January 2005 - March 2005
Reviewed by Jasper
Segment 1
"Old Time Rock & Roll"
"Chores"
Intermission 1
Coke Spot 1
VeggieTales: "Larry Sings The Blues"
Countdown 1
Football
The Tube Explorer
Countdown 2
Segment 2
"All For You"
"Keep It Groovin'"
Intermission 2
Funimation: "Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse"
Countdown 3
Winter 1-derland Spot
Eddie Coker: "I Believe"
Countdown 4
Segment 3
"Mailman"
"Wonderful"
Intermission 3
Coke Spot 2
VeggieTales: "Schoolhouse Polka"
Countdown 5
CEC TV News
Funimation: "Connie The Cow"
Countdown 6
Segment 4
"Ranchin'"
"Blue Suede Shoes"
Intermission 4
Funimation: "Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse"
Skateboarding
Countdown 7
Firehouse
Funimation: "Braceface"
Countdown 8
The New Year starts things off right at Chuck E. Cheese’s with a brand new show featuring great song covers, fun originals, and a remake of a notorious CEC classic.
Segment 1, usually the centerpiece of any CEC show, doesn’t disappoint with a cover of Bob Seager’s “Old Time Rock & Roll”…featuring a hodgepodge of reused and new material of Chuck E and friends dancing. Afterwards, we are treated a brand new CEC original written by Matt Schartz called “Chores” – a cute Jasper song about things to do around the house before it’s time to go play outside.
Segment 2 starts off with a little sneak peek of how the characters prepare to sing…on accident. The curtains open too early – and we see Jasper tuning his guitar, Helen and Chuck E practicing their notes, and Pasqually forgetting what a kick is. Luckily Jasper gets the band going, and this leads into Sister Hazel’s “All For You”. Trying not to let the curtain fiasco get them down, Chuck E then sings a CEC original, “Keep It Groovin’” – a song teaching us no matter what life throws at us make sure to keep it groovin’ and movin’ (Interesting to note, the video footage for “Keep It Groovin’” was shot at the Texas State Fair back in October 2004).
Segment 3 features the return of the Mailman! Yes, this classic CEC song finally receives a modern remake. While the song is exactly like the original, the video footage is much better – and is very clever and hilarious. Robert the Mailman is training the next generation of mailmans…preparing them for the real postal service world. We see the training gauntlet, on the job training…and finally the graduation ceremony. After the song, a great exchange of dialogue has Chuck E commenting how nice it is to do one of the classics. Jasper then comments that it’s also cool to do a new song once in a while too, which leads to Helen beautifully singing Jump 5’s “Wonderful”.
Finally, Segment 4 starts things off at a funky note – Pasqually singing “Ranchin’”…which is a parody of The Bee Gee’s “You Should Be Dancing”. A fun song comparing life at the office to life on the ranch – this song is definitely different and unique for a Chuck E Cheese parody. Best part is Jasper’s high pitch voice in this song – especially when Pasqually makes fun of it at the end of the song. “You’re in trouble when I get my voice back!” Afterwards, Pasqually comments on how wonderful life is on the open range (Pasqually of all people?!), and Helen, to Chuck E, mentions how much she loves sunsets. Chuck E quickly tries to change subjects…which leads to a Munch song (first new one since the January 2004 Show!). Chuck’s curtains close (as Helen sighs and shakes her head) as Munch sings his favorite Elvis song, “Blue Suede Shoes”.
In all, the segments are really fun in this show. The song choices are very different from the usual fare. There’s such a rich variety for everyone – young or old – to enjoy.
The intermissions follow the same layout as the September 2004 Show with a bunch of short pieces instead of one or two long ones. This show features many music videos (some reused material but mostly new), clips of FUNimation shorts, brand new VeggieTales cartoons, and new spots for Coke and CEC’s newest in-house promotion, Winter 1-derland.
Studio C (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains close during Munch's "Blue Suede Shoes".
Studio C (Part 2) - Chuck E's curtains open during the Winter 1-derland Spot.
Studio C (Part 3) - The Studio C puppets backgrounds are the same colors from the April 2004 Show. The background patterns are similar to the cloud-like designs from the Just For Kids Show.
