Detentionaire (TV Series 2011–2014) Poster

(2011–2014)

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9/10
Conspiracy, Action, Animaton
thanuja22217 July 2014
One of the best cartoons to come out in the past years with an actual plot, twists, suspense, and great character development; probably one of the few shows on 'Teletoon' worth watching. Definitely a worthy cartoon, even if you aren't keen on animated shows. I would recommend this show, I feel it's very appealing to teens. You really start to love the characters and want to find out what happens next!The story just gets better and better so if you're looking for a good conspiracy-themed show, put this on your summer list! I hope the creators of the show do decide to create Season 5, because the last episode of Season 4 left with a major cliffhanger. They must tell us what happens, and do an official end!!
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9/10
Come On, Guys! You Seriously Haven't Heard Of Detentionaire?
Movieman495030 November 2014
This show is 100% awesome. But how come (besides this one) there is one review? How come altogether, only 96 votes? Come on, guys! Even 'Son Of The Mask' (2005) has 33, 378 votes! Stop wasting your time with movies that are #30 on the Bottom 100 and start looking at TV shows which would be within the top 10 in an IMDb top 250 TV Shows.

The story tells of teenager Lee Ping, who is framed for doing a fiendish prank he didn't do. He is thrown in detention and grounded for a whole year, and now it's up to him to find the culprit. Full of magic mystery, and half man half machine principals, this show is one of the best I've ever seen. That's why I've got it on my list 'Awesome Cartoons'.

So, whenever I'm in dire need for a good TV series, I am always up for Detentionaire. If you like shows such as 'Moville Mysteries' (2002-2003), or 'Johnny Bravo' (1997-2004), then I hands down recommend this show to YOU!!!
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8/10
How can you go wrong with a spy Thriller edge?
zachdech11 November 2015
Framed for the biggest prank ever Lee Ping finds himself in an impossible situation and must sneak out of detention every day to gather more clues as to who the real culprit is all while his psychotic cyborg principle hunts him down and the school is completely convinced he did it.

The show really shines in its layout of the story. Instead of just having a cliché rehashed story of every suspect didn't do it there are layers to the mystery. Each time you find an answer more are raised. Instead of going back to character development it spends a few episodes introducing the cast and just puts them into situations in a sort of "How did we get here" story.

The further along you get the more interesting things get as more and more clues are dropped. I respect how the show manages to tell you the characters are intelligent with visuals. Instead of just saying a character is smart they show them thinking logically and intelligently. The main character isn't making dumb moves. He's making very good choices on solving the mystery. There are a few awkward moments but you kind of stop minding them because the characters are fleshed out so much.

I'd at least give it a shot. Plus that awesome theme song!
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10/10
On Par with Gravity Falls
NewGuyWhen18 August 2017
On the surface, it just looks like another typical cartoon. BUT LITTLE DO YOU KNOW, IT'S AN ENDLESS SPIRAL OF AWESOMENESS AND MYSTERY! Imagine eating an onion, but instead of the raw nasty smell and taste, it literally gets better the more layers you eat.

If you Love mystery, I can confidently tell you that this series is the right one for you. I haven't seen a cartoon show with THIS many twist since Gravity Falls. It's That Good. Lovable characters, Great music rock music(I wish they released it), and a solid ORIGINAL story line.

There are way too many TV shows that just dwell on one theme each episode, that it just becomes so repetitive and tedious. This show however, progresses with the plot rather quickly, making you hungry for more.

It's shows like these that make me sad for not having enough recognition. I genuinely urge you to watch this!
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10/10
Action, Adventure, and Holger from school!
lovelytekki9 March 2021
Detentionaire is one of those shows I loved to watch in my childhood. Every Thursday, a new episode would drop, and after that, my mind would focus on where the story would go next. I loved it, but I was worried that it wouldn't hold up if I revisited it. Well, after a rewatch, I am happy to say that 10 years later this series still rocks!

