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Peppa Pig: Series Three #3 Rant

Reviewed: 04/14/2018

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. Okay; so we head back to Series three as we start the next eight episodes of the Harley Bird era as the gloves are finally off of this show as it turns from just a normal pre-school show into a legendary pre-school show. So; 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.

Talent Day: So, we begin with episode #125 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the school house on the hill as the bell is ringing; but children aren't singing...yet. So we head into the school with the kids (minus Edmond, Richard and George) sitting down as Madame Gazelle informs the children that tomorrow is talent day. Peppa wants to know what that is. Gazelle explains that a talent is something they like and can do well. Madame Gazelle's talent is playing the guitar and apparently; she is also into rock music guitar playing, for no reason. Everyone is in awe of this as the parents all come in because it's home time. The kids run away from the parents as Gazelle plays another tune off-key when we segueway to the house on the hill AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark). That was pretty sloppy as we jump cut to inside Peppa's bedroom as Peppa and George are tucked in for the night as Peppa doesn't want to sleep yet because she's pondering about that talent she wants to show off tomorrow as Daddy Pig claims she has lots of talents. Peppa comes down and skips rope, sings, dances and plays music. She's doing the twist of course. The adults clap as Daddy Pig tucks Peppa in for the night and tells her to choose tomorrow when her head is clear after a good night sleep. So we head back to the school house on the hill as the bell rings again. Back inside as Danny Dog has drums and Pedro Pony is dressed up like Abe Lincoln. Only with no beard and is wearing glasses. Peppa has her three talents and claims that she was practicing them last night. I thought she was demonstrating them. Suzy claims that she was practicing her television watching and Peppa blows it off as not being a talent; not realizing that Suzy was practicing her trolling skills. Oh wait; she wasn't trolling, and really thought television watching was a talent. Being a critic and writing reviews of what you watch on television is a talent. One that I have actually. So; the first one to show off his talent is Danny Dog, which is basically the same talent Madame Gazelle has, only it's drums instead of guitar. Cheap; but effective. Danny wants to bang it louder; Madame Gazelle cuts him off and everyone claps, yee-haw. Speaking of yee-haw; here's Pedro F'n Pony trying to do magic tricks with a wand, a cape and a glass of water on a cloth wooden stand. Basically; he is going to make the water disappear and tells everyone to close their eyes. Don't close your...too late. Pedro drinks the water off-screen.

And to think; this is actually the smartest thing Pedro has ever done on this show up to this point. Everyone claps and that is that. Emily blows her trunk and comes in with a recorder, so three talents out of four are music related; making Pedro look original in comparsion. Ponder that one for a moment. At be fair; Emily does a great job of it and doesn't cheat like Pedro, so this deserves a slow clap at least. Rebecca Rabbit is next and she makes noise while standing on her tiptoes; so it's four out of five talents that are music related. She does a good job of this talent and everyone claps. Next up is Candy Cat as pretty much eliminates Peppa's skipping rope talent; so it's a good thing she has two more talents to back her up. Suzy still has none at this point. Oh wait; Zoe Zebra's talent is singing, my mistake. So, Candy Cat and Zoe do their talents and everyone claps; so, five out of seven are music related. Zoe sings the same song Peppa did earlier; but she really puts the noise in the star part. So Peppa thinks she still has dancing left; but Suzy is called on stage, so Suzy walks over and chooses dancing, just to piss Peppa off. HAHA! Always great when the troll gets trolled. Suzy dances and it looks so awkward as Danny, Emily and Gazelle play music, the same song Peppa sang earlier in the episode; just to rub it into Peppa big time. Everyone pops except for Peppa as Madame Gazelle is happy about this; but Peppa is not. Gazelle points out that a talent can be anything; but watching television as Suzy rubs it into Peppa some more. Peppa ponders it over and realizes that there is always one talent that always gets her out of jams like this: Jumping up and down in muddy puddles. DING! So everyone runs out of the school house with their boots on and we jump up and down in muddy puddles. Pedro doing this in the magician's costume is MANY BUYS~! Everyone jumps up and down in muddy puddles -- including Madame Gazelle -- to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Just your average Peppa Pig love in. *** (60%).

