Admittedly, when I first saw promos for Clarence, I was really turned off by it. The show looked really weird and honestly, it seemed to remind me, for some reason, of The Problem Solverz. I got curious one day about it though and decided to watch an episode on YouTube, and let me say this. You know the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Well this show proves that old saying again.
In Clarence, it centers around a boy of the same name, with his friends Sumo and Jeff. Usually, either Clarence or he and his friends get into some kind of adventure, with hijinks ensuring. Alright, the show's premise isn't the most original, but most shows can reuse an old premise and make it good. It's something the show does do a good job on.
You know how shows like Uncle Grandpa and Breadwinners don't follow any kind of plot line? Well this show actually does follow a plot. They aren't anything groundbreaking, but the stories themselves are pretty good. The one where Clarence goes to the grocery store, I have to admit I felt like I was watching that Rugrats episode where Tommy went to the store and caused destruction, which is something that also happened in this episode. It's a very nice callback. The other stories can range from Clarence making his own money, to him and Sumo having fun in a playpen. The show does try to be creative, which is something I really welcome since most shows these days seem to lack that.
=The character, surprisingly, are really good. I have no real issues with these characters at all. Clarence is a very good protagonist. He isn't stupid like Fanboy an Chum Chum, or Sanjay and Craig. Nor is he annoying like Uncle Grandpa or the "heroes" from Breadwinners. He's a good kid who's helpful and wants to just have fun. I really like this kid because of how kind he is and even though his methods are out there, his intentions are harmless.
His friends, Sumo and Jeff are pretty good too. Sumo's a nice kid too, but he's often the one causing trouble and chaos to others. To his favor, at least Sumo isn't like a Patrick Star ripoff, like how most shows these days seem to have the best friend be like him. Jeff, he's kind of like Squidward in a way, but they keep him unique too. He's pretty uptight, but at the end, he learns something about having fun. The mom reminds me of the one from Phineus and Ferb because of how oblivious she is to what her kid is doing. Again, nice to see there's some inspiration from other shows.
The jokes are another good thing. There are no fart jokes, or extreme randomness for the sake of randomness. It has some good jokes and antics like how Jeff goes nuts over his fries being stolen and those light up shoes Clarence was wearing. There are some laughs to be found in each episode and, the best part, no crude humor at all. Something that's a welcome breath of fresh air.
Where the show falters though is in two categories.
One, the voice acting is pretty bad. Clarence and Jeff sound pretty good, but everyone else? Not so much. Clarence's mom sounds like she's got something in her throat and very nasally. Sumo, has got to have the worst though. It sounds like he smoked a bunch of cigarettes from the moment he was born and this is the end result. It's not God awful like The Mighty B!'s acting, but it could've been a bit better.
The other problem goes to the artwork. The set designs are good, the coloring is very nice, and the locations are creative, but the character designs are just lackluster. Jeff has a cube head for some reason. Clarence and his mom have some pretty weird designs that make them look like circle with limbs sticking out. Sumo looks very skinny and his head looks odd. It's not a big turn off, but it looks a bit weird. I don't know what they were going for here. However, the animation makes up for it. The characters move smoothly without a choppy feeling and it looks good.
Clarence, overall, is a simplistic cartoon about kids doing stuff kids would do. It's simplistic premise and good characters make it a fun show to watch. It doesn't try to be over the top or extremely epic, but that's part of its charm. It's a funny and innocent cartoon about what kids do. It was a bit of a risk, but I think it payed off and I think this show has plenty of potential. And you know what? With Stuart "The Devil" Snyder gone from CN since he resigned and this show came out a little after he left, maybe CN can finally put the dark legacy of Snyder behind for good and we could see more good shows like Clarence in the future.
In Clarence, it centers around a boy of the same name, with his friends Sumo and Jeff. Usually, either Clarence or he and his friends get into some kind of adventure, with hijinks ensuring. Alright, the show's premise isn't the most original, but most shows can reuse an old premise and make it good. It's something the show does do a good job on.
You know how shows like Uncle Grandpa and Breadwinners don't follow any kind of plot line? Well this show actually does follow a plot. They aren't anything groundbreaking, but the stories themselves are pretty good. The one where Clarence goes to the grocery store, I have to admit I felt like I was watching that Rugrats episode where Tommy went to the store and caused destruction, which is something that also happened in this episode. It's a very nice callback. The other stories can range from Clarence making his own money, to him and Sumo having fun in a playpen. The show does try to be creative, which is something I really welcome since most shows these days seem to lack that.
=The character, surprisingly, are really good. I have no real issues with these characters at all. Clarence is a very good protagonist. He isn't stupid like Fanboy an Chum Chum, or Sanjay and Craig. Nor is he annoying like Uncle Grandpa or the "heroes" from Breadwinners. He's a good kid who's helpful and wants to just have fun. I really like this kid because of how kind he is and even though his methods are out there, his intentions are harmless.
His friends, Sumo and Jeff are pretty good too. Sumo's a nice kid too, but he's often the one causing trouble and chaos to others. To his favor, at least Sumo isn't like a Patrick Star ripoff, like how most shows these days seem to have the best friend be like him. Jeff, he's kind of like Squidward in a way, but they keep him unique too. He's pretty uptight, but at the end, he learns something about having fun. The mom reminds me of the one from Phineus and Ferb because of how oblivious she is to what her kid is doing. Again, nice to see there's some inspiration from other shows.
The jokes are another good thing. There are no fart jokes, or extreme randomness for the sake of randomness. It has some good jokes and antics like how Jeff goes nuts over his fries being stolen and those light up shoes Clarence was wearing. There are some laughs to be found in each episode and, the best part, no crude humor at all. Something that's a welcome breath of fresh air.
Where the show falters though is in two categories.
One, the voice acting is pretty bad. Clarence and Jeff sound pretty good, but everyone else? Not so much. Clarence's mom sounds like she's got something in her throat and very nasally. Sumo, has got to have the worst though. It sounds like he smoked a bunch of cigarettes from the moment he was born and this is the end result. It's not God awful like The Mighty B!'s acting, but it could've been a bit better.
The other problem goes to the artwork. The set designs are good, the coloring is very nice, and the locations are creative, but the character designs are just lackluster. Jeff has a cube head for some reason. Clarence and his mom have some pretty weird designs that make them look like circle with limbs sticking out. Sumo looks very skinny and his head looks odd. It's not a big turn off, but it looks a bit weird. I don't know what they were going for here. However, the animation makes up for it. The characters move smoothly without a choppy feeling and it looks good.
Clarence, overall, is a simplistic cartoon about kids doing stuff kids would do. It's simplistic premise and good characters make it a fun show to watch. It doesn't try to be over the top or extremely epic, but that's part of its charm. It's a funny and innocent cartoon about what kids do. It was a bit of a risk, but I think it payed off and I think this show has plenty of potential. And you know what? With Stuart "The Devil" Snyder gone from CN since he resigned and this show came out a little after he left, maybe CN can finally put the dark legacy of Snyder behind for good and we could see more good shows like Clarence in the future.