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Peppa Pig: Series Six #2 Rant

Reviewed: 11/24/2019

Time To Really Muddy The Show's Waters!

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. So, we march on with Series 6 as there is a children's festival that threatens to be engulfed in lots of mud. Then, lots of pizza, Grandpa Pig has his birthday, Strawberries that seem to be more addictive than I give them credit for, bird spotting petting farms and we cosplay a bunch of Roman and learn some Latin in the process. 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.

Children's Festival: So, first up is episode #278-#279 on the animation paper as the episode opens with a rainbow of colors for the title to compenstate for the fact that the Pig family is driving on a boring road. They talk about the children's festival for a while, and Mummy Pig isn't too keen on rain falling on this festival because it might get a little muddy; which Peppa likes by the way. So, jump cut to the festival, which is basically Funfair with a lