April 2005 - June 2005
Reviewed by Jasper
Segment 1
"Free Ride"
"Splish Splash"
Intermission 1
Minute Maid Spot
VeggieTales: “Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV)”
Countdown 1
Charlie Rockit
Countdown 2
Segment 2
"Polution Is Crazy"
"Opposite Day"
Intermission 2
NASA Footage
Pasqually's Polka Minute
Countdown 3
Chuck E's Zoo View
Countdown 4
Segment 3
"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
"Colors"
Intermission 3
Coke Spot
VeggieTales: "BellyButton"
Countdown 5
Super Jasper
Countdown 6
Segment 4
"Disco Inferno"
"Stand By Me"
Intermission 4
Pizza Survivor
Charlie Rockit
Super Chuck Summer Promo
Countdown 7
April 2005 Show has plenty of fun songs, intermissions, footage, programming, and cameos to satisfy all CEC fans!
Segment 1 starts the show off at a high note with Helen’s “Free Ride”, with footage of good ol’ Jeremy Blaido picking up hitchhikers (you gotta love that CEC Entertainment is based in Texas – have you noticed in almost every show there’s at least one scene with a barn?) After the song, Chuck E announces he didn’t have time for a bath in the morning (Poor guy…don’t forget this show runs every day for 3 months…) so that leads into a fun oldie, “Splish Splash” featuring Chuck E Cheese…in the bathtub.
Chuck E is squeaky clean as we enter Segment 2, where Munch teaches us to pick up our trash in “Pollution Is Crazy”, a fun and rather unique parody of “She Drives Me Crazy”. Afterwards, Jasper surprises the gang with the announcement that he doesn’t pick up after himself, and that he quits the band. Of course he’s kidding (he isn’t going anywhere Dani…) and that leads us into a CEC original song, “Opposite Day”…featuring video footage…shot backwards!
All the opposite day fun is over in Segment 3, where Helen and her girlfriends take over with everyone’s favorite 80’s song, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. The best part of this segment (other than the dad in the footage almost looks like Mr. Bean) is the Studio C version, where Chuck E’s curtains open during the choruses, but remain close during Helen’s parts. I always enjoy little touches like this. A little variety never hurts! After “Girls”, the show video feed shuts down, in which Chuck E calls the help of Larry the Technician (Hooray, Larry! Welcome back…again!) Larry fixes things and this leads into another fun original song, “Colors”.
And finally the last segment is the real showstopper – featuring two excellent songs, the energetic “Disco Inferno” and the classic “Stand By Me”.
April 2005 Show’s intermissions are real winners, featuring some new pieces and the return of many fan favorites. In all, the show features a healthy variety of material, from animated shorts to puppetry to the usual fare of generic music set to CEC footage. Although most of the material is reused, the variety listed above helps keep the interest unlike the tedious line-up of the January 2005 Show.
There’s one more thing to note in this Show Glance, and that’s the departure of Production Coordinator Matt Schartz from Department 18 Productions. Matt started out doing freelance work for CEC in 2000, and quickly became the most recognizable face in the CEC videos (he was always the DJ!) In 2001, Matt became the team’s Production Coordinator, whose job (among many other things) is to program the animatronics and lighting for the Studio C and Existing Stages. And the coolest thing about Matt is the fact that he’s a big fan of the show just like the rest of us, and I always really appreciated all the help and knowledge he shared with me and the other fans throughout his CEC career. Best of luck Matt!
Michael Hill will be the new Production Coordinator starting with the September 2005 Show.
Studio C (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains remain closed during Helen's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", but opens when he joins in on the two choruses. The last time something like this was done was "Chuck E Town" from the April 1999 Show.
Studio C (Part 2) - The Studio C puppets' backgrounds are the same colors and designs from the April 2004 Show.
Studio C (Part 3) - Just like in the January 2005 Show, the characters only appear on screen during songs that feature them singing main vocals. Here is a list of puppet appearances:
-"Free Ride" - Helen
-"Pollution Is Crazy" - Munch
-"Opposite Day" - Jasper
-"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" - Helen
Existing Stages (Part 1) - There is no curtain diversity for any of the Existing Stages.
Existing Stages (Part 2) - The Super Chuck Summer Promo appears after Countdown 7 in the Existing Stages show schedule.
Character Songs - Helen sings "Free Ride" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", Munch sings "Pollution Is Crazy", and Jasper sings "Opposite Day". Poor Pasqually is sitting this one out.
