Wow, he has an excuse for everything.

            Shari opens the paper & giggles at what’s written on the paper: “I am the voice of Minnie Mouse.”

-That is a load of crap. Charlie knows dang well that Shari doesn’t do voice-acting, or anything outside of being a ventriloquist and puppeteer.
-Why couldn’t Charlie write something like “I am the voice of Lamb Chop” or “I am the voices of Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy”? Oh… well, that would have broken fourth wall. And besides, mentioning a Disney character in the show must have been too tempting.

            Shari doesn’t buy into lying about doing the voice of Minnie Mouse, even though Charlie Horse throws excuses at her to get her to agree to lie:

Shari: “‘I am the voice of Minnie Mouse’?”
Charlie Horse: “She’s a cartoon.”
Shari: “Yes. I know what she is.”
Charlie: “Yeah, but everybody knows that she doesn’t do around talking. Somebody talks for her.”
Shari: “But that somebody isn’t me.”

…

Charlie: “Pretend.”

Shari: “Pretend. You want me to pretend that I do the voice of Minnie Mouse?”
Charlie: “Yeah.”
Shari: “I won’t do that.”
Charlie: “Please, Shari…”
Shari: “Come on! I don’t do the voice of Minnie Mouse!”
Charlie: “But you could, I bet ya.”
Shari: “But I don’t!”
-Shut up, already! Shari doesn’t voice Minnie Mouse! End of story!

            Then Charlie admits that he needs the Minnie Mouse gig to impress his friends. He said that he promised them that gig; he even promised them about a flying circus dog.

-Can Charlie’s lying get any sillier than this?
-I can’t believe that he’s using poor Hush Puppy as a guinea pig for this flying circus dog gig. In fact, he just throws his siblings away to get slaughtered: first it was letting Lamb Chop go to a scary movie, and now it’s using Hush Puppy as a freak show…

            Hush Puppy comes into the kitchen with Shari & Charlie, and reveals that he’s on board with pretending to be a circus dog. Hush Puppy shows off his “flying” by going into the air and crashing into kitchen cabinets, that it knocks the pilot goggles off his face.

 

-Did he land face-first, because Hush Puppy looks jacked-up after the so-called flying demo.

            Charlie tells Hush Puppy to drop the flying act, & instead offers him a trip to the movies with Lamb Chop & paying for the tickets. Hush Puppy likes this, & thanks Charlie with a kiss.

-That’s like saying: “Thank you for taking me out of this flying stuff, because the next flying stunt that you will make me do will give me a one-way ticket to the emergency room.”

            As soon as Hush Puppy leaves, Charlie is disappointed that he doesn’t have “a voice of Minnie Mouse” and “no circus dog.” Then Shari asks him if he ever thought that the guys would like him for himself. And listen to what Charlie says: “Would you?”

 

-That’s the worst line ever! It’s like Charlie’s saying that nobody likes him, and that he’s the most hated person on the planet! But you know that it’s not true, because he’s a likeable character in this show, and Shari loves him for who he is.

 

Act 3:

 

Lamb Chop is getting ready to go to the movies. She tells Shari that she invited a few friends to go with her, and that Charlie Horse is paying for everyone. The only thing is: Charlie doesn’t know that he’s paying for everyone.

            Charlie Horse walks into the room sad. Shari tries to see what’s wrong, but Charlie uses more excuses to hide his true feelings.

Shari: “You look a little blue.”
Charlie: “No, I’m just sick and tired of being happy all the time, that’s all. I’ll see you later…”
Shari: “Charlie, would you care to talk?”
Charlie: “No.”
Shari: “Um, can I guess?”
Charlie: “Sure, sure, why not? Give it a shot!”
(pause)
Shari: “The guys are not coming over to do… things.”
(pause) (Charlie looks at Shari and says…)
Charlie: “Lucky guess.”
-Oh, now they’re afraid to say the word “things”? Are they high?!
-It took Charlie at least 4 lines until Shari could crack him open.

