Return to 50 Webs

Disclaimer#1: All images, characters and material is (C) 1990/1991 Walt Disney Company and is being used without permission. The webmaster has made sure that no money was made in the creation of this web page and that all material used here is used with the up most affection and respect to the Walt Disney Company and the Tale Spin Team.

Disclaimer#2:The views expressed here are solely the views of the webmaster and no one else. The webmaster has no intentions to change anyone's minds about a particular subject and respects the views of the viewers. Comments about this and other editorial can be E-Mail at gweagle@eastlink.caor signing the Cloudkicker guest book.

Twenty Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series Three #3 Rant

Reviewed: 04/14/2018
Additional Commentary/Edited: 07/31/2024

Mummy Pig's Talent Is Eye Contact Violence!

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. (2024 Gregory Weagle Says: I'm keeping the caption in full for this review because even though Talent Day has run it's course in the previous rant, it's still perfectly valid for this current rant.) We head back to Series Three and we start the next ten episodes of the Harley Bird era with the kid gloves finally off of this show as it turns from just a normal pre-school show into a legendary pre-school show. How do these episodes fare? Let's rant on shall we..?!

All the episodes are done by Neville Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Hall. Animation is done by Astely Baker Davies animation; with the two mentioned creators and Phil Davies.

Grandpa At The Playground: This is episode #127 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the playground as most of the kids are already there, along with Mr. Zebra, Mummy Cat, Mummy Rabbit, Mummy Pony, Mr. Pony, and Mummy Sheep. Strangely; Rebecca Rabbit is not here for some reason as in comes Peppa, George and Grandpa Pig come in and get in line for the slide. Peppa tells Grandpa DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS~!) about the playground. Which is basically, wait your turn. (Watch Grandpa Pig be a geek of the week that would make Nick Patrick and most incompentent referees blush.) Oh; hello Rebecca Rabbit, didn't see you until now. Sorry about that. We get some sliding action for a while as we get into a conversation about Grandpa Pig on slides, roundabouts, climbing frames and other play things when he was little. Suddenly; Richard slides down and then cuts off Rebecca Rabbit from having turn. Thus forcing her to prevent Richard from getting on the slide. Rebecca puts Richard at the back of the line; and Richard bawls his eyes out. (Wow, some rare sibling rivalry out of the Rabbit family. That gimmick is usually reserved for the Pig family.) Oh dear; this is going to get ugly and Grandpa Pig is no Gusto Gummi when it comes to Grandpa Pig's house rules. Even Mummy Rabbit comes in and tells Grandpa Pig that changing the rules is a bad idea. Of course Grandpa Pig disagrees because he thinks little people should not have to follow reasonable rules. (What a MAGAT Grandpa Pig is?! Is his real name Trump Pig?!) Richard cuts off everyone, goes up and slides down. Peppa points out the obvious BS decision and George rightfully bawls on cue. This is 100% on Grandpa Pig for changing the rules; even if Richard and George were crying to get their own way; Grandpa Pig made them entitled in the first place. (BINGO! If you are going to get angry about kids crying to get their own way, maybe you should be angry at the adults for not saying "rules are rules" and not following their own rules. That last one was why Nintendo went to hell for decades after the SNES ran it's course and PlayStation became the domiant force in the universe, until Sony made Nintendo look a lot worse.) Grandpa Pig allows George to not wait; and the little ones basically cut the big kids off and slide down the slide on their own. This of course pisses off the other kids as Grandpa Pig assures them that they will get bored. (Narrator: Richard and George will not get bored.)

Peppa and the big kids hate waiting; which is funny considering that the original rules involve waiting. They decide to head to the swings. Jump cut to Pedro Pony on the swings and he looks like he is trying to break them. Pedro wants to swing just a little long and Grandpa acts like a hypocrite in the rules. Pedro says that he has to go home soon. Grandpa Pig changes his mind and pushes Pedro on the swing because that is different, you see. I wondered why Grandpa Pig is in no position of power, because he makes for a scummy politician in my humble opinion. The big kids hate waiting...AGAIN! Danny Dog decides to get on the roundabout and everyone left gets on the roundabout with Emily Elephant already there. Okay; this is fine and then Grandpa Pig orders them to get off because there's too many on the roundabout. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, GRANDPA PIG?! There is no safety issue with this. Emily points out that she was already on the thing before them. Grandpa Pig lets her back on the roundabout. I hope the kids screw his mind and then kick him right between the legs because he sure as hell deserves it and this is not as funny as The World According To Gusto. At least in that one; it was NO HOLDS BARRED~! Only Danny Dog is off the roundabout, so Danny Dog uses his gender to get on while Pedro uses his disability to get on, Candy does a raspberry, Rebecca loves carrots and it's clear that they are messing with Grandpa Pig now because they realize that Grandpa Pig's house rules are crappier than Gusto Gummi's ever were. (Grandpa Pig is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~!) Sadly; the episode is almost over as Mummy Pig comes in as the kids bail and Mummy Pig asks Grandpa Pig how he is and Grandpa Pig is confused as hell. Mummy Pig points that the playground rules are not complicated. Just wait your turn. No exceptions! Sounds good to me as Grandpa Pig goes up and down the slide; landing on his ass and then everyone does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Once the kids started to screw with Grandpa Pig's mind; this turned into a decent episode. ** 1/2 (50%).

Goldie The Fish: Next up is episode #128 on the animation paper as we we begin at the house on the hill and then zoom into the car pointing towards the east. Out comes Daddy Pig in his formal gear with his briefcase as he's going to work today. He gets in the car and drives down the hill. Jump cut to the sitting room near the television with Mummy Pig trying to feed the goldfish in the fishbowl. Although we have seen the golfish before; I believe this is the official debut of Goldie the Fish. (After 127 episodes, the goldfish finally gets a name!) Goldie refuses to eat, because reasons. Peppa notices this and Mummy Pig deduces that Goldie might not be well; so let's bring out the cellphone and call Doctor Hamster. Thus this is also Doctor Hamster's official debut as well. We head to the vet; which is basically an animal hospital but not an anthro hospital; since that's a regular hospital. Doctor Hamster (a light brown hamster anthro wearing pea soup green scrubs) looking at the desk at a turtle on said desk as the phone rings. I believe this is also the debut of Tiddles the Turtle; and it's gimmick is that it loves to climb trees. More on that in later episodes. (Oh, that gimmick! Suzy Sheep gets some tree cutting tendenices, you would think she played Unjammer Lemmy's Japanese version of the game.) Doctor Hamster answers the phone and Peppa explains the situation. Doctor Hamster tells Peppa to take Goldie to see her right away and the family all walk out and there is no car; because Daddy Pig had to go to work. Mummy Pig suggests taking public transit. You know; as a user of public transit, I'm glad they are doing this; but I wish they would do this in more episodes. Just my two cents worth. They make it to the bus stop; which is almost like the route I take in Porters Lake; only with a trash bin. In town; there would be a glass hut and benches to sit down, I should note. Oh; and there is a sked on the pole and it's ten o'clock and the bus is right on time. Oh by the way; guess who is driving the bus?! Miss Rabbit. She not only drives the school bus, she drives the transit bus in the area. (Job #188) The bus route is C2 by the way. Apparently; the tickets for the bus are genderized for the adults, and the fish goes in free.

