Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero impressions

mr3urious

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Even though I'm still looking forward to Star vs. the Forces of Evil more, this is a nice little show to hold me over. It's essentially Quantum Leap or Sliders for kids in which the main character and two of his friends temporarily possess the heroes of other dimensions to fight off the villain and his idiot sidekick (who is also the kids' school principal) who have possessed that dimension's main villains. A lot of guest voices appear like Henry Winkler and even Adam West, too.

Penn Zero is strictly formula, but I'm hoping they play with it and twist it like Phineas & Ferb does to keep it from getting stale. Plus, the multiple dimension angle offers a lot of creative possibilities for worlds.
 

mr3urious

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I liked how one of the latest episodes was an homage to Dawn of the Dead right down to the title card mimicking the poster with ketchup and mustard replacing the blood. Nice little shout-out to Back to the Future with the mall being called the "Double Pines Mall", too. :smile:
 

Drtooth

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It was pretty good. I like how his friends are Pizza Steve and Miko. Really... she even looks and acts like Miko.

The premise reminds me of Walter Melon, but without the parody hook. I really like how the animation turned out. The textures really give the show a pop and a unique look.
 

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I like the little bits of emotional conflict here and there, most notably in the Star Trek parody episode with Sashi and her brother issues.
 

mr3urious

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I must say, I'm really liking the dynamic that the (punch-clock) heroes and villains have with each other, particularly with Penn and Rippen. A more recent episode had Rippen fall in love with a Sigourney Weaver-voiced supervillain in one of the dimensions he was in and Penn taught him how to dance, giving off more of a frenemy vibe between the two sides.
 
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Drtooth

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I recently got into watching this series, and I have to admit I like it almost as much as Wander, Gravity Falls and Star. I think this is pretty much the lesser respected of the bunch, but it seems that the further this series went in its first season, the better it got. They definitely twisted the formula and pretty early enough in the series. They point the heck out of the main character's flaws quite often, sometimes humbling him.

I also like instead of doing straight up parodies (unlike Walter Melon), they play with the subject matter. A Noir Detective story becomes about plants and like that. Also like how they've revisited some of the locations and had small time shifts in them. I especially loved the episode where Penn screws up and destroys the least dangerous place in the universe trying to find his parents. I especially like how they managed to patch in that he lives with his uncle and aunt in that one.

I'll say this though. I can't decide if the show's break out character is Boone or Larry. They're both my favorite. Larry being the completely too affable villainous side kick. That episode where they went to his mansion was delightful. He has his own giftshop. Especially like how it's almost a caricature of Larry Wilmore. Just like a Disneyfied version of him (he is soooo Disney looking) with hair. And short. Man, the voice acting here, like all their other shows, has some great top notch talent.
 

mr3urious

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They definitely twisted the formula and pretty early enough in the series.
They even had an episode where Rippen wasn't the villain for once (but Penn and the others needed him for help). And Paul Reubens voiced said villain in that slightly creepy effeminate voice he used for Bat-Mite.

I also like instead of doing straight up parodies (unlike Walter Melon), they play with the subject matter. A Noir Detective story becomes about plants and like that. Also like how they've revisited some of the locations and had small time shifts in them. I especially loved the episode where Penn screws up and destroys the least dangerous place in the universe trying to find his parents. I especially like how they managed to patch in that he lives with his uncle and aunt in that one.
The revisiting of universes may be more due to budget, but it works to its advantage as it allows the writers to explore and develop them more.

I'll say this though. I can't decide if the show's break out character is Boone or Larry. They're both my favorite. Larry being the completely too affable villainous side kick. That episode where they went to his mansion was delightful. He has his own giftshop. Especially like how it's almost a caricature of Larry Wilmore. Just like a Disneyfied version of him (he is soooo Disney looking) with hair. And short. Man, the voice acting here, like all their other shows, has some great top notch talent.
I did like how in one episode they showed that even though Larry may be an idiotic sidekick, he's a loyal one, unlike someone such as Starscream who is always trying to overthrow his boss.

I'd also like to see Phyllis become more involved in the plots. She seems to be the character who has gotten the least amount of exploration.
 

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I wanna see more stories where Phyllis interacts with her evil counterpart. Something tells me the fact they look alike and have the same accent might open up some possibilities.

Larry's loyalty is the key trait that makes me love the character. He really doesn't seem the evil villain sort, but he's so devoted to Rippen that he's there for support. He knows that Rippen needs a win and wants to desperately get out of that teaching job, and Larry's rooting for him all the way. And what's more, Larry's quite friendly to the good guys too, even when he doesn't need to be. He's much more than the standard dopey sidekick, and that's the hidden magic of the show. The series questions the good and evil paradigm. By all means, the show should have a mustache twiddling villain and a pure hero. But it questions it, and even flips around with the kids vs. teachers cartoon trope. I really love how that cereal episode has Penn, while initially tricking Rippen, going on his word to give him a good referral. It's not so much these are heroes vs villains, they're just rivals with similar goals.
 

mr3urious

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It took a good long while, but we finally got the proper origin story with yesterday's episode. I figured the producers didn't want to bog us down with exposition during the premiere, so they just gave us bits and pieces of the backstory a la The Powerpuff Girls and 4Kids' TMNT and elaborated on it later.

Also, I enjoyed the one of the previous ones where Penn's aunt and uncle are tasked with saving the world. It's both a day in the limelight episode and one that takes place in the real world, which I like with this show.
 

Drtooth

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For those who were worrying, looks like Penn's at least getting a second season.

Might be on the basis of the writers closing the series on this season ala Gravity Falls.
 
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