January 2006 - March 2006
Reviewed by Jasper
Segment 1
"Lady"
"What I Like About You"
Intermission 1
Coke Spot
Countdown 1
VeggieTales: "Gated Community"
Countdown 2
Segment 2
"Working For The Weekend"
"Daydream Believer"
Intermission 2
CEC TV Artist Spotlight
Countdown 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Countdown 4
Segment 3
"Drivin' My Life Away"
"Biggest Part Of Me"
Intermission 3
Snowboarding
Countdown 5
Funimation: "Braceface"
Powerade Spot
Countdown 6
Segment 4
"In A Big Country"
"I'll Tumble For Ya"
Intermission 4
Sing-Along Guys
Incredible Crash Dummies
Charlie Rockit
Countdown 7
January 2006 Show has a great soundtrack with much improved video footage, intermissions, and programming over its predecessor, the September 2005 Show. There are three great references in the dialogue between songs. The first reference has Chuck E ending a segment saying the classic line “Where a kid can be a kid”. Then he slyly remarks that “…I made that up”! Next, at one point Jasper talks about moving far away…to Florida. Well, that’s exactly where Jeremy Blaido (voice artist for Jasper) is going to pursue his career. The last reference will be a huge laugh for fans – it’s a nice a little tribute to the stage curtains removal. When Segment 2 is almost over, Chuck E mentions that they will be millin’ around until it’s time to sing again. The reason why is that the curtains are broken, and Larry has yet to fix them. Man, I wonder if that excuse is what Corporate uses to respond to complaint letters?
Soundtrack - All songs are covers - there are no originals nor parodies in this show. Helen sings “Biggest Part Of Me”, “I’ll Tumble For Ya”, and “Daydream Believer”. Jasper sings “Drivin’ My Life Away”. Unfortunately neither Munch nor Pasqually cover songs in this show.
Intermissions (Part 1) - Here’s the Countdown roster for this show. All 7 Countdowns originally appeared in older shows, as noted below.
-Countdown 1 – Shopping Cart - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 2 – “Hip Mouse” Footage - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 3 – Landscapes - January 2005 Show
-Countdown 4 – Jugglers - January 2005 Show
-Countdown 5 – “Ace In The Hole” Footage - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 6 – Workout Time - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 7 – Hot Air Balloon 7 Minute Countdown - Summer 2004 Show
Intermissions (Part 2) - There are three brand new in-house intermissions in this show. The new episode of Sing Along Guys features “Bingo”. CEC TV Artist Spotlight is a new piece that showcases talent. This show’s featured band is Beatlegras with their original song, “Time For U”. The Snowboarding intermission is also brand new – featuring stock footage of the sport set to music similar to the ones in the January 2005 Show. The Coke Spot is from the September 2004 Show, and Charlie Rockit is this show’s Retro intermission.
Studio C Puppets - The Studio C puppets' backgrounds design is the same from the September 2005 Show. Munch's background color is now orange again (last time it was orange was in the September 2002 Show).
Department 18 Cameos - Michael Hill appears in the CEC Entertainment Support Center in the video for “Daydream Believer”. Robert Gotcher and Jeremy Blaido are our favorite Sing Along Guys. And Matt Schartz makes a guest appearance playing a tuba in the video for “I’ll Tumble For Ya”.
CEC TV IDs - Two noteworthy IDs in this show. A new ID has the Sing Along Guys in it, and the other is the famous retro CGI TV & derby from 1994.
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music & video is the same from the April 2005, Summer 2005, & September 2005 Shows.
January 2006 Show Logo - This fun logo is themed to arcade games! Chuck E battles across popular video games like Pitfall, Space Invaders, and Castlevania. The “CEC TV” logo appears a la Pac-Man style!
