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Twenty Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series One #2 Rant

Reviewed: 02/04/2018
Additional Commentary/Edited: 06/17/2024

Gregory Weagle Is Stuck!

Okay fans; I have now decided to rant on this series full time, because I do in fact like this show enough that I can handle the best and worst of the Pig family from Great Britian. Okay; so we head back to Series one as we ride bicycles, create secrets, have a picnic, fly a kite, play music, be worms, butterflies, frogs and cosplay parents! Then from there we get new shoes, Mummy Pig has a birthday and had the first of many school fetes! Heh heh. It's going to be a fun ride to say the least. So, let's rant on shall we..?!

Most of the episodes are done by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Bicycles is written by Sarah Ann-Kennedy. Secrets is written by Ange Palethorpe. Sarah-Ann Kennedy's resume: A writer for such productions as Dusty and Musty for HIT Entertainment, Days for BBC, Risky Business for BBC, Last Girls, Sleepy Pete, Cock & Bull, Feast, Supergirly, and did story research for EastEnders. Also voiced Miss Rabbit (and what a story she is in this show?!) and Mummy Rabbit in this show, along with Dolly Pond in Pond Life and Nanny Plum in Little Kingdom. Also, Worked part-time in the development department at Talkback – finding and developing original projects for television. Also an Animator in residence at Hayward Gallery and Share, Liskenea, Northern Ireland and Script Advisor to C4’s Animator in Residence Scheme at Bradford Museum of Film and Photography. She debuted in 1979 in the TV movie Starstruck as Delight. Animation is done by Astely Baker Davies animation; with the two mentioned creators and Phil Davies.

Bicycles: Here is episode #12 on the animation paper and before I begin this episode: I should note that there are two versions of this episode on Youtube: One featuring them not wearing bicycle helmets and one showing them wearing bicycle helmets, since apparently parents complained about it. (2024 Gregory Weagle Says: Sadly, they didn't complain enough to force the creators to have the adults wear lifejackets like the kids do all the time. Also, if anyone has the American dub of this very episode, can you tell me if they were wearing bicycle helmets in that version?) I don't know if it matters because the bicycle helmets are kind of neat actually style wise; so at least they put some effort into these, instead of just having them wear bland helmets. We begin this episode with the STOCK FOOTAGE OF DOOM as we zoom into Peppa Pig on her purple bicycle with training wheels on, a basket in the front and it also has a bell to ring. Her helmet is red with rainbow colored flowers on it. George is riding a yellow tricycle and wearing a green dinosaur stylized helmet of course. They ride their bicycles down the hill as we cut to Mummy and Daddy Pig looking at a giant pumpkin conveniently placed on the ground. Geez; I wonder what the final bump will be. I know what you are all thinking: You can't allow kids to bump in a pre-school show! HAAAAAAA~! (This is pre-reboot Peppa Pig where you swear it's an adult slice of life show that is disguised as a pre-school show. Hey, TaleSpin did the same thing for older kids and it worked, so why not?!) The pumpkin is still smaller than Daddy's tummy; but he's still proud of it as the narrator and Mummy Pig point out. He loves it because he loves pumpkin pie; remember that for the ending. (Grandpa Pig is probably not going to be happy to find out that Daddy Pig can only grow pumpkins. He's too dumb to live now.) Peppa climbs up the hill with George struggling to keep up. In comes Danny Dog, Rebecca Rabbit and Suzy Sheep. Danny's helmet is green with flames on the sides; which is odd since he is supposed to be the son of a sea captain, so shouldn't those flames be water waves? Rebecca Rabbit's helmet is orange/red splashes and Suzy Sheep is purple with yellow zig-zags. The bicycles are blue, orange and purple in that order with bells and headlights (red, yellow, orange.).

The helmets looked better than the bicycles. (See, censorship can make things better, as long as the change is better than the original. Artists are not gods and it is dehumanzing to say otherwise.) They make fun of George's biking abilities; and George don't care. Danny Dog wants to race and the finish line is past Daddy Pig's giant pumpkin. Peppa is fine with it as long as no one bumps into the pumpkin, because that would make Daddy Pig sad. Yeah; I'll bet! Danny don't care as everyone races down with Peppa and George finishing next to last and last in that order. Danny stops right in front of the pumpkin; along with Rebecca and Suzy, rendering Daddy Pig's protests completely pointless. Peppa has to violently stop on a dime to prevent hitting the pumpkin despite being at least three feet away as George don't care about going down the hill, slower than molasses. (By the way, take a picture of this moment because that is the last time Danny Dog will ever win an actual race on this show until at least Peppa Pig Tales and even then, he gets screwed out of the win as it's busted down to a tie that never happened. Peppa was next to last by the way. ) Peppa -- the troll that she is -- proclaims that George is riding a baby bike. Danny Dog rightfully mocks her because she has training wheels on her bicycle. By the way; in Britian; training wheels are called stabilizers. (Which sounds a lot less childish than training wheels I might add.) The other kids point out that they are real kids who ride bicycles and thus do not need that stabilizers stuff. Peppa looks at the training wheels, realizing that she just let her alligator mouth write a cheque her humming bird rear end cannot cash. (I always love it when the troll gets trolled. Even better when the troll falls on it's own sword.) The other kids ride up the hill as Peppa is ashamed of herself and stays still. The narrator sums this up nicely as Peppa asks Daddy to take off the stabilizers and Daddy asks "Can you ride without them?" and Peppa claims that she can. Yeah; I'll bet! Daddy agrees to the terms and Daddy pulls off the training wheels like they were nothing. Geez; that is a cheap set of training wheels there. Mummy Pig asks if Peppa is sure she wants to do this since she has never done this before; Peppa says yes. She tries to ride and she falls off and takes a back bump into the grass, the bicycle flops onto it's side.

George laughs at her and Peppa stops selling and blows him off because it's not funny. George is not laughing at you because you fell off your bicycle. He's laughing because you acted like you could and you didn't deliver. (George is punching up here, so Peppa, that's your fault for again letting your aligator mouth write a cheque your humming bird rear end cannot cash. Sadly, I wish Daddy Pig would know better in that department...) Narrator proclaims that riding without stabilizers is not easy. I cannot argue with that overwhelming logic there, sir. Peppa does eye contact violence on George, it fails. Daddy Pig comes in and helps her on the bicycle. I should note that in Britian; they say "Ready...steady...GO!" like in the opening of Full Metal Alcheimst. So; "get set" is a North American motif. (Peppa Pig Tales would use the North American version in races as well.) Daddy is pushing Peppa for a while and then he lets go as Peppa pedals her bicycle much better now with Mummy Pig yelling encouraging words to Peppa; George don't care. Peppa then realizes Daddy let go and she jumps off the bicycle and grabs it on the ground, looking incredibly awkward in the process. The adults inform her that the stabilizers were only there to not make her fall; thus she knew how to pedal the bicycle all along. Peppa pedals the bicycle with glee up the hill and joins her circle of friends. She's so happy now and wants to race towards the pumpkin; getting a head start on all of them. Cheater! Everyone races down the hill as Daddy Pig panics because Peppa is heading straight for the pumpkin. Now; I have heard the complaints about how this show makes men and boys look stupid at all times and the women and girls never get this. Well; I watch this show and never get that impression. I get the impression that both rigid genders at least are treated equally in both sides of the smart/stupid equation. In this case; Peppa looks back at the racers, which is the stupidest thing to do and then crashes into the pumpkin and takes a really nasty bump into the pumpkin and destroys it. (No amount of stablizers was going to change the result of that one. Peppa, that's your fault! Also, she stopped at least fifteen feet away from the pumpkin. But hey, she won the race. But at the cost of the pumpkin, Peppa's body and the fact that she cheated so she's DQ'ed.)