The show follows Lee Ping, a 10th grader who is framed for a huge prank he didn't do, and thus has to prove his innocence, "breaking rules to prove he didn't break any rules" as he puts it. This setup seems like it would be a simple whodunit type of plot, but the more Lee (and the audience) learn about the prank, the deeper the mystery gets. I love how even when the stakes are high, there are still callbacks to earlier seasons. It's clear that everything in this show happens for a reason, like an intricate puzzle. Despite the show touching on some dark themes, it also knows how to have a sense of humour, and has lots of funny quotable moments!

The characters are really likable because they subvert your expectations. While at first glance they may appear to be tropes you can find in any other show set in high school, each character soon reveals there's so much more to them, or a trope is flipped on it's head entirely. A "dumb jock" could actually be pretty smart, a big tough guy could actually be a softie, and the shallow popular girl could have many insecurities of her own. The voice cast helps to bring these characters to life. In particular I loved Jonathan Tan as Lee, David Berni as Chaz, and Brian Froud as Lynch. Each performance is just oozing with charisma, helping the characters stay that much more memorable.

While we can always hope for a continuation of the show, one thing is for sure: Detentionaire is one of the best story-based mystery cartoons out there, and is criminally underrated. If you see this review, I urge you to go check it out for yourself!
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10/10
Questioning the readers plus few spoilers of episode 53
scypser24 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I extremely love this to show it's full of mystery love and friendship but my question to everyone who reads this is why is there only 4 seasons and do you agree that there should be season 5 because it ends in all the suspense of the fat guy with an army like come on! Please (even though it's ages from when the first episode aired) make another few season so it all makes more sense of what happens.
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9/10
Surprisingly intense!!
sunshinebrawler5 October 2019
So the first episode didn't really grab me, but by about 4 I was pretty much hooked, and as it went on I became totally addicted!! This show has one of the most complicated plots/mysteries I have ever seen, especially in a cartoon! There's also a fair amount of action considering that this is a mystery drama series. It's so intense on a few episodes that my chest gets all tight and my heart races-the reason it's so intense at times is because everything is personal-these bad guys seriously have it in for Lee. Whoever wrote this series seriously pit a lot of thought into it, there's so much detailed foreshadowing that you may not even notice and then bam, something crazy happens!! A couple of the characters are some of the most fun I've seen-I won't say who, but one of them is so sadistic and funny that nearly everything he says makes me burst out laughing. Another character is so slimy and sinister that I get chills whenever he talks!

All that said however, this show does have its flaws. A few of the characters can be very annoying (though not one-dimensional) and the show often cuts from something super interesting or intense to some random "funny" scene. Sometimes it actually is very funny, but sometimes it's annoying, though they don't usually cut for very long. And while the animation may not be the highest quality, they do a surprisingly good job with what they have, and even improve over time, with facial expressions becoming more expressive and less stiff, and certain characters moving in a very smooth and dramatic way.

Overall, this is one of the most entertaining shows I have ever seen, and idk why more people aren't talking about it! The voice acting is also decent, and improves a lot over time, so that the main character's screams and heavy breathing sound very realistic and make the episode that much more exciting. If you don't normally like cartoons, there are a few goofy elements to this show that you may not be able to stomach, but those things aside-THIS SHOW IS SO GREAT! if you stick with it you probably will not regret it!
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7/10
BOY PUNISHMENT
rjstephen1 April 2022
So far I've watched about 6 episodes and its not bad. The writers seem to have a thing about teen boys being on punishment. The main character is a teen boy who is doing one year on detention and in most of the episodes he also complains about being grounded by his parents. This poor boy is just being punished in every episode, its cute and funny!
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9/10
If you like nostalgia or don't this is worth watching...
imdbmoviereviews27 April 2019
While yes the series does seems to target younger audience and.... Watching it a couple of years back just got me so nostalgic and u know.... The show is unique simple yet complex

and just worth watching... Even if your like me and don't usually like shows of this "younger perspective nature" or animated/.... (to my taste can be fine as long as the story is good)
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8/10
Strangely familiar...
trueloveloving3 October 2023
If you can look past the racial stereotypes, this show really is worth a watch (thank you Diamondbolt).

