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Twenty Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series Nine #1 Rant

Reviewed: 08/28/2025

The Road To Three!

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. Time to resume Peppa Pig as this is officially the ninth series in the last twenty years or so. YAY! Or maybe not! Anyhow, we start Series Nine with thirteen episodes this time: A new kid debuts with "dinosaur", Rosie and Robbie Rabbit return to the big time, Daddy Cat's cafe gets more screen time, the debut of the Cushion Den, we try to stay up late with Daddy Pig's new 4K television, we contact Kylie Kangaroo once again, a folk music band ensues that probably violates the house rules of a hot dry day. Then we have an indoor adventure on route to Mummy Pig's Big Announcement that is a worse kept secret than Nintendo Switch 2 to finish the run. YAY! How do these episodes fare? Let's rant on shall we..?!

All the episodes are done by Phil Hall with select episodes done by Matilda Tristam, Seyi Odusanya, Maris P., Ishai Ravid, Moya O'Shea and Jen Upton. Animation is done by Karrot animation.

Larenzo Lion: This episode is #421 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the zoo as Peppa and Mummy Pig enter the zoo. Mummy and Peppa Pig like the zoo as we see a sloth hanging from a tree looking bored. Peppa has no clue who the animal is and so Mummy Pig points out the name. Peppa thinks this is all sus to her. Next animal is a chameleon who changes the color of it's skin from green to gray and Peppa does not notice and thinks there was no animal inside. Peppa thinks it's amazing when chameleon actually change colors based on emotions. Next up is the giant bird cage and tree with colored parakeets and Peppa says hello. Then an anthro kid lion cub with a green shirt and sweeper shows up inside the bird cage to give Peppa Pig and Mummy Pig a shock. He's Larenzo Lion...ROOOOAAAAARRRRR~! Not a parakeet. Larenzo is helping Mr. Lion, whom is his father. Speaking of the bigot, here comes Mr. Lion and his mere appearance scares Mummy Pig, since lions eat pigs. Typically warthogs, so Colonel Spigot shouldn't be anywhere near this lion. Larenzo and Peppa exchange notes and we discover that the Lion family lives inside the zoo in their own, which is a purple house with roses on the side. Mr. Lion proclaims that he is here for the animals, acting like a perverted serial killer. Lovely! The kids go inside and upstairs to Larenzo's bedroom, greeting the adults who are having coffee downstairs. I wonder if this was a Nick decision since most of the adults drink tea since the show is British. Not a bad decision, just odd. Cut to inside Larenzo's bedroom, as outside the fact that the house is literally in a zoo, it's every bedroom in this show you ever saw. Larenzo show off his wooden toy zoo, with the animals being wooden pieces of wood painted with animal images. They play with the wooden animals for a long ass whomping time. The chameleon piece is in three parts since the panels slide down to show off the properties of the chameleon. They cosplay the sloths for a while, along with the chameleon and the parakeets. Larenzo loves the turtles and the penguins, but then realizes that the penguins might be at his other house. Wait, what?! Mr. Lion then calls for Larenzo Lion because Mummy Lion is here.

Okay, I have said this before and I'll say it here: Every Mummy/Mrs. in this show has no hair whatsoever. This was the perfect time to give Mummy Lion hair since no one else does. She looks like a palette swap of Mummy Cat. That annoys me. Mummy Cat offers a ride home for Larenzo and Larenzo agrees with it if Peppa comes too. Mummy Lion is fine with it as long as Mummy Pig is fine with it and a second cup of Joe. Mummy Pig was taken back by the second helping of coffee, but accepts the terms. Larenzo packs up his wooden blocks and the toy zoo; and both he and Peppa bail stage left. But wait?! The narrator notices that the chameleon is still hiding. Wah-Wah! Okay, that was funny. Larenzo and Peppa skip out of the house and Larenzo says goodbye to Mr. Lion as everyone else heads to Mummy Cat's house which has flowers on the windows. They haven't officially pointed out the family dymanics here, but I think Mr and Mrs. Lion are divorcees with joint custody of Larenzo Lion. Unlike Mummy Sheep, who probably got sole custody of Suzy Sheep in her divorce of Daddy Sheep. Sadly, we'll never find out the gory details of the Mummy/Daddy Sheep relationship since this is a pre-school show. We head to Larenzo's bedroom to find the wooden penguin pieces. Larenzo's search skills suck so hard when Peppa blindly asks if they are under the bed and when Larenzo looks under the bed, he finds the penguin pieces. Larenzo Lion is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Peppa's guessing made the difference here. Larenzo thanks Peppa for helping him as Mummy Lion and Mummy Pig enter and the way they are holding their cups indicate that it was tea and not coffee. Mummy Lion is so happy that she reveals indirectly that Larenzo Lion is a bit absent-minded when it comes to keeping everything in their proper place. Although he is nowhere as clueless as Pedro F'N Pony is. The kids cosplay the wooden pieces for a while and have a hearty laugh, mostly for Peppa's bad acting skills. Then we see why Mummy Lion was giggling earlier: The chameleon is not with the set because Larenzo Lion is absent-minded, you see. Larenzo does know where it is, so his deduction skills are better than Pedro's. Everyone laughs as Larenzo and Peppa do the backsplash laugh while the narrator says it all to end part one at 4:30. Yes folks, the next episode is the second half of a two parter! I will say this, this was not the greatest debut ever, but it was far better than Rohan Rhino's already and Rohan had four episodes to try to impress and Rohan failed. *** 1/2 (70%).

Dinosaurs Alive: This episode is #422 on the animation paper and the episode opens outside the zoo as the bus is outside. Inside is Gigi Gazelle with Peppa Pig, George Pig, Richard Rabbit (YAY! Richard Rabbit almost gets snubbed in this show nowadays), SUZY SHEEP~, Candy Cat, Rebecca Rabbit, Danny Dog, Freddy Fox and Pedro F'N Pony walking east. We head to the bird cage and Gigi calls them parrots after Mummy Pig called them parakeets in the last episode. Although a parakeet is a spieces of parrot, so Gigi is not far off the beak in this one. They all say "hello" in the same promo sequence as the police in this show, out pops Larenzo Lion saying "hello" and Gigi instantly panics. Okay, that was funny. Gigi has a lion phobia methinks. Larenzo Lion has a bag of seeds to feed the parakeets as the kids do the meet and greet. In comes Mr. Lion from behind saying hello since Larenzo is helping Mr. Lion feed the animals properly. Gigi screams...AGAIN! Listen, Gigi seriously needs to seek therapy for her phobia; but when I call Mr. Lion a bigot, I was talking about the fact that he calls Gigi a "wilderbeast", which is sexist. Luckly, he doesn't call her that, yet. Anyhow, Mr. Lion points out that some of the animals are leaving the zoo to live in the wild again. We then see Doctor Hamster come in with her white truck wearing a blue shirt with a pocket over her scrubs and work boots with a glass cage with holes in it call for some parakeets and two green parakeets fly down and land inside the cage. Doctor Hamster puts the cage in the back of the truck, climbs into the truck and drives away stage right heading into the jungle. The truck stops, Doctor Hamster gets out, brings out the cage, puts the cage down, let's open and the parakeets fly away. You got all that?! We return to the zoo as Mr. Lion proclaims that there is another animal that they are letting loose, but it's a secret because you see, this is an expertimental release. Mr. Lion goes over to a glass cage with holes covered with a tarp. Mr. Lion opens the tarp to reveal a giant green lizard. The second this unveiling happens, George and Richard run in to admire it because to them, it's a dine-saur, GRRRRR~! Mr. Lion claims that it's sort of one. It looks nothing like a dinosaur nor a dine-saur nor a dine-e-saur, come on now!