Studio C (Part 4) - In the April 2004 & September 2004 Shows, the Studio C puppets only appear on screen during the dialogue between songs. They do this again in this show, but the puppets don't appear only during the songs where Chuck E sings main vocals. Other songs that has characters other than Chuck E leading or prodominently singing has their puppet singing on screen. Also, the puppets screen splits in two for the songs that has two characters singing at once (such as Helen & Jasper in "Ranchin'"). Here is a list of puppet appearances:
-"Chores" - Jasper
-"All For You" - Jasper & Munch
-"Wonderful" - Helen
-"Ranchin'" - Pasqually, Jasper, & Helen
-"Blue Suede Shoes" - Munch
Existing Stages (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains close during Munch's "Blue Suede Shoes".
Existing Stages (Part 2) - Chuck E's curtains open during the Winter 1-derland Spot.
Character Songs - Every character has a song in this show! Jasper sings "Chores", Helen sings "Wonderful", Pasqually leads "Ranchin'", and Munch sings "Blue Suede Shoes".
Parodies & Originals - "Chores" and "Keep It Groovin'" are CEC originals. "Ranchin'" is a parody of The Bee Gee's "You Should Be Dancing". "Mailman" is a remake of the classic CEC original from the September 1992 Show. "Old Time Rock & Roll", "All For You", "Wonderful", and "Blue Suede Shoes" are covers.
Chores - The CEC original song, "Chores", was created by Matt Schartz.
Countdowns - All of the Countdowns in this show are either footage from old CEC songs set to new music, old intermissions, or all around new pieces. Some are Countdowns reused from the September 2004 Show. Also to note is that some of the footage is from previous shows (such as the Jugglers from "Soul Man"), but those pieces are newly edited hence they say "New" after them. Here is a list of all 8 Countdowns - featuring where they originated from or if they are brand new:
-Countdown 1 - "I'm Walking"(Footage) - January 2004
-Countdown 2 - Countdown 9 (Intermission) - September 2004
-Countdown 3 - Countdown 8 (Intermission) - September 2004
-Countdown 4 - Jugglers (New)
-Countdown 5 - Landscapes (New)
-Countdown 6 - Flag Football (New)
-Countdown 7 - "Just Being Me" (Footage) - April 2004
-Countdown 8 - Time To Fly! (Intermission) - Summertime 2000/2001/2002 & April 2002
Countdown 4 - The music in Countdown 4 is reused Birthday Break music from the September 1998 & January 1999 Shows.
Winter 1-derland - Three intermissions in this show promotes the CEC restaurant promotion, Winter 1-derland. A short episode of The Tube Explorer has Hank Howdy talking up the "1,000 free tickets daily" and ticket splashes; CEC TV News (featuring Bob Coleslaw, who is Mike Manly's replacement as he has the day off) promotes the "all games and rides are one token each"; and a Spot in Intermission 2 has Chuck E explaining why they call it "1-derland".
Coke Spots - Coke Spot 1 features the "Coca-Cola Bottling Factory Tour" footage along with some shots of Chuck E (from "Drinkin' A Coca-Cola"). Coke Spot 2 is the famous "It's The Real Thing" commercial.
Eddie Coker - "I Believe" is reused from the September 2001 Show and the January 2003 Show.
Football, Skateboarding, & Firehouse - These are brand new music video intermission pieces. Football features a game of high school football, Skateboarding is a video of kids ripping it up at a skate park, and Firehouse features footage of a firehouse, firemen, and a firetruck. To note, Football and Skateboarding should not be confused with their older counterparts (there was a Football intermission featuring Chuck E from September 2000, and a Skateboarding one from September 2001). Also to note is that the music for Football is reused from September 2000 Show's "Closing Time?" intermission.
Deleted Intermissions - There are three intermissions that appear on the January 2005 Show dvds that never made an appearance in the show. This includes: 1) Hockey, a music intermission featuring footage of a children's hockey game. The music is actually the instrumental to "Dreamin'" from the April 2004 Show. It was suppose to appear after Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse in Intermission 2. Why didn't it make it in the show schedule? Despite it still being announced in the Newsletter as part of the show, I believe it has to do with the different advertisements in the ice rink, not to mention hockey was cancelled this season. 2) Coke Spot 3, which is actually a reused Coke Spot from the September 2004 Show (the one with the "Drinkin' A Coca-Cola" footage and 1 Minute Break Music). 3) Elliot Moose, another clip of a Funimation cartoon.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 1) - Robert Gotcher, Director of Entertainment, makes a brief cameo in CEC TV News, and also briefly appears in Countdown 4 as a juggler. And of course, Robert is the infamous Mailman in the CEC song of the same name!!!