            Charlie reveals that the guys would have more fun at another person’s place, because apparently their dad does the voice for Popeye.

-So impressing people is all nothing but creating lies and more lies? That’s not good. One, how can you be friends with people that bullshit each other to impress the other? And two, why not find people that will like you for yourself? That’s just ridiculous!

            Then Shari tells Charlie that real friends don’t have to be impressed by him, and that they need to just care for him. She even tells him that family is the greatest friends that he could ever have, because they’re friends “first, foremost, and forever.”

            Now with that said, Lamb Chop invites him to go to the movies with the whole gang, and listen to her say: “We’d love for you to join us…”

-Yeah, so you can pay for all of us, and get our tickets and popcorn… and to spend your entire allowance on us…

            Charlie Horse cheers up and says that he wants to see the wolf-man come back to eat the entire state of Pennsylvania.

-So he drops the problem with friends as if it never happened. He mood swings too many times in this episode. First he’s happy, and then he’s frustrated, and then he’s sad, and blah, blah, blah…

            Oh, yeah. And Lamb Chop pretends to be in pain.

-Know why? Because of the Alka Seltzer joke that she made.

 

            And that was a pretty good episode of Lamb Chop’s Play Along. So, now that you know what this episode was about, does it still hold up?

            The funniest act out of the 3 acts would be the second act. Besides being funny and stuff, the second act introduced us to the conflict, as well as so many excuses to try and cover the problem.

            Overall, this episode was an okay-one, because most of the story was solid and made sense. And hey, it even touched on the issue of making friends, keeping them, and trying to keep them interested in you; it even gave us the moral that real friends care about people and don’t need to be impressed by things.

            So, for grading this episode, I would definitely give it an A-.

Amateur Critic
Source: Lamb Chop's Play Along
All rights go to Shari Lewis

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid- Book Review

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

I promised you all that I would do a book review, because, hence my slogan: I review just about anything. So, this is Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
No. Not the movie. The book series.

I read the books first before watching any of the movies. I gotta say: the books are better than the actual movies. The movie makes the story seem uninventive and cheesy that anyone can easily mistaken the story as a cheesy kids' commercial/jingle.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series was written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney, and was published by Amulet Books. This book series gives up both a novel and comic book mashed up into one book, or as the quote says on the front cover of the first book: "a novel in cartoons." I gotta admit that this book was funny when I first read the series, but when the movies came out, they mess everything up.

So what is this book series about? Well, the story follows the adventures of a boy named Greg Heffley, as he tries to survive middle school, as well as his own home environment. He has an older brother named Rodrick, who's into rock bands (and is in one, I guess) and can be mean to him at times. He has a mother that's typically naïve, and a father that cares more about kids obeying him and about his war history fanatic junk than his own kids. He even has a kid brother who doesn't know any better, and isn't even potty-trained.
-Well, I just wanna say one thing to Greg at this point: good luck with your family, because Thank God they're not mine!

Greg is friends with a boy named Rowley... who apparently acts like a 5-year-old than his own age. At times, he would run into trouble and get bullied at school. Heck, he even runs into trouble at home, whether it's with Rodrick or with his parents.

At school, Greg really wants to be famous, whether it's with the comic strip writing, or just getting a girl named Holly Hillis to be his girlfriend.

At the end of every story, the main character has a resolution and looks back at the things he did.

Character Analysis:

Greg Heffley isn't so bad of a character. But isn't he old enough to know what's best for himself? I mean, sure, he may be still a kid, but why can't he grow up some? He shows a big interest in video games and doing whatever he wants, but he has to work hard to have those luxuries; he can't just have it all in one time.
Also, he's too critical on things, like his family, his social status at school, and about other kids at school. He has this big imagination sometimes, that it most often clouds his judgment on things.