Miss Rabbit rings the bell and we head down the road to the next bus stop with Mr. Bull and his beat up tuba. Something tells me this got used in a wrestling match without Mr. Bull's permission. At least this bus can go uphill easily. He doesn't mention what ticket is involved as Mr. Bull sits besides Peppa. They meet and greet; and exchange notes on what they are doing. Mr. Bull decides to play his tuba and I don't see why it needs to be fixed. Mr. Bull is going to the music shop to get it mended because it sounds funny, which is sadly an improvement to me. (Mr. Bull is dumber than Daddy Pig.) We stop at the next stop to pick up Mummy Sheep, Mummy Cat, Mr. Zebra (sans hat) and Madame Gazelle. Even more surprising; Madame Gazelle is paying for their tickets. Wait, you have three grown adults and they cannot pay their own way?! (What kind of group devilry is this?!) Madame Gazelle notices Goldie as Peppa explains the situation and Goldie suddenly smiles. Hmmm; maybe she's not well because she never gets out of the echo chamber the house on the hill is. Methinks I have solved the problem, but since I am no doctor; let's see what Doctor Hamster says. It's only fair and is a proper decision to make in terms of medicine and science. We sing the "Wheels On The Bus" song for a while, all done by Peppa of course. We stop at the supermarket and music shop to let everyone out and we finally stop at the vet as I just realize that this bus trip takes exactly fifty minutes one way. Peppa, George and Mummy Pig walk into the vet lobby and straight into the office, just like that. Didn't even bother to wait until Danny Dog, Mummy Dog, Daddy Cat and Candy Cat had their appointments either. I don't know why since they have over one hundred minutes to kill in terms of time. They must have the emergency discount. (Candy Cat's pet sounds like a frog and Danny Dog's pet apparently is a bird, but are hidden in the cages.) Mummy Pig puts the fish bowl on the table and tries to feed Goldie again, and this time Goldie is eating and happy. I think we figured this one out without Doctor Hamster's help. Doctor Hamster (same voice as Mummy Pig) basically said exactly what I thought this problem was and that the journey cured Goldie. Geez; I feel bad for Danny and Candy's pets now after all this time wasting.

Narrator: One hundred five minutes later.

Peppa, George and Mummy Pig board the bus and we head westward as we pick up everyone from the music shop and supermarket. Mr. Bull's tuba has been mended and that makes me very sad. Apparently; Madame Gazelle's presence cheers up Goldie in a giddy like way. I'm going to guess Mummy Rabbit is running the supermarket. because that would make the most sense and keep up the facade of Miss Rabbit doing every job. (Considering that we never see Miss Rabbit during the actual vet visit, she might have returned to the supermarket to tie some loose ends. How would you know otherwise?! This gimmick is full of crap!) Peppa sings the same song; only the lyrics are based on Goldie. Madame Gazelle joins in; so Pedro Pony somewhere is taking notes. More on that in his focus episode Pedro The Cowboy. Everyone sings except Madame Gazelle (on guitar) and Mr. Bull (on tuba) as we jump cut to Daddy Pig finally coming home as the family runs up the hill to greet him. Peppa declares that Goldie is now better and then Goldie coughs. It contracted the colds of everyone on this show. Maybe this journey was a bad idea, since Goldie seemly didn't get her flu shot. We have to ring up the vet for tomorrow as Daddy Pig offers to drive them; but Peppa wants to go on the bus because it's fun. Daddy Pig agrees as everyone does the backsplash laugh, including Goldie! Yeah; Goldie is already better. What a cheeky goldfish?! End of episode at 4:30 approx. Everyone's better off riding the bus, especially those who have a fetish for driving in cars. *** 1/2 (70%). (If only that bus ride happened in real life every day without someone playing jerk. It would make my life less miserable. Anyhow, take a photo of this episode, it'll be the last time Doctor Hamster becomes a serious vet as she will decend into the bowels of comedy geek soon enough.)

Funfair: Here is episode #129 on the animation paper as we open this episode up at the big fair as the Pig family enters the area. Apparently; this fair is run by the construction workers, the dentist and the postmaster. Madame Gazelle is handling balloons, Miss Rabbit is handling the duck game, Doctor Elephant handles the ice cream booth (with Rebecca and Richard Rabbit), Mr. Rhino handles the Ferris Wheel (with customers Zuzu and Zaza) and Mr. Zebra is handling what George calls the slide: slidie. (With Danny Dog. Mr. Bull is attending the Strong Man Hammer Bell game with Mummy Pony and Pedro Pony. Mr. Labo is attending the archery game with Candy Cat and Mummy Cat, and he's about to say the worst thing in the history of this show!) Daddy Pig calls this towering spiral slide the "Helter Skelter". (Which Richard and Candy Cat teleport to it, along with adding Emily Elephant and SUZY SHEEP~!) Something tells me these writers are a wee bit tone deaf here. (Charlie Manson and his evil cult, everyone. Then again, you are going to see some bigotry on display in this episode, much more obvious than naming a chicken Jamima.) Peppa and Mummy Pig head east while Daddy Pig and George head west towards the Helter Skelter. Jump cut to Miss Rabbit doing her spiel about winning a giant panda teddy by hooking a plastic duck. Peppa of course wants to play this game, because she doesn't love her ragged Teddy anymore. This game costs one pound and Mummy Pig is all offended by this, sounding like someone who thinks everything is overpriced. Miss Rabbit claims that it's all for a good cause, so Mummy Pig pays up anyway. I would love to know what this good cause is; although at least in episode #126, it was going to the musuem anyway. (Now watch this promo become such a running gag that you'll be yearning for a wild slapnuts appearance!) Peppa wants the giant panda and Mummy Pig thinks that they are impossible; and Miss Rabbit basically blurts out that it's impossible. Absolutely no attempt to hide how scummy fairs are either. (Miss Rabbit is the most honest scumbag ever!) Mummy Pig does the greatest eye contact violence ever as she twitches her eyes and eyelashes while the hard camera zooms in them. She has that "I am going to kill you" look on the closeup and she's no longer working left anymore. She then gets the hook stick and hooks #10 with ease; and that's enough to get the giant panda. HAHA! So much for being impossible and as I realized later on; this episode was an attempt to make Mummy Pig look bad and it failed so badly.