Department 18 Cameos (Part 2) - Matt Schartz, Production Coordinator, also makes a cameo in CEC TV News, and plays flag football in the reused footage in Countdown 6.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 3) - Ryan Hollingsworth, Production Specialist, is also in Countdown 6, and is our favorite professional Tube Explorer, Hank Howdy!
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 appear in this show half way through each intermission. This includes a radio station tower, a TV bumper, an apple falling on Newton's head, and Chuck E skateboarding.
-Intermission 1 - Radio Towers ID
-Intermission 2 - TV Jingle ID
-Intermission 3 - Falling Apple ID
-Intermission 4 - Chuck E Skateboarding ID
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music has been reused from the April 2004, Summertime 2004, & September 2004 Shows. The video is the January 2005 Show logo.
January 2005 Show Logo - This brand new logo (themed to Winter 1-derland) starts off with a snowman shaking a snowglobe. We then zoom in to a a couple snowmen snowboarding (including one beefing it), and then Chuck E Cheese hits the slopes and stops mid-air with 'CEC TV' in the background. Pretty cool logo!
-4 out of 5 Tokens-
I really enjoyed the January 2005 Show. I thought the segments were very fun. One of my favorite parts was the curtain fiasco in Segment 2. Little things like showing the characters prepare before the segment adds to the realism that this is an actual band & show. There is a reason why the stage has curtains, and doing little touches like this adds to the fun. Song-wise, this show has a very interesting line-up. Most of the song choices are a bit calmer and slower than the usual selections – but I still found myself enjoying this show’s line-up. It felt a little different – and especially fresh – than the usual variety. I liked Matt’s “Chores” song, and I hope to see more song collaborations from him in the future. It’s such a simple song, yet perfect subject for a CEC show aimed at kids. As for song covers go, this one features a great arrangement. “Old Time Rock & Roll” & “Blue Suede Shoes” are classics, and “All For You” & “Wonderful” are show stealers. “Ranchin’” is probably my favorite song in the entire show – it’s so different and goofy for a CEC show that it works really well. Plus Pasqually sings it…can’t get any weirder than that. As for my favorite video footage – that has to go to “Mailman”. While the song is as goofy as you can get (yet it is classic!), the video footage is such an improvement over the original from 1992. It’s funny, unique, and interesting…I definitely place it up there with “Pepperoni” as my all-time favorite CEC videos. Plus the original Mailman was in it…can’t get any better than that! And the absolute best part about the segments is how they handled the Studio C puppets. Instead of using all the characters for every song, only the characters that lead or play a major role appear on-screen. So Jasper and Munch appear in “All For You”, and Helen only appears in “Wonderful”. It works extremely well, and the monitors they appear on don’t distract from the video footage. So much better than not including them at all. Excellent job!
As for the intermissions, I thought there was a nice variety of material in this show. For one, I love the new intermission concept that started with the September 2004 Show – a bunch of shorter intermissions instead of one or two long pieces. It worked excellently in September, and it works well in this one too. The only problem I felt was that there wasn’t enough variety of material. It just felt like one music intermission after another, with the occasional cartoon or spot to break up the monotony. Hopefully in the future more sketch-based intermissions will be used (such as Super Jasper, Baking With Betty, etc.) to break up the usual fare of basic public domain music set to video intermissions. The highlight of the intermission schedule are the VeggieTales shorts…man I tell you what it’s really nice to see brand new Silly Songs in these shows! Brings back memories of when CEC first started using Big Idea’s cartoons. The lowlight I felt were the FUNimation cartoon clips. Just like in the Holiday 2004 Show, these cartoon snippets are too short and uninteresting. Definitely not “fun”. Another disappointment was the episode of The Tube Explorer – here we were waiting for the return of Hank Howdy, and this episode promoting ticket splashes barely clocked in at a minute. Very unfortunate, but hopefully Hank will return in a regular episode in the future. In all, I feel intermissions have definitely improved within the last year of showtapes. I like the intermission concept they have been using with the last few shows, and the use of reused and new material have definitely balanced out in this show greatly.
I greatly enjoyed the variety in the January 2005 Show. There are plenty of fun song choices, intermissions, and Department 18 cameos to satisfy any fan. Plus the show logo is slick! I still think the September 2004 Show is superior with its song choices and intermission diversity, but this show is without a doubt one heck of a fun show. Congrats to the Mailman and his crew!