Gigi looks at her cell phone and realizes that the time limit is up and it's home time. Everyone thanks everyone for the tour and we head back to the school house on the hill. Okay, this is hilarious: The bus arrives with the children and Gigi is driving the bus. That's not hilarious. The hilarious part is the parent makeup, in particular they used Not Daddy Cat's as Candy Cat's parent here. Everyone knows that Daddy Cat's fur is black, and not orange like it is here. Either this is a goof, or Candy Cat has two daddies as I theorized several times before. Not to mention, the timing could not be worse if it's the later. Plus, bigots don't like two mummies as it is, two daddies to them is even worse. Mummy and Daddy Pig pick up the children, head into their car and drive down the hill onto the boring road. Mummy Pig is driving, Daddy and George are happy, but Peppa is drawing a blank stare for no real reason that I can think of. George proclaims that the best animal in the zoo was a dinosaur, GRRRR! Now, every time we see this, we know George is acting like there is one when there isn't one. That is a normal response, everyone has a hearty laugh and move on. Not this time! Oh no! George has gaslit Peppa into believing that the lizard in the cage is in fact a dinosaur and Peppa panics because George gave away the secret that the lizard was moving to the wild, even though George never actually says that the "dinosaur" was moving to the wild. Peppa Pig is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Then we HIT THE MONTAGE and the other kids tell their parents with no subtley whatsoever, just to make Peppa look like a bigger geek since George was the most subtle since in any other episode, no one would seriously believe George was literally saying that there was a dinosaur in the zoo. Mummy Sheep gasping that they were letting go of the "dinosaur" was also top class. No surprise, the lie spreads faster than the truth as we head to the super market with Miss Rabbit talking to the shoppers at the counter. Cameos: Doctor Brown Bear, Old Mrs. Donkey, and Mr. Bull/Mrs. Cow. Mrs. Cow is not thrilled and wants to take action. This logically leads to the police station with the phone ringing. Officer Panda answers the phone while Officer Grey Squirrel is eating donuts. I'm sorry, but being Canadian will not save you from the clown shoes you both wore in Walkie-Talkies. Sadly, this spot won't be as funny as Walkie-Talkies was. The bar is almost impossible for TALESPIN to tie, let alone top.

Officer Panda only accepts going to the zoo when the caller says that they are "letting it go", and Panda slams the phones, somehow the donuts don't splatter on the table. Anyhow, we head outside the gate of the zoo, so I'm guessing this zoo closes before 4 PM which is actually normal in real life. Sadly, no penguins on the zoo sign either. The police arrive in their police car and get out just as Larenzo Lion and Mr. Lion arrive to open the gate. Everyone walks in as Peppa is panicking in telling Mr. Lion that the secret is out. Mr. Lion calls this exciting as the adults are JAQ'ing off. Remind me to never hire Mr. Lion as a leak insider. Mr. Lion don't care, probably because he knows that the "dinosaur" is not a dinosaur, so he decides to show off the actual giant lizard. These kids were so stupid to fall for Richard and George after every episode where they would just laugh it off otherwise. Mr. Lion has a giant screen television in the zoo, and pushes the green button after the police ask the question about the dinosaur. We see the green lizard in a cage out in the fields as everyone realizes that the kids duped them. Every parent and older kid is the GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Richard and George are innocent of all charges since the kids and adults have been around to know better. Anyhow, Doctor Hamster arrives via plane as she releases the green lizard. I'll give them credit, Doctor Hamster is improving the later the show goes. Doctor Hamster opens the cage, let's the green lizard slowly walk out of the cage and that is that. The police are stunned to realize that this was a false alarm. Mr. Lion says "no" in the same promo structure as the "hello" promo and proclaims that if he kept a dinosaur, it would be a secret. Then he laughs as everyone teeth smile laughs at the bullshit as Richard and George reveal their love for dinosaurs. Peppa says it all, the narrator says it all and literally everyone except the green lizard does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. Green lizard be like: "Fuck you all! I'm going home!". I loved this episode despite the obvious logic break that made everyone look like a clown. **** 1/2 (90%).

Being Babies: This episode is #423 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the grassy holed hill on the hill. We zoom into the kitchen with Mummy Rabbit, Rebecca Rabbit and Peppa Pig watching an oven baking carrot cupcakes. Rosie and Robbie Rabbit are in a stroller near the door. The kids like it; but Mummy Rabbit declares that cream and sprinkles will make them yummier. It's three o'clock on the carrot clock in the background as the oven dings. Mummy Rabbit puts on the purple gloves and this is enough for Rosie and Robbie to bawl their eyes out! Worse, they are using Baby Alexander's fire siren cry. Sod off, show! The baby rabbits are wearing cyan blue and lime green outfits this time. Mummy Rabbit takes off the gloves and decides to feed them, leaving the cupcakes in the oven. I'm sure they won't you know, BURN now; won't they?! Peppa and Rebecca exchange notes on the situation and this could be a problem being feeding takes a long time. As long as Baby Alexander?! Rebecca hates waiting forever, and don't we all?! Jump cut to Mummy Rabbit tucking the babies in the crib bed with bottles of milk in their mouths and the crying stops. Twinking sounding music ensues and that is that. Okay, Peppa and Rebecca have a plan: They will fake cry to get their own way. This sounds like a giant middle finger to the critics who saw George cries to get his own way when 90% of the time, George cries because someone either "dies" or Peppa punches down on him like a troll. This is the definition of a troll move by Peppa and Rebecca here. Peppa's attempt to sound like George is so hideously hilariously bad here, that even Rebecca's fake crying sounds good. Jump cut to Rosie and Robbie burping and going to sleep as Mummy Rabbit sets one of the out of nowhere transmitters onto a dresser drawers. Then she hears the trolls doing their hideously hilariously bad fake crying, and the hallway is much longer than the rooms. No wonder it takes forever. Mummy Rabbit is not amused by this crying since it might wake up the real babies.

Rebecca claims that they are babies and Peppa tells her to shut up because babies cannot talk, you see. All while Peppa is whisper-yelling. Foolish little troll. Rebecca remembers and the two little trolls do the worst bawling ever on this show. Mummy Rabbit decides to play along and gets two glasses of milk from the fridge. Peppa and Rebecca drink up and they are not sleepy, because they are not babies anymore. Pretty much admitting that they were mooching off here. Finally, Mummy Rabbit and the kids decide to take the cupcakes out of the oven and decorate the cupcakes with sprinkles, cream and carrot tops. Not fake tops, real carrot tops. Peppa does the troll move of having a cupcake on top of the cream of the other cupcake. HAR! HAR! Mummy Rabbit says it all as the cupcakes are placed on a plate as Rebecca Rabbit declares the twins worthless in helping. That's not kind, Rebecca. The transmitter is also on the plate as everyone goes into the sitting room with Daddy Rabbit setting up the table for tea time, since the tea cups and tea kettle are already set up. By the way, it took our hour of Peppa Pig time to have everything ready. Everyone sits down as Mr. Rabbit tries out Peppa's troll cupcake and solves the mystery by eating it horizontal. Everyone is having cupcakes and exchanging notes as Rosie and Robbie are crying again. Probably heard that insult from Rebecca and it took about a minute or so before they decided to have their feelings hurt. Mr. Rabbit decides to help with the stoppage of crying, with Rebecca and Peppa in tow. I would not trust Rebecca in aid here, but it doesn't matter because Mr. Rabbit is doing this dance and it's so awful as the babies are still crying. By the way; don't do that dance with real babies in real life! This might cause Shaken Baby Syndrome and kill the babies! Peppa suggests a story, but Mr. Rabbit claims that they cannot understand British English. However, Rebecca and Peppa decide to tell the story in baby speak and it works. Rosie and Robbie all calm down and giggle as Mummy Rabbit comes in thanking the kids for their help. Everyone laughs as the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. A fun little episode, but do not shake dance when you have babies present, especially in your arms. *** (60%).

Mr. Cat's Cafe: This episode is #424 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the apartments above the shops with various denizens walking and driving around. Out the wooden door comes Daddy Cat with his apron on, Candy Cat and Peppa Pig as the narrator confirms that this is a playdate for Peppa and Candy. Candy has a blue purse as Daddy Cat asks if Candy Cat has crayons, and Candy Cat says yes. Candy giggles, which means there is going to be a mess when this is over, I bet. By the way, when the kids sit at the table inside the cafe, Candy Cat doesn't have crayons, she brings out coloring pencils. Didn't anyone in creative notice this gaffe?! Peppa and Candy each had three pieces of paper and start drawing for a while as Candy wants to draw the people coming and going. Peppa using brown in this situation as the door opens and in comes Old Mrs. Donkey, the only donkey who cannot speak French to save her life. Daddy Cat and Mrs. Donkey exchange notes and greetings for a while. I should note that there is a red comfy chair at one of the tables which Mrs. Donkey sits down as she wants the usual. Peppa is confused, but Daddy Cat points out that it's tea and cake. That's the usual in this show for adults actually. Mrs. Donkey is knitting a sock, so she's a big fan of The Queen methinks. Daddy Cat serves the meal on a tray to Mrs. Donkey and now in comes Daddy Wolf on his cellphone. He talks loud that the numbers are high. Considering his gimmick, I wouldn't be surprised if it's about the wind. He wants the usual as Peppa is also confused. It's strong black coffee in the weird-ass coffee maker as Daddy Wolf takes the coffee , drinks up, pays for it on debit and then just walks out still talking on the cellphone. Peppa is still confused because she thinks the usual is the same for all. It often isn't. By the way, the two kids have decided just to draw pictures of a tree and a house on the hill. Which one?! Doesn't matter and since they don't care, I don't care either.