A Trip To The Moon: Next up is episode #126 on the animation paper and we open the episode in the garden with Edmond and George wearing spacesuits holding rocket ships. Peppa is holding a different color bouncy ball; which apparently is owned by Gedo. Edmond's rocket ship even has a parachute as George pushes on the bouncy ball using the spaceship, as the bouncy ball is now the moon. Peppa is offended by this and protests this outrage as the parachuting space ship lands right on her head. HAHA! Everyone laughs, including Daddy Pig who just walks in. Mummy Pig comes in as Peppa calls this space thingie, boring. She also calls this space thing, fiction; which is the irony of ironies if you have watched this show enough. Daddy Pig claims that space travel is real and rocket ship have gone to the moon. The museum is having a space exhibit today and Peppa asks if they are really going to the moon and Daddy Pig says no. Peppa is fine with this and I should point out that I reviewed this episode before "The Golden Boots" so; it's clear that these spots were designed to tease the payoff of Peppa and everyone literally walking on the moon. They also park on the steepest side of the hill...AGAIN! So; we head inside as Miss Rabbit is at the counter as always as it's five tickets this time and Peppa then gets confused because Miss Rabbit is hyperboling this moon show, and then Miss Rabbit has to tell her that it's pretend. Which is only going to cause Peppa to act like a moon landing denier; which is a really bad idea. So Peppa heads in with her family (and Edmond) as Mr. Rabbit is the tour guide for the demonstration. Why can't Miss Rabbit do this; since she can do any job? So, they head inside and get into carts on train tracks; designed with a space motif to it. Peppa is not impressed by this and Mr. Rabbit is eliminating all pretenses that this might be real. We get a count down and we blast off into the room of hanging planets and stars on strings. Daddy Pig notices that they are on Earth; because he's a bit of an expert on the Earth; but not the seven planets. Daddy Pig is only 1/8 smart as Edmond names them all off, because this was written after Pluto stopped being considered a planet and he is a clever clogs, complete with trumpet horn. Peppa claims the models are made of cardboard, which will be recycled into cardboard used in Nintendo Labo, or so I heard. Hey; it's more believable than Daddy Pig claiming that the moon is made of cheese. Har har.

Mr. Rabbit is so offended by this that there is no more giggling nor jokes about space. Mr. Rabbit's first name is Grumpy Rabbit, I see. So the mine cart ride stops and then we head inside the next room as the ground in the middle is a reasonable look at the real moon; but there is a lot more gravity, so Peppa just blows it off. Everyone is in awe as Mr. Rabbit explains gravity and the comparsion of gravity between the Earth and the moon. So, Mr. Rabbit brings out the bouncy pully rubber bands rides which are to simulate the gravity of the moon. And he accuses his customers of acting like this is a joke?! So we bounce and the giggling rule has been violated as Miss Rabbit takes pictures, saying moon cheese. Which is a violation of the jokes rule. Yes; they do the show picture spot to make sure to make the players look like absolute fools. Oh; and they all go into the shops as Peppa asks if there are cows, trees and shops on the moon and Mr. Rabbit says no. Miss Rabbit: Hold my carrot beer! And by the way; I'm not talking about the moon gift shop they go into in this episode. I was talking about "The Golden Boots" We have moon rock; which is basically this type of candy that I saw on an episode of How It's Made. It's a crescent moon smiling against a white background with a red trim around the edge. Oh; and they printed off the picture from a printer, because the camera is digital, so the picture spot was post-produced after the filming ended. Oh; and moon cheese cost five pounds, and it's for a very good cause. Well; it's for the museum because this government doesn't fund the museum enough, I guess. Peppa now loves the moon and Daddy Pig loves moon cheese. Everyone except Miss Rabbit does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30 approx. Well; when The Golden Boots arrive, Mr. Rabbit is going to be so very wrong about that moon shop and he'll know who got the idea from. *** (60%).

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 as Peppa tells Grandpa DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS~!) about the playground. Which is basically, wait your turn. Oh; hello Rebecca Rabbit, didn't see you until now. Sorry about that. So we get some sliding action for a while as we get into a conversation about Grandpa Pig on slides, roundabouts and other play things when he was little. Suddenly; Richard slides down and then cuts off Rebecca Rabbit from having turn; 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. 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 ides and of course Grandpa Pig disagrees because he thinks little people should not have to follow reasonable rules. 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. 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. Peppa and the big kids hate waiting; which is funny considering that the original rules involve waiting, so they decide to head to the swings. Jump cut to Pedro F'N 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; so 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! So, 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; so 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. 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. 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 of doom and calls Doctor Hamster; so this is also Doctor Hamster's official debut as well. So we head to the vet; which is basically an animal hospital (but not an anthro hospital; since that's a regular hospital) as Doctor Hamster (a light brown hamster anthro wearing pea soup green) looking at the desk at a turtle on said desk as the phone rings. I believe this is also the debut of Tittles the Turtle; and it's gimmick is that it loves to climb trees. More on that in later episodes. So, 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. So; 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. So, 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. So she not only drives the school bus, she drives the transit bus in the area. 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. So 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. So wait; you have three grown adults and they cannot pay their own way? 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.

So; we sing the "Wheels On The Bus" song for a while, all done by Peppa of course. So; 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. So 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 100 minutes to kill in terms of time. They must have the emergency discount. 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: 105 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. So; 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. So; 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%).