"Old Time Rock & Roll"
"Chores"
Intermission 1
Coke Spot 1
VeggieTales: "Larry Sings The Blues"
Countdown 1
Football
The Tube Explorer
Countdown 2
Segment 2
"All For You"
"Keep It Groovin'"
Intermission 2
Funimation: "Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse"
Countdown 3
Winter 1-derland Spot
Eddie Coker: "I Believe"
Countdown 4
Segment 3
"Mailman"
"Wonderful"
Intermission 3
Coke Spot 2
VeggieTales: "Schoolhouse Polka"
Countdown 5
CEC TV News
Funimation: "Connie The Cow"
Countdown 6
Segment 4
"Ranchin'"
"Blue Suede Shoes"
Intermission 4
Funimation: "Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse"
Skateboarding
Countdown 7
Firehouse
Funimation: "Braceface"
Countdown 8
The New Year starts things off right at Chuck E. Cheese’s with a brand new show featuring great song covers, fun originals, and a remake of a notorious CEC classic.
Segment 1, usually the centerpiece of any CEC show, doesn’t disappoint with a cover of Bob Seager’s “Old Time Rock & Roll”…featuring a hodgepodge of reused and new material of Chuck E and friends dancing. Afterwards, we are treated a brand new CEC original written by Matt Schartz called “Chores” – a cute Jasper song about things to do around the house before it’s time to go play outside.
Segment 2 starts off with a little sneak peek of how the characters prepare to sing…on accident. The curtains open too early – and we see Jasper tuning his guitar, Helen and Chuck E practicing their notes, and Pasqually forgetting what a kick is. Luckily Jasper gets the band going, and this leads into Sister Hazel’s “All For You”. Trying not to let the curtain fiasco get them down, Chuck E then sings a CEC original, “Keep It Groovin’” – a song teaching us no matter what life throws at us make sure to keep it groovin’ and movin’ (Interesting to note, the video footage for “Keep It Groovin’” was shot at the Texas State Fair back in October 2004).
Segment 3 features the return of the Mailman! Yes, this classic CEC song finally receives a modern remake. While the song is exactly like the original, the video footage is much better – and is very clever and hilarious. Robert the Mailman is training the next generation of mailmans…preparing them for the real postal service world. We see the training gauntlet, on the job training…and finally the graduation ceremony. After the song, a great exchange of dialogue has Chuck E commenting how nice it is to do one of the classics. Jasper then comments that it’s also cool to do a new song once in a while too, which leads to Helen beautifully singing Jump 5’s “Wonderful”.
Finally, Segment 4 starts things off at a funky note – Pasqually singing “Ranchin’”…which is a parody of The Bee Gee’s “You Should Be Dancing”. A fun song comparing life at the office to life on the ranch – this song is definitely different and unique for a Chuck E Cheese parody. Best part is Jasper’s high pitch voice in this song – especially when Pasqually makes fun of it at the end of the song. “You’re in trouble when I get my voice back!” Afterwards, Pasqually comments on how wonderful life is on the open range (Pasqually of all people?!), and Helen, to Chuck E, mentions how much she loves sunsets. Chuck E quickly tries to change subjects…which leads to a Munch song (first new one since the January 2004 Show!). Chuck’s curtains close (as Helen sighs and shakes her head) as Munch sings his favorite Elvis song, “Blue Suede Shoes”.
In all, the segments are really fun in this show. The song choices are very different from the usual fare. There’s such a rich variety for everyone – young or old – to enjoy.
The intermissions follow the same layout as the September 2004 Show with a bunch of short pieces instead of one or two long ones. This show features many music videos (some reused material but mostly new), clips of FUNimation shorts, brand new VeggieTales cartoons, and new spots for Coke and CEC’s newest in-house promotion, Winter 1-derland.
Studio C (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains close during Munch's "Blue Suede Shoes".
Studio C (Part 2) - Chuck E's curtains open during the Winter 1-derland Spot.
Studio C (Part 3) - The Studio C puppets backgrounds are the same colors from the April 2004 Show. The background patterns are similar to the cloud-like designs from the Just For Kids Show.