By the way, the drawing are all written by teleport after Daddy Pig says it all. I know this because they have started a new drawing and there is still three pieces of paper for each kid. SUZY SHEEP~?! Next up is Mummy Rabbit and Richard Rabbit. Jeez, someone in creative must have taken my complaint about no one loving Richard Rabbit anymore to heart now. Mummy Rabbit and Richard Rabbit order a big and small carrot of course. Daddy Cat serves them a plate of carrot each. Peppa asks if it's the usual and Mummy Rabbit says maybe if they came here more often. Richard is giddy as Mr. Bull comes in with a tea kettle and admits to Peppa that he's digging up the road. The fact that Peppa asked him that question so gleefully was funny, I won't lie. Mr. Bull is taking a break, you see. Mr. Bull is probably getting his tea kettle refilled and that's what he orders and yes it's the usual Peppa. But wait, the bell rings and here comes Mrs. Cow with a picnic basket. Uh-Oh! Mr. Bull's alibi has fallen apart and his so called job is very sus. They walk in opposite directions, trying to past this off as normal, but no one is fooled anymore. Turns out she is delivering cheese to Daddy Cat and Daddy Cat accepts cart-blanche. That sounds like a way to fix Mr. Bull's alibi about digging up the road. So not buying this as Mrs. Cow leaves. The next pictures the kids draw are an air balloon and a sailing ship. Next up is Reggie Rabbit who is literally yelling his order from outside as he's running on the sidewalk. The usual is a cheese smoothie, the same one Pedro F'N Pony wanted in Fruits. Daddy Cat, Candy Cat and Peppa come out as Daddy Cat has the container of smoothie. Reggie runs in, grabs the smoothie, thanks Daddy Cat and leaves. Meaning, Daddy Wolf is the only one who has paid for his food. Mrs. Cow does get a pass since she was delivering cheese, but Daddy Cat doesn't pay Mrs. Cow for the delivery. How amusing that Daddy Wolf, whose character is the Big Bad Wolf whom is a heel, is the only buyer acting like a babyface.

Peppa is amused for the wrong reasons of course. Peppa and Candy return to the tables to finish coloring as Daddy Cat asks if they want anything. Peppa wants the usual, Daddy Cat asks what is the usual and Peppa has no idea how to respond to that. GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Candy Cat basically tells her to pick what she likes and Peppa and Candy ultimately decide to have strawberry milkshakes. Daddy Cat makes strawberry milkshakes in the blender, the same one he made Reggie Rabbit's cheese smoothie. The kids drink up as Peppa calls this the usual for today. Then we hear a knocking from the package delivery door on the wall as it's Daddy Fox knocking from his shop which is next to the cafe. Daddy Fox is literally knocking on the door in code, which his order is: tea with two cubes of sugar, a crossiant and a banana. Daddy Cat opens the door on the wall, slides the tray into the shelf and closes it. Daddy Fox opens the door from the other side, takes the order and shuts the lid. Cut back to the counter as Peppa and Candy show off their drawings as they extend into all white pieces of paper now. SUZY SHEEP~?! Daddy Cat inspects the drawings, they look great to Daddy Cat. Daddy Cat knocks on the door and opens it to reveal colored pegs in boxes of six, even though the paper totals nine. SUZY SHEEP~?! Daddy Cat brings down a clothesline and uses the pegs to attach the pictures to them. Okay, this finish is so stupid: The drawing themselves are basically the customers that came in today, even though when Peppa and Candy were drawing, they were generic pictures. Look, this finish makes sense from the storyline, but the pictures they drew leading up to this, do not match at all. This is not a good finish here. The kids and Daddy Cat have a hearty laugh as the narrator says it all while we zoom out to end the episode at 4:30. This was a really fun episode, but the finish would have been good if we saw the lead up drawings match the result. That's just bad continuity from the creators here. *** 1/4 (65%).

Cushion Den: This episode is #425 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the little house on the hill on a cloudy day as rain is threatening to show up at Daddy Pig's expense. Daddy Pig, Peppa and George walk outside and they are shivering. Oh come on, now! What a bunch of wimps, cannot stand a little chill. The family goes back inside to the kitchen where Mummy Pig has bowls put into the sink from the table, implying that they had breakfast. The story of this episode is that Mummy Pig is going to be working on her computer -- probably to write another book, hopefully no crying is involved -- and cannot assist the rest of the family on what they were going to do today. Peppa is not happy about this at all. Apparently, George and Peppa want to do a cushion den and Daddy Pig makes the error of allowing it and Peppa and George are like "thank you" and run into the sitting room. Mummy Pig is not thrilled and neither is Daddy Pig. It's 9 AM on the clock I should note. Daddy Pig joins Peppa and George in the sitting room as Daddy Pig and Peppa exchange notes and then Daddy Pig demonstrates how to make a cushion den by removing all the cushions from the sofa and love seat. Daddy Pig turns the sofa 45 degrees straight down to create a closet, then we jump cut to Mummy Pig working on her computer in the office. I have no clue what she's writing even in what is pretty much carny talk, which was very popular in the old professional wrestling days. Modern wrestling nowadays just calls spots in their native language. They should bring this back and teach wrestlers how to do it. While it's not a foolproof way to prevent exposure of the business, but it would at least reduce it. It won't solve non-verbal cues, but people love the sound of their own voice and others that they ignore the non-verbal ones anyway. Mummy Pig hears a noise and it's Daddy Pig in the bedroom stealing the pillows and blankets from the bed. He is in such glee doing this, he's teeth smiling on the way out. Back to Mummy Pig on the computer trying to look dead serious, but looking like she's panicking. The motion is not helping the blank expression there Mummy. Mummy Pig then sort of gets it as she hears Daddy Pig running downstairs.

Daddy Pig cannot practice the fine art of not being seen nor heard. Of course, because Daddy Pig must be the GEEK OF THE WEEK in every episode he's in. Head back to the sitting room as there are more pillows on the floor as the sofa is now a makeshift bed with the white blanket being used as a canopy. Peppa and George head inside, but Peppa complains about the darkness because she doesn't want George to cry. Daddy Pig gives her a flashlight/torch to allow George to stay without fear. Peppa grabs the flashlight and they shine it for a while, George and Peppa are in awe of this. Daddy Pig moves the love seat about six feet west, and while that moves the blanket, there is no real dumb moves going on, so it's fine. Peppa and George then bail upstairs and Mummy Pig is still on her computer, but she stops and is spying because she knows that she never taught the naughty piggies how to practice the fine art of not being seen nor heard. Stealth tactics are not this family's strong point, is what I am saying here. At least Daddy Pig didn't laugh with glee during this and Mummy Pig just sighs, knowing that she is cooked. Peppa and George go to their bunk beds and remove their pillows and blankets. This attempt at stealth is so hilariously awful that Daddy Pig has to come up to the office just to run interference on Mummy Pig. Then the kids head downstairs and Daddy Pig leaves. Head back to the sitting room and Peppa suddenly cannot get her blanket around a cardboard box. There are more blankets, clothes pins and two books which Daddy Pig uses to keep the blanket in place. George is playing the ghost bump on one of the white sheets and snorting to the amusement of Peppa and Daddy Pig. Jump cut to shot of outside as the wind and cloudy day ensues. Jump cut back to Mummy Pig still on the computer being happy and stuff. She puts the writing in an email letter and sends it away, and she's finished. In more way than one I might add. Mummy Pig turns off her computer and is ready to play with the kids. She cannot find them even though the evidence clearly suggests that they went downstairs. She checks both bedrooms and doesn't find anyone, despite their being a clear mess in the adults bedroom.

