January 2004 - March 2004
Reviewed by Jasper
Segment 1
"Sing A Song"
"Somebody's Watching Me"
Intermission 1
Coke Groove 1
VeggieTales: "Boids"
3 Minute Countdown: "Home With A Range"
Segment 2
"Who Put The Bomp"
"Breakout"
Intermission 2
More Fun Promo 1
Eddie Coker: "Play With Me"
Eddie Coker: "Happy One"
3 Minute Countdown: "Where Is Chuck E / More We Get Together"
Segment 3
"I'm Walking"
"September"
Intermission 3
Coke Groove 2
The Tube Explorer
3 Minute Countdown: "Pizza Cabana"
Segment 4
"Ain't That A Shame"
"Chuck E's Place"
Intermission 4
More Fun Promo 2
Carl & Phil Monkey Ninjas: Episode 5
Once again it is time for a brand new year full of showtapes, and this year is off to a great start with the debute of the January 2004 Show. Watching this show for the first time, I realized how much the shows have improved over the years - and this show has it all: a funny show logo, hilarious intermissions, fun cameos, & excellent songs.
The Jan 04 Show starts out with a bang...featuring two great songs performed by Jasper. The beginning segment has the wit and sarcastic humor as found in the September 2003 Show, which I found fun to watch as Jasper shows who is the real star of Chuck E's place. Segment One is definitely the highlight of the show, especially the hilarious video footage in "Somebody's Watching Me" featuring Jeremy, Robert, and Matt.
The next two segments in this show follow the same formula that we all have grown to love - Pasqually telling bad jokes, Helen beautifully singing another song, and more witty humor between the characters. Probably one of the best jokes for animatronic characters takes place after "I'm Walking" - Chuck E's friends are worried that he is leaving, and Jasper jokingly says he can't because he is bolted to the floor!
Finally, the last segment starts out with Munch losing his pizza - for which he sings "Ain't That A Shame"... and then it leads on to the modern remake of the classic CEC song, "Chuck E's Place". And let me tell you... this remake is probably one of the best redone CEC songs I have ever seen! The voice actors did an awesome job with it, and the music is very upbeat and better than the original.
In all, the segments were really well done, and most definitely the highlight of this show. Jeremy gets into the act once again by being the overexaggerating show announcer - or in this case, "your friendly neighborhood announcer"! And the show logo is great - which is an old show logo from 2002 with a new take on it. Great job Matt and Ryan!
The intermissions are cool in this show, and definitely an improvement over the intermissions in the 2003 showtapes. Nothing can beat using old CEC songs for the countdowns... I'm very glad they decided to do this again, and more interesting to watch than those generic countdowns from Summer 03 and September 03. I didn't realize until now how I miss some of those old Just For Kids Show songs and "Pizza Cabana"!
The other intermissions vary - some are awesome, and some are just okay. I was not impressed with the More Fun Promos... which are real CEC commercials. Coke Grooves are also pointless promos... although I do admit the music and video footage is pretty tight. The VeggieTales song, "Boids", is definitely not one of the best VeggieTales intermissions I have seen in the CEC showtapes throughout the years. It is boring compared to the more fun and interesting Silly Songs With Larry. Eddie Coker's song has been reused, but the intro song, "Play With Me", before "Happy One" begins is new to the CEC shows.
But the intermissions that totally rocked were the new episodes of Tube Explorer, and Carl & Phil Monkey Ninjas! Both of these intermissions are fun, interesting, and hilarious! Hank Howdy takes us on another stroll through the tubes and gameroom of Chuck E Cheese's... this time trying to figure out what is the coolest thing to do. This intermission is very clever, but a bit long. Nonetheless, I welcome these in-house intermissions with open arms, as these are much more fun to watch than anything else. This episode of Tube Explorer is definitely an improvment over the one in the April 2003 Show!
Monkey Ninjas: Episode V is hilarious...it's amazing how creative and humorous each new episode gets. Usually a good thing like this doesn't last, but Deva George's cartoon has proven me wrong. I most definitely think CPMN & Tube Explorer are the January 2004 Show's best intermission!
The Department 18 team did an excellent job with this show... the whole show flows very well with great song choices and intermissions!
Studio C (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains close during Helen's "Breakout".
Studio C (Part 2) - The Studio C puppets' backgrounds are the same color and design as in the September 2003 Show.