At least in this case; the bump wasn't very dangerous as it was a flat back bump, the safest bump to take. Wait until the blackberry bush episode because Mummy Pig not only does something stupid; it's also dangerous and reckless. At least Peppa put on the brakes; but she forgot to slow down while doing it and she popped from her bicycle. At least she landed on a giant pumpkin to break her fall. I once had this happened to me as a child and I landed on pavement and rocky ground and was bleeding a lot. It was a horrifying sight; but I lived on. (Nothing compared to Bryan Alverez and the ten speed bicycle ride into a barb wire fence that he mentioned during the Silent Night, Bloody Night match review!) I just love the narrator claiming that she squashed the pumpkin; even though she clearly split it in half cleanly. (Peppa Pig actually repeats the narrator's squashed during her apology. Stop doing that! Also, the bump into the pumpkin I would say was a factor in the bicycle riders getting bicycle helmets in future airings. I can see why they complained. Hey, the bicycle helmets looked great, so some good came out of this change.) Daddy Pig grabs Peppa and softly tells her to be more careful; but he's more concerned about her well being than the pumpkin itself, which is not realistic. However; to be fair, when you already have pig anthros and animal chimeras, saying it's not realistic is sort of saying it when Pedro Pony is out of the barn and doing ten revolutions around the world. Yeah. Besides; Daddy Pig is sort of relieved Peppa did this because it makes it easier to make pumpkin pie now. Yeah; that's why he wasn't so pissed off. Peppa Pig loves pumpkin pie. Everyone loves pumpkin pie. Sadly; the narrator didn't say it as everyone snorts and giggles to end the episode at 4:30 approx. This is the best episode of the DVD set as it included Peppa Pig learning to ride a bicycle like a big kid while making an ass out of herself for my amusement, Daddy Pig gets to be smart and doesn't have to cut up the pumpkin for pumpkin pie. What more can I say? *** 3/4 (75%). (Best Friend is still the best episode so far, but this one was glorious in it's own way.)

Secrets: This is episode #13 on the animation paper and I should note that Peppa whisper yells the title name for added effect that we the audience are supposed to treat this as a secret. We begin this one with the STOCK FOOTAGE OF DOOM as we zoom into the living room with Mummy Pig showing Peppa a purple box with pink stars on it. It's a special box for Peppa designed for her to keep her secret things that only Peppa can decide; but Peppa mustn't tell anyone. Peppa promises never to tell anyone what she puts in the secret box. Considering that the bedroom of Peppa is also used by George, this is a fools errand as she has an evil look on her face. (Uh-oh! We all know where this is going and it's another troll session for Peppa.) Literally three seconds later; Peppa walks into the bedroom and George is RIGHT THERE and Peppa basically blows the secret box's cover right there. (HA! Even without the jump cut, that didn't take long.) George is putting his cyan blue car upside down as he giggles; and then he tips it over as George wants to help Peppa. Peppa tells George to leave because only she decides. George walks out and Peppa slams the door so hard; I'm shocked George didn't cry on cue outside. Peppa giggles like she is an evil troll...Oh wait. We cut to outside with George and then Peppa walks out with the box. That took literally five seconds. I betcha she took Mr. Dinesaur; because I put nothing past Peppa being a troll in this episode. Peppa tells George that the box is off limits and he cannot look inside the box. Narrator explains that George don't care about that and wants to look in the box. George is allowed to guess; and George thinks she's trolling him; so he says dinesaur. Peppa claims that it's not. Damn. George is confused as Peppa bounces down the steps as Daddy Pig is invoking the feather duster on a picture on the wall with an image of a bottle of red wine and a pear. (This must be the nip of sherry I keep hearing about.) We exchange notes and Daddy Pig wants a chance to guess; Peppa sells and shakes the box to help him. Daddy Pig ponders this over and Daddy Pig claims that it's glasses, despite being on his face the entire time. That was clearly Daddy Pig playing mind games; he's not that dumb. Peppa calls him out of it though as Daddy must have a proper guess without mind games. Daddy Pig ponders it over -- again -- and it's Mummy Pig's shoes; which is wrong of course. Daddy Pig lost the game after all.

Everyone enters the living room as George now has a cyan blue box with yellow stars on it. Mummy Pig is sitting on the couch as Mummy Pig admits that she made a box for George and only he knows what is inside. George shakes the box for fun; as Peppa wants to know; she guesses that it's Mr. Dinesaur because George has dinosaurs on the brain according to her. George: No. I always love the way he says it. Short, blunt and to the point that he means it. Narrator sums this up nicely; and Peppa calls it too difficult. Well; being unpleasant is easy as hell; so yeah. Peppa doesn't like secrets; so this leads to Mummy Pig saying that they can show off their secrets, but at the same time. The kids put the boxes down and backs up a few steps; Daddy counts to three and they open their boxes. George giggles like Ernie as he has a drum; which the giggling would have been better if it was a rubber duckie. Peppa has a trumpet and then they play their musical toys so loudly, even my ears are in slight pain right now. (Sod off former self, this was okay. I have heard worse from professional musicians like Tatu.) Daddy Pig asks if they have any more secrets and George checks his box to find a custard doughnut; while Peppa's box is empty. Peppa frowns; but it's Mummy Pig to the rescue with three custard doughnuts on a plater with white and purple sprinkles on top. Everyone takes one and Daddy Pig dares Peppa to guess where he's putting his and Peppa thinks it's in the fridge; but she's wrong. It's in Daddy's Big Tummy~! Yeah. Peppa is hiding hers in her tummy along with Mummy and George. They eat the doughnuts and snort to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Remind me to never keep anything a secret from the Pig family. This was fine. ** 1/2 (50%).