Studio C (Part 4) - In the April 2004 & September 2004 Shows, the Studio C puppets only appear on screen during the dialogue between songs. They do this again in this show, but the puppets don't appear only during the songs where Chuck E sings main vocals. Other songs that has characters other than Chuck E leading or prodominently singing has their puppet singing on screen. Also, the puppets screen splits in two for the songs that has two characters singing at once (such as Helen & Jasper in "Ranchin'"). Here is a list of puppet appearances:
-"Chores" - Jasper
-"All For You" - Jasper & Munch
-"Wonderful" - Helen
-"Ranchin'" - Pasqually, Jasper, & Helen
-"Blue Suede Shoes" - Munch
Existing Stages (Part 1) - Chuck E's curtains close during Munch's "Blue Suede Shoes".
Existing Stages (Part 2) - Chuck E's curtains open during the Winter 1-derland Spot.
Character Songs - Every character has a song in this show! Jasper sings "Chores", Helen sings "Wonderful", Pasqually leads "Ranchin'", and Munch sings "Blue Suede Shoes".
Parodies & Originals - "Chores" and "Keep It Groovin'" are CEC originals. "Ranchin'" is a parody of The Bee Gee's "You Should Be Dancing". "Mailman" is a remake of the classic CEC original from the September 1992 Show. "Old Time Rock & Roll", "All For You", "Wonderful", and "Blue Suede Shoes" are covers.
Chores - The CEC original song, "Chores", was created by Matt Schartz.
Countdowns - All of the Countdowns in this show are either footage from old CEC songs set to new music, old intermissions, or all around new pieces. Some are Countdowns reused from the September 2004 Show. Also to note is that some of the footage is from previous shows (such as the Jugglers from "Soul Man"), but those pieces are newly edited hence they say "New" after them. Here is a list of all 8 Countdowns - featuring where they originated from or if they are brand new:
-Countdown 1 - "I'm Walking"(Footage) - January 2004
-Countdown 2 - Countdown 9 (Intermission) - September 2004
-Countdown 3 - Countdown 8 (Intermission) - September 2004
-Countdown 4 - Jugglers (New)
-Countdown 5 - Landscapes (New)
-Countdown 6 - Flag Football (New)
-Countdown 7 - "Just Being Me" (Footage) - April 2004
-Countdown 8 - Time To Fly! (Intermission) - Summertime 2000/2001/2002 & April 2002
Countdown 4 - The music in Countdown 4 is reused Birthday Break music from the September 1998 & January 1999 Shows.
Winter 1-derland - Three intermissions in this show promotes the CEC restaurant promotion, Winter 1-derland. A short episode of The Tube Explorer has Hank Howdy talking up the "1,000 free tickets daily" and ticket splashes; CEC TV News (featuring Bob Coleslaw, who is Mike Manly's replacement as he has the day off) promotes the "all games and rides are one token each"; and a Spot in Intermission 2 has Chuck E explaining why they call it "1-derland".
Coke Spots - Coke Spot 1 features the "Coca-Cola Bottling Factory Tour" footage along with some shots of Chuck E (from "Drinkin' A Coca-Cola"). Coke Spot 2 is the famous "It's The Real Thing" commercial.
Eddie Coker - "I Believe" is reused from the September 2001 Show and the January 2003 Show.
Football, Skateboarding, & Firehouse - These are brand new music video intermission pieces. Football features a game of high school football, Skateboarding is a video of kids ripping it up at a skate park, and Firehouse features footage of a firehouse, firemen, and a firetruck. To note, Football and Skateboarding should not be confused with their older counterparts (there was a Football intermission featuring Chuck E from September 2000, and a Skateboarding one from September 2001). Also to note is that the music for Football is reused from September 2000 Show's "Closing Time?" intermission.
Deleted Intermissions - There are three intermissions that appear on the January 2005 Show dvds that never made an appearance in the show. This includes: 1) Hockey, a music intermission featuring footage of a children's hockey game. The music is actually the instrumental to "Dreamin'" from the April 2004 Show. It was suppose to appear after Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse in Intermission 2. Why didn't it make it in the show schedule? Despite it still being announced in the Newsletter as part of the show, I believe it has to do with the different advertisements in the ice rink, not to mention hockey was cancelled this season. 2) Coke Spot 3, which is actually a reused Coke Spot from the September 2004 Show (the one with the "Drinkin' A Coca-Cola" footage and 1 Minute Break Music). 3) Elliot Moose, another clip of a Funimation cartoon.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 1) - Robert Gotcher, Director of Entertainment, makes a brief cameo in CEC TV News, and also briefly appears in Countdown 4 as a juggler. And of course, Robert is the infamous Mailman in the CEC song of the same name!!!