Peppa refuses to compromise and even drops the future name of a WWE Superstar; known as No Way Jose~! (Now Levy Valenz with even less presence than in WWE!) There is fanfare playing in the background as Suzy and Mummy Sheep come in the foreground and Suzy basically claims that it's not a bit big at all. Of course! Jump cut to the spiral slide known as the Helther Skelter~! (Zoe Zebra has joined in as being in a lineup is called "queuing" in Britian.) I also discover that this "It's all for a good cause" is not the monopoly gimmick of Miss Rabbit. Also; the Helter Skelter is a bit high; but George don't care. Then we get another awesome troll move: George goes up the stairs, makes it to the slide top and bawls on cue. Daddy Pig then runs up the stairs, the instant he gets to the top: George giggles and goes down the slide anyway. (That is the fourth funniest cry moment for George Pig.) He baited Daddy Pig into that one and now Daddy Pig cannot go back down; because the rest of the kids have cut him off. Daddy Pig is forced to slide down the slide and lands on his back in a heap. Yes; Daddy Pig had to pay a pound to get up there, too. The kids cackle and laugh; so do I. This was tres hilarious. Jump cut to the archery game with Mr. Labodour as BS&P strikes again as the arrows have suction cups. (I wish BS&P would have stepped in and redubbed one of Mr. Labo's lines after this. Also, "step right up" is called "Roll up" in Britian and suddenly I have Tim Horton's "Roll Up The Rim To Win!" sounds in my head.) Mr. Labo's shooting skills are awful by the way, which makes what he is about to say more anger inducing. (Nah, I have seen worse. Baloo's horseshoe throwing in Bearly Alive is much worse than this.) We get the usual spiel from Mr. Labo just to annoy me some more. Mummy Pig doesn't want another to win another panda bear; so she no sells the deal. Mr. Labo then says and I'm paraprashing here: "Just as well, you won't win because women are useless at this!". (If Mr. Labo had just said "you", this might get past the filter. I hated Mr. Labo as a character after this.) Mummy Pig simply responds and I'm paraphrasing here "I'm sorry, what did you say?!" and then gives payment to Mr. Labo. Yes folks -- in a pre-school show, mind you -- not only did Mr. Labo make an obvious sexist comment; he did it in order to mess with Mummy Pig's mind, so she would pay to play a game she didn't want to play. This is the kind of behavior that in 2017/2018 is considered sexual misconduct. (This has never been redubbed, nor barred in the USA either, and still runs in reruns on Nick Jr. Where is cancel culture when you need them?!)

Mummy Pig fires the arrow and it hits the bullseye and she wins a panda bear that she never wanted. Just peachy, just peachy. Oh; and Candy Cat wants one, but Mummy Cat says they are too big and Candy Cat says no they are not. Word, Candy. We cut to the Big Wheel as George and Daddy Pig are on the big wheel. George don't care about heights; but Daddy Pig does as he wants to go only one round; but one pound equals five rotations. Geez; Daddy Pig needs help on his fear of heights. (This is the first time I believe Mr. Rhino has ever spoke!) Funny cameo: Doctor Brown Bear is with Mrs. Cow, whom we almost never see in this show. (I guess Mrs. Cow was dating men anthros at this point, as in Series Eight, she would find the man of her dreams. Mr. Bull, everyone.) Also, it seems to go faster as Daddy Pig does not like this at all because he's dumb. Jump cut to the Strong Man Hammer Bell game with Mr. Bull, Mummy Pig and Peppa Pig. Daddy Pig and George Pig come in as Mr. Bull demonstrates the game and Mr. Bull can easily win this game, no problem. Finally; an honest fair vendor! What are the odds?! Mr. Rabbit comes in and pays one pound and thankfully; they stopped the "overpriced outrage spot", so Mr. Rabbit is basically me nowadays. Mr. Rabbit does the weakest shot with the hammer on the button and the thing only goes up two long meters. Daddy Pig decides to pay and show us how it's done. (Mummy Bear makes another non-speaking cameo out of nowhere, I should note.) Now; if I was booking this: Mummy Pig tells Daddy Pig to be careful -- because he's not fit; you see --, Daddy Pig hits the button and almost touches bell; but falls just a bit short. Then Mr. Bull taunts him with fat jokes, and Mummy Pig gets pissed, tells Mr. Bull to in her own words "Give me that fucking hammer!" (Paraphrasing once again!). She hits the button, the bell rings five times and wins all the bears in the fair. That would make sense. Well; guess what they booked: They did everything except have Daddy Pig hit the button with the hammer. Daddy Pig never had a chance to lose the game and was forced to defer to Mummy Pig without losing on his own. WHAT THE HELL?! They had a wonderful finish; one of the most iconic moments for Mummy Pig in history, and they didn't have the time to let Daddy Pig lose the game?! This is so stupid. Mummy Pig wins and Peppa wants to defer all the bears to all her friends. Mummy Pig agrees as everyone takes a bear, they giggle and do the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. This was a really fun episode marred with sexism and a really stupid moment at the end that tainted Mummy Pig epic win. *** (60%).

Numbers: Moving right along, here is episode #130 on the animation paper as we head to the school house on the hill with the bells ringing. Zoom inside as all the kids -- including Richard Rabbit, George Pig and Edmond Elephant -- sitting down as Madame Gazelle has a pointing stick and a chalkboard stand with numbers written from one to ten. Sadly, no zero because that is such a toxic number and apparently numbers are for counting only. Way too simple to be taken seriously there. Everyone loves to count; but we cannot do any "The Count" spots in any context without getting sued for gimmick infringement, so this is just a boring educational episode, which is one of the weakest points of this show. Pedro gets up and counts to four; which means he's slightly better than Ole Anderson in that department. (Also, a lot less racist; even Mr. Labo hasn't stooped to Ole Anderson's low. Yet.) Of course, it helps when the chalkboard with the numbers is in plain sight of Pedro. (Including the same number on the chalkboard in the background with the Tic-Tac-Toe drawing.) Everyone claps as Madame Gazelle wants higher counts now. Rebecca Rabbit comes up and counts to seven as everyone counts, Madame Gazelle is impressed and this causes Rebecca to blush anyway. Carrots have seven letters by the way; that's probably why she blushed. (Good answer! Good answer! I can just hear Bill Clinton yell that in my head now.) Candy gets up and admits that Mummy Cat can count to ten. Ummm; parents are suppose to be able to count far beyond that, Candy. (I think Harley Bird may have unintentionally voiced Candy for one line before Candy got up.) It's not impressive, kids. Gazelle points out the eight, nine and ten and they all count away. I betcha Pedro will count like 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10; because he's clueless at some point in this episode. It's playtime according to the ringing bell and all the kids run out of the school house and down the hill. We head to basketball court which has the hopstoch chalklines set up in the middle. Peppa, Zoe, Suzy and Rebecca all have their skipping ropes. The kids skip rope for a while while doing this really decent song. Zoe then decides to have a contest of who can skip rope the most. Rebecca does the counting for this as she doesn't skip rope. Peppa screws up at five, Suzy screws up at eight making Zoe the winner. Suzy and Peppa are not happy with this judging by the lack of pop they give to Zoe. In comes Pedro with a green hoop and shows off his hula hoop skills; which were impressive for about ten seconds before the green hoop turns on him.