The kids bedroom being a mess is par for the course on this show, outside of the fact that the blankets and pillows on the bed are clearly missing. Mummy Pig goes downstairs and notices that the lights are out in the sitting room. Mummy Pig turns on the lights and she's shocked and appalled. This isn't a cushion den, this is one glorifed cushion tent. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Peppa pops up wearing a yellow blanket like she has blonde hair, that was funny. Mummy Pig's teeth smile is living proof that she knows she is cooked. Peppa invites her to come in and Mummy Pig decides to get this over with. Mummy Pig crawls in and I'm just going to say that they also used the kitchen chairs as supports. I'm using a different language video for this episode to review, so if I miss what they say, that's why. They are building up the crawl slowly as George comes in and snorts. Then I actually realize something: George is the keeper of the cushion den and Mummy Pig must say the magic word. Knowing George, it's probably dinesaur, in that same exact pronouncation. Mummy Pig tries abracadabra and George shakes his head no. Next up is shazam-shazoom, nope says George. Mummy Pig gets it right the third time. I have no idea what the word was, but it wasn't "Daddy's Big Tummy" since Daddy Pig no sold the response. Mummy Pig enters and sits down with Peppa and Daddy Pig as the cushion den is set up like a movie theatre, except the television is the screen and the torch is the projector light in the foreground of this scene. George runs in and sits down as everyone is amused and exchanging notes. Mummy Pig is doing her eye contact violence on Daddy Pig and Daddy Pig's mouth wobbles. Daddy Pig changes the subject by deciding to turn on the television to watch Mr. Potato as they all laugh while the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. Fun little episode as this became a thing in Peppa Pig Tales as well. I'm guessing Mummy Pig told Daddy Pig he would have to do all the tidying up since it was his idea. Okay, I'm fine with that because it was Daddy's fault in this case. *** 1/2 (70%).

Staying Up Late: This episode is #426 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the house on the hill as the car is parked facing towards the garden. It's five o'clock on the clock when we zoom into the kitchen with Daddy Pig at the table cutting up veggies. Peppa and George are having spaghetti without sauce, so even Karrot Animation has been told that this is a sight gag at this point. Mummy Pig comes in wearing red pumps and a red dress because Daddy Pig and Mummy Pig are eating later since there will be a dinner party late at night with Auntie Pig and Uncle Pig. Cousin Chole and Baby Alexander are also coming, but this is an adult party, so says Daddy Pig. I think we all know where this is going, considering the title of the episode. Mummy Pig, Peppa and George go up the stair as Peppa is protesting this because she's a big girl like Cousin Chole. Yeah, I'll bet! Cousin Chole is staying up late, but Peppa and George cannot you see. Does that mean she is part of the dinner party? Or does that mean, Cousin Chole is the sitter for Peppa and George? We head into the bedroom as Mummy Pig does offer them to stay up a bit later than usual as long as they tidying up the room. Peppa instantly cleans up the room and George smiles doing absolutely nothing. That teeth smile says he knows that staying up a bit later really means: Stay up until Auntie and Uncle Pig shows up, then it's bedtime. So why bother helping Peppa clean up the room?! George is smart. Lazy, but smart. We head to Daddy Pig's bedroom as Mummy Pig is helping Daddy Pig with his suit and bowtie because of course. I'm not surprised the TaleSpin reboot isn't going to happen now because the only reason it was on the short list was because of Kit and Molly being kids, not because rich, old, white dudes relate to the show in anyway. It's the exact opposite of Ducktales, where the rich white dude is the babyface (Scrooge McDuck, everyone), while in TaleSpin, the rich dude is technically the heel. Mummy Pig thinks this makes Daddy Pig smart. Yeah, I'll bet! Furthermore, Peppa yells that she has finished the cleaning process and she has. Notice George is already in his pjs and holding Mr. Dinesaur?! Yeah, he knows this is bullshit and Peppa is going to be the GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Peppa is smiling thinking her night is made, and George is smiling because he knows Peppa is about to look like a total geek here. Mummy Pig is surprised and Peppa is so happy as the doorbell rings. We head to the front door to see Auntie Pig, Uncle Pig, Cousin Chole and Baby Alexander in a sleeping basket. All of them are wearing their best clothes, except for Baby Alexander because he's sleeping and don't care about staying up late. George would be proud of him, too.

Cousin Chole has a purple ribbon on her ear as Peppa and Mummy Pig come out of the house for the meet and greet. Which Cousin Chole cuts off because Baby Alexander is sleeping of course. Auntie Pig and company decide to put Baby Alexander into the same room as George and George is already in bed ready to sleep as the protector of Baby Alexander and the basket. Peppa blurts out the plan and then both she and Cousin Chole bail stage left. We cut to the dining room with five chairs, so yes; Cousin Chole is allowed to be a part of the dinner party, but Peppa cannot. Uncle Pig sits down as Daddy Pig continues to wear the cooking apron despite no food being served yet, that was funny. Peppa Pig is still allowed to be there, as long as she sits down and eats nothing. Wait, if Peppa is allowed to sit down, then there should be six chairs since Cousin Chole should be in the fifth chair. SUZY SHEEP~?! Daddy Pig starts off with the starter meal which is a plate of two asparagus stems. Oh, so this is the ultra-cheapo fancy dinner party. Man, even Peppatown is falling on hard times. Even Peppa Pig is appalled by this. Which Mummy Pig smiles like this is bullshit and decides that Peppa needs to go to bed now. At least Mummy Pig was nice about this, but this is bullshit. My starter meal would be garlic bread and caesar salad without the bacon bits and it would still work in the Peppa World. Peppa leaves the dining room and wants to brush her teeth and stay up a little later. Mummy Pig decides to allow her back into the dining room. Wait, what?! The main course is baked potatoes with veggies and it's a loaded meal to say the least. They are also having just water, another telltale sign of the hard times in Peppatown. Uncle Pig asks how he cooked the potatoes, because they are too tasty to be boiled. Daddy Pig claims that he boiled them. I think he broiled them, which is not the same as boiling them because broiled potatoes taste a lot better than boiled potatoes. By the way, Peppa did in fact brush her teeth and is in her pjs already. Daddy Pig then declares it's time for ice cream and of course everyone wants it including Peppa. Mummy Pig blows that off in a nice way and Peppa clearly says that she will brushed them again, and after seeing Peppa Pig in earlier series, I don't bet against her brushing her teeth again. The tooth fairy episode has that effect on me. Yes, she did get a bowl of vanilla ice cream and everyone eats up, including Peppa. This just makes George look like a complete geek.

Next up, is relaxing in the sitting room as seen in the scene changer as the adults are either on the sofa drinking tea, or Daddy Pig is drinking tea on his love seat. Peppa and Cousin Chole are sitting on the rug not looking amused. Auntie and Uncle Pig are exchanging notes about getting a new sofa and I wish conversations were this boring instead of the political stuff where everyone is unhappy of being here. Cousin Chole says it all and Peppa agrees with her. Hey, it beats having that vile uncle who thinks Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith are profiles of courage to standing up to Donald Trump. Doug Ford has actually shown more courage than any right winger, even when it isn't saying much. Funny how everyone is starting to change their tune the moment Mark Carney became prime minister of Canada, even though it comes at the expense of the NDP and the Bloc?! Yeah, election time is almost upon us here in Canada. Peppa wants to play a game and Mummy Pig is now appalled because no one plays games at a dinner party. Peppa returns and dumps a toy box of blocks, somehow Chole is amused by this. The basically play a corrupted version of Jenga, because trademark~! Chole is giggling and now the parents are amused. The adults try it out for a while as Daddy Pig proclaims that he's a bit of an expert on building things, and the second he puts a block on top after this, they topple all down. Yup, Daddy Pig is the GEEK OF THE WEEK~! More building and this time a loud snoring is present as the building topples down. Someone actually remembered Chole's Puppet Show that Uncle and Daddy Pig all love to sleep in unison. At least it was at night, so this makes sense. Peppa is so happy to outlast the two daddies that she's yawning. Mummy Pig says it all as she pokes Daddy Pig from behind and Daddy Pig wakes up with his glasses disheveled. The two daddies deny sleeping of course because they are total geeks. Auntie Pig informs Uncle Pig it's time to go home and Auntie. Uncle, Chole and Alexander Pig leave the house as Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and Peppa Pig wave goodbye. George Pig somehow didn't suspect a thing making him the biggest geek of the episode right there. Mummy Pig and Auntie of course win the sleeping battle as we scene change to Peppa brushing her teeth on screen this time. Peppa is tired literally as Daddy Pig takes Peppa to her room and tucks her in bed as it's ten o'clock, so Peppa lasted five hours before sleeping. It's now AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as Daddy Pig turns off the lights. We zoom out of the house on the hill while the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This episode was awesome and George Pig outsmarted himself basically. **** 1/2 (90%).