How The Book Series Did As a Movie:

Well, the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie made it okay on opening week, just losing to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, but still having the balls to beat out The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler.
The movie itself had mixed reviews, because critics mainly criticized the protagonist of not being likeable to appeal to the audience, and the moral that the movie is trying to get across is being set aside to make way for middle school humor. But then again, the movie somehow appealed to the younger audience, because the story dealt with kids, especially middle-schoolers.

The Other Two Movies:
As for the two sequels Rodrick Rules and Dog Days, they were a little different based on storyline, because they added elements from the other books to make their storylines longer and a little more appealing. Plus, Jeff Kinney himself played one of the characters in those two movies.

Just like the first movie, Rodrick Rules took second place in the box office on opening day, except that this film fell behind Sucker Punch; but then it made #1 in the weekend box office.
-Okay, that was a big difference, compared to its first movie.
Also, like its first movie, it got mixed reviews.
-I guess the second movie was duller than the first.

Now, for Dog Days, this one got mixed reviews too, except it turns out that the main character is likeable.
-That's a big difference, because first Greg Heffley was not likeable, and now he is.

My Insight On This Book Series:
Whether you like the actual book series or not, needless to say that the movie adaptations are so cheesy that you'll need something like broccoli or nacho chips to keep the cheese from dripping onto the floor. I mean, in the movie, there's nothing creative or exciting about a kid's life in middle school, because it touches on issues like bullying and trying to be popular that that message is like a slap in the face every time you see images of it on the movie screen.
I prefer reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books than watching the movie adaptation because the books have more dignity than when movies try to bring it to life. It's such a waste of time and money.


Amateur Critic

Sources:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Rotten Tomatoes
Metacritic

All rights go to Jeff Kinney and Amulet Books.

"Lamb Chop's Play Along: When You Grow Up" Episode- TV Show Review

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

As a kid, have you ever been asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Ever wondered how Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy would answer that question? Just refer to the Lamb Chop’s Play Along episode “When You Grow Up.”

            This episode was both good and bad. It was good because all the characters answered the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” But it was also bad, because the plot made no sense, and the 3-act story goes from okay to dull.

            So… I got a few minutes to waste, so let’s dive into “When You Grow Up.”

 

Act1:

 

Charlie Horse and Lamb Chop are outside discussing their assignment from school. The two must think about what they want to be when they grow up. Lamb Chop doesn’t understand the question, and Charlie tells her that “this is a free country” and that she could be “anything she wants.”

            And what’s Lamb Chop’s answer: a fish.

-You heard right! Lamb Chop wants to be a fish. I still don’t think she gets the question. I mean, she’s not looking into becoming a doctor, teacher, or actress; but she is looking into becoming… a fish. How lame is that? But hey, she’s six, and Charlie’s eight; so, you can’t really blame her naïve character in this show.

            Charlie Horse suggests that she become president, but Lamb Chop turns that down, because she wants to be a fish. However, she gets this crazy idea that she could “the first fish president.” Charlie tries to shy her away from that idea, but she relents. In fact, she offers Charlie the vice-president bid if she becomes the first fish president.

-It’s obvious that this is all silly. But don’t you worry; by the time she grows up, she’ll probably be joining Betty White’s group in Off Their Rockers.

 

Act 2:

Charlie Horse sits down with Hush Puppy in the living room to talk about the school assignment.

-Can you guess what Hush Puppy’s answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up?” will be?
Hush Puppy: “Oh, no. I ain’t gonna grow up.”

            After hearing that answer, Charlie tries to explain that Hush Puppy is going to grow up no matter what. But Hush Puppy’s reason for the answer that he gave is because he doesn’t want to end up changing his name.

-Yeah, I wouldn’t want to change my name either. I remember going on Google and looking up what my name meant. I think it means “true image.” Go ahead. Look it up. I’m not lying.

            Shari comes in… apparently scaring the crap out of Hush Puppy.

-Hush Puppy: “Oh, Shari, I didn’t see you come in.”