Suzy asks how many rotations can he do without stopping and Pedro claims that it's one million and three; which is 1,000,000.3. (Or in Britian, it's 1,000,003. I've now learned that I was forbidden to say "and" because it's apeasing a god wannabe queen. Or something.) I betcha he does 10.3 rotations before stopping; which would be slightly more impressive than Zoe's skipping rope. Sadly; Pedro does the hula hooping and gets to eight before stopping, so he couldn't even beat Suzy. Still better than Peppa's skipping skills that is for sure. (Ooooh, Peppa needs some sun cream after that sick burn!) Pedro's excuse is that he's tired and he'll do the rest later. Of course! (If it's Peppa's trolling, I can totally see why he's tired. I betcha that it wasn't that sadly.) In comes Emily Elephant with an orange hula hoop and does the spinning with her trunk, as Suzy thinks it's a hundred rotations. Nope; it's ten. In comes Danny Dog, Richard Rabbit, Edmond Elephant and George Pig as they do the old hop over your friend spot. Leap frog, everyone. This is great, except for the fact that the animators wanted to show the numbers on the pavement, which is great. Except that screws up the logic since on the far shots, it's a normal hopstoch setup. If they want to do the spot they were shooting for, the far shots must be the same as the close ups. That's maintaining continuity with the scene. Not doing that makes others accuse you of being lazy. Also; the continuity with the far shot is screwed up since the kids start above the hopstoch line. Only the last three blocks in hopstoch match up with the scene; and the kids have to literally move into the hopstoch area to pull it off. The bell rings and the kids all run into the school house. The kids claim that they can all count to ten and Madame Gazelle has a way to prove this as George and Richard are told to bail and return with the extra long skipping rope. Since you need two adults for this spot; hello Daddy Pig! Daddy Pig wants to collect and Peppa is pissed at this because he's too early. (It's 2:55 pm on the rainbow clocks, so he's at least an hour and five minutes early. Did Daddy Pig forget to set the clocks ahead an hour?! Daddy Pig is dumb.) I thought Daddy Pig and Madame Gazelle were going to be the rope turners; but it's Richard and Edmond doing it. Madame Gazelle is on guitar, meaning Daddy Pig has to skip rope with the kids. This is just daring for trouble to happen. (Daddy Pig is about to get wrecked.) We do skipping karoke as Daddy pants as all the other kids join in afterwards; but they made it to ten anyway. Gazelle points out the obvious to us and Daddy Pig is blushing. Daddy Pig is fine and then proclaims that he can skip to a hundred, so Gazelle decides to continue. HAHA! Daddy Pig weasels it down to twenty reps and we get twenty reps instead. Sadly; the episode ends at 4:30 before they even get to 13 reps. They got to twenty by the end of the credits and everyone giggles. Great finish; fun episode, lousy continuity in the middle. **** (80%). Even thought education is not it's strong point; they made a good story out of it, which is this show's biggest strength.

Digging Up The Road: This is episode #131 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the house on the hill with the red car pointing down the hill. George has a toy digger on his person as everyone gets into the car. They are headed to the playground, you see. Daddy asks if everyone is ready; everyone says yes and Daddy Pig drives down the hill. Jump cut to the boring road as Peppa is sing taunting again. Then we get the traffic jam of death. Cameos: Doctor Brown Bear, Mummy Pony, Pedro Pony, Mr. Zebra, Candy Cat, Mummy Cat and Miss Rabbit (Apparently, she's now a electronics dealer in job #230!). Peppa Pig doesn't like this at all and George bawls on cue. Suddenly; we get a whiplashing jump cut to a hill as behind them is Doctor Hamster. We discover that on the top of the hill is a construction area complete with signal light, cones, signs and Mr. Bull in his construction gear. (This I believe is the official debut of Mr. Bull and his construction crew, giving them full time jobs on this show.) Mr. Bull explains that they are digging up the road; because there is a rotting pipe leaking water like a water spout. (Former self missed a funny moment: When Mummy Pig asks how long it will take, Mr. Bull introduces his catchphrase: It will take as long as it takes! That was funny!) I'm surprised Mr. Labo still has a job considering what happened in Funfair; but then again, I probably shouldn't be. Male entitlement and all that stuff. (Yeah, and Mr. Labo is going to be the sub for Miss Rabbit as the ice cream vendor in a much later episode.) In comes Mr. Rhino with the digger and George is giddy about all this. We dig up the road: no need to explain it twice, kind construction workers. (Take this up as a warning, because Mr. Bull has a fetish for deconstruction as we'll see in later episodes.) They turn off the water and replace the pipe. Somehow; this water spout couldn't flood the ground underneath as Mr. Labo brings in his crane and a new gray steel pipe; and the thing gets installed as it's replacement. Oh; and the road magically repaired itself when the cars all went eastward. Suzy and Mummy Sheep cameo as well. (SHE'S A WITCH~! GET HER~! Somehow, that is far more accurate than Madame Gazelle being a legit vampire.) Mr. Bull waves farewell as the red car heads eastwards.

Jump cut to George bawling his eyes out, because you see, he was having a fabulous time with Mr. Bull. (I was also enjoying this so much, even I was crying, albeit tears of joy...) Don't worry; they'll come back to see him on the way home, and the sandpit will be great for diggers and cranes. George feels a lot better as we arrive at the playground; parking on the steepest side of the hill. Somehow; Mr. Pony made the trip despite not being seen. The Pig family all come in and there is the meet and greet at the roundabout with Rebecca Rabbit, Suzy Sheep and Danny Dog. Cut to Edmond and Richard giggling with their toy truck and toy crane, in that order. The big kids get this idea to play in the sandpit; but Peppa cuts them off because she's the boss and the little kids are cosplaying digging up the road. It's basically the same thing that happened earlier; only there's no pipes involved, just mending roads. (Peppa Pig even repeats all of Mr. Bull's catchphrases. Not as funny as Mr. Bull's sadly.) Mummy and Daddy Pig come in because it's hometime; and George bawls his eyes out again. This one was annoying; because he was trying to get more playtime in when it really is time to go home. Daddy Pig defuses the situation by informing him that they'll see Mr. Bull again, and George giggles. (Hey, at least the parents find a way to defuse George's attempt to get his own way without punishing him, by pointing out how pointless it is since they are going there anyway. It's like these critics like assulting children, or something.) Everyone says their goodbyes and only the Pig family leaves as we head back on the boring road in the opposite direction. The kids are giddy that they'll see Mr. Bull; and they go up the hill and stop because Mr. Bull is not here. George bawls for the fourth time in this episode alone! Oh wait; here comes the construction workers and George and Peppa are giddy again. We dig up the road again because there are electrical cables buried in the road; so this area is way ahead of the curve in that technology. We end this episode at 4:30 approx as the Pig family is loving them digging up the road. There is another traffic jam just as the narrator claims that everyone loves it when they are digging up the road. I betcha they do not, even if it's for a good cause. (Which the construction workers never actually say!) Addtional cameos: Daddy Cat. Trust me; this narrator is only going to get even more cheeky in his final narration as this series goes on. Oh; and George sets the solo record for bawling in this episode; only once it was annoying. *** 1/2 (70%). (Just wait for Edmond Elephant's birthday, it's coming soon and we are all going to be sorry, especially the creators.)