The New TV: This episode is #427 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the little house on the hill with the red car parked down the hill towards the garden. We head inside to the sitting room where the family is watching Mr. Potato make an ass out of himself and laughing at his expense. Then the television goes into crap your electronics mode and Peppa is protesting this outrage. Yup, the television set is broken. Daddy Pig tries to push buttons and that fails, so it's time to repair the television. By the way, in Peppa Pig Tales, I mentioned a question about Goldie The Goldfish and where the goldfish bowl will be moved to since the television is going to be repaired and later on they are getting a flat screen television which the top is too narrow for the goldfish bowl to sit on. Well, the answer to that question is that the bowl is put on a coffee table to the right of the television and left of the sofa. Okay, then. Daddy Pig arrives in a car to the television repair shop outside Peppatown (yup, that is canon now). Peppa, George and Daddy Pig go into the television shop where M. Rabbit is at the desk wearing a red shirt and blue hat. At least it's not Miss Rabbit in another absurd job...yet. Apparently, repairing the television is way outside Mr. Rabbit expertise, but here comes Reggie Rabbit to solve that little issue. Reggie and Peppa Pig exchange notes for a while and the deal is exactly the same deal that Granddad Dog give the family in "The New Car": They get a new television to rent for a few days until the old television is repaired and then exchange back. To be fair, they haven't done this for at least seven years so, it's well within the Jim Cornette gimmick rule. Still, it's going to make everyone writing this a bit dumb in hindsight. Mr. Rabbit shows off the flatscreen televisions, and Daddy Pig picks the dreaded 4K television of doom. By the way, 4K is misleading: It's not exactly 4,000 pixels, and the screen size is not 4,000x4,000; it's closer to 3840x2160 in order to achieve a 16:9 widescreen standard. Of course, like every object on this show, it has to have a woman's pronoun, although Mrs. TV does use a woman's voice. Televisions in the Peppa Pig world nowadays are basically glorified mobile with better visuals. Basically Wii U in a nutshell.

Peppa loves it and Daddy Pig decides to try it for the rental period. By the way, this is the first time in a long time that I have decided to watch this in a language that is not English. Jump cut back to the house on the hill as Daddy Pig, George and Peppa come out of the car as Mummy Pig is out back wondering where the television is. In comes the television truck driven by Mr. Rhino and seconded by Mr. Bull. Mr. Rhino and Mr. Bull take out the 4K television in a box into the house as Mummy Pig does not look thrilled about this. I don't know why, the 4K television is just a rental, unless it's about Peppa and George doing damage. Considering that Peppa and George treat this television a lot better than their own toys, that's paranoia. Scene change to the sitting room as Mr. Bull and Mr. Rhino mount the television to the wall and do a much better job than Daddy Pig could ever do. Somehow the television turns on by itself, although there are a red and green button on the left bottom side of the television. SUZY SHEEP~?! As expected the voice of Mrs. TV is a woman as Daddy Pig speaks and they are currently setting up the accounts for the family. Which is pointless since the television is going to be returned anyway. Somehow, this television is so smart that it identified George despite doing just two snorts. That was funny. Mummy Pig is ignored of course as the next setup is to connect the television to certain electronical objects like Mike the robot cleaner from Peppa Pig Tales. No kill like overkill, I always say. Mummy Pig is still not thrilled as the setup is done and we scene change to outside with Mr. Bull and Mr. Rhino entering the truck and waving goodbye. The truck leave and then another truck arrives with Miss Rabbit holding a bag of food. Apparently, someone ordered food via the television. Since only three accounts are on the television and Mummy Pig doesn't count, 2:1 odds it was Daddy Pig. The fact that the "wah-wah" sound and the kids are looking at Daddy Pig indicate who is the guilty one is. Everyone goes into the sitting room and somehow, Miss Rabbit has an account. SUZY SHEEP~?!

Miss Rabbit wants some tea, and the television not only shows an icon on screen, Mark the robot cleaner comes out with a cup of tea. Okay, this is getting silly now. By the way, the show is playing a remix of the curious music from Series One. Yes, the television can bake an out of nowhere lasanga out of the oven! The parents go to the kitchen to bring the baked pasta out of the oven and then Peppa and George are singing the bing bong song, because this television has a radio feature! Daddy and Mummy run in to protest this outrage and it's time for DISCO FEVER~! DISCO FEVER~! DISCO FEVER~! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Okay, that was the most entertaining part of the episode, I won't lie. Deserves an extra * for that alone. Miss Rabbit looking brainwashed while doing the robot is priceless. Mummy Pig has had enough of this and yells so hard that this turns off the television, the lights and the balloons. Peppa and George groan and sigh instantly after this. Then the doorbell rings and Mummy Pig answers the door to find Reggie Rabbit has fixed the old television. Mummy Pig grabs the television and is hugging it and is so happy for it because she doesn't have to deal with the nightmare of the new technology. You sure about that Mummy Pig?! I hear "Pig changes" are coming soon. I'll get my coat... Mummy Pig gets out her mobile phone to inform Mr. Rabbit that the old television is fixed and they can have the new one back. Scene change to Mr. Rhino and Mr. Bull taking out the new television as the family waves goodbye. Mrs. TV seems to take this goodbye well as Daddy Pig puts the goldfish bowl onto the old television. He then turns on the television and the old television works as expected. Crap. Peppa proclaims that she liked the new television, but loves the old television. Mummy Pig is relieved by that response. The family all laugh at Mr. Potato's antics on the television screen to end the episode at 4:30. This is literally "The New Car" from Series One, right down to bringing the new television back and getting the old one back. In a vacuum, this was fine. However, this is not a vacuum. Hindsight 20/20, this was absolutely dumb since this will all be irrelevent when the new baby era starts and everything changes, including a new house and literally a new giant flat screen television! Might as well keep the new television and build to the new baby from there. At least the karaoke disco spot was awesome, so ** (40%).

Indoor Adventure: This episode is #428 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the little house on the hill. We zoom in as Daddy Pig is in the hallway packing a giant backpack containing camping gear. Peppa and George are watching and Peppa is confused. Daddy Pig points out that they are going on an outdoor adventure as Daddy Pig opens the door and within ten seconds, it's raining hard. GRANNY SHEEP~?! Everyone goes back inside as the kids groan and Daddy Pig is not thrilled of this either. Mummy Pig walks in and suggests something else and Daddy Pig's response is to do an indoor adventure. Peppa and George like the idea and so we head to the sitting room which has a skateboard, a tiger book, a clown's horn and Mr. Dinesaur. Daddy Pig wants a winter adventure and Peppa suddenly cannot suspend disbelief. SUZY SHEEP~?! Thankfully, Daddy Pig winks to Peppa to make sure she gets the hint to suspend disbelief. The sledge is Peppa's skateboard tied to a white rope as Peppa and George get on the skateboard as Daddy Pig is the dog of this outfit. Whoosh! Mummy Pig then play some type of bird and her physical mannerisms are so hilariously awful, Smurfette got mad again! Mummy Pig is cosplaying a penguin as Peppa and George wave at her and then they go into the kitchen as it's 10 AM on the clock. Apparently, the kitchen is now a river and Mummy Pig comes in making the worst water sounds ever. You couldn't just open the tap and let real water flow?! The kids giggle, making sure not to show that they are laughing at Mummy Pig instead of with her. Peppa suggests using the chairs as floaters and both Mummy and Daddy grab Peppa and George and make them hop on the chairs before exiting the kitchen to the staircase, which logically means the next challenge is to climb a steep mountain. The backpack doubles as a seat for George to sit in and yes, the staircase got the overdramatic drums of doom. Peppa wants to be carried as well, but Daddy Pig has a better idea for her: a scout. Peppa is confused as Mummy Pig points out that the scout leads the climbers to spot stuff in the way.