-3.5 out of 5 Tokens-
I think there are many improvements this show has over the September 2005 Show. For one, the video is varied and isn't the same old "the characters dance in front of a barn" footage (although we get pretty close with Jasper's "Drivin' My Life Away"). The footage for "Working For The Weekend", "Daydream Believer", and "I'll Tumble For Ya" are the highlights of this show.
The next improvement is the show programming. This is Michael's second CEC show, and shows great improvement over his last venture. One of my favorite parts is the energetic ending sequence to Segment 2. Great lighting job!
The intermission roster is also a vast improvement over the last effort...but not by much. I have the "been there, done that" attitude with those reused Countdowns...and I'm about sick of Ninja Turtles and Braceface. And where did Crash Dummies come from? Is that still on television?! And I'm sorry to all you CEC purists out there but these "Retro" intermissions such as Charlie Rockit suck. I say keep those early 90's intermissions in the vault where they belong and continue making some new material. Face it, you can only reuse the same stuff so many times before you want to tear your eyes out (...cough...Countdowns). But like I said the intermission roster is an improvement thanks to two brand new (!!!) in-house intermissions - a new episode of those crazy Sing Along Guys, and the new Artist Spotlight segment. I'm always a fan of new in-house intermission material!
Finally, I think the show segments and soundtrack are as equally good but not an improvement over the September 2005 Show's. I have always loved the soundtracks in CEC shows, so I have absolutely nothing bad to say about choices. I just don't think it's better nor worse than the previous outing. It just needs just a little more variety, and it also wouldn't hurt to have song covers for those poor neglected characters like Munch and Pasqually. The only thing that I must ask WHY? is the choice to use "What I Like About You" again. Especially since it was a live show only a few years ago. And why record a new soundtrack for it? Seems like a lot of money could have been saved reusing the previous recording. Unfortunately this song was another one of those "been there, done that" for me. Oh well.
So in all January 2006 is a fun, worthy effort...and gives me hope that Chuck E Cheese shows are not doomed (as expected last year). And mad props to the person who made up that broken curtains joke! I'm glad to see such a hilarious stab at such a touchy CEC issue.
"Lady"
"What I Like About You"
Intermission 1
Coke Spot
Countdown 1
VeggieTales: "Gated Community"
Countdown 2
Segment 2
"Working For The Weekend"
"Daydream Believer"
Intermission 2
CEC TV Artist Spotlight
Countdown 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Countdown 4
Segment 3
"Drivin' My Life Away"
"Biggest Part Of Me"
Intermission 3
Snowboarding
Countdown 5
Funimation: "Braceface"
Powerade Spot
Countdown 6
Segment 4
"In A Big Country"
"I'll Tumble For Ya"
Intermission 4
Sing-Along Guys
Incredible Crash Dummies
Charlie Rockit
Countdown 7
January 2006 Show has a great soundtrack with much improved video footage, intermissions, and programming over its predecessor, the September 2005 Show. There are three great references in the dialogue between songs. The first reference has Chuck E ending a segment saying the classic line “Where a kid can be a kid”. Then he slyly remarks that “…I made that up”! Next, at one point Jasper talks about moving far away…to Florida. Well, that’s exactly where Jeremy Blaido (voice artist for Jasper) is going to pursue his career. The last reference will be a huge laugh for fans – it’s a nice a little tribute to the stage curtains removal. When Segment 2 is almost over, Chuck E mentions that they will be millin’ around until it’s time to sing again. The reason why is that the curtains are broken, and Larry has yet to fix them. Man, I wonder if that excuse is what Corporate uses to respond to complaint letters?
Soundtrack - All songs are covers - there are no originals nor parodies in this show. Helen sings “Biggest Part Of Me”, “I’ll Tumble For Ya”, and “Daydream Believer”. Jasper sings “Drivin’ My Life Away”. Unfortunately neither Munch nor Pasqually cover songs in this show.
Intermissions (Part 1) - Here’s the Countdown roster for this show. All 7 Countdowns originally appeared in older shows, as noted below.