Yeah, because she was working your mouth from behind the couch… or was she working Charlie’s mouth the whole time? IDK, but she’s a ventriloquist and a puppeteer. What would you expect?

            Shari tells Hush Puppy that he doesn’t need to change his name when he grows up, and that his name “represents the little puppy inside that [he] would always be to [her].” And Hush Puppy asks her what would happen if he decided to become a fish. This disappoints Charlie, because he thinks everyone wants to be a fish. Then Hush Puppy makes a joke about that:

Hush Puppy: “… I would even change my name.”
Shari: “To what?”
-Now, I want you all to pretend that you’re on the TV show Jeopardy, and guess the answer in less than 30 seconds. Good luck.

CATEROGY: Character-based Jokes

QUESTION: What is the most funny-as-heck joke that you could think up for this scene?
Got the answer? The answer is… Uh, everyone in 3, 2, 1…
Hush Puppy: “Hush Puppy Guppie.”
If you get the joke, then fine. If not, I would refer you to the first act, and that’s it.

 

Act 3:

 

We cut to Charlie Horse showing Shari and Lamb Chop to a bunch of junk… I mean, his “invention.” He tells them that he wants to be an inventor when he grows up, which leads to a disappointment to Lamb Chop.

            Charlie tests out his invention. It turns out the machine can make ticking sounds, breathing sounds, you can tickle it, and it answers questions wrong. But despite its disadvantages, Shari thinks that the machine makes her laugh. But then, Lamb Chop tells Charlie Horse that she wishes that the machine could turn her into a fish.

-Yeah, even when the story ends, we still get that running gag. Well, at least they use that gag one more time. So no big deal.
-The story ends there. But I got a feeling that the story is still some things. I mean, the story seems incomplete. Check these out:
1. Do Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy complete the “When You Grow Up” assignment when they go back to school?
2. Does Hush Puppy change his mind about growing up?
3. Will Lamb Chop pick a real career this time?
4. Will Charlie Horse fix his invention, that way it doesn’t sound dumb?
Well, we’ll never know.

 

            I wish I can say a lot of great stuff about this episode, but not really.

            Well, the third act was when I started to lose interest in the episode. The third act was so bland, that it makes the first two acts look bad.

            Overall, the episode was the equivalent to an ice cream melting after sitting in the sun for a while. You have the sweet goodness of the ice cream in the first two acts, but then the ice cream melts into a sticky pool when we finally get to the third act. The plot made no sense, because it was incomplete and so out of place, that I imagine the characters asking the writers over and over if there’s going to be a fourth act that would come in to explain everything.

            Well, if you want to see Lamb Chop’s Play Along at its best, then find the show’s other episodes on Youtube. If you want to see the show at its worst, then be my guest and see this episode, or any of the other episodes that feel incomplete. But for now, I’m giving this episode a B-.

 

Amateur Critic

Source: Lamb Chop's Play Along

All rights go to Shari Lewis

"Lamb Chop's Play Along: The Wallet" TV Show Review

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

My observation of Lamb Chop’s Play Along has continued. This time, I observed the episode “The Wallet,” where the characters Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy encounter a lost wallet.

            This episode was one of my favorites. In fact, of all the episodes that I would watch on Youtube, I watched this episode many, many times. I liked that the plot was solid and straightforward, because we had the internal and external conflicts, and we had a strong resolution at the end of the show.

            So, without further ado, this is “The Wallet” on Lamb Chop’s Play Along.

 

Act 1:

 

The story starts when we see Charlie Horse is arm-wrestling with Hush Puppy.
-Who’s winning? We don’t know. But telling by Charlie’s mumbling, “I got ya… I got ya…” we can say that Charlie’s winning.

            Just then, Lamb Chop interrupts the game, causing Charlie to lose.

-Listen to when Charlie’s arm gets slammed into the table. You can hear his arm sizzle as soon as his arm slams into the table. What, are they frying his arm on a frying pan?