Peppa loves this and goes on ahead and finds Teddy, whom she calls a bear. Mummy Pig's panicking is better than any emotion in this episode thus far, but Peppa proclaims that Teddy is a nice bear. Of course Teddy is, you keep abusing it so much. Mummy Pig gets it and Peppa just puts Teddy back on the steps. Then we get the funniest thing in Series Nine to date: Daddy Pig is huffing and blushing while going up the steps! George is really trolling Daddy on that one with that smile wearing a seat belt. Daddy Pig hopes this is it, but Peppa sees that they can go higher into the attic. That's exactly what they do as we head into the attic. It's the summit and Mummy Pig proclaims that it's night time, bringing out the flashlight. Daddy Pig looks into the attic and is relieved because there is no more steps to climb. By the way, the seatbelt on George is gone when he is released from the backpack seat. We make a camp and put sleeping bags down as Mummy Pig panics for real because she hear growling. However, it's just Daddy's big tummy growling as usual as Peppa points this out in roundabout terms. We setup the campfire, but not a real one because fire regulations in the house rules of course! Peppa asks if the supper is pretend, it's not because out comes two sandwiches, so only one quarter sandwich per Pig member today. Even the ecomony in Peppatown is poor nowadays. Scene change to the Pigs on their sleeping bags eating sandwiches. When they are done, Peppa calls it a pity that they cannot see the stars tonight since the house doesn't have a roof window. Daddy Pig has a plan as everyone else must close their eyes. Daddy Pig takes out white dotted Christmas lights and hangs them on the roof supports. Then attaches a switch to them near the boxes and turns them on. Everyone opens their eyes and everyone is in awe. Daddy Pig sits down on his sleeping bag as Peppa recaps the fake adventure they just went on. George does the sound effects for fun as Peppa says it all. Peppa and George flick their shoes off and they all lie down laughing as the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. A very fun episode, but the abuse of Teddy is getting on my nerves. *** 3/4 (75%).

Hot Dry Day: This episode is #429 on the animation paper and the episode opens well outside the little house on the hill as Mummy Pig is watering plants near a tree at the bottom of the western hill. Daddy Pig is underneath the umbrella tree reading the newspaper wearing a hat. There is a puddling pool inbetween the two adults, so I suspect both will get splooshed by the kids anytime now. Peppa and George run down the hill to Daddy Pig and both get suncream in the face, AGAIN! Peppa and George jump into the pudding pool and splash Mummy Pig giving her a shock. Peppa's apology sounds like a taunt rather than an actual apology, but Mummy Pig forgives her anyway because it's a hot day and she needed to be refreshed anyway. Daddy Pig wants someone to splash him and George has no problem obeying that command. Daddy's face gets splashed, that is that. George splashes himself with a green bucket of water that came out of nowhere. In comes Mrs. Duck and this is post-Golden Boots era, so her feathers are white. Peppa tells her that there is no picnic, which is a good thing, thank you. Mrs. Duck decides to leave anyway, but it actually means something because everyone heads to the duck pond to discover that the duck pond is gone, and apparently, the rest of the ducklings are gone too. Did they...ummm...die?! Uh-oh! Peppa offers Mrs. Duck to swim in the puddling pool and Mrs. Duck is happy and jumps into the puddling pool. It splashes and swims for a while. I should note that the video for this episode contains the characters speaking English, but the narrator speaks Italian for no good reason. Unless there are Italian subtitles, which I do not see. Peppa and George gets splashed by Mrs. Duck as we hear weak croaking sounds and Peppa discovers a frog in distress. Mummy Pig warns Peppa not to touch it as it's hot. Peppa asks if the frog wants to swim in the puddling pool. The frog accepts and hops into the puddling pool. Or would have, but the inflatable pool is too large for the frog to hop as it bounces off. Mummy Pig brings in two planks of wood to create a ramp into the pool and one to get out of said pool. The frog hops into the pool and cools off. Mrs. Duck is written out and in by teleport during this as well. SUZY SHEEP~?!

Daddy Pig brings the umbrella tree and sticks it next to the puddling pool to create more shade for the animals. In comes a hedgehog and no, it's not going into the puddling pool since the inflatable pool would pop due to the hedgehog's spikes and that would be bad. Mummy Pig counters by taking a plate from the potted plants, puts it in the water of the puddling pool and gently puts the plate down in front of the hedgehog. The hedgehog drinks up and that is that. Then we hear the squeak sound and Peppa thinks it's another animal. Now, Rebecca Rabbit and Mandy Mouse both share this sound, but it's neither of them. It's Tiddles the Tortoise climbing up a tree. AGAIN! Nothing changes and no revoking of vet licenses ever happens in this world. Doctor Hamster, everyone. Speaking of the evil one herself, here comes Doctor Hamster calling out Tiddles. She finds Tiddles, thankfully, Tiddles is on a tree branch where Doctor Hamster can grab Tiddles. Tiddles hides in his shell, probably ashamed that Doctor Hamster is such an incompentent vet. Peppa offers Tiddles a chance to swim in the puddling pool, but Doctor Hamster doesn't allow it because turtles cannot swim. That is absolute bullshit! Tortoises can swim in shallow water, although they are not as strong swimmers as sea turtles, who can swim. So we have a tortoise who can climb trees, but cannot swim at all despite real tortoise being able to do both. Good to know. Peppa decides to have Tiddle drinking water from the plate and Doctor Hamster is perfectly fine with that. Tiddles is drinking water from the plate as Daddy Pig gives Doctor Hamster a glass of water to drink. Doctor Hamster drinks the water and thanks the family for taking care of the animals. Then the skies darken and out comes the rainstorm! GRANNY SHEEP~?! Yes, everytime an out of nowhere storm comes out, I'm blaming Granny Sheep for this. I don't know why Daddy Pig bothered to close the umbrella tree since it would deflect a lot of the rain anyway. Everyone runs into the house on the hill as the rest of the animals feel refreshed by the rain and then it stops literally seconds later. I think we know where this is going now, don't we?! DING! By the way, Peppa and George's boots are written in by teleport as the kids run down and it's the earthquake ritual time~! Everyone gets their boots off-screen and jumps in to end the episode at 4:30. Just your fun muddy puddle love in. *** 1/2 (70%).

Folk Music Band: This episode is #430 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the white house on the hill as Mummy Pig arrives in her car with Peppa and George Pig, remembering to park on the steepest side of the hill once again. Peppa and George jump out as Granny Pig comes out looking a like a Southerner in America, rather than a Southerner in Britian. That outfit clearly must be a Granny Sheep special as the kids hug Granny Pig and George is still calling her "Ganny Ig" in SERIES NINE~! Mummy Pig waves goodbye, gets in her cars and leaves off-screen. Granny Pig is waving goodbye with a yellow stick with bells glued on it. Peppa is confused about the outfit, but Granny Pig proclaims that this is her folk music outfit. Folk music is mostly 1860's to 1907 type of booking, so it shouldn't be too outrageous, unlike the Stone Age. Yes, this is Granny Pig's latest cosplaying assignment as we head to the back with Grandpa Pig loading up wood on the wheelbarrow. Yes, Peppa and George are dressed in folk music gear and Peppa gets a daisy on her ear like Granny Pig. Yes, the kids also got bell shakers, why do you ask?! Grandpa Pig just gets what this folk music is, but declines because he has work to do in the orchard, you see. I'm guessing someone complained about Grandpa Pig taunting the grannies about having tea and chatting since he doesn't mention that in this episode. So, we head to the orchard with Granny Dog, Granny Donkey, Granny Elephant and our resident smartass, Edmond Elephant wearing a green cap. They look like the definition of misfits. We do the meet and greet as Peppa notices the musicial device Edmond and asks what it is. Edmond calls it a penny whistle, in North America known as a tin whistle. Edmond plays the whistle for a while as Granny Pig and the other kids shake bells for a while with Edmond. Granny Elephant brings out the dreaded washboard of musical doom, which Peppa calls not a musicial instrument. Granny Elephant proves her wrong as she plays it for a while. Granny Donkey brings out her Hertie-Gertie, or Hurdy-Gurdy outside British English. Basically, it's a turn-key style keyboard with strings. Everyone plays their musicial instruments for a while. Granny Dog has the return of the Bodhran drum from "Shake, Rattle & Bang!" The troupe decides to play their folk music to annoy...ERRR...I mean, serenade Grandpa Pig. Cut to Grandpa Pig building something out of wood underneath one of the apple trees. The troupe arrives as Grandpa Pig is all right with this and amused by this travelling folk band that travelled like 50 feet at most. Grandpa Pig decides to let them serenade his work and Granny Donkey has a song for this. Sadly, the song is nowhere near as funny as Pedro F'N Pony's Baked Bean song and Peppa's attempt is very good, but she's not topping the Baked Bean Song anytime soon. The music was good, the song was good, but I was expecting it to be really funny, and it wasn't. Grandpa Pig was building an apple juicer by the way. He even demonstrates it by having a basket of apples on his person already. SUZY SHEEP~?! Peppa and company get glasses out of nowhere to get their apple juice. Everyone loves the apple juice and that leads to Peppa singing the lead to thank the apple tree for the juice. Everyone loves the singing, so let's keep singing. Grandpa Pig takes another glass of apple juice, everyone laughs after the song as the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This might have been one of the shortest review I have ever done as the music continues to the end credits. This was just fine as it was a lot more serious than the usual whismical episode this angle delivers. *** (60%).