Studio C (Part 3) - Helen's screen splits into four during "Breakout". This is similar to "Row Your Boat" from Summertime 2001/2002.
Existing Stages - There is no curtain diversity for any of the Existing Stages.
Character Songs - Jasper has two back to back songs in this show! He sings "Sing A Song" and "Somebody's Watching Me". Helen sings "Breakout", and Munch sings "Ain't That A Shame". Pasqually has no song of his own in this show (other than the countdown "Home With A Range"), but all the characters have major parts in "Chuck E's Place".
Song Remakes - "Chuck E's Place" is a classic CEC song with a modern remake. You can recall this song as the ending to the original "Havin' A Party" live. "September" was also used back in the September 1990 Show.
Song Covers - There are two Earth Wind & Fire songs: "September" & "Sing A Song". There are also two Fats Domino songs: "Ain't That A Shame" & "I'm Walking". "Who Put The Bomp" is a Barry Mann song..."Breakout" is Swing Out Sister, and "Somebody's Watching Me" is Rockwell. There are no parodies in this show.
Eddie Coker - Eddie Coker's "Happy One" is reused from the Dance Party.
Tube Explorer - In this fifth installment of the Tube Explorer, Hank Howdy takes notes with his "scientific pen" and on his "scientific pad" about the "coolest" things to do at Chuck E Cheese's.
Countdowns - The countdowns in this show are CEC songs from previous shows. "Where Is Chuck E/More We Get Together" and "Home With The Range" are from the Just For Kids Show. "Pizza Cabana" is from Summertime (2000 - 2002 version). The last show to use CEC songs as countdowns was the April 2003 Show.
More Fun Promo - The More Fun Promos are actual CEC commercials. The Coke Grooves are intermissions promoting Coca-Cola products.
Coke Groove - The music for Coke Groove 1 was also used as the one minute Birthday Break music for the April 2002 Show and September 2002 Show. Coke Groove 2's music is the Birthday Break from the January 2002 Show.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 1) - Jeremy Blaido, Robert Gotcher, and Matt Schartz all appear in the hilarious video footage of "Somebody's Watching Me".
Department 18 Cameos (Part 2) - Matt Schartz and Ryan Hollingsworth (aka the Tube Explorer) both make cameos while playing a game of football in "September". Matt is wearing the April 2002 Show shirt.
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music and video has been reused from the January 2003, April 2003, Summer 2003, & September 2003 Shows.
January 2004 Show Logo - The show logo first has Matt Schartz (in an April 2003 Show shirt) jogging...then he jumps over a fallen branch and suddenly he is on rollerblades...then he jumps again and he is on a bicycle - until he finally reaches the temple of Chuck E Cheese (which is actually the show logo from the April 2002 Show). Matt goes into the temple, and he waves to us from inside! The idea for this show logo was created by Matt Schartz and Ryan Hollingsworth.
-3 out of 5 Tokens-
The January Show starts 2004 off at a great start, with fun song choices and intermissions! I do have a few things to nitpick about... such as how "Chuck E's Place" really doesn't fit in with the rest of the show. Here we have a show full of cool oldies, and ends with this original CEC song. Not that its bad of course, I just found it interesting how out of place it is in the song line-up. The other problem I found was that some of the intermissions dragged on a bit too long...those Coke Grooves were tedious, and the Tube Explorer was a bit longer than it needed to be. Although I do enjoy most of Eddie Coker's songs, this time around his intermission was way too long for my taste with both "Play With Me" and the repeated "Happy One". But hey - those CEC countdown songs rocked, and so did CPMN (although the ending of Episode V was kind of sudden and bland like Episode IV's ending). Like I said above, these intermissions are a way improvement over the 2003 shows intermissions.
But the segments is what makes this show a winner... with great character dialogue and awesome songs! My favorites include "Sing A Song", "Somebody's Watching Me", and the updated "Chuck E's Place"...although truthfully I found myself enjoying every single one of the eight songs. The video footage is also awesome, including a bunch of new footage and material. The show logo is a great idea, and I like the fact how it is a new take on an old show logo favorite. The only problem with it is that you can only catch the part with Matt jogging to the temple at the beginning of each segment...there should have been more footage to show at the end of the segments - but nonetheless I think this logo is a bit more creative than the Sep 03's logo.
In all, January 04 is a fun show, and I enjoyed it very much. I think in certain aspects the September 2003 Show is a bit better than the January 2004 Show, but nonetheless both these shows rock! Another great job by Department 18!