            Charlie Horse gets mad at Lamb Chop, and asks her why she had disturbed the arm-wrestling match. Lamb Chop’s explanation: she wanted to tell them that she found a wallet with $50 in it. This catches the attention of Charlie and Hush Puppy.

 

-Just remember that this episode was in the 90s. $50 was a lot of money back then. Imagine how it does today, with the economy and all that…

            Charlie wants to keep the money, but Lamb Chop believes that Shari would want them to give the wallet back to the person who lost. However, Lamb Chop thinks about wanting things like…

Lamb Chop: “…a skipping rope and a new yo-yo, a hula hoop…”

Charlie Horse: “Yeah, well, how about a catcher’s mitt, a basketball…”
Hush Puppy: “A chocolate-covered steak bone! Mmmm…”
-It’s like the kids are going down their wish list in this scene. This is $50 in a wallet that we’re talking about, not $100 that given to them exclusively.

            Just then, Charlie takes the wallet from Lamb Chop, and Lamb Chop panics because she still wants to do the right thing and return the wallet. But Charlie Horse, with his smart-alec demeanor, tells her that it would be impossible to track the owner down. Suddenly, Hush Puppy finds the owner’s contact information inside the wallet, leading to disappointment to Charlie Horse.

 

-You can actually hear Charlie growl with hate, as Hush Puppy reads the owner’s contact information. Well, Charlie, since you have a big mouth, why don’t you give somebody else a chance to say what they have to say?

 

Act 2:

 

Lamb Chop is standing in front of the mirror, going over what she’s going to say to the owner of the wallet. And then out of nowhere, her own reflection speaks to her.
-You heard right! Her own reflection speaks to her face-to-face. Mirror, mirror, on the wall. What is the weirdest scene of this show of all?

            Lamb Chop’s reflection wants her to keep the money and spend it, but Lamb Chop herself wants to give the wallet back. They argue back and forth, until Shari comes in and sees what sees doing. By the time Lamb Chop sees Shari come in, the reflection returns back to normal.

-Big… bleepin’ surprise. Not!

            Lamb Chop explains her predicament to Shari, saying that part of her wants to keep the money, but another part of her wants to give the wallet back. Shari tells her that she needs to decide what’s best for her. Finally, Lamb Chop decides to return the wallet.

 

Act 3:

            We see Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse reading books in the [see-through] living room. Hush Puppy tells Charlie that he had overheard Lamb Chop and Shari talking about the wallet. According to Hush Puppy…

 

-Lamb Chop’s keeping the money? I don’t know if that was the case.
-In this living room scene, you can easily spot written humor. For example, the fact that Hush Puppy puts a glass up to his ear to listen to the conversation, but getting an earful of chocolate milk. But then, he puts a glass up to the wall… with grapefruit juice in it. Can you believe that? How can anyone hear anything through any kind of drink?

            Lamb Chop and Shari come into the living room. Lamb Chop announces that she returned the wallet to its owner. She then said that the owner gave her “a big reward” and “a big thank you.”

 

It turns out she got a quarter from the guy, which is another disappointment to Charlie Horse. But don’t you worry, Lamb Chop tells him that he and Hush Puppy can “share the big thank you.”

-I can’t believe the story ends there. I wish there was an alternate ending for this episode, because I felt that there should’ve been more said from Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy… well, especially Hush Puppy, because he’s adorable in this episode.

 

            And that was… a funny-as-heck episode of Lamb Chop’s Play Along. But how was it, in my opinion?

            Well, the writing in this episode wasn’t bad. The written humor was used to the show’s advantage. Plus, it touches on a moral that you find things, you shouldn’t keep them if they don’t belong to you.

            So ask me: if I was to find a wallet with $50 in it, would I keep it or give it back?

            My answer: I would return the wallet to its owner, because what would I want with somebody else’s $50?
            Anyway, I’ll give this episode of Lamb Chop’s Play Along an A-.

 

Amateur Critic

Source: Lamb Chop's Play Along

All rights go to Shari Lewis.