Flying A Kite: Here is episode #14 on the animation paper and we begin this one in the most sparse of forests you will ever see as it is mostly hills with very few trees. In comes Peppa with a banana yellow kite as she has her boots on; which automatically means that there will be a muddy puddle to jump in when this episode is order. Everyone goes up the hill as the narrator claims that this is a park. This is the most colorful and yet most desolate park I have ever seen in a cartoon. George grabs the string pulley as he is going to fly the kite first. Peppa stretches the string out and George runs stage right; but the kite will not go up, because you see; there is no wind present to fly the kite high into the air. This is akin to running with a dog on a leash, only the dog is behind you rather than in the front. Peppa then comes in and blames the victim...AGAIN! (George acts like "Can you believe this?!" with that stare.) We exchange pulley and kite positions and it's Peppa's turn. I betcha she runs and the kite doesn't go up. I check the video...Damn; I'm good. Mummy Pig comes in as Peppa is panting and looks amused by this. Daddy Pig points out that the kite won't fly without wind so they will have to wait and at least Peppa didn't complain about it, so that is a win. Then the leaves on the trees flutter because the wind is picking up. Oh joy; in my region, it gusts so much that on certain days; the power goes out for 24 hours and takes five times before we get it back for good...or til the next power cut. The kite flies up as George grabs the pulley and giggles. (In the TickleU version, the narrator proclaims that "the wind has gotten stronger", while the original narrator say that "the wind is quite strong now".) He runs as the wind gust up and George almost flies into the air; but Peppa makes the save. For about five second as she floats into the air; causing Daddy Pig to make the save and sets them down on the ground. Daddy Pig takes over the kite and George wants the kite to go higher as Daddy Pig loosens up the string and the kite goes higher. Daddy Pig does some Loop-De-Loops for only 15 pounds for a while as Daddy Pig invokes his "I'm a bit of an expert in these things."; which "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" would be the witty retort to this catchphrase. (The TickleU version of this line just doesn't have the charm of the original.)

Mummy Pig tells Daddy Pig to be careful about the trees; Daddy Pig don't care. This ends with the kite gets stuck in one of the trees and the string gets pulled off. (TickleU changes "Oh dear" to "Oh my" twice in this episode.) Daddy Pig is dumb and this causes George to cry. That was funny. I did get annoyed when Muimmy Pig told George to stop crying. You don't deny your feelings, Mummy Pig! Oh; and below the kite and the tree branch; there is a conveniently placed muddy puddle. Geez; I wonder what the final bump will be?! Also, if you cannot guess who will take said bump into muddy puddle; you have no business reading this rant. Even Daddy Pig has figured this out and the kids are giggling, so the writers are not even trying to hide this. Peppa and George want to jump into the muddy puddle and Mummy Pig says no because she doesn't want them covered in mud again. Wait; what?! Mummy Pig is no longer fine with them jumping in muddy puddles?! I guess she didn't bring the cleaning tools with her; which would be a good reason to say no and still be consistant with the first episode. But it wasn't addressed, so that was dumb. I don't know why Daddy Pig is bothering the climb the tree; the kite is already broken. This is just a case of toxic machoism in a pre-school show. Unless Daddy Pig doesn't want to get fined for littering; which I would say: Take the fine, the government needs the money anyway! (Considering that the governments are the one who make the currency, that is obvious. Otherwise, Cryptocurrency wouldn't be invented by right-wing God wannabes.) Mummy Pig's attempt to tell Daddy Pig to be careful is a fools' errand. Daddy claims that he knows what he is doing while upside down. This cannot end well for Daddy Pig and his back. Peppa and George are giggling like ghouls and Mummy Pig is continuing to tell Daddy to be careful. Mummy Pig is horrified by this and tells Daddy to come down because he's too heavy for the branch. Now she tells him, at the worst possible time! Daddy Pig rescues the kite...and then falls into the mud and it splatters all over everyone. HAHA! (Even in the TickleU version, it's still uses the word "rescued" instead of "got".) This renders Mummy Pig's orders to not jump up and down into muddy puddles to be useless.

In a huge surprise; the branch did not break! I AM THE TREE BRANCH~! Mummy Pig is not amused; but Daddy Pig don't care. Somehow; the kite is the only thing that is clean. Everyone pops for the kite as Mummy Pig finally relents on the jumping muddy puddle part as she proclaims that Daddy Pig will be doing the washing. (By the way, in Britian, "the laundry" as per the TickleU version is calling washing. Considering that "laundering" is a crime, "washing" is a better term here.) Also, for all of you who thinks this is embarassing to men; keep in mind, Daddy Pig was the one who almost killed himself trying to get a broken kite. (Mummy Pig asks Daddy Pig to get the kite and if Daddy Pig didn't want to do it, he wouldn't have done it. That's his fault for agreeing to it! He could have said "no" and have the kids do it. Besides, he put the kite in the tree anyway due to his cockiness along with breaking the line, so that's Daddy Pig's fault as well!) Sod off! Besides; Daddy Pig can wash kids off as seen in episode #1 anyway. Everyone giggles as everyone jumps up and down in muddy puddles. The kite somehow doesn't get muddy in the splashing to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Predictable; but the touches of a lack to attention to detail were funny... (This was funnier on the second viewing, so *** 1/4 (65%).)

Picnic: Okay; here is episode #15 on the animation paper as we open up with the house on the hill with the red car parked on the flat side of the hill with the back trunk open. Everyone comes out and Mummy Pig sits in the passenger side of the car, while the kids go to the back. Daddy Pig brings out the picnic basket as Daddy checks off the items and asks if anything was missing in which Peppa claims that the strawberry cake made by Mummy Pig is missing. Daddy Pig proclaims that it's there and he was just trolling her. Daddy Pig gets into the car, drives down the hill, rides on the boring road for a while, finds a hill and parks on the steepest side of said hill. (I believe this is the first episode involving the driver saying "Then let's go!") Everyone cheers and gets out with the picnic stuff. Daddy Pig puts the basket down on the blanket and then stretches because this is great. Daddy wants to run around and get some exercise, which I laugh at as Mummy Pig wants to take a nap and thus I can believe that one at least. Peppa just has to taunt him for his weight, which is the first time in the entire series I do believe, Peppa was making fat jokes. I realize that Daddy does have a big tummy and exercise would do him some good, but weight is not the reason. It's more fitness than losing weight. Besides; every adult in the show has a big tummy; but only Daddy Pig gets all the fat jokes. And it's not because "woman are not allowed to be teased" since even the big male adults do not get teased for being big. To be honest; Daddy does have the biggest tummy of them all. That's not a joke; that's just a fact. Besides; Daddy Pig is the one who doesn't mind exercise, but does mind that his tummy is big. It's okay to have a big tummy, Daddy Pig. I'm more concerned about your "bit of an expert" line than your large waistline. (True, but body shaming is wrong , so it has to be jettisoned after Series 5. That being said, there was a more problematic spot in this episode as well, and that lead to Peppa sobbing for the first time in the entire series...Sadly, it doesn't happen until the "big movie" in 2014!) Let's eat subs for a while and I can fully agree with that. Surprisely; Daddy Pig is the only one who talks with his mouth full. There are a lot of people who would be better off not talking with their mouth open. Daddy Pig then drops onto his back and feels sleepy, which is basically to weasel out of his promise to exercise.