Seriously, the episodes are so well written that an older audience can enjoy the show too, despite it being aimed towards a younger demographic.

Each backdrop is so oddly gorgeous to look at that I honestly find myself taking in the subtle details. The school and its surrounding locations have a slight sepia filter over them, perfectly conveying the overwhelming boredom that lingers in the air of a real school environment.

If I'd found this show sooner, it's the sort of thing my edgy thirteen year-old self would have clicked with, having been a regular attendee of detentions. If only they were really so thrilling.
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4/10
You can really tell it was made in Canada
Ratpires4 September 2022
The only thing surprising about this cartoon is how many offensive racial stereotypes they could fit in one kids show. And in 2012 no less.

I'd expect something like this to have been made in like 2002, 10 years prior, since that's more around the time it was seen as "socially acceptable" to include racism in kids cartoons.

Some of the characters are palatable and sort of interesting, but its all drowned out by how bad the animation is, how bad the humor is, and how bad the writing is.

Wasn't funny, wasn't done tastefully, and the white voice actors putting on a blackcent and trying to "act black" by using slang when voice acting Black characters really made me want to stop watching the show all-together. I didn't. I finished it. Unfortunately.

The only things that stood out to me were some of the personalities they gave to characters like Cam, Brandy, and Biffy. Everyone else was pretty 1 dimensional and not well rounded. Which is weird, considering even the main character doesn't stick out as much as the background characters I mentioned. He's just your blank slate to project yourself onto, which is typically done in bad anime, but here we are.

The mystery was probably the only thing that kept me watching, just because I wanted to find out what the end goal of all of it was. Disappointed to find out its just antisemitism. Lizard people secretly controlling the government and brain washing people. How creative. (that was sarcasm)

I don't think this is at all comparable to 6teen being that at least in 6teen they didn't portray their poc characters as extreme racial stereotypes to get out of actually having to create them a personality. Also 6teen was just pretty well written. The girl characters weren't just.... "girls".

Thats not to say I didn't like their take on Brandy. It's just that they cut her out a lot to have Tina be in the story and.... she was probably the MOST boring 1 dimensional character on the show. Lee being right after.

I skipped past all of their "romantic" scenes because it was so cringe and I just didn't care at ALL about either of them due to the horrible writing.

I don't recommend anyone watch it. It was already really racy when it was released in 2012, and has only gotten so much worse with age. It's technically watchable, but I would rather have the time I spent watching it back.

Honestly I recommend Stoked, which is made by the same company and has a similar style, but the animation is FAR superior. And the character's aren't anything super special, but at least they don't rely on racial stereotypes to flesh them out.
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8/10
Really great TV animation
pingonvodka19 August 2020
Obviously, I'm not expecting huge production value, but seriously, the characters are all great fun to watch, the dialogue and interactions are surprisingly well done, and the story is good lighthearted fun, and amps up at the perfect pace. Bit of a shame they don't make shows like they used to.
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10/10
A truly brilliant cartoon from start to end
KingNavGoraya9 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I haven't logged into this account for years, but I need to get my thoughts on Detentionaire out.

Me and Detentionaire have an interesting relationship: I watched it when I was 9 for the first time, and it became one of my favorite shows immediately. Every Thursday would be a new episode, and that would be all I would be waiting for throughout the week. I watched each episode up until the end only to be devastated by the cliffhanger. I spent hours looking for different petitions, but to no avail.

After it ended, I did many rewatches, until I took a break from TV in 2016 to focus on school. I did not watch any programs until 2018 when I rewatched Detentionaire and fell in love all over again. It is now my favorite show and I don't think that is changing anytime soon.