Freddy Fox: Next up for today is episode #132 on the animation paper as we head to Rebecca Rabbit's tunnels on the hill. We see all the kids, minus the little ones come out as they stop underneath a cherry tree. Danny Dog wants to play hide and seek; with Peppa being it, since she is the star. Everyone bails as Peppa closes her eyes as everyone hides in various places; with the narrator doing a whisper yell. Now, the problem with this is: Peppa can clearly see and hear the narrator in these shows; so she'll hear the locations of where everyone is. Guess what happens?! Peppa cannot find anyone and I do mean anyone. What makes this even worse is that she is one area away from actually finding them and the hiders aren't exactly good at hiding as it seems that they are in her line of sight everytime. That makes her look really stupid. (This sequence was not the creators best moment, methinks.) Peppa declares this impossible and in comes the debut of Freddy Fox wearing camoflague on his helmet. (Freddy Fox's gimmick is that he has the best sniffer in the business, wants to be a police officer, can mimic sirens and his father keeps abandoning him for no reason.) Freddy's animal sound is "Yup! Yup!" during the meet and greet. They exchange notes and Freddy asks if he can help. Peppa says yes; but it's impossible to her. Freddy is like "hold my beer" and Freddy sniffs it out while walking and finds everyone and I do mean everyone. Because you see, his gimmick is that he's an excellent sniffer. (By the way: "your scent" is "your smell" in Britian.) Suzy is confused by all this as she claims that she's not smelly and had a bath last night. Freddy claims that she smells nice and she blushes in embarrassment. Freddy claims that he can find Suzy with his eyes closed and Suzy Sheep decides to accept the dare. (Bad career move there, you witch in sheep's skin!) Suzy has to hide and everyone else starts counting. Suzy is in a panic for a long ass whomping time; and then decides to simply hide behind Rebecca Rabbit. (Worst hiding place ever.) Once ten is reached, this is prove futile because not only did Freddy find Suzy Sheep: Freddy prolongs the agony of defeat by taking the exact same path Suzy Sheep did in trying to find a hiding spot. (That was awesome! Just made Suzy Sheep look like a bigger geek of the week than Peppa Pig. Which shouldn't be a surprise since Peppa Pig is the star.) Suzy Sheep just got buried right there, folks. Pedro calls it a super nose. (Yup, Pedro's new gimmick is to call everything impressive a super something. This won't be the last.) I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments.

Peppa asks if everything has a smell and Freddy says, yes. This could be fun. (By the way, the fan video subtitles identifies Suzy Sheep as Susie Sheep. Even though the official Peppa Pig materials have her as Suzy Sheep. Listen, the "replace "y" with "ie" is fun and all, but even Britian doesn't go overboard with it.) Peppa smells like flowers and Wellington Boots~! (It's British for rubber boots (Welly for short), sometimes called gumboots.) Danny Dog smells like biscuits and wet grass. (Well, that is a relief. If he smelt like flowers, this could mean Danny Dog has issues. Since Danny Dog hates the taste of flowers for some reason I don't know.) Emily smells like bananas and jam. Which flavor of jam, Freddy?! (Probably strawberry, former self since the show likes that flavor of jam.) Candy smells like fish fingers and milk. Pedro smells like toothpaste as Pedro is not thrilled about that. (Must not be flavored toothpaste, so Pedro must be smell free.) Freddy's favorite smell is eggs; while his worst is blue cheese. EWWWWWW~! I would switch those two. (You don't disrespect the awesome smell of the smelly blue cheese!) So, Freddy, what do I smell of? (Freddy sniffs.) Oh, beer and cucumbers. That's an uber nasty combination. Freddy sniffs some more and he can now smell carrot soup, because it's dinner time. Everyone else smells it as Mummy Pig pops from the rabbit hole and calls for dinner. All the kids come into the hole and head to the dinner cave, sitting at the table to enjoy some carrot soup. Peppa loves the soup as we hear the horn honking and since it's a normal horn, it's either Daddy Pig or Mr. Fox. It's the later by the way. (Yeah, Mr. Fox debuts just like that! By the way, his van says "Est. 2010" below the fox logo on the left side of his truck, which gives away the copyright year for this very show.) Mr. Fox jumps out and sniffs the hole as he claims that he can smell dinner; and out comes Mummy Rabbit. Okay; that was funny. Out comes Freddy Fox, just to make this scene funnier. Think Daddy Pig rowing a boat with Mr. Wolf in it for the reason why. Freddy Fox's promo makes it even more so. Mr. Fox sniffs for dessert and we get Strawberry Gelatin Cake of Doom. Everyone loves smelling things according to the narrator. (I believe this is the debut of the jelly cake in this show and it won't be the last. Also, "pudding" is dessert in Britian.) Everyone but Mummy Pig does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Another fun episode with a great ending. *** 3/4 (75%).

Whistling: We continue on with episode #133 on the animation paper and the episode opens on the house on the hill as Daddy Pig is sitting in his lawn chair, reading the newspaper and whistling. In other words, he is doing three things instead of the usual two things he does when the narrator claims that he is doing nothing. The narrator really means: nothing of note. (See how nuance can set you free and show better accurancy?!) Peppa comes out as I realize that Daddy Pig is whistling the opening theme song. Peppa asks what he is doing and Daddy Pig claims that he's reading the newspaper even though Peppa is commenting about the funny sound. Daddy claims whistling is fun; and all you have to do is put your lips together and blow. Trust me when I say it, it's harder than it looks and practice makes perfect. (The same techinque can also be used to mimic youself blowing wind in someone else's face. Much easier to do and more problematic too.) Peppa is about to learn that the hard way as she cannot whistle to save her life. Neither can I, so there you go. There is one thing Peppa and I cannot do well at this point. Daddy tells her to try making a small O-shape and all that does is Peppa makes the most painful raspberry ever. I swear that she literally bit her tongue doing that. Daddy Pig demonstrates some more as Peppa fails to whistle some more. Peppa also blushes when this happens as she deduces that she has the wrong mouth. Daddy Pig calls that excuse nonsense and practice makes perfect. Peppa fails to whistle some more and blushes even more than usual. Daddy claims that practice takes time and it took years for him to wiggle his ears. Yeah; I'll bet. I can buy taking years to play the piano, but not wiggling your ears! (Now, if it took weeks to do that, I'll hear you out on your impressive ear wiggling skills.) Peppa is amused by this as she goes inside to the kitchen with Mummy Pig at the table making chocolate chip cookies. (In Britian, they would be chocolate chip biscuits, although the narrator still calls them cookies. Wonder if this was a compromise for Nick Jr.?!) Peppa is still unable to whistle as she asks if Mummy Pig knows how to whistle. Mummy doesn't know because she never whistles. (Yeah, I'll bet!) Peppa claims that it takes a long time to learn and Mummy Pig just whistles just like that! That is funny in itself; but it is going to get even funnier now. Peppa blows it off and declares Mummy Pig old. Mummy Pig thanks her for saying it anyway. (Mummy Pig has that look of "Wow, Peppa's a jerk today". In other words, any day ending in "y" at this point.) Peppa walks up the stairs and still is failing to whistle. Jump cut to George in Peppa's bedroom sitting down playing space rockets. Peppa comes in and tells George about whistling being almost as impossible as wiggling your ears; which George does with ease. HAHA! George is in fact teasing whistling during this.