Mummy Pig calls him out on this and Daddy proclaims that he will do it later. I did like Daddy's approach to saying it though; it was so soothing to my ears. Daddy Pig snores as we see a conveniently placed duck pond with three yellow feathered ducks swimming on top of the pond. This is the first episode in the "Peppa feeds the animals" angle; which has always annoyed me until The Golden Boots when Mrs. Duck got her revenge on Peppa. Nowadays; I look back and realize that if there was a little foresight in this family; Peppa wouldn't have gone to the moon and got her star power killed as a result. (I will mention this in a later episode in full since I originally ranted on these episodes out of order; but the guise of it is that you should only feed them stuff approved by animal biologists! Otherwise, don't feed them, full stop! Because while humans are animals in their own right, it doesn't mean that every animal can withstand the same foods that humans can. Heck, it's different even from human to human! Just be thoughtful out there.) Peppa and George feed the rest of the bread to the ducks. The family runs out of bread, Mummy Pig is certain that this was enough and the pigs all bail. But the ducks want more; evidence #1 of why you don't feed animals, because they become addicted to it! Daddy Pig is still snoring and Mummy Pig realizes that his word is not worth a damn anymore. (At least Daddy Pig is thoughtful to not feed the ducks, so sod off!) The waking pigs giggle and this is enough for Daddy Pig to wake up on cue. In comes the ducks and they wants bread. Mummy Pig compromises by feeding them leftover strawberry cake as the pigs have their just desserts. Oh; and let's add a wasp for fun -- which is usually the signal for Daddy Pig to run away -- but the wasp is harrassing Mummy Pig! Dammit! (That wasp must be a half-murder hornet. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) Daddy Pig tells her to stay still and it will go away; and the wasp apparently hears Daddy Pig and goes after him, and he runs away. I told you his word isn't worth a damn! (BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hypocrisy much there, Daddy Pig?! That would have been so on-brand for Peppa Pig if she said that for real.) Now; he's getting that overdue exercise and it's so funny.

Peppa and Mummy exchange notes and Mummy Pig assures Peppa Daddy Pig will not be stung by the wasp, because Daddy Pig is running way too fast. (BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's a good one Mummy Pig! Somehow, Daddy Pig didn't get stung, so maybe it was a bee after all!) So, instead of helping Daddy Pig, they sit down and enjoy the strawberry cake before the wasp and Daddy Pig come back. The ducks are quacking as there is no more cake left...and here comes Daddy Pig as the wasp is now gone. Mummy Pig is amused by this as the kids are giggling. Daddy thinks he's having some strawberry cake; but Peppa cuts him off because they promised the rest of the cake for the ducks. Yes, Peppa steals the strawberry cake and feeds it to the ducks. She didn't even have the decency to at least give Daddy Pig the strawberry either. Yeah; I'm not shocked either. She tells the ducks to thank Daddy Pig of course; just to rub it in. We say our goodbyes as Daddy Pig is most welcomed by the ducks' gestures; and the family gets into the car as the car has been turned around and written in by teleport! Yeah; logic is not a strong point of this show as the car drives down with the family giggling to end the episode at 4:30 approx. One of the few times they didn't do the backsplash laugh, which would have been dangerous anyway. Another all right episode in a series of them; but doing fat jokes and feeding ducks spots on a pre-school show is asking for trouble, methinks. ** 1/2 (50%).

Musical Instruments: Here is episode #16 on the animation paper and episode opens at the house on the hill with a band playing in the background. We zoom into the sitting room with Peppa and George watching Daddy Pig coming in with a giant box. (Interesting change: In the TickleU version, the narrator says that the parents were "cleaning the house", while the original was "tidying the house". I hope this doesn't mean Mummy Pig's catchphrase of "tidying up" was changed in the American dub...) Mummy Pig arrives as Daddy puts the box down and asks the kids if they can guess what's inside. Peppa ponders it over and I was hoping she would say "diet pills"; but she says "nope" instead. (I think what happened was YTV Treehouse aired a Youtube Poop video unintentionally and then got cut off instantly afterwards. The problem is, Peppa Pig body shaming Daddy Pig is so on-brand that saying "diet pills" would be so Rhinokey fat shaming Hoppo-equse in The Wuzzles!) Daddy Pig opens the box and we have a squeeze box, a violin, a horn and the world's tinest drum and Daddy Pig is stupid enough to blow on the musical instruments and the dust makes him sneeze. HAHA! Daddy Pig puts the instruments back in the box and we all giggle. Mummy Pig takes out the violin, which has grown a foot since Daddy Pig put it back in the box. She admits that she hasn't played it in years; but Peppa insists that she plays it. She plays it and it sounds fine, so cautious Mummy Pig is a complete success! (She's playing the background theme of this show by the way.) Everyone claps in unison as Peppa wants to play the violin. Peppa gets the violin and she does an okay job all things considered. I was expecting much worse, like the violin string breaking for instance. So; this deserves a slow clap at least. (Another instance of TickleU changing "oh dear," to "oh my,".) George wants to play the violin and George bangs on it like a drum and that was far worse than Peppa playing it. (TickleU removed "quite" from the "That doesn't sound quite right either." That was odd since "quite" adds slightly more nuance and doesn't affect the overall line otherwise.) Still better than Caron playing the piano in Chargeman Ken though. (Caron's piano playing was okay compared to George's violin playing. That sick burn should have been on Ken Izumi playing a babyface.)

Peppa declares the violin is too hard to play. Screw you, Peppa! The violin is not too hard to play. Daddy Pig shows off the tinest drum in captivity and it's made of tin. Peppa don't care and neither do I as she plays it and she does a much better job playing it. She don't want to work; she wants to bang on the drum all day! And really; who could argue?! (Every blood sucking money mark in the world, that's who. Also, TickleU changed Mummy Pig's "lovely" to "very nice". Love is not sexual, get over it you perverted bigots. Love that doesn't care (unconditional love as preachers claim God does) is not love, it's bloodlust.) Daddy Pig gets the accordion as he claims that he played this on their first date. (TickleU and the original identified it as an accordion. I don't know why I kept calling it a squeeze box since my misspelling it in this rant was off by one single O.) Mummy Pig is amused by this as Daddy Pig's accordion playing is so much better than Peppa's drum banging. Then again; Daddy Pig is an expert with the accordion; so it's a totally unfair comparison. (TickleU changed "this" to "that". Why? Why not?!) George wants to play the accordion and Daddy claims that it's difficult and too hard. Well; it is because the accordion is too big! (TickleU changed "quite" to "very", twice in this episode alone. Why? Why not?! Hint to American dubbers: When you change words that do not change the meaning because you hate the British accents, you are a bigot. Bigot BAD~! Get the picture and stop this dumbassery! No wonder Nick kept the show as is when they got their perverted paws on it!) George gets the accordion and plays it suprisely well for someone who has the shortest arms in the world. (You missed a very funny moment: This is the first time Peppa tried to pronounce a word and fails badly. Here, her pronouncation of the word "accordion" is hideously hilarious in practice. You need to watch this episode just for that alone. Get use to it, she does it often in Peppa Pig Tales. The TickleU version is actually better acted and has more flow than the original! Slow claps ensue. Still a bigoted dub!) Well; he tried, his arms are too short to play the accordion, although the sound he makes was hilarious, so it's all good. (TickleU again removed the "a bit" part nuance from the original.)