Parodies & Originals - "Opposite Day" and "Colors" are CEC originals. "Pollution Is Crazy" is a parody of Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy". "Free Ride", "Splish Splash", "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Disco Inferno", and "Stand By Me" are covers.
Segment 3 - When Larry reboots the show in the middle of Segment 3, a bunch of video footage quickly flashes on the screen. This includes a bunch of random shots from this show, the Department 18 logo, and...Dick Frank! Yep, the famous shot of Dick Frank inside Frank's Barber Shop from the September 1993 Show makes a quick little appearance during this montage.
Intermissions - Most of the intermissions in this show have been reused from previous CEC shows. Here is a list where all the intermissions come from:
-Charlie Rockit (Charlie Chorebot) - January 1994 & January 1997
-Pasqually's Polka Minute - January 2002 & January 2003
-Chuck E's Zoo View - January 1994
-VeggieTales: "BellyButton" - September 2003
-Super Jasper (Resist The Temptation) - April 2001 & January 2003
-Pizza Survivor - September 2002
-Charlie Rockit (Cooler Downer) - January 1994 & January 1997
Minute Maid & Coke Spots - Both are brand new Department 18 originals. The Minute Maid Spot has Jared trying to get a drink from a giant Minute Maid carton. The Coke Spot has the Department 18 crew and Chuck E dancing in front of a Coca-Cola machine.
NASA - A short music intermission featuring a hodgepodge of NASA footage.
Super Chuck Summer Promo - A short teaser at the end of the show for the next big in-house promotion, "Super Chuck Summer". Interesting part of this promo is the references to the earlier campaigns - "More Fun", "More Fun 2", "Summer of Fun", and "Winter 1-derland".
Countdowns - All of the Countdowns in this show are either footage from old CEC songs set to new music or all around new pieces. Also to note is that some of the footage is from previous shows (such as Shopping Cart from "Paper Or Plastic"), but those pieces are newly edited hence they say "New" after them. Here is a list of all 7 Countdowns - featuring where they originated from or if they are brand new:
-Countdown 1 - Shopping Cart (New)
-Countdown 2 - "Hip Mouse" (Footage) - April 1999 & January 2000
-Countdown 3 - "Ace In The Hole" (Footage) - January 2001
-Countdown 4 - Workout Time (New)
-Countdown 5 - "Jump Shout Boogie" (Footage) - January 2001
-Countdown 6 - "Do You Love Me" (Footage) - September 2001
-Countdown 7 - "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Footage) - January 1994
Countdown 3 - Interesting to note, Countdown 3 has the instrumental of "Smile" from the September 2004 Show.
Countdown 4 - The Workout Time video was shot for a deleted song from the September 2004 Show. That's why it looks like the characters are singing. It was obviously going to be a Munch song.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 1) - Robert Gotcher appears in the Coke Spot and a dancer in "Disco Inferno". Rob also has a quick appearance in "Pollution is Crazy". And our good friend Jeremy Blaido picks up hitchhikers in "Free Ride".
Department 18 Cameos (Part 2) - Matt Schartz appears in the Coke Spot and in the background from the reused Shopping Cart footage in Countdown 1. He is also in "Disco Inferno", and does the voiceovers as the show Announcer and for the Super Chuck Summer Promo.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 3) - Ryan Hollingsworth also appears in the Coke Spot and "Disco Inferno". Watch him chug down that Coke!
CEC TV IDs - CEC TV IDs are the short animated bumpers usually found at the beginning and/or end of each intermission. Four brand new IDs are introduced in this show. This include singing fish, Chuck E delivering pizza to an astronaut, fireworks spelling CEC TV, and "color the numbers" with Chuck E's head. Before the second countdowns in each intermission the IDs from January 2005 Show appear.
-Intermission 1 - Singing Fish ID, Chuck E Skateboarding ID
-Intermission 2 - Astronaut ID, Radio Towers ID
-Intermission 3 - Fireworks ID, TV Jingle ID
-Intermission 4 - Color The Numbers ID, Falling Apple ID
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music has been reused from the April 2004, Summertime 2004, September 2004, & January 2005 Shows. The video is the April 2005 Show logo.
April 2005 Show Logo - This brand new animated logo has Chuck E Cheese delivering pizza to robots in outerspace. The camera zooms into one of the robots and shows his gears that spell "CEC TV". In Segment 1, a shot from the Cow Abduction CEC TV ID appears before the logo.
-4.5 out of 5 Tokens-
April 2005 Show really impressed me, and I think it goes far above and beyond the fun and quality of the January 2005 Show.