Peppa declares whistling to be harder and then George whistles beautifully. HAHA! He can also whistle and play rocket toss at the same time as Peppa walks out. HAHA! (It's even funnier in hindsight because it should be obvious that George can whistle because this was the same naughty piggie that played the giant horn with ease in Series One! Awesome clapback from the creators there.) She is now nearing 0.5 Rock Lobster Yeti's frowning face of doom at this point. George giggles at Peppa as she goes down the steps. Peppa goes into the kitchen and failing to whistle has depressed her so much that she doesn't want to lick the spoon since Mummy Pig has finished making cookies. However; she wants to talk ("ring in" in Britian) to Suzy Sheep, which Mummy Pig is fine with. Mummy Pig brings out the out of nowhere cell phone and dials up Suzy Sheep's residence. (Okay, this next sequence is not just legit hilarious, it's one of the few jokes in the entire series that was considered legit funny by literally everyone watching it. This moment broke the eye of the beholder barrier in terms of humor.) Mummy Sheep answers the phone and oh, look; there is Suzy Sheep ready to talk to Peppa. How convenient, eh?! They exchange notes for a while and Suzy proclaims that she cannot whistle and Peppa is happy about this; while at the same time trying to act like she has sympathy for Suzy. That was funny in itself; but then Peppa tries to explain what whistling is -- besides being impossible --, Suzy says "Is it like this?!" and Suzy whistles successfully. The second after she whistles, Peppa Pig hangs up on her and Suzy has no idea what happened. Peppa Pig left her hanging; just like Hercules leaves Helena hanging in The Mighty Hercules. This is the lowest point in Peppa's career, only this is hilarious. Mummy Pig don't care as she takes the cookies out of the oven and everyone is inside ready to enjoy them. Except for Peppa; who still frowns because she just realized that she is not this flawless star she thinks she is. Kind of like every human on earth. Like me. Especially me. Daddy Pig of course forgets to heed Mummy Pig's word on the hot cookies and plays hot potato with it, before blowing on them. (No matter how big of a geek Peppa is, Daddy Pig is still dumb.) Peppa doesn't want any cookies and just walks out of the house. Daddy Pig follows her and asks her how she's doing and Peppa basically hates the fact that she cannot whistle. Mummy Pig comes out with the plate of cookies and tells her that she needs some rest. Peppa takes the cookie and starts blowing; and suddenly she hits the correct pitch and she's whistling as she is whistling a background music theme from the show. Peppa is so happy that she whistles the main theme and everyone joins in to end the episode at 4:30 approx as the whistling continues during the credit roll. A fun episode with a gloriously hilarious climax of Peppa realizing that she is no longer this perfect star, but still manages to learn how to whistle at the end. **** 1/4 (85%).

Doctor Hamster's Tortoise: Next up is episode #134 on the animation paper as this episode opens at the school house on the hill with the bells chiming. We zoom into the school as literally all the kids have shown up, including Freddy Fox in his second appearance on this show. (Also, the debut of Edmond, George and Richard together. No Zuzu nor Zaza at this point. I guessed they are dangerously close to being cramped for space and it's going to be even more obvious when various students are absent for no real good reason.) Madame Gazelle is addressing them as we see that Doctor Hamster has arrived with her box and two cages with animals inside. One of the animals is a blue parrot, one is Tiddles the Tortoise as we have the definition of the vet from Suzy Sheep. First up is Binkie The Budgie; who is a cyan blue budgie which Danny Dog is allowed to stroke gently. Danny Dog calls Binkie very fluffy; because he has a lot of feathers. Binkie flies around tweeting as it lands back on Doctor Hamster as the kids also point out that it needs to eat, drink, breathe and sleep; which are all correct. And then I forgot that there was one child missing in the playgroup and he finally shows up yawning and admitting that he overslept. Yup, yup; it's Pedro Pony; just to make sure we know how really clueless he is in this show. Gazelle pretty much says it all. Doctor Hamster brings out the hay filled box to reveal Tiddles The Tortoise as the official name for the first time in this show because it likes to sleep. It also likes to do something else and Doctor Hamster has clearly never read the books on tortoises and took them seriously. (The Peppa wikia claims that tortoises cannot climb trees, even though the link I provided in the "It also likes to do something else" line clearly states that tortoises are expert climbers, especially trees. The creators did the research, the wikia did not. I stated that the wikia needs a massive redo and this is a prime example of it.) We talk a bit about Tiddles and it's shell as Suzy is offered to stroke him and Tiddles hides into it's shell almost instantly; so it hates trolls. (I like this tortoise already.) Suzy strokes the shell as we discover that Tiddles is the same age as Mummy Sheep as tortoises can live for a hundred years. (Tiddles is 33 years old here, and the pronouns are "he/him". I was using "it" here since I was talking about tortoises in general.) Well; an extremely small percentage of human can live past a hundred years, so it's not as impressive as anyone might think. Peppa -- troll of the year -- claims that her Grandpa is a hundred years old. Nah; he looks fifty to me. Tiddles is walking very slow and Suzy notices this. Pedro is actually concerned that Tiddles is trying to escape and no one else cares. HAHA! Doctor Hamster needs to go back to school.

Doctor Hamster shows off a green lizard and George calls it a dinosaur right away; causing Peppa to blow him off. HAHA! Peppa was right originally; even though she changed her mind when she saw the glass cage. Doctor Hamster shows off Lulu the Lizard and her tongue as she has scales like a dragon, but cannot breathe fire. Sigh. Pedro asks if she sleeps through the winter like Tiddles and Hamster says no; and then realizes that Tiddles did in fact escape. HA! In your face, Doctor Hamster! Pedro Pony really is the smartest person in this episode. (Everyone else is GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Except for Doctor Hamster, who is the GEEK OF THE SHOW who needs her license qualifications rechecked! Also, why did you give this episode *** 1/4 former self?!) Gazelle assures Hamster that they will find Tiddles as Candy Cat goes into the music room, no luck. Rebecca and Suzy check the playhouse out of nowhere, no luck either. Emily checks the coat rack; non starter there, too. However; we have Freddy Fox and his super nose of doom to help us find Tiddles and Freddy is on the scent. Everyone follows Freddy and the scene outside. Tiddles is found on a branch in a very tall tree. Doctor Hamster is not liking this as she brings out her cellphone and calls Miss Rabbit's fire station. We head to Miss Rabbit's fire station as Miss Rabbit answers the phone and yes, she screams fire in a crowded tower. She answers the phone asking where the fire is and Doctor Hamster says Tiddles is up a tree...AGAIN! Yes, she has had to call fire rescue multiple times in the past. Yes, the Mummies Fire Department is on full alert coming in the fire engine complete with ringing bell from Mummy Pig. (At least she is taking this seriously unlike the creators because during the siren sequence, the cameos are: Daddy Cat, Candy Cat (SUZY SHEEP?!) and Mrs. Cow, whom the later would be a future member of the Mummies Fire Department!) Cut back to the tree as Doctor Hamster is blowing off Tiddles for liking to climb trees, even though tortoises can climb trees legit. Here's the Mummies Fire Department running in to make the save as Miss Rabbit uses the ladder and climbs up. She saves Tiddles, brings him down and that is that as the kids pop on cue. Hamster thinks Miss Rabbit; Miss Rabbit is only doing her job. And hell of a job, too! Doctor Hamster also forgets the other cages; so Gazelle comes in with the cages to cover Doctor Hamster ass from any more credibility wipe outs! All the kids and Mummies do the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Anyone who says Pedro doesn't have a clue should watch this episode. And I would not trust Doctor Hamster with my pets; especially with tortoises. (Doctor Hamster being a comedy geek because of her igorance towards tortoises is an easy *** 1/2 (70%).)

