The Next Show To Be "Reviewed" Is.....

Hello, everybody!  Have you recovered from your St. Patrick's Day hangovers yet?  I hope you have, because I've got an announcement to make.

Remember how for part of 2015 and the first part of 2016, I did something every Friday where I reviewed a cartoon series episode by episode and we had a lot of conversation surrounding it?  The show I reviewed was the forgotten 1980's show "The New Archies", and for twenty-six weeks, I reviewed every 11-minute segment that spanned over thirteen episodes.  Some episodes were harder to write about than others, but I will say that it was a lot of fun to do.

So much fun that I've decided to do it again.

But which one?

Now, the first time around was a bit of a warm-up.  After all, the show lasted only one season.  The show that I'll be choosing this time around lasted THREE seasons and spanned 65 episodes.

So, doing the math...if I start this feature next Friday (March 25), and do one episode a week, I'll be doing this from now until June 16, 2017!  That's a whole year plus three months, everyone!

And, to further challenge myself, I'll be writing about a show that I'm semi-familiar with, but was not part of the target audience of the show by far.  So, you'll definitely be entertained as I prepare to watch all 65 episodes of this show - of which I've heard that the first half are wonderful and the last half are horrible.  So, the longer I do this, the more likely I'll go insane.

And as we all know, an insane blogger is an entertaining blogger.  Or, so I've heard.

Interestingly enough, when I did my first review, this was one of the choices that I had listed, and I remember a few people voted for it, but not enough for me to choose it.  But with this show currently available on Netflix Canada and on a couple of other sources, I should have little difficulty finding screencaps.  The music videos might be harder to locate, but I'll at least have the screencaps.

Okay, no keeping you in suspense any longer.  Let's get on with it.  And...I'm about to embarrass myself by revealing this choice the same way that our main character would before going on stage.

SHOWTIME, SYNERGY!

Yes, I've decided to torture myself by writing a review on all 65 episodes of the 1980s cartoon classic "Jem".  Would you believe that it's been over thirty years since this cartoon debuted on television?  I believe that it started in October 1985 and lasted until May 1988...or at least that's what Wikipedia tells me anyway.  I have reason to believe those dates are correct though.  I don't remember seeing too much of Jem during the 1990s.

So, why did I choose this truly, truly, truly outrageous show?  Well, there's a few reasons.  One, I like torturing myself.

Okay, okay.  In all actuality, I had no idea the show ran as long as it did.  I remember seeing a few episodes of the show's first season which aired on YTV back in the day, but I don't remember seeing many of the second or third seasons except for the very last episode where...ah, you'll have to wait until June for that one.  This way, I can watch the whole series and recap it...as good or as bad as it was.

Secondly, I figure that by watching this as a non-target audience member (seriously, this series is more or less a three season commercial for Hasbro dolls), I can gain a little perspective and hopefully find an appreciation for it (while being snarky in the process).

And lastly, I've looked around and there's not really a full recap guide of this show anywhere.  Sure, people have reviewed SOME of the shows, but I want to have a full guide.  Call it a challenge to myself, I suppose.

So, what can you expect me to talk about over the next 65 Fridays? 

- I'll point out all of the ways this show seems like a commercial - one thing I have found is that the show slips little references to the actual toy line inside the cartoon similar to the way that "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" did circa 1989.

- I'll point out all the ways in which Jem/Jerrica Benton is crazy.  Trust me, there's no shortage on that.

- I'll keep an active tally of the number of times Kimber almost kills herself.  I don't know why, but she seems to be an idiot in some of these episodes just based on prescreening.

- I'll talk about the Starlight Girls and how sometimes they might have been better off living on the streets.  Let's just say that Jem and the Holograms sometimes don't act like the best influences.

- I'll talk about some of the serious issues that this show focuses on.  You may think this is a cartoon for kids, but when you have a show that has special episodes on running away from home, illiteracy, peer pressure, and even drug abuse - well, let's just say that this cartoon was a bit ahead of its time.

- And, yes...if possible, I'll post links to all the music videos this show produced - of which I'm told there are 187 of them.  Which isn't too bad, as some of the songs aren't bad.  Though I do like one group better than the three that are featured in this cartoon, and it may not be the one you'd suspect.

The fun begins Friday, March 25 with Episode 1:  The Beginning.  It's an episode that features a funeral, a supercomputer, a pair of earrings, three Misfits, and a big fire.  But I've said too much...