"Sing A Song"
"Somebody's Watching Me"
Intermission 1
Coke Groove 1
VeggieTales: "Boids"
3 Minute Countdown: "Home With A Range"
Segment 2
"Who Put The Bomp"
"Breakout"
Intermission 2
More Fun Promo 1
Eddie Coker: "Play With Me"
Eddie Coker: "Happy One"
3 Minute Countdown: "Where Is Chuck E / More We Get Together"
Segment 3
"I'm Walking"
"September"
Intermission 3
Coke Groove 2
The Tube Explorer
3 Minute Countdown: "Pizza Cabana"
Segment 4
"Ain't That A Shame"
"Chuck E's Place"
Intermission 4
More Fun Promo 2
Carl & Phil Monkey Ninjas: Episode 5
Once again it is time for a brand new year full of showtapes, and this year is off to a great start with the debute of the January 2004 Show. Watching this show for the first time, I realized how much the shows have improved over the years - and this show has it all: a funny show logo, hilarious intermissions, fun cameos, & excellent songs.
The Jan 04 Show starts out with a bang...featuring two great songs performed by Jasper. The beginning segment has the wit and sarcastic humor as found in the September 2003 Show, which I found fun to watch as Jasper shows who is the real star of Chuck E's place. Segment One is definitely the highlight of the show, especially the hilarious video footage in "Somebody's Watching Me" featuring Jeremy, Robert, and Matt.
The next two segments in this show follow the same formula that we all have grown to love - Pasqually telling bad jokes, Helen beautifully singing another song, and more witty humor between the characters. Probably one of the best jokes for animatronic characters takes place after "I'm Walking" - Chuck E's friends are worried that he is leaving, and Jasper jokingly says he can't because he is bolted to the floor!
Finally, the last segment starts out with Munch losing his pizza - for which he sings "Ain't That A Shame"... and then it leads on to the modern remake of the classic CEC song, "Chuck E's Place". And let me tell you... this remake is probably one of the best redone CEC songs I have ever seen! The voice actors did an awesome job with it, and the music is very upbeat and better than the original.
In all, the segments were really well done, and most definitely the highlight of this show. Jeremy gets into the act once again by being the overexaggerating show announcer - or in this case, "your friendly neighborhood announcer"! And the show logo is great - which is an old show logo from 2002 with a new take on it. Great job Matt and Ryan!
The intermissions are cool in this show, and definitely an improvement over the intermissions in the 2003 showtapes. Nothing can beat using old CEC songs for the countdowns... I'm very glad they decided to do this again, and more interesting to watch than those generic countdowns from Summer 03 and September 03. I didn't realize until now how I miss some of those old Just For Kids Show songs and "Pizza Cabana"!
The other intermissions vary - some are awesome, and some are just okay. I was not impressed with the More Fun Promos... which are real CEC commercials. Coke Grooves are also pointless promos... although I do admit the music and video footage is pretty tight. The VeggieTales song, "Boids", is definitely not one of the best VeggieTales intermissions I have seen in the CEC showtapes throughout the years. It is boring compared to the more fun and interesting Silly Songs With Larry. Eddie Coker's song has been reused, but the intro song, "Play With Me", before "Happy One" begins is new to the CEC shows.
But the intermissions that totally rocked were the new episodes of Tube Explorer, and Carl & Phil Monkey Ninjas! Both of these intermissions are fun, interesting, and hilarious! Hank Howdy takes us on another stroll through the tubes and gameroom of Chuck E Cheese's... this time trying to figure out what is the coolest thing to do. This intermission is very clever, but a bit long. Nonetheless, I welcome these in-house intermissions with open arms, as these are much more fun to watch than anything else. This episode of Tube Explorer is definitely an improvment over the one in the April 2003 Show!
Monkey Ninjas: Episode V is hilarious...it's amazing how creative and humorous each new episode gets. Usually a good thing like this doesn't last, but Deva George's cartoon has proven me wrong. I most definitely think CPMN & Tube Explorer are the January 2004 Show's best intermission!
The Department 18 team did an excellent job with this show... the whole show flows very well with great song choices and intermissions!
Studio C (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains close during Helen's "Breakout".
Studio C (Part 2) - The Studio C puppets' backgrounds are the same color and design as in the September 2003 Show.
Studio C (Part 3) - Helen's screen splits into four during "Breakout". This is similar to "Row Your Boat" from Summertime 2001/2002.