Sun, Sea & Snow: We move on with episode #135 on the animation paper with the STOCK FOOTAGE OF DOOM AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) with lots of piano playing in the background. (This was the main event segment for the Sun, Sea & Snow DVD set.) We zoom into Peppa & George's bedroom as Peppa and George are already in their beds with their toys. Daddy Pig explains that they are going tomorrow on the couch trip to the sea side. Peppa wants to make sandcastles and Mummy Pig wants to swim in the water. Daddy Pig proclaims that tomorrow, it is going to be sunny as the adults say good night and switch off the light. There is one problem: Daddy Pig didn't take into account the evening forecast which apparently dumps 50 CM of snow! There is no indication that it's winter time in this show; nor even a freak snowfall in the fall. The writers did this; just because they thought it was funny; even if it doesn't make a lick of sense. Morning arises and Peppa wakes up and checks the window. She is shocked and appalled because this is the worst snowstorm since White Juan back in 2004. (But it's clearly sunny! Daddy Pig wasn't wrong, he just forgot last night's freak snowstorm. MOLLY ELIZABETH CUNNINGHAM~?! I guess her wish for snow had an additional consequence in A Jolly Molly Christmas.) Peppa and George run into the adult's bedroom and they bounce on the adults bed to wake them up. (For the third time in three series, naughty piggies are jumping on the bed.) Well; Daddy Pig got what he deserved for not checking the night forecast beforehand. (Geek of the week and maybe of the month as seen next!) Daddy Pig has his green hat and scarf on as everyone is dressed and in the lobby. Daddy Pig opens the door and it's completely blocked with snow. However, even snow cannot withstand DADDY'S BIG TUMMY~ and he goes through the snow like hot butter. Snow says "screw you!" and Daddy returns looking like the most movable Frosty The Snowman you have ever seen. It's things like this that make me love this show. (This was such an awesome moment that Peppa Pig Tales actually built an episode around this concept and it was glorious!) I love Peppa's reaction during this entire sequence with her loving this snowman and then being disappointed that it's Daddy Pig cosplaying a snowman. That was funny!

Even funnier; they then proceed to dry off Daddy Pig with color towels and laugh all around with funny music. HAHA! That was also funny. Peppa wants to go to the seaside; but Mummy Pig thinks the coach will never make it to the house in all that snow. It's all over for this episode. Oh wait; and guess what happens next?! The blue bus arrives with a giant snow plow --also the plow from The Time Bandit in TaleSpin -- with Miss Rabbit driving the bus and even remembering to put the plow in front; making Daddy Pig look like an even bigger tool for my own amusement. Everyone gets it as the narrator explains it all. Madame Gazelle, Mummy Sheep, Mummy Cat, and Granddad Dog for the adults. The children are Danny Dog, Candy Cat, Suzy Sheep, Rebecca Rabbit, Richard Rabbit, Emily Elephant and I believe the rant debut of Edmond Elephant. (No surprise that I ranted this episode out of order and already did the tribute in the previous rant.) Miss Rabbit rings the bell and drives the Bus Plow of Greatness down the opposite side of the hill as we jump cut to the road; which has been plowed and is being sanded by a dumptruck driven by the debut of Mr. Labo and shoveled by Mr. Rhino; while Mr. Bull supervises. (By the way, the first shovel of grit by Mr. Rhino we see, actually literally bounces off Mr. Bull's helmet and Mr. Bull totally no sells it. That was funny.) I should note that in Britian it's called "gritting the road" and the sand is called "grit". (Grit is also slang for liberal in British and Canadian speak.) The bus stops and for the first time; there is evidence of a scene in this show where the vehicles are driving on the opposite side of the road; compared to driving on the same side of the road in America. We exchange notes; and Mr. Bull declines Miss Rabbit's offer to come with them to the beach, since he has more roads to grit. (Ironically, Mr. Bull is the only one to say beach. I wonder if he is a transplanted American in storyline as well as the Pony family. We'll see.) At least he isn't destroying playgrounds. Yet. The bus drives on and we have the TEDDY RUXPIN SONG OF DOOM to pad the running time. They make it to the beach and it's covered in snow; and apparently; the lifeguard umbrellas are still posted on the beach for some reason. Everyone gets out as Miss Rabbit and Mummy Pig exchange notes about the ocean water.

Madame Gazelle is in her black swimming suit and goggles, and she don't care because she is tough. (Evidence #12 she is either a vampire or a Juralian alien.) Gazelle runs down and jumps into the water; and she loves it. Miss Rabbit fakes an ankle injury and Mummy Sheep does the worst faking of a cough ever. She didn't even try to sell this properly. (Mummy Sheep's fake cough is still better than Mummy Pig's Smurfette sobbing.) Mummy Pig isn't so sure and Gazelle encourages her so much that she strips off her clothes to reveal her two piece swim suit. Yes; she strips on-screen! She dives in and Mummy Pig is freezing her piggies off as the adults are telling her to move to warm. This is coming from Miss Rabbit and Mummy Sheep; whom tried to weasel their way out of swimming about a minute ago. What cowards?! Mummy Pig runs out of the sea to her family and the Pig family has their towels on full blast to dry her off. Wow; I thought this mockery of women was limited to The Blackberry Bush episode; but even my imagination was limited. Miss Rabbit brings out her ice cream cart and everyone eats ice cream cones; because even Old Man Winter cannot stop the joy of eating ice cream. Daddy Pig wisely weasels his way out of swimming; but doesn't eat ice cream for some reason. (Smart coward!) Peppa is not happy because she wanted to make sand castles. Daddy brings out the toy shovel and bucket; because despite the snow covering the sand; they will make snow castles instead. He demonstrates the fine art of snow castle building; which is the same as sand castle building, only with snow instead of sand. Peppa Pig loves the seaside with snow. Everyone loves the seaside with snow. Well; except for the ones who tried to swim and fail -- not you Madame Gazelle --; then they didn't quite like it. Everyone does the backsplash laugh in response. Madame Gazelle is still swimming in the ocean and doesn't give an elf to end the episode at 4:40 approx. There's a lot of episodes on the DVD set that end with a song that is not sang by Peppa Pig I should note. Miss Rabbit is a shining light in this episode and it's going to get even more amazing later on. A fun little episode with Mummy Pig proving that she can be as big of an idiot as Daddy Pig can be. *** 1/2 (70%).