Department 18 Cameos (Part 2) - Matt Schartz, Production Coordinator, also makes a cameo in CEC TV News, and plays flag football in the reused footage in Countdown 6.
Department 18 Cameos (Part 3) - Ryan Hollingsworth, Production Specialist, is also in Countdown 6, and is our favorite professional Tube Explorer, Hank Howdy!
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 appear in this show half way through each intermission. This includes a radio station tower, a TV bumper, an apple falling on Newton's head, and Chuck E skateboarding.
-Intermission 1 - Radio Towers ID
-Intermission 2 - TV Jingle ID
-Intermission 3 - Falling Apple ID
-Intermission 4 - Chuck E Skateboarding ID
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music has been reused from the April 2004, Summertime 2004, & September 2004 Shows. The video is the January 2005 Show logo.
January 2005 Show Logo - This brand new logo (themed to Winter 1-derland) starts off with a snowman shaking a snowglobe. We then zoom in to a a couple snowmen snowboarding (including one beefing it), and then Chuck E Cheese hits the slopes and stops mid-air with 'CEC TV' in the background. Pretty cool logo!
-4 out of 5 Tokens-
I really enjoyed the January 2005 Show. I thought the segments were very fun. One of my favorite parts was the curtain fiasco in Segment 2. Little things like showing the characters prepare before the segment adds to the realism that this is an actual band & show. There is a reason why the stage has curtains, and doing little touches like this adds to the fun. Song-wise, this show has a very interesting line-up. Most of the song choices are a bit calmer and slower than the usual selections – but I still found myself enjoying this show’s line-up. It felt a little different – and especially fresh – than the usual variety. I liked Matt’s “Chores” song, and I hope to see more song collaborations from him in the future. It’s such a simple song, yet perfect subject for a CEC show aimed at kids. As for song covers go, this one features a great arrangement. “Old Time Rock & Roll” & “Blue Suede Shoes” are classics, and “All For You” & “Wonderful” are show stealers. “Ranchin’” is probably my favorite song in the entire show – it’s so different and goofy for a CEC show that it works really well. Plus Pasqually sings it…can’t get any weirder than that. As for my favorite video footage – that has to go to “Mailman”. While the song is as goofy as you can get (yet it is classic!), the video footage is such an improvement over the original from 1992. It’s funny, unique, and interesting…I definitely place it up there with “Pepperoni” as my all-time favorite CEC videos. Plus the original Mailman was in it…can’t get any better than that! And the absolute best part about the segments is how they handled the Studio C puppets. Instead of using all the characters for every song, only the characters that lead or play a major role appear on-screen. So Jasper and Munch appear in “All For You”, and Helen only appears in “Wonderful”. It works extremely well, and the monitors they appear on don’t distract from the video footage. So much better than not including them at all. Excellent job!
As for the intermissions, I thought there was a nice variety of material in this show. For one, I love the new intermission concept that started with the September 2004 Show – a bunch of shorter intermissions instead of one or two long pieces. It worked excellently in September, and it works well in this one too. The only problem I felt was that there wasn’t enough variety of material. It just felt like one music intermission after another, with the occasional cartoon or spot to break up the monotony. Hopefully in the future more sketch-based intermissions will be used (such as Super Jasper, Baking With Betty, etc.) to break up the usual fare of basic public domain music set to video intermissions. The highlight of the intermission schedule are the VeggieTales shorts…man I tell you what it’s really nice to see brand new Silly Songs in these shows! Brings back memories of when CEC first started using Big Idea’s cartoons. The lowlight I felt were the FUNimation cartoon clips. Just like in the Holiday 2004 Show, these cartoon snippets are too short and uninteresting. Definitely not “fun”. Another disappointment was the episode of The Tube Explorer – here we were waiting for the return of Hank Howdy, and this episode promoting ticket splashes barely clocked in at a minute. Very unfortunate, but hopefully Hank will return in a regular episode in the future. In all, I feel intermissions have definitely improved within the last year of showtapes. I like the intermission concept they have been using with the last few shows, and the use of reused and new material have definitely balanced out in this show greatly.
I greatly enjoyed the variety in the January 2005 Show. There are plenty of fun song choices, intermissions, and Department 18 cameos to satisfy any fan. Plus the show logo is slick! I still think the September 2004 Show is superior with its song choices and intermission diversity, but this show is without a doubt one heck of a fun show. Congrats to the Mailman and his crew!