Yip; George has to play the giant horn which is bigger than the accordion. (TickleU's Peppa actually sounds better than original Peppa here. I understood what she said in the TickleU dub and only about half of the original version! That's bad when the British accent is so thick that you cannot understand why she is saying. Someone in voice direction needed to retake the line and tell her to tone down the accent enough so what she says doesn't sound like gibberish nonsense.) Peppa wants to try it out and she fails miserable and blushes beet red to boot! (Of course later in this show, we discover that Peppa Pig cannot whistle. Which by the way involves doing the same thing as blowing a horn. Great payoff!) Peppa Pig stomps her foot and declares this impossible. (Despite the last couple of great dub moments for TickleU, Peppa Pig saying "It's impossible" was much worse than the original.) Mummy Pig wants to try, claiming that she once did it. Nope; she fails at it, too. Daddy Pig claims that this needs someone big and strong like him...and he fails at it. Daddy Pig is blushing so hard, his head might explode at any moment. The three decide to give up and play the musical instruments they know they can play well, as Peppa is on drums, Mummy Pig is on violin and Daddy Pig is on the accordion. They play the same song we often hear as background music for the show. George looks at the camera, wonder what instrument will he play, and he bails and then we hear a loud horn sound that nearly makes everyone have awkward faces. Yes folks; the smallest piggie (sic) of the lot can play the Swiss horn. Now that is cheeky! (Sadly, Peppa never learned from this and was SHOCKED, SHOCKED I SAY when George could whistle! That was funny! TickleU thought saying "blowing" was offensive, so this was changed to "playing". Weird, since after the narrator said it, even the original used the word "play" instead of "blow".) George is giggling and brings the horn outside and blows it. Not in "failing"; but literally blows the horn after Peppa explains the obvious for us. The rest of the family follows him and plays their musical instruments ending with George blowing the horn. Everyone laughs and doesn't do the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Another fun episode in a series of them. *** 1/2 (70%).

Frogs and Worms and Butterflies: Here is episode #17 on the animation paper and we begin this one with me saying: "Ummm; It should be "Frogs, Worms & Butterflies"; but what do I know?" (I realize that the grammar is American, but the TickleU KEPT the original episode title to the letter! Now this dub is trolling me and it's not nearly as funny as when Peppa and Suzy are doing it!) Episode opens on the white house on the hill as Grandma Pig is looking at the red car coming up and parking on the steepest side of the hill...AGAIN! Everyone gets out the car; but only Peppa and George run down the opposite side of the hill carrying what appears to be yellow and orange shovels. They run to the garden and notice Grandpa Pig watering his purple flowers with the watering can. There is a lot of jumping and giggling going on as a colorful butterfly flies on screen and lands on one of the flowers. (I love that they are doing this just as the narrator is claiming that the kids are "helping" Grandpa Pig in the garden. The lack of self-awareness from the narrator is cheeky to say the least. At least, early on in the show.) Peppa asks why they love flowers and Grandpa Pig explains that they have long tongues and flowers are a source of food for them. (Grandpa Pig in the TickleU version sounds like Daddy Pig literally.) Peppa shows off her tongue because raspberrying is so much more important than learning about nature. (I think this is supposed to be a secret handshake of some kind since Peppa did this to Suzy in Best Friend, although this one is more subtle than the first time.) The butterfly drinks the middle of the flower while Grandpa Pig does his educational spiel and apparently, butterflies know how to burp. I learn something new every day; even within the confines of this storyline. Butterfly flies onto Peppa's dress after some giggling from the kids; and this amuses Grandpa Pig a lot as the butterfly lands on Peppa's nose. Peppa is not impressed and snorts to get the butterfly off her nose. Peppa cosplays being a butterfly and George wants in; but Peppa bans him from being a butterfly. Peppa Pig is a troll. (You don't say! This would be the second animal Peppa wants to cosplay and at least two more animals will be cosplayed in some form in this episode alone!) Peppa ponders this over as George is all "Can you believe this?" as Peppa wants George to be a worm. You troll! Peppa runs off cosplaying a butterfly as George drops the worm and bawls his eyes out. (TickleU uses "oh my!" here over "over dear". The narrator is so bored that the original actually stands out better!) George would make a good butterfly; Peppa already is an ugly troll, mostly her attitude and personality.

Grandpa Pig comes in and instead of scolding Peppa for teasing George and being unable to being a butterfly, he shows him how to be a worm and George accepts this. What?! Grandpa Pig's belly wiggling on the ground is funny; but come on! Let George be a damn butterfly; he plays the part better than Peppa could ever do. George giggles, snorts and lands on his belly and wiggles like a worm. Peppa cosplays butterfly some more and then turns around and notices George and Grandpa Pig cosplaying worms like fools as Peppa tries to convince them that a butterfly is better; but Grandpa and George don't care and wiggle. Peppa wonders what is this and the two males back up Peppa wiggling. Now Peppa decides she wants to be a wiggly worm and she plops onto her belly and wiggles. Of course! They wiggle, snort, giggle and in Peppa's case; sing for a long ass whomping time. Everyone sits up and laughs out loud, Peppa's sing was funny as usual. (The TickleU version of this is not bad at all, but Harley Bird's version is much better than either of these two in Compost! simply because she is supposed to trip over her words while singing. That's what makes it so fun to listen to.) Peppa has no clue what animal she wants to be next, besides a pig of course. In hops a tadpole with frog like legs. Oh wait; it's an actual frog, the artwork played misdirection on me. Sorry about that. Frog ribbits and now it's time to cosplay a frog. Peppa is not impressed with this; but Grandpa points out that frogs are at their best at a game Peppa loves. (Peppa thinks the game involves doll houses, which is kept in both versions.) Which is jumping up and down in muddy puddles. DING! Grandpa's response to this causes the frog to smile, find a muddy puddle and jump into said muddy puddle. Peppa loves this so they follow the frog's lead and jump up and out of muddy puddles as Peppa sings some more as the little muddy puddles are merely a setup for the giant muddy puddle of doom! Frog jumps into it and the pigs follow; and it's time for more pigs causing earthquakes using muddy puddles. This goes on for a long ass whomping time as Peppa drops on her ass and laughs out loud. (The TickleU narrator audio feeds seem to cause the background music to have it's volume lowered. The sound editing is not good here.) The frog jumps onto Peppa as Peppa declares frogs the best and the frog jumps on George's nose as Grandpa pig does the backsplash laugh. Strangely; not much mud spray on the pigs in this one as the episode ends at 4:30 approx. Just your average muddy puddle love in. ** 3/4 (55%).