Calling Kylie: This episode is #431 on the animation paper and episode opens at the house on the hill on a snowy night. Zoom into the bedroom as Peppa is putting her toys away while George is tucked in bed by Daddy Pig. Peppa goes to the toy basket and notices behind it and a toy block, the boomerang Kylie gifted to Peppa during the Australian holiday back in Series Five. We even got a flashback to the final episode of that arc where Peppa unwrapped the boomerang present from yellow paper. Daddy Pig wonders what Kylie is doing as Peppa thinks that she's probably in bed asleep. Daddy Pig switches off the lights and decides to call the Kangaroo family anyway. Daddy Pig rings up Kylie and Kylie is up having breakfast cereal like Peppa always does. This shocks Peppa. Uh-oh! She's about to hate time zones as much as she hates statistics. Kylie has a tablet and has to show Peppa that it's sunny and warm outside with no snow to prove that it's morning. Peppa is so confused as Kylie has to go do whatever and Daddy Pig hangs up. Peppa wants an explaination to this outrage and Daddy calls this a bit complicated. Still, Daddy Pig brings out a desk lamp to light up as the sun and uses a giant red ball to indicate the Earth. This does not help Peppa's composure. Daddy Pig demonstrates the universe with Kylie in the light half and Peppa is in the dark half; Peppa is sleepy. Daddy Pig realizes this and decides to shut it all down to let Peppa rest. That was great. Daddy Pig says goodnight and leaves as night turns to morning as the kids run to the kitchen table to eat cereal. Mummy Pig is drinking tea and her mobile phone rings. Mummy Pig answers it to reveal Kylie Kangaroo ready to go to bed. Peppa gets the phone as she proclaims that she has just started her day. Kylie Kangaroo recaps her day as she and Joey were feeding apples to kiwis. DON'T DO THAT~~!! Joey is officially George's size now. They go to the beach to make a sand koala named Sandy, who waves while Mummy and Daddy Kangaroos end their surfing routine. They waded in the water and splashed each other for a while. Peppa has to show Kylie that it's not summer in Britian as Peppa shows it snowing at the house on the hill. They exchange notes and wave goodbye as Peppa hangs up. Peppa is still confused, so Mummy Pig tries the giant orange ball routine Daddy Pig tried on Peppa and it fails. Time to defer to Gigi Gazelle because this is not working on Peppa. Peppa and George decide that they are going to playgroup and the kids bail as Mummy Pig is so relieved. We head to the snowy school house on the hill and to the art tables as the kids are making pictures. Here are the students and their drawings:

- Peppa Pig: I think that is a purple skunk. Cheeky today, aren't we?!
- Suzy Sheep: Basketball.
- Danny Dog: Super Potato~!
- Pedro F'N Pony: A lighthouse.
- Emily Elephant: A school bus.
- Edmond Elephant: A bunch of exploding stars.
- George Pig: An acorn.
- Molly Mole: A pineapple.

Peppa decides to admit that she talked to Kylie at breakfast and Pedro thinks it's a bit late. Remind me to never ask for gory details from our resident clueless putz. Peppa talks about her conversations with Kylie and the kids cannot believe this. They think Peppa is literally trolling them and in a way, she is. Except, it's not on purpose. Pedro's reaction is like "take me out of this cartoon, already"! Peppa claims that it has something to do with a giant ball in space. Gigi Gazelle overhears this and closes the curtains, and turns off the light. She brings out the desk lamp and brings out a giant green ball to demonstrate exactly what Daddy Pig was going to say, but since Peppa was too tired when Daddy Pig tried this it was best to stop. If anything, Mummy Pig was the GEEK OF THE WEEK~ for doing it and messing it up in the morning. At least with Daddy Pig, Peppa was too sleepy to get the explaination and that wasn't on Daddy Pig. Emily Elephant wants to ring up Kylie now, but Peppa is against it. Gigi agrees to wait until the evening hours when she officially wakes up. Everyone giggles as the narrator says it all while we zoom out into space to see Earth for real to end the episode at 4:30. This was a really good episode tainted by animal feeding, AGAIN! *** 3/4 (75%).

House Rules: This episode is #432 on the animation paper and episode opens on the boring road with Mummy Pig driving the red car and Peppa is in the backseat. Mummy Pig reminds Peppa to say "please" and "thank you" and Peppa responds that she always does that. No, you don't Peppa. I have watched countless episodes where you never say those two words. We make it to Suzy Sheep's house as Mummy Sheep and Suzy Sheep are outside barefoot, so I'm guessing this is a sleepover. Suzy and Peppa hug and Mummy Sheep asks if Peppa loves pasta and she does. Peppa enters before everyone else does and Suzy yells at her to stop, because according to the house rules, you must not wear shoes nor boots. The problem with this is: Every other episode involving Suzy's house had them wearing shoes. This is very contrived and forced as a rule. Then I realize that Mummy Sheep confirms that they have new carpet and thus she doesn't want to wear it out. The house rule makes sense then. What a fool I am?! Mummy Sheep just had to pick light colored carpet and so Peppa takes her shoes off. Suzy and Peppa head into Suzy's room as it's 10 AM on the clock, so no sleepover. Peppa then jumps on Suzy's bed for no reason and Suzy points out that it's against the house rules and Mummy Sheep yells at Suzy not to jump on the bed either. Suzy and Peppa compare their house rules as we jump cut to Mummy Sheep in the kitchen as her cell phone rings. Mummy Sheep answers the phone and it's Doctor Elephant on the phone with Emily Elephant. Doctor Elephant asks if Suzy Sheep wants to join Emily Elephant on a picnic. Mummy Sheep says that Peppa is here, and Doctor Elephant is fine with that. Mummy Sheep asks about food and Doctor Elephant is fine with it as long as there is no nuts involved since Emily is allergic to them. I get the irony of an elephant being allergic to peanuts, even though peanuts are not technically nuts. However, while peanuts are not natural in an elephant's diet, they are mostly harmless. However, there are humans who are allergic to peanuts though, so it's the human part coming out this time. Jump cut to the rose house on the hill as Mummy Sheep arrives in her car with Suzy Sheep and Peppa Pig. Doctor Elephant and Emily Elephant are waiting outside. Everyone gets out as Mummy Sheep gives Doctor Elephant the picnic basket. Personally, if I was Doctor Elephant, I would still inspect that basket for nuts considering how trollish these characters can be. A girl's life is on the line here. The kids exchange notes on Emily's allergy for a while.

The kids go inside as Suzy and Peppa flick one shoe off, and Emily tells them that they do not have to take their shoes off in her house. The carpet's a darker color so I guess that is reasonable. The kids exchange notes about Mummy Sheep's carpet, Doctor Elephant is amused and Mummy Sheep does the teeth smile, like she just made a huge mistake. The kids head into Emily's bedroom as Peppa asks if they can jump on the bed, I did not hear Peppa say please. Emily don't care, she says "yes", but you must take off your shoes. There is nuance in these house rules, you see. The kids take off their shoes and we have three naughty kiddies jumping on the bed. Doctor Elephant is hearing the noise and shaking in the kitchen with Edmond Elephant. Doctor Elephant and Edmond head upstair with the picnic basket demanding answers to this outrage. Emily tells the truth and Doctor Elephant decides to make one house rule: Only one person jumping on the bed at a time, because safety, amirite?! The kids don't mind and Emily only jumps on the bed. The kids ask if they can have the picnic in the bedroom and Doctor Elephant is confused, but since there is no house rule to disallow it, Doctor Elephant agrees to it. That's trollish, and by the way: Still no "please" and "thank you". The picnic is set up in the bedroom and the kids all eat. This leads to Emily's next house rule: Brush your teeth literally after every meal. Edmond Elephant does his CLEVER CLOGS~ promo about brushing teeth within sixteen minutes of eating. The kids literally go into the bathroom and now we have a problem: Peppa and Suzy do not have toothbrushes. This would be a big problem, until you realize Doctor Elephant is a dentist and he walks in and has new toothbrushes for everyone! The kids choose their colors and brush their teeth as we jump cut to hometime as Mummy Sheep and Mummy Pig arrive in their cars. The kids and Doctor Elephant come out as Suzy and Peppa claims that they always say "please" and "thank you". YOU NAUGHTY LYING TROLLS~! Suzy and Peppa wave goodbye and now they say "thank you". Back onto the boring road with Mummy Pig driving Peppa home as we wrap up this episode with Mummy Pig saying that there is one house rule that is the same. Peppa says "please" and "thank you", which Peppa, Suzy and Emily broke at least three times to end the episode at 4:30. It's fitting that Amelia Bea Smith's final voice appearance would be an episode where the kids were at their most trollish. Fun episode otherwise. *** (60%).