-Countdown 1 – Shopping Cart - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 2 – “Hip Mouse” Footage - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 3 – Landscapes - January 2005 Show
-Countdown 4 – Jugglers - January 2005 Show
-Countdown 5 – “Ace In The Hole” Footage - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 6 – Workout Time - April 2005 Show
-Countdown 7 – Hot Air Balloon 7 Minute Countdown - Summer 2004 Show
Intermissions (Part 2) - There are three brand new in-house intermissions in this show. The new episode of Sing Along Guys features “Bingo”. CEC TV Artist Spotlight is a new piece that showcases talent. This show’s featured band is Beatlegras with their original song, “Time For U”. The Snowboarding intermission is also brand new – featuring stock footage of the sport set to music similar to the ones in the January 2005 Show. The Coke Spot is from the September 2004 Show, and Charlie Rockit is this show’s Retro intermission.
Studio C Puppets - The Studio C puppets' backgrounds design is the same from the September 2005 Show. Munch's background color is now orange again (last time it was orange was in the September 2002 Show).
Department 18 Cameos - Michael Hill appears in the CEC Entertainment Support Center in the video for “Daydream Believer”. Robert Gotcher and Jeremy Blaido are our favorite Sing Along Guys. And Matt Schartz makes a guest appearance playing a tuba in the video for “I’ll Tumble For Ya”.
CEC TV IDs - Two noteworthy IDs in this show. A new ID has the Sing Along Guys in it, and the other is the famous retro CGI TV & derby from 1994.
Birthday Break - The Birthday Break music & video is the same from the April 2005, Summer 2005, & September 2005 Shows.
January 2006 Show Logo - This fun logo is themed to arcade games! Chuck E battles across popular video games like Pitfall, Space Invaders, and Castlevania. The “CEC TV” logo appears a la Pac-Man style!
-3.5 out of 5 Tokens-
I think there are many improvements this show has over the September 2005 Show. For one, the video is varied and isn't the same old "the characters dance in front of a barn" footage (although we get pretty close with Jasper's "Drivin' My Life Away"). The footage for "Working For The Weekend", "Daydream Believer", and "I'll Tumble For Ya" are the highlights of this show.
The next improvement is the show programming. This is Michael's second CEC show, and shows great improvement over his last venture. One of my favorite parts is the energetic ending sequence to Segment 2. Great lighting job!
The intermission roster is also a vast improvement over the last effort...but not by much. I have the "been there, done that" attitude with those reused Countdowns...and I'm about sick of Ninja Turtles and Braceface. And where did Crash Dummies come from? Is that still on television?! And I'm sorry to all you CEC purists out there but these "Retro" intermissions such as Charlie Rockit suck. I say keep those early 90's intermissions in the vault where they belong and continue making some new material. Face it, you can only reuse the same stuff so many times before you want to tear your eyes out (...cough...Countdowns). But like I said the intermission roster is an improvement thanks to two brand new (!!!) in-house intermissions - a new episode of those crazy Sing Along Guys, and the new Artist Spotlight segment. I'm always a fan of new in-house intermission material!
Finally, I think the show segments and soundtrack are as equally good but not an improvement over the September 2005 Show's. I have always loved the soundtracks in CEC shows, so I have absolutely nothing bad to say about choices. I just don't think it's better nor worse than the previous outing. It just needs just a little more variety, and it also wouldn't hurt to have song covers for those poor neglected characters like Munch and Pasqually. The only thing that I must ask WHY? is the choice to use "What I Like About You" again. Especially since it was a live show only a few years ago. And why record a new soundtrack for it? Seems like a lot of money could have been saved reusing the previous recording. Unfortunately this song was another one of those "been there, done that" for me. Oh well.
So in all January 2006 is a fun, worthy effort...and gives me hope that Chuck E Cheese shows are not doomed (as expected last year). And mad props to the person who made up that broken curtains joke! I'm glad to see such a hilarious stab at such a touchy CEC issue.