Grandpa Pig's Computer: This is episode #136 on the animation paper as the episode opens on the white house on the hill as the red car arrives and Mummy Pig is driving and parking on the steep side of the hill once again. Peppa and George are in the backseat as they jump out and run down the hill where Grandpa Pig is tending his garden. George calls him Grandpa Ig here as Peppa has the broken cuckoo clock from "Cuckoo Clock". Peppa asks if it can be mended and Grandpa Pig decides to go to his shed with the cucko clock and puts it on the same work I used in woodworking when I was in high school. Grandpa Pig opens up the top and the entire mechanics of the clock splatters all over the table. Peppa accuses him of really breaking it now. Jump cut to Grandpa Pig looking for a book on the conveniently placed book shelves. He finds a yellow cover book which states how clocks work and then we jump cut to Grandpa Pig fixing the clock. What did you expect: Him reading about how clocks work?! That would take thirty minutes and this show only have four and a half minutes to work with! (Also, anything over ten minutes is asking for trouble.) Oh; and the cuckoo clock has been mended and the cuckoo bird comes out to amuse the kids and no one else. Peppa and George cosplay the cuckoo clock; which at least amuses Grandpa Pig, the kids and myself. Apparently; Mummy Pig left and returned holding her old computer as Grandpa Pig and the kids head up to meet and greet her. We exchange notes for a while as Grandpa Pig claims that he cannot mend computers. Which is funny considering the finish of this episode. Mummy Pig claims that it's not broken, it's a gift for the grandparents since she has a new computer. Hopefully; one that doesn't break when banging keys on the keyboard. (Ah, there will be more new models of the computer in Peppa Pig Tales, I assure ye.) Grandpa Pig isn't sure about this as everyone heads inside to an old office and Mummy Pig puts the computer on the desk. Grandma Pig joins us as she is confused as well. Mummy Pig claims that you can do letters with it. Now; if I was booking this: Mummy Pig meant "writing mail", but Peppa translated it into learning the alphabet; because I'm certain the grandparents know what the letters: A, B, C, D and numbers are. Here. Mummy Pig really was talking about the alphabet and numbers. That's insulting. It should be Peppa Pig saying "and numbers"; not Mummy Pig. Because then; the joke is that Peppa doesn't know the difference between the two meanings of the word letters. Oh; and the computer now has a voice for the letters and numbers program. Grandma Pig is worried that the computer would break if she presses the wrong button. She has played the PlayStation 2 before, I see. Mummy Pig assures them that it cannot be broken and Peppa Pig claims that you don't feed it biscuits, milk or jelly. When Peppa broke the computer the first time; it was because she banged the keys way too hard. Of course; the writers have forgotten Series One; which is more inexcusable because the show runners also wrote those episodes as well! Oh; and they laugh, so it was a joke on Peppa's part. (It's not funny. I mean it, too.)

Also; there is only one reason to get a computer: To play "Happy Mrs. Chicken". (If only Commodore took that to heart and made good games on their own. Even MICROSOFT has enough forethought to do that with PC and XBOX!) The desktop looks similar to Windows 7 by the way. It's the ultimate one button game and I'm guessing timing is what gets you the high score and since this looks fun to them. Hey; it's only chicken laying eggs, it's not like there's any violent nor sexual content with this game. Unless you consider egg laying to be a form of sex; which of course means your Moral Guardian Freak Flag is flying and whipping in the wind. The grandparents decide to keep the computer as everyone leaves the house. Mummy Pig, George and Peppa all get into the car, which has magically turned around 180 degrees. (SUZY SHEEP~?!) The car rides away as the grandparents decide to do some letters and numbers on the computer. Sigh. Scene change to the kitchen with the Pig family at the table eating veggie salad and pizza with lemonade. They exchange notes about the situation for a while and then the cellphone rings; and Peppa picks it up. This cellphone is so big, the volume of said cellphone would be bigger than George's head and equal to Peppa's. Peppa answers it and it's Grandpa Pig asking about the computer; and instantly Peppa assumes that he broke it already. HAHA! (She's not wrong this time, sadly.) Grandpa Pig is angry because Happy Mrs. Chicken won't lay anymore eggs. Ah; so the game has a Kill Screen Glitch I see. Daddy Pig's solution would be to turn it off and turn it on. Grandpa Pig does that and the computer goes into the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH complete with sad face; with the computer screaming "I am very broken". Apparently; pressing buttons changes the color of the screen as Daddy Pig deduces that it cannot be mended and he'll pick it up since it was their property originally. That is under Reboot rules by the way. We head back to the white house on the hill as Grandma Pig arrives at the door and the red car parks on the steep side of the hill again. Peppa asks for the computer back; but Grandma Pig informs Peppa that Grandpa Pig took the computer to his workshop. We head to the shed as we have a sad face BLACK SCREEN OF DEATH with the sad face moving up the screen over and over again. Grandpa Pig puts a disc in the CD drive and the computer goes into smiley face mode and proclaims that it's mended and everyone comes in cheering. Grandpa Pig just mended the computer after saying that he cannot mend computer. Then again; he found that he had a "how computers work" book and that was that. Well played, Grandpa Pig; well played. Yup, he still wants the computer. Not to do that stupid Grade One crap; but to beat Grandma Pig's high score in Happy Mrs. Chicken. Grandma Pig has laid 4020 eggs; while Grandpa Pig has the other records (42, 91, 153 and 306). Damn; Peppa is terrible at this game. (I'm guessing 4020 eggs triggers the Kill Screen Glitch of this game.) By the way; the British do say "thousand, hundred and X" while North America only says "thousand, hundred, X." Grandpa Pig gets all cheeky as we play the game and everyone else does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Outside of some stupidity; I liked this episode a lot more than Mummy At Work. *** 1/2 (70%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Well; Numbers was a really great outing, continuity errors aside. Whistling was of course great with one of the few jokes that caught with everyone and became a meme on the internet to boot. Funfair would have been the best had they not screwed up the finish and not have Mummy Pig goarded into a game with sexist comments. I was tempted to give a thumbs down to Grandpa At The Playground; but the kids messing with Grandpa Pig near the finish got it over the line, so overall, this was a weaker batch of episodes. I will say that most of the ending in this were pretty great and Freddy Fox's debut was good as well. Overall, a really good mix of shorts as Doctor Hamster, Tiddles, Freddy Fox, Mr. Fox made some good first impressions although Doctor Hamster's creditbility is officially shot after two episodes. So...

Thumbs up for Numbers and Whistling, thumbs in the middle for everything else and I'll see you all next time.

Back to Other Rants Index!
Return to the Rant Shack!
Return to the Unofficial Kit Cloudkicker Homepage