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, Mr. Rhino handles the Ferris Wheel and Mr. Zebra is handling what George calls the slidie, slidie. Daddy Pig calls this towering spiral slide the "Helter Skelter". Something tells me these writers are a wee bit tone deaf here. 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 and 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. 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. 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 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~! 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~! I also discover that this "It's all for a good cause" is not the monopoly gimmick of Miss Rabbit. Also; the HS 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 and the instant he gets to the top; George giggles and goes down the slide anyway. 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. So Daddy Pig is forced to slide down the slide and lands on his back in a heap. And 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. Labradour as BS&P strikes again as the arrows have suction cups. Mr. Lab's shooting skills are awful by the way; which makes what he is about to say more anger inducing as we get the usual spiel. Mummy Pig doesn't want another to win another panda bear; so she no sells the deal. Mr. Lab then says and I'm paraprashing here: "Just as well, because woman like you are useless at this game"; and Mummy Pig simply responds and I'm paraphrasing here "What did you say?" and then gives payment to Mr. Laba. Yes folks; in a pre-school show, not only did Mr. Labadour 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 behaviour that in 2017/2018 is considered sexual misconduct. So, 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. And she's right. So, 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. Funny cameo: Doctor Brown Bear is with Mrs. Cow, whom we almost never see in this show. And 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); and does the weakest shot with the hammer on the button and the thing only goes up two long meters. So, Daddy Pig decides to pay and show us how it's done. 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 makes it to the bell; but falls short. Then Mr. Bull taunts him with fat jokes and then Mummy Pig gets pissed and tells Mr. Bull to in her own words "Give me the f*cking 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. 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. So, 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) as 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. Of course, it helps when the chalkboard with the numbers is in plain sight of Pedro. Everyone claps as Madame Gazelle wants higher counts now; so 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. 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. It's not impressive, kids. So 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. So, 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. So the kids skip rope for a while while doing this really cute 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. 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. Pedro's excuse is that he's tired and he'll do the rest later. Of course!

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. So the bell rings and the kids all run into the school house. So, 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. And 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. So; I thought Daddy Pig and Madame Gazelle were going to be the rope turners; but it's Richard and Edmond doing it as Madame Gazelle is on guitar, meaning Daddy Pig has to skip rope with the kids. This is just daring for trouble to happen. So; 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...and Daddy Pig weasels it down to twenty and we get twenty reps instead. Sadly; the episode ends at 4:30 before they even get to 13. 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: So, 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. And 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. 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 as 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. Mr. Bull explains that they are digging up the road; because there is a rotting pipe leaking water like a water spout. I'm surprised Mr. Labadour still has a job considering what happened in Funfair; but then again, I probably shouldn't be. Male entitlement and all that stuff. Anyhow; 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); turn off the water and replace the pipe. Somehow; this water spout couldn't flood the ground underneath as Mr. Labadour 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 as 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. 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. So 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.

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. Daddy Pig defuses the situation by informing him that they'll see Mr. Bull again, and George giggles. So 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. So; 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; as 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. Cameos: Daddy Cat. Trust me; this narrator is only going to get even more cheeky in his final narration as this episode goes on. Oh; and George sets the record for bawling in this episode; only once it was annoying. *** 1/2 (70%).

Freddy Fox: Last 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 near a cherry tree. So 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. So; 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. Peppa declares this impossible as in comes the debutting Freddy Fox wearing camoflague on his helmet. 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. 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. So Freddy claims that he can find Suzy with his eyes closed and decides to accept the dare. So 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. Once ten is reached, this is prove futile because not only did Freddy find Suzy Sheep; Freddy prolonged the agony of defeat by taking the exact same path Suzy Sheep did in trying to find a hiding spot. Suzy Sheep just got buried right there, folks. Pedro calls it a super nose. 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. So; Peppa smells like flowers and Wellington Boots~! Danny Dog smells like biscuits and wet grass. Emily smells like bananas and jam. Which flavor of jam, Freddy? Candy smells like fish fingers and milk. Pedro smells like toothpaste as Pedro is not thrilled about that. Freddy's favorite smell is eggs; while his worst is blue cheese. EWWWWWW~! I would switch those two.

So, what do I smell of? (Freddy sniffs) Oh, beer and cucumbers. That's an uber nasty combination. Freddy sniffs 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. So 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. 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 as Mr. Fox sniffs for dessert and we get Strawberry Gelatin Cake of Doom as everyone loves smelling things according to the narrator. 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%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Well; Numbers was a really great outing, continuity errors aside, and 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 episode. I will say that most of the ending in this were pretty great and Freddy Fox's debut was good as well. So...

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

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