Dressing Up: Next up is episode #18 and we begin this one with a zoom in shot of the house on the hill as we go into the bedroom of the adults and there are piggies jumping on the bed! I guess this bed doubles as a muddy puddle simulator. Peppa jumps off and notices the CHEST OF DEMONS at the front of the bed. With the worse security lock ever because the lid is flung open with ease. It contains clothes, hats and a giant purple feather.Peppa brings out Mummy Pig's purple dress on a coat hanger and a black top hat belonging to Daddy Pig. Peppa has a Krackpotkin Plan: Dress up like Mummy and Daddy Pig. This might be more warped than Molly cosplaying being Rebecca yelling to Kit who is cosplaying Baloo in The Long Flight Home comic story.. Also, Molly is two years older than Peppa, by the way. (No lies detected here.) George is dressed with Daddy's clothes and he looks like an undertaker in that outfit, or a pilgrim. Peppa dresses up and is Peppa with a giant purple dress. How creative. Not. The purple hat with blue giant feather helps it a tiny bit; but makes her look like Granny Pig now. George bails and puts on Daddy's giant black shoes and Peppa bails and returns with purple pumps of course. This is such a formal cosplaying going on here. No, not really. (By the way, another major complaint about TickleU itself (as the American dub is actually innocent in this case): The ticker on the bottom killed a sight gag of George sliding sideway when he bailed. That was funny and TickleU's bottom ticker killed it!) Peppa and George giggle as Peppa climbs onto a chair where Mummy Pig does her makeup. (TickleU decided to say "Mom" instead of "Mommy" for some reason.) Peppa opens the purple CHEST OF DEMONS and finds the makeup stuff. Okay; this is going a bit too far, Peppa. You don't need to beautify yourself, you look fine to me. George giggles as Peppa powders her face and then does the worst use of lipstick I have ever seen. She uses lipstick like she wants to be a clown and wasn't planning to be such. The kids giggle and hold hands as they bail out of the room to go to work. Jump cut to Mummy Pig typing on the computer in her office and it appears she's slipping as her cypted code looks a lot more readable this time around. (A reminder: Mummy Pig's gimmick is that she is a stay at home mother who writes children's book, but the latter aspect of this character doesn't shine until after the reboot.) George and Peppa walk in and Mummy Pig is not fooled by this at all. Peppa of course is completely clueless, claiming that she is Mummy Pig. You know; if you knew how to use lipstick properly, you would have a slightly better chance of fooling her, Peppa. (Oooooo, Peppa needs a dip in the lake after that sick burn.) Peppa is still thinking she's Mummy Pig as Mummy Pig decides to play along for a while as George isn't into playing this game that much; so he snorts loudly.

Mummy Pig plays along anyway as Peppa jumps into Mummy's lap and answers the green phone next to the desk; which sadly did not ring before Peppa answered it. That would have been funny. What's not funny: Peppa once again banging on the keyboard and deleting Mummy's Pig secret coded letter. I love this show a lot more now than I would have back when it was hot; because I realize now who it is for and it works in line with the target audience, but it's things like this that anger me. You have to draw the line somewhere, and this is one area where you draw the line. Don't screw with Mummy Pig's computer! Yes; Peppa deleted the entire letter as George is merely bored instead of pissed. At least he has an excuse (hint: 18 months old); but what is Mummy Pig's excuse?! (Which one former self?! At this point, that would be a good question.) Peppa jumps down and holds hands with George and they walk out. There's a reason why I don't let anyone in my office, and that's the main reason. Thankfully; it was only a letter being deleted and not breaking the computer like in "Mummy At Work". Mummy Pig waves goodbye as Peppa and George leave to see Daddy Pig. Jump cut to Daddy Pig digging dirt out of the lawn with a shovel. In comes the formal cosplay piggies with George bringing out his yellow toy shovel. Daddy Pig is much more likely to play along than Mummy Pig as Daddy Pig tells George to be careful because it's a very deep hole. Yes; Daddy Pig doesn't give a damn about the clothes either. George's large snort in the hole was hilarious though as the pigs all giggle in response. Peppa wants to make big snorts and jumps into the hole with George. They exchange snorts in the hole for a while as Mummy Pig comes in with ice cream cones and the second the kids hear ice cream, they jump up from the hole and are dirty as hell. Mummy Pig orders them to take off their clothes and Peppa claims that they are Mummy and Daddy Pig. Now this is a neat way to get them to obey: Mummy Pig plays along saying that it's a shame because she has their favorite ice cream flavors, too. This is enough for George and Peppa to take off the dirty clothes and admits that they fooled them. Mummy and Daddy have to pretend that they were fooled; even though they clearly were not. Everyone takes their ice cream. Peppa and George make a mess of their faces and in Peppa's case, even more so. Everyone eats and giggles to end the episode at 4:30 approx. A bunch of clowns amusing me is always a plus, regardless of show and this show is no exception. Although it would have been better if Peppa is banned from the computer until she's at least six years old. ** 1/2 (50%).

New Shoes: So; here is episode #19 on the animation paper and we begin this one on the house on the hill as Peppa and George run in from the hill into the house and then into the living room. Somehow; Peppa has lost her black shoes and is barefoot for some reason. George and Peppa giggle as Mummy Pig is on the couch reading a book while Daddy Pig is reading a newspaper. (By the way, Peppa entered the house first, but George somehow entered the sitting room first.) Daddy Pig notices Peppa is not wearing her shoes. Peppa then notices that she is not wearing them as Mummy Pig suggests that they look for the shoes in the garden, which was the last place Peppa was in. Everyone goes out of the house towards the garden and they look in flower pots, wheel barrows and flower gardens. No luck as Peppa's shoes are lost forever as Peppa feels bad about it. Geez; did Mrs. Duck steal them, too?! (Nope. Peppa has only fed her one time.) Talk about nursing a grudge there! Mummy Pig proclaims that the shoes were getting old and it's time to buy a new pair anyway. Peppa asks if they can be red shoes and Mummy Pig says yes to that. Peppa is so giddy about this and George doesn't care. We go to town at the shoe store as we see Granddad Dog, Mummy Cat, Candy Cat and Danny Dog walking in opposite directions on the sidewalk. We zoom in as we discover that this is Miss Rabbit's shoe store, which makes this the official speaking debut of Miss Rabbit, and what a character she turned out to be. (You don't say?! In fact this is Miss Rabbit's official debut on the show period, since The Playgroup had Mummy Rabbit debut.) Peppa is still barefoot at this point. I guess wearing boots is not allowed in this shop. (Miss Rabbit doesn't seem to be in the "No shoes, no service" camp I see.) There is an aqua blue chair to the right of Peppa and a lot of shelves with new shoes in the background. Miss Rabbit arrives for the meet and greet as it's time to fit Peppa feet with some new shoes. Peppa wants red shoes, Miss Rabbit opens a box of red shoes and the shoes fit Peppa perfectly as she dances and giggles. (I am so sad that this episode didn't happen during the Harley Bird era where Peppa Pig could rap on her new shoes; because that would have been money and hilarious all at the same time.) Jump cut to the house on the hill as we head into the living room with George and Daddy Pig playing draughts and George wins in a close one! In comes Peppa and Mummy Pig as Peppa is giddy about her new shoes, which are red shoes. Apparently; red shoes make someone look very smart, which means that they don't.

