Penguins of Madagascar!!

[clear eye]

I'm not sure how much credibility I'm sacrificing by posting this, but does any other kidless DUer think the animated cable series "Penguins of Madagascar" is a comic gem? the well-defined characters! the good guy version of a slightly off-kilter special forces unit w/ comradery and morals! the otter w/ a strong, levelheaded feminine viewpoint! the subtle anti-authoritarianism! the moral lesson that only occasionally pops up as they do in real life! the creepy little Peter Lorre-style lemur sidekick Mort! the delightfully imperfect understanding of the humans' aims and actions! the spot-on facial expressions--even on the penguins! (How do you keep a penguin looking like a penguin and still appear thoughtful? or triumphant? or determined? or one of a dozen other quickly changing emotions?) the artistry that creates a world and gives you the sense that you are really looking through a camera at everything you need to see from all angles! And last but not least, the bizarre action/adventure plots that somehow all manage to take place in the zoo or in the sewer just beneath it!

It's awesomely funny whenever King Julian, in his mangled English, manages to find yet another way of twisting reality to glorify himself, or Rico coughs up yet another huge tool needed for a penguin "mission", or Skipper takes a small, perfectly ordinary situation and turns it into a "mission", or Kowalsky creates another science fiction solution to a technical problem!

The creators of this series are nothing short of geniuses. I salute them.

[qnr]

1. I've never seen the series, but I enjoyed that crew in the movies n/t

[clear eye]

2. The Penguins are better in the TV series, IMHO

In the movies they were more heedless of others and rather menacing. In the series, while they still have a little covert ops paranoia and discipline, they want to do the "right" thing. The series is altogether lighter in mood, but still includes hilarious character vignettes throughout. They're on Nickelodeon at 5:30 - 6:00pm eastern. Record 'em and see for yourself.

[qnr]

5. Thanks - We don't have TV of any sort actually n/t

[clear eye]

8. Since you can see Bill Moyers online, w/ the exception of "Penguins", you're not missing much. n/t

[dugaresa]

3. I love it, watch it with my kids. In fact I was on a treadmill at the gym

watching it and had to stop I was laughing so hard.

King Julian is hysterical.

The Pinata episode was hysterical and so was the one where they tried to desensitize Mort to feet.

[clear eye]

4. Yeah, that Mort episode ended w/ Mort clearly humping King Julien's feet

when Julien relented and gave him permission to touch them just once. Fortunately that would go over the heads of young'uns. Doing a whole aversion therapy bit right out of old behaviorial psych methods is just such intelligent comedy. Can't remember seeing a "grown-up" sitcom at that level.

Seems there were dozens of one-liners in the Pinata episode. Like when someone (I think it was the chimps) gave King Julien a cake festooned w/ bugs because they'd heard lemurs liked them, and he answered, "Normally, yes. But I'm on a bug-free diet, now."

So nice to read I'm not the only relatively normal adult fan. Maybe you should record Penguins for your husband to see, too?

[hobbit709]

6. I love it

[EndersDame]

7. I tried to catch it when my boyfriend was asleep

they are too cool! and no I dont have kids either