First of all, the song choices are outstanding. “Free Ride”, “Splish Splash”, “Disco Inferno”, and “Stand By Me” are classics. I've also wanted CEC to do covers of these songs…and I think they did a great job with all of them. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was the highlight of the cover song roster, especially after hearing the Rock-afire Mitzi version several times. What I can say is that CEC did a superb job with it, and the best part is comparing the way Annagrey and Shalisa both differently approach this classic. But I have to say my favorite song is “Pollution Is Crazy”…not only because it’s a Munch song (next to Jasper he’s my favorite character…and it’s an unique song for the recently underutilized character) but it’s a fun and different kind of parody for CEC.
The intermission roster really stands out – allowing this show to get a Two Paws Up. The song segments are always winners, and the intermissions always make or break the whole CEC experience, whether you watch them or not. After all, if you’re going to review a show, you have to enjoy the whole experience! These intermissions, much like September ’04 Show’s intermissions, are short and sweet segments – and have enough variety to be entertaining. The in-house intermissions – such as Super Jasper, Pizza Survivor, and Polka Minute – are always the highlights, and the VeggieTales are very enjoyable. Definitely more interesting than January ’05 Show’s bland roster. Good riddens Connie The Cow! The only thing I will nitpick about is the old school intermissions, such as Charlie Rockit and the “Grapevine” footage. They seem way too out of place for these modern shows. I’m sure Charlie Rockit was awesome in its original context 10 years ago, but in today’s showtapes it is absolutely laughable. Oh, and one more thing…I have finally seen a Coke Spot I actually really enjoyed. I never laughed so hard at Coke Spot 2 with the Department 18 crew dancing in front of a Coke machine. One of the most hilarious and interesting spots I have seen to date. Probably something an average guest won’t understand, but something a fan like me really enjoys.
And everything else about this show is a winner…fun new video footage, excellent animatronics and lighting programming, Studio C puppets during songs, and a funky new animated show logo. Can’t get any better than that!
This is definitely a great show for Matt Schartz to depart with. I tell you what though, his talents and contributions to Department 18 will be missed a lot by this Show Hound. So in all the April 2005 Show is an overall great show – with fun classic songs and a tight intermission roster. Horrible job! Oh yeah it’s still Opposite Day…
"Free Ride"
"Splish Splash"
Intermission 1
Minute Maid Spot
VeggieTales: “Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV)”
Countdown 1
Charlie Rockit
Countdown 2
Segment 2
"Polution Is Crazy"
"Opposite Day"
Intermission 2
NASA Footage
Pasqually's Polka Minute
Countdown 3
Chuck E's Zoo View
Countdown 4
Segment 3
"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
"Colors"
Intermission 3
Coke Spot
VeggieTales: "BellyButton"
Countdown 5
Super Jasper
Countdown 6
Segment 4
"Disco Inferno"
"Stand By Me"
Intermission 4
Pizza Survivor
Charlie Rockit
Super Chuck Summer Promo
Countdown 7
April 2005 Show has plenty of fun songs, intermissions, footage, programming, and cameos to satisfy all CEC fans!
Segment 1 starts the show off at a high note with Helen’s “Free Ride”, with footage of good ol’ Jeremy Blaido picking up hitchhikers (you gotta love that CEC Entertainment is based in Texas – have you noticed in almost every show there’s at least one scene with a barn?) After the song, Chuck E announces he didn’t have time for a bath in the morning (Poor guy…don’t forget this show runs every day for 3 months…) so that leads into a fun oldie, “Splish Splash” featuring Chuck E Cheese…in the bathtub.
Chuck E is squeaky clean as we enter Segment 2, where Munch teaches us to pick up our trash in “Pollution Is Crazy”, a fun and rather unique parody of “She Drives Me Crazy”. Afterwards, Jasper surprises the gang with the announcement that he doesn’t pick up after himself, and that he quits the band. Of course he’s kidding (he isn’t going anywhere Dani…) and that leads us into a CEC original song, “Opposite Day”…featuring video footage…shot backwards!
All the opposite day fun is over in Segment 3, where Helen and her girlfriends take over with everyone’s favorite 80’s song, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. The best part of this segment (other than the dad in the footage almost looks like Mr. Bean) is the Studio C version, where Chuck E’s curtains open during the choruses, but remain close during Helen’s parts. I always enjoy little touches like this. A little variety never hurts! After “Girls”, the show video feed shuts down, in which Chuck E calls the help of Larry the Technician (Hooray, Larry! Welcome back…again!) Larry fixes things and this leads into another fun original song, “Colors”.