Where to begin with Detentionaire? The story is amazing - we start with a teenager who gets framed for a prank, but by the end of it, we have an ancient species awakening to take over the world. The show gets more intense by the episode, and the pacing is perfect. I also love the characters because while they may seem like stereotypes off of first glance, we learn that there is so much more to them and that their character has more layers than we think.

Overall, I love Detentionaire, and I pray everyday that it returns to TV some day.
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5/10
Overrated
leaellynasaura29 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Detentionaire is a show that exists. At best, it's a watchable show with a plot and nice backgrounds.

With lizard monsters that are barely lizards, gorgeous backdrops to very basic character art that looks like it's definitely been traced, veeery obvious villains, veeeery stereotypical - and often obnoxious - characters, and far too many episodes to excuse the rush and unsatisfying ending... it's a fairly average show.

It saves itself by not having too much of an obnoxious MC - I've seen worse - and a cute Tazzlewurm mascot, but besides that there's only really Kimmy, Biffy and the first vice principle we get introduced to. Everyone beyond them is either sorta' okay, meh, or just the worst.

The comedy is usually brutally unfunny - though in the later seasons it does improve a little - and let's not even talk about the "romance". Even the friendships between anyone but Biffy and Lee and Jenny and Tina are just kind of bad...

Kimmy and Biffy are relatively okay in their dynamics but at this point I've seen so many tsundere relationships that this is just kind of boring.

Also, I just don't know enough about the lizard monsters to want them to lose, nor to feel sympathetic for them. Characters are largely one-dimensional and their quirks aren't any more interesting. And at times their words and actions are plain annoying and nonsensical.

You've zapped so many people for the purposes of self-protection, why not add another guy who is so obviously a potential threat? You think a bunch of teachers - even highschool teachers - would have ANY problems with the chicken or the egg riddle? Obviously the egg came first, from an evolutionary standpoint that's a given! And from a creationist stand point chances were it was the chicken because the egg wouldn't survive on its own. Basically you've got an obvious answer regardless, don't act like it's some kind of mystery; it isn't.

Oh and let's not talk about how so obviously sus the VC was...

The opening sequence is... fine. Not bad, not the most amazing thing ever, certainly more interesting than some I've seen. Ending sequence is... likewise. It doesn't really compare to anime or the better done cartoons.

And a cartoon having a plot? That's such a low bar, fellow reviewers and review readers.

If you want an okay cartoon that is better than Fleabag Monkeyface (one of the worst cartoons in existence if you ask me), by all means, this one fits the bill. But this definitely isn't a 9 or 10/10.
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5/10
Disappointingly average
truenfg31 January 2023
Lee the main character is framed for a major school prank and punished with a year of detention, the entire show centers around him breaking out of detention to figure out who framed him. This leads to one of my biggest problems with the show it sacrifices everything for this mysterious plot. The bulk of each episode all take place in detention from the second episode onward, this means their is no real world building, character growth or story telling. The writers seemed hell bent on the entire show taking place during detention, to cement these writing limitations Lee is grounded and on a strict schedule as punishment from his mom. So we literally see NOTHING but the halls, cafeteria, and detention.

On top of all that the vast majority of the characters are stereotypically bland, boring, one dimensional cliché high school students with the exception of literally two smaller supporting characters. Lee doesn't fall completely into the first category but he is insanely one dimensional. This literally describes his entire existence "framed for a prank, now he's popular and he wants to find out who framed him that's it". Nothing else is really define with his character or any of the others, there's potential romance but it's all handled so poorly. The character don't even feel like people just vehicles to progressed the plot.

This show sacrifices so much for a HIGHLY subjective mystery that there really isn't anything left without it, there are so many massive plot holes. For example why aren't the skaters popular if they helped set up the prank Lee was framed for? How is a year of detention with a constantly sleeping teacher punishment? Why wouldn't Barrage supervise detention himself at the very first suspicion of Lee sneaking out? Why are Lee and Biffy the only people in the ENTIRE school that have detention? The list goes on and on the only thing the writers put any thought into is the mystery literally everything else is severely lacking.
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