Existing Stages - There is no curtain diversity for any of the Existing Stages.
Character Songs - Jasper has two back to back songs in this show! He sings "Sing A Song" and "Somebody's Watching Me". Helen sings "Breakout", and Munch sings "Ain't That A Shame". Pasqually has no song of his own in this show (other than the countdown "Home With A Range"), but all the characters have major parts in "Chuck E's Place".
Song Remakes - "Chuck E's Place" is a classic CEC song with a modern remake. You can recall this song as the ending to the original "Havin' A Party" live. "September" was also used back in the September 1990 Show.
Song Covers - There are two Earth Wind & Fire songs: "September" & "Sing A Song". There are also two Fats Domino songs: "Ain't That A Shame" & "I'm Walking". "Who Put The Bomp" is a Barry Mann song..."Breakout" is Swing Out Sister, and "Somebody's Watching Me" is Rockwell. There are no parodies in this show.
Eddie Coker - Eddie Coker's "Happy One" is reused from the Dance Party.
Tube Explorer - In this fifth installment of the Tube Explorer, Hank Howdy takes notes with his "scientific pen" and on his "scientific pad" about the "coolest" things to do at Chuck E Cheese's.
Countdowns - The countdowns in this show are CEC songs from previous shows. "Where Is Chuck E/More We Get Together" and "Home With The Range" are from the Just For Kids Show. "Pizza Cabana" is from Summertime (2000 - 2002 version). The last show to use CEC songs as countdowns was the April 2003 Show.
More Fun Promo - The More Fun Promos are actual CEC commercials. The Coke Grooves are intermissions promoting Coca-Cola products.
Coke Groove - The music for Coke Groove 1 was also used as the one minute Birthday Break music for the April 2002 Show and September 2002 Show. Coke Groove 2's music is the Birthday Break from the January 2002 Show.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 1) - Jeremy Blaido, Robert Gotcher, and Matt Schartz all appear in the hilarious video footage of "Somebody's Watching Me".
Department 18 Cameos (Part 2) - Matt Schartz and Ryan Hollingsworth (aka the Tube Explorer) both make cameos while playing a game of football in "September". Matt is wearing the April 2002 Show shirt.
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music and video has been reused from the January 2003, April 2003, Summer 2003, & September 2003 Shows.
January 2004 Show Logo - The show logo first has Matt Schartz (in an April 2003 Show shirt) jogging...then he jumps over a fallen branch and suddenly he is on rollerblades...then he jumps again and he is on a bicycle - until he finally reaches the temple of Chuck E Cheese (which is actually the show logo from the April 2002 Show). Matt goes into the temple, and he waves to us from inside! The idea for this show logo was created by Matt Schartz and Ryan Hollingsworth.
-3 out of 5 Tokens-
The January Show starts 2004 off at a great start, with fun song choices and intermissions! I do have a few things to nitpick about... such as how "Chuck E's Place" really doesn't fit in with the rest of the show. Here we have a show full of cool oldies, and ends with this original CEC song. Not that its bad of course, I just found it interesting how out of place it is in the song line-up. The other problem I found was that some of the intermissions dragged on a bit too long...those Coke Grooves were tedious, and the Tube Explorer was a bit longer than it needed to be. Although I do enjoy most of Eddie Coker's songs, this time around his intermission was way too long for my taste with both "Play With Me" and the repeated "Happy One". But hey - those CEC countdown songs rocked, and so did CPMN (although the ending of Episode V was kind of sudden and bland like Episode IV's ending). Like I said above, these intermissions are a way improvement over the 2003 shows intermissions.
But the segments is what makes this show a winner... with great character dialogue and awesome songs! My favorites include "Sing A Song", "Somebody's Watching Me", and the updated "Chuck E's Place"...although truthfully I found myself enjoying every single one of the eight songs. The video footage is also awesome, including a bunch of new footage and material. The show logo is a great idea, and I like the fact how it is a new take on an old show logo favorite. The only problem with it is that you can only catch the part with Matt jogging to the temple at the beginning of each segment...there should have been more footage to show at the end of the segments - but nonetheless I think this logo is a bit more creative than the Sep 03's logo.
In all, January 04 is a fun show, and I enjoyed it very much. I think in certain aspects the September 2003 Show is a bit better than the January 2004 Show, but nonetheless both these shows rock! Another great job by Department 18!