Opening Moment #1: House Rules is officially the last episode in the Amelia Bea Smith era. Harriette Cox will be the voice of Peppa from The Big Announcement onwards. The voice difference is obvious compared to all the other Peppa Pigs. This is her acting debut by the way.

The Big Annnouncement: This episode is #433 on the animation paper and episode opens at the house on the hill as we zoon into the sitting room as the narrator proclaims that everyone is waiting for this big announcement. Then we get a record scratch and no one is in the sitting room. Then Peppa and George run in wearing pots on their heads and Peppa has a feather duster; so it's basically a tickle fight on the sofa to waste time as Peppa wins that one. In comes Mummy Pig (without the bump) and Daddy Pig to make the big announcement. Even when a big announcement occurs, Daddy Pig has to be dumb and say "I'm having a baby!". Mummy Pig corrects it as "we are having a baby". Daddy Pig proclaims that they are having another baby and George is like "What?!" George must have had his fill of babies after Mummy Rabbit's Bump. Mummy Pig is gleefully showing off white boot, declaring that George is now the big brother of the family. Peppa and George throw away their knight gear and cheer with glee. They are that clueless. Pedro F'N Pony is laughing all the way to the bank on that one. We get the puppet in the box music as Peppa loves being an even bigger sister, which would make sense if George was a girl. Peppa just has to be a troll here as she's looking for the baby everywhere except in the only place that makes sense right now. Mummy proclaims that the baby is inside the tummy and Peppa then asks how that happened. Peppa is a troll because if I recall, she never asked Rebecca Rabbit about that in Mummy Rabbit's Bump or the Peppa Pig Tales episode Baby Bumps. Mummy and Daddy Pig are fucked as Daddy changes the subject by showing a white cake of a baby wearing a diaper. SUZY SHEEP~?! Neither are you are getting away from this one. Might as well X-rate the show and cancel it before Peppa and George get it and want to turn on these parents.

The kids still want cake anyway. Damn, I was so looking forward to Daddy Pig talking about the birds and the bees here. It's always hilarious. We head to the kitchen using an overwrought scene change to outside the house on the hill, and then we go into the kitchen. Cut to the kitchen table as the family is eating cake and it's 4 PM on the clock. There is a bowl of plastic fruit in the middle as we exchange notes on the baby. I have learned that Peppa and George think a few months is forever. Okay, good to know. The baby is small and the fruit was just there for Peppa to get a read on the size of the baby growing up inside the tummy. George thinks the baby will be the size of the fridge and Mummy nicely blows that one off. Daddy Pig brings up a giant melon to demonstrate the delivery of the baby. Nah, it's smaller you geek. More like a cantaloupe. Peppa then proclaims that the baby needs a face. I don't know why, Baby Alexander is the cloest this third child is going to be, and the gender reveal isn't until May 3rd on Peppa Pig Tales. Scene changer of doom ensues as the table is loaded with craft products to make funny faces, including the dreaded googly eyes of doom. I think this is defamation of character on all babies everywhere. The purple grape gets eyes, the lemon gets the perfect expression for anyone licking lemons, that was funny. Mummy Pig checks her mobile phone and it reveals that the baby would be the size of a carrot. Daddy Pig is giddy about a fetus and checks the cupboard, and there are soup and veggies, but no carrots. Daddy Pig then opens the fridge and finds a bowl of carrot soup. Okay, then. Next up, Mummy Pig discovers that the fetus would be the size of a pear. Yes, they said "baby", but anyone with a clue knows it is a code word for "fetus". Daddy Pig goes back to the sink cupboard and finds a can of canned pears. Pfft, why not?! The carrot soup has eyes and mouth on the side of the bowl.

Next up is the British version of what we call an eggplant: aubergine. In sex slang, it means dick or penis. No, not really. Next up: cauliflower. Daddy Pig doesn't have one of those, but does know where to get one. Here's what happened: Jump cut to Grandpa Pig's garden near the greenhouses. Grandpa Pig has cauliflower ears on the ground. Daddy Pig asks for one, Daddy Pig is given one. Grandpa Pig asks why does he need one, Daddy Pig bails saying "to make a baby" and Grandpa Pig is now confused. Wah-wah! Indeed Grandpa Pig, indeed! We return to the table as everyone cheers and all but the cauliflower has funny faces now. Next up is pineapple, which Daddy Pig doesn't have. Peppa suggests pineapple juice from a carton in the fridge and Daddy Pig bails and returns with a carton of pineapple juice. The cauliflower now has a funny face within seconds. SUZY SHEEP~?! By the way, this whole sequence has taken exactly one hour to do as given on the clock in the background. Finally, Mummy Pig reveals the final stage when the baby is officially born: the watermelon. Of course! What a fool I am?! The pineapple juice got candy worm arms and eyes and the watermelon has gotten lots of eyes. Someone going to say "Ewww" at some point. Peppa cannot wait to meet all eight babies and George and Daddy Pig join in as Mummy Pig is not thrilled about this at all. Daddy Pig is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Mummy Pig is like "are you serious, Daddy Pig?!" and Daddy Pig recoils. Mummy Pig is like "I can understand the kids not getting it, but you?!" and Daddy Pig recoils and yells one baby over and over again. HAHA! The kids run, the adults laugh and the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. The announcement was merely there, but the absurd face making on fruits and veggies made up for it in full. Sometimes Cartoon Duck Syndrome is badly needed and this episode delivered on that front. *** 1/2 (70%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Well, another decent set of shorts to start off Series Nine. I like Lorenzo Lion actually and while his character of being literally in a zoo is a bit of a pause, it's clear his family is one of the richest families out there. Dinosaurs Alive! is yet another episode where everyone has to be stupid in order for it to work because George and Richard always say dinosaurs and everyone laughs it off. While I was a bit annoyed by having the KIDS be geeks simply because they know George and Richard always do that funny troll move, I was laughing my ass off at the guardians because they should know better and are not supposed to believe in the kids. The only smart adults in the episode were Mr. Lion and Doctor Hamster of all people. Hey, if it was to rebuild Doctor Hamster as anything other than a quack vet, GREAT! Although seeing Panda and Grey Squirrel wear the clown shoes is still funny, although this was not as funny as Walkie-Talkies. Staying Up Late was great psychological warfare on Peppa's part and it made for an awesome episode. George trying to outwit Peppa on this night was noble, but it ultimately failed because Peppa actually got away with it. George might as well have joined in the fun. Indoor Adventure was also great, but the abuse of Teddy by Peppa again dragged it down. I was disappointed with Folk Music Band because I was expecting a classic cosplaying Grannies segment with Grandpa Pig trying to point out the obvious, but they played it way too seriously here. It's sad because there was a lot of stuff that could have gone on to really make this a funny episode and it sort of fell a bit flat. The New TV is the worst episode of Series Nine thus far and it's not the episode's fault per se. As I said in the episode review: In a vacuum, this is a decent redo episode of "The New Car" from Series One and it's been at least 20 years since they did this, so I'm fine with it. The problem is that "The Big Announcement" literally nulls and voids pretty much everything that has happened in this series at least. Mummy Pig is going to have a third child. Now, I finished this Review Line long after the baby is born in storyline and have done episodes of Peppa Pig Tales, so I know what is going on here. There is a reason why it's called "Pig" changes: Over the next nine episodes after "The Big Annoucement", the Pig family is building a brand new house where Peppa and George will no longer sleep together. Then from there, they decorate the house. Guess what comes back to the Peppa Pig household?! "The New TV", for real this time! In other words, the writers rendered "The New TV" episode pointless and made the family look really dumb for not keeping the television in the first place. Also, a new car will be bought, a new quilt will be made and the kids get educated at Sibling School. The last three episodes of the "Pig Changes" arc are when the baby is officially born and then the mainline series is officially up to date. Overall, this set of shorts was good, but the "Pig Changes" era sounds like a chore to go through, outside of Sibling School which sounds hilarious on paper at least. So...

Thumbs up for Dinosaurs Alive and Staying Up Late. Thumbs down for The New TV. Thumbs in the middle for the rest. I'll see you all next time.

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