Everyone loves the new shoes, except me. I don't really care about them. Because you see; we all know she's going to lose them and find her old black shoes because the future of the show demands it as such. Peppa is hellbent on keeping the shoes on her feet that she literally wears them even when she takes a sponge bath. That is dedication to being responsible for those new red shoes. (Hey, at least here, she's trying to make sure she doesn't lose them. Great! This is character development, however wacky this looks like.) She wears them when she brushes her teeth and is in her pjs; and even when she goes to bed! Mummy Pig is questioning this; but Peppa insists that she wear them in bed because she sure isn't going to let someone take her shoes away. (Considering how she loses Teddy on a regular basis in later episodes, this is for the best.) She will be avoiding the Urban Wrestling Federation forever more. In that storyline, shoes are more important than someone else's wallet. (I'm not joking in this regard, even the weed wasn't important.) George is smirking at this as it's lights out and time to sleep. Daddy Pig turns the lights out and the adults walk downstairs. I think this is the first instance of the term "my little piggys"; which creeps me out. Head outside as it's pouring rain on the house on the hill. It's morning and everyone runs out in their boots; except for Peppa, who walks out with her red shoes. George runs in the tall wet grass for a while. George flops backwards into the wet grass; but Peppa doesn't join in because she doesn't want to get her shoes wet. Can you smell the muddy puddle coming, or do I have to spell it out for ye?! Literally ten seconds later...DING! George jumps up and down in muddy puddles; Peppa cannot not because (a) she doesn't want to get her red shoes muddy and (b) the first rule of muddy puddle jumping is that you must wear your boots. So, Peppa isn't allowed to do that even if she didn't care about the red shoes. AWESOME! Her decision to protect her shoes has backfired in her face. Daddy and Mummy Pig join in as Peppa decides to bail into her room and squeeze underneath the bed, because her yellow boots are underneath the bed. She takes off her red shoes and puts on her boots. She runs out and takes a high jump into the muddy puddle. She invokes the first rule of muddy puddles and then it's EARTHQUAKE CAUSING TIME~! (Which somehow makes certain that mud never gets on the clothes. And we are all shocked when Suzy Sheep calls this magic?! Of course, what a fool am I!) What a great finish to this; but it's a logic break since Peppa's shoes turn black again in the next episode and they never found them on-screen. Peppa does a clicking spot before jumping some more with the family to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Logic break aside; this was a fun episode. *** 1/2 (70%).

The School Fete: Next up is Episode #20 on the animation paper and I should note that the episode title and the word Fete is pronounced "fate"; not Fe-te as I originally thought it was named. It's basically the school's fundraising fair event here in North America. We begin on the hill which looks like a school fair is taking place with balloons flying around and the Pig Family is standing in the background in between the ice cream booth and Miss Rabbit's face painting booth. Also present is Doctor Brown Bear (Which is his official debut on this show, just like that!), Madame Gazelle, Mummy Cat, Candy Cat, Mummy Pony, Pedro Pony, Rebecca Rabbit, Suzy Sheep and Danny Dog with those last three in the bouncy castle and beside them is Granddad Dog complete with red hat and no sense of anything going on. Madame Gazelle is holding a lot of balloons. We zoom into the Pig Family because Peppa is the star of the show. Doctor Brown Bear is voiced by the same person who voices Mr. Bull and Granddad Dog. In comes Suzy Sheep, Candy Cat, Pedro Pony, Danny Dog and Rebecca Rabbit giggling for some reason. Apparently someone farted during intros. I don't know why; but that was funny. (Must be one of those videos where they filmed the screen because no one farted during the intros on the video I was using, former self.) Basically they show off most of the events like the face painting, balloons and the bouncy castle as Peppa likes them all. Daddy Pig snorts and calls it a good choice as George loves dinesaurs (sic) of course. Now; the (sic) is intentional because that is how George pronounces dinosaur and it's so much funnier that way. However; there are no dinosaurs at the fete, but Daddy Pig is certain that there are balloons with dinosaur images on them. Mummy Pig isn't so sure about this as Peppa wants her and George's faces painted first. All right. We head to the face painting booth as Miss Rabbit has painted all of kids' faces as tigers. Peppa runs in and she cannot tell the difference between a tiger and a pussy cat. Peppa wants to have a face painted like an elephant; but despite showing an elephant on the billboard, Miss Rabbit acts like she has no expertise in any design other than a tiger. Peppa decides, okay; I'll be a tiger and Miss Rabbit paints a tiger on her face. Miss Rabbit asks George what he wants painted on his face and it's a dinesaur for him as he growls. Miss Rabbit cannot paint anything other than a tiger; so she paints a tiger on George's face instead. This is a very low point in Miss Rabbit's career, methinks. (Keep in mind, this is her second apperance in storyline and she's already acting like she's crying for help. This is going to get sadder as time goes on.) Tunnel vision is not a pretty sight.

Now, I thought Peppa said "Caty"; but it was Candy. Candy blows off Danny for woofing while being a tiger. Of course! Candy demonstrates the tigers ways of creeping up and pounce on other while crowling. Everyone squeaks and giggles, as everyone grrs at her and Candy no sells it. Then the cosplaying tigers lick themselves clean as then they sit down and they purr. This seems to be an angle designed to give Candy Cat actual screen time on television and then simply ignore her since Danny Dog and Suzy Sheep are the true secondary stars of this show. (Ironically, in later seasons, Pedro Pony joins them.) In comes Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig as Mummy Pig is interested in this angle; but George still needs a dinosaur balloon, so everyone gets to have balloons causing everyone to cheer. Jump cut to Madame Gazelle with the balloons. Apparently; one of them was painted by Grandma Pig since Polly Parrot is one of the images on the balloons. Peppa chooses the brown balloon with the elephant on it; and everyone chooses their balloon animals. (Which by the way is a great payoff to being denied being painted as an elephant.) Pedro chooses Polly Parrot, which surprises me. I thought he would pick the monkey one. Sadly; there are no dinesaur balloons as the remaining balloons have no images painted on them. Hmmm; I wonder what the finish to this tale will be? Daddy Pig looks shameful and George looks at the hard camera and then bawls his eyes out. (Seeing George cry while being a tiger is a hilarious visual if nothing else.) Daddy Pig then buys two dinosaur balloons and make a balloon dinosaur out of it; which actually surprised me because I thought the finish would be Daddy Pig taking one balloon and letting George paint a dinosaur on it, which would have been a great payoff to the Playgroup story. Oh well; I do like it when Daddy Pig looks like someone who isn't macho and has some skills in other areas, so this is as good of a finish as what I thought the finish would be. One of the kids confuses the balloon animal with a kangeroo as George is having a great time with it. Everyone runs and bounces up and down in the bouncy castle, which is like jumping up and down in muddy puddles, sort of. Peppa loves this. Everyone loves this. I love this; but sadly, this is far from the best fete ever as everyone laughs to end the episode and the second DVD set at 4:30 approx. This was mostly Candy Cat getting on television and doing one gimmick; but otherwise, this was fine. (Personally, I liked this episode more on the second viewing, so *** (60%). I would have gone with a **** episode for this if the finish was George painting a dinosaur on the balloon basically to school Miss Rabbit and pay off The Playgroup, but goodness forfend that a little boy knows how to paint a dinosaur and a grown woman doesn't.)