And finally the last segment is the real showstopper – featuring two excellent songs, the energetic “Disco Inferno” and the classic “Stand By Me”.
April 2005 Show’s intermissions are real winners, featuring some new pieces and the return of many fan favorites. In all, the show features a healthy variety of material, from animated shorts to puppetry to the usual fare of generic music set to CEC footage. Although most of the material is reused, the variety listed above helps keep the interest unlike the tedious line-up of the January 2005 Show.
There’s one more thing to note in this Show Glance, and that’s the departure of Production Coordinator Matt Schartz from Department 18 Productions. Matt started out doing freelance work for CEC in 2000, and quickly became the most recognizable face in the CEC videos (he was always the DJ!) In 2001, Matt became the team’s Production Coordinator, whose job (among many other things) is to program the animatronics and lighting for the Studio C and Existing Stages. And the coolest thing about Matt is the fact that he’s a big fan of the show just like the rest of us, and I always really appreciated all the help and knowledge he shared with me and the other fans throughout his CEC career. Best of luck Matt!
Michael Hill will be the new Production Coordinator starting with the September 2005 Show.
Studio C (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains remain closed during Helen's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", but opens when he joins in on the two choruses. The last time something like this was done was "Chuck E Town" from the April 1999 Show.
Studio C (Part 2) - The Studio C puppets' backgrounds are the same colors and designs from the April 2004 Show.
Studio C (Part 3) - Just like in the January 2005 Show, the characters only appear on screen during songs that feature them singing main vocals. Here is a list of puppet appearances:
-"Free Ride" - Helen
-"Pollution Is Crazy" - Munch
-"Opposite Day" - Jasper
-"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" - Helen
Existing Stages (Part 1) - There is no curtain diversity for any of the Existing Stages.
Existing Stages (Part 2) - The Super Chuck Summer Promo appears after Countdown 7 in the Existing Stages show schedule.
Character Songs - Helen sings "Free Ride" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", Munch sings "Pollution Is Crazy", and Jasper sings "Opposite Day". Poor Pasqually is sitting this one out.
Parodies & Originals - "Opposite Day" and "Colors" are CEC originals. "Pollution Is Crazy" is a parody of Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy". "Free Ride", "Splish Splash", "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Disco Inferno", and "Stand By Me" are covers.
Segment 3 - When Larry reboots the show in the middle of Segment 3, a bunch of video footage quickly flashes on the screen. This includes a bunch of random shots from this show, the Department 18 logo, and...Dick Frank! Yep, the famous shot of Dick Frank inside Frank's Barber Shop from the September 1993 Show makes a quick little appearance during this montage.
Intermissions - Most of the intermissions in this show have been reused from previous CEC shows. Here is a list where all the intermissions come from:
-Charlie Rockit (Charlie Chorebot) - January 1994 & January 1997
-Pasqually's Polka Minute - January 2002 & January 2003
-Chuck E's Zoo View - January 1994
-VeggieTales: "BellyButton" - September 2003
-Super Jasper (Resist The Temptation) - April 2001 & January 2003
-Pizza Survivor - September 2002
-Charlie Rockit (Cooler Downer) - January 1994 & January 1997
Minute Maid & Coke Spots - Both are brand new Department 18 originals. The Minute Maid Spot has Jared trying to get a drink from a giant Minute Maid carton. The Coke Spot has the Department 18 crew and Chuck E dancing in front of a Coca-Cola machine.
NASA - A short music intermission featuring a hodgepodge of NASA footage.
Super Chuck Summer Promo - A short teaser at the end of the show for the next big in-house promotion, "Super Chuck Summer". Interesting part of this promo is the references to the earlier campaigns - "More Fun", "More Fun 2", "Summer of Fun", and "Winter 1-derland".
Countdowns - All of the Countdowns in this show are either footage from old CEC songs set to new music or all around new pieces. Also to note is that some of the footage is from previous shows (such as Shopping Cart from "Paper Or Plastic"), but those pieces are newly edited hence they say "New" after them. Here is a list of all 7 Countdowns - featuring where they originated from or if they are brand new:
-Countdown 1 - Shopping Cart (New)
-Countdown 2 - "Hip Mouse" (Footage) - April 1999 & January 2000
-Countdown 3 - "Ace In The Hole" (Footage) - January 2001
-Countdown 4 - Workout Time (New)
-Countdown 5 - "Jump Shout Boogie" (Footage) - January 2001
-Countdown 6 - "Do You Love Me" (Footage) - September 2001
-Countdown 7 - "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Footage) - January 1994
Countdown 3 - Interesting to note, Countdown 3 has the instrumental of "Smile" from the September 2004 Show.