Mummy Pig's Birthday: Here is episode #21 on the animation paper and once again, we begin this one on the house on the hill. (This was the first American dub episode from TickleU that I have seen and outside of the usual bad acting, the term "sitting room" being changed to "living room", the title card has a thinner font due to the Mummy/Mommy change and the usual ending credits, this was almost word for word the same as the original. If only every episode was like this in the American dub, it wouldn't be so bad. ) We zoom into Mummy and Daddy Pig's bedroom as Mummy Pig is in bed with Peppa and George hopping up and down on the floor in front of the bed. It's her birthday today as Daddy Pig comes in and puts a tray containing a crossiant and tea as part of breakfast in bed, along with a rose in a glass vase. George and Peppa get on the bed to show off a birthday card containing an image of a dinosaur with a flower. Three guesses who picked the card out and the first two don't count. Daddy Pig proclaims that there are more surprises in store and considering the amount of "surprises" I have seen in the last twelve months, 90% of them were awful. Not a good sign. (Sadly, no lies detected.) Daddy Pig tells her to take her time eating as the kids and Daddy bail downstairs to the kitchen because the surprises aren't ready yet. We head inside the kitchen, as the chocolate cake is being prepared as they slowly put the candles on the cake and get to two. Literally three seconds later, Mummy Pig is already down the steps and heading to the door leading to the kitchen. Mummy Pig knocks on the door and the rest of the family panics on cue. Mummy Pig opens the door and Daddy Pig hides in front of the cake to run interference; and Mummy Pig is not fooled, but plays along anyway. Hard to fool anyone when even Mummy Pig knows it's her birthday today. Peppa pushes Mummy Pig back into the sitting room as Mummy Pig is not exactly thrilled about this since she knows where the sitting room is. Sitting room is the living room in North America, by the way. Peppa pushes Mummy Pig onto the sofa and gives Mummy Pig the Ezza magazine to read while giggling. (This by the way is the first time in the series for Ezza Magazine that almost every woman on the show reads. It's like there is no diverse set of woman's magazines on this show.) I don't think pushing someone without their permission is funny, Peppa; just so that you know. Peppa pushes the stereo on; which basically plays a different musical version of the opening theme song. Peppa giggles, goes back into the kitchen and slams the door. They put the third candle on and Daddy Pig realizes that this is not nearly enough candles. Peppa asks how old is Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig whispers into her ear. Okay; here's a bit of ageism: If it's perfectly okay to reveal Peppa's age, why is it not okay to reveal Mummy Pig's age? If it's sexist to reveal a grown woman's age, then it's just as sexist to reveal a girl's age. Just reveal the age or don't reveal Peppa's age then. Or better yet; don't do birthday angles at all. (You know they have to do this angle , since it's a long series and everyone has to have a birthday at some point. Including the two mummies and Penny Polar Bear.) She's clearly 30 years old as they decide on three candles and that is that. She's not very old, Peppa.

Now they have to get the decorations ready in the sitting room. Oh, snap! They go into the sitting room as Mummy Pig is more bored than I am right now. Peppa pushes Mummy Dog literally out of the house and slams the door. This is the only time in birthday angle history; where the birthday person was not pissed off at all at all of this preparation. In fact, Mummy Pig looks amused. (I love how Peppa is treating this seriously because coming in now is not safe. It's a birthday party, come on Peppa Pig!) Mummy Pig decides to walk to the garden, probably looking for a muddy puddle to jump; although that would clearly violate the rules since she's not in her boots. (As long as she doesn't jump up and down in muddy puddles, the rule is not broken.) We head into the sitting room as the decorations are up with colorful lights and colorful balloons as Peppa bounces around declaring that this is fun. Head outside as Mummy Pig is no longer amused by this and here comes a yellow car containing Grandpa Pig and Grandma Pig carrying a yellow present with white spots on the box. This was hilarious: Grandpa and Grandma Pig offer to let Mummy Pig inside the house; and Mummy Pig no sells the deal because Peppa is doing secret things for her birthday. Grandma Pig is like "all right" and the grandparents enter the house; slam the door. Mummy Pig is then like "Did I just screw myself?". I died when that happened. (Why did you give this episode ** 1/2, former self?!) Then Peppa opens the door and now Mummy Pig can come in as long as she closes her eyes. Mummy Pig closes her eyes and Peppa helps her inside as we have the lightest darkness in history. It's akin to lowering the lighting about 30% and you can still clearly see the room. She is in the sitting room now as her eyes are closed, Daddy counts to three as a blue balloon comes up and the lights go on and it's SURPRISE~! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY PIG~! Get used to this; this show had everyone in the family getting a birthday at some point; including folks not part of the Pig family. Mummy Pig blows out the candles and opens her present to reveal a stary purple dress; the same dress Peppa wore in episode #18. Daddy Pig teleports into his formal gear, the same formal gear George wore in episode #18; so Daddy's clothes could be saved, but Mummy's dress could not be saved. Oh; and Daddy Pig got two tickets to the theatre as part of the package. The grandparents will babysit the kids tonight as Mummy is so happy that she kisses Daddy, Peppa and George while everyone giggles to end the episode at 4:30 approx. (You know something, this would have been a great segueway to Babysitting, but that episode was episode #30. Too bad, that would have made a decent two parter out of it.) Age stupidity aside; this was another fine episode. (Mummy Pig screwing herself during a birthday party and no selling it was funny and this episode deserves to be *** 1/2 (70%). Sure, the ageism thingie is dumb, but this was fun and it led to better birthday parties later.)

THE REVIEW LINE

Yeah; the first series was mostly filler episode with some annoying elements and some fun stuff. I would have zero problems watching this kind of stuff, although I wouldn't go out of my way to see them again. They only had four and a half minutes to work with, what can you do? Overall; a middling set of episodes with one or two stand outs. Hardly a show that some declare horrible. Next up will be more Peppa Pig and Peppa doing more trolling and hopefully the last two episodes of the TickleU dub. So...

Thumbs in the middle for everything and I'll see you all next time.

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