Countdown 4 - The Workout Time video was shot for a deleted song from the September 2004 Show. That's why it looks like the characters are singing. It was obviously going to be a Munch song.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 1) - Robert Gotcher appears in the Coke Spot and a dancer in "Disco Inferno". Rob also has a quick appearance in "Pollution is Crazy". And our good friend Jeremy Blaido picks up hitchhikers in "Free Ride".
Department 18 Cameos (Part 2) - Matt Schartz appears in the Coke Spot and in the background from the reused Shopping Cart footage in Countdown 1. He is also in "Disco Inferno", and does the voiceovers as the show Announcer and for the Super Chuck Summer Promo.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 3) - Ryan Hollingsworth also appears in the Coke Spot and "Disco Inferno". Watch him chug down that Coke!
CEC TV IDs - CEC TV IDs are the short animated bumpers usually found at the beginning and/or end of each intermission. Four brand new IDs are introduced in this show. This include singing fish, Chuck E delivering pizza to an astronaut, fireworks spelling CEC TV, and "color the numbers" with Chuck E's head. Before the second countdowns in each intermission the IDs from January 2005 Show appear.
-Intermission 1 - Singing Fish ID, Chuck E Skateboarding ID
-Intermission 2 - Astronaut ID, Radio Towers ID
-Intermission 3 - Fireworks ID, TV Jingle ID
-Intermission 4 - Color The Numbers ID, Falling Apple ID
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music has been reused from the April 2004, Summertime 2004, September 2004, & January 2005 Shows. The video is the April 2005 Show logo.
April 2005 Show Logo - This brand new animated logo has Chuck E Cheese delivering pizza to robots in outerspace. The camera zooms into one of the robots and shows his gears that spell "CEC TV". In Segment 1, a shot from the Cow Abduction CEC TV ID appears before the logo.
-4.5 out of 5 Tokens-
April 2005 Show really impressed me, and I think it goes far above and beyond the fun and quality of the January 2005 Show.
First of all, the song choices are outstanding. “Free Ride”, “Splish Splash”, “Disco Inferno”, and “Stand By Me” are classics. I've also wanted CEC to do covers of these songs…and I think they did a great job with all of them. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was the highlight of the cover song roster, especially after hearing the Rock-afire Mitzi version several times. What I can say is that CEC did a superb job with it, and the best part is comparing the way Annagrey and Shalisa both differently approach this classic. But I have to say my favorite song is “Pollution Is Crazy”…not only because it’s a Munch song (next to Jasper he’s my favorite character…and it’s an unique song for the recently underutilized character) but it’s a fun and different kind of parody for CEC.
The intermission roster really stands out – allowing this show to get a Two Paws Up. The song segments are always winners, and the intermissions always make or break the whole CEC experience, whether you watch them or not. After all, if you’re going to review a show, you have to enjoy the whole experience! These intermissions, much like September ’04 Show’s intermissions, are short and sweet segments – and have enough variety to be entertaining. The in-house intermissions – such as Super Jasper, Pizza Survivor, and Polka Minute – are always the highlights, and the VeggieTales are very enjoyable. Definitely more interesting than January ’05 Show’s bland roster. Good riddens Connie The Cow! The only thing I will nitpick about is the old school intermissions, such as Charlie Rockit and the “Grapevine” footage. They seem way too out of place for these modern shows. I’m sure Charlie Rockit was awesome in its original context 10 years ago, but in today’s showtapes it is absolutely laughable. Oh, and one more thing…I have finally seen a Coke Spot I actually really enjoyed. I never laughed so hard at Coke Spot 2 with the Department 18 crew dancing in front of a Coke machine. One of the most hilarious and interesting spots I have seen to date. Probably something an average guest won’t understand, but something a fan like me really enjoys.
And everything else about this show is a winner…fun new video footage, excellent animatronics and lighting programming, Studio C puppets during songs, and a funky new animated show logo. Can’t get any better than that!
This is definitely a great show for Matt Schartz to depart with. I tell you what though, his talents and contributions to Department 18 will be missed a lot by this Show Hound. So in all the April 2005 Show is an overall great show – with fun classic songs and a tight intermission roster. Horrible job! Oh yeah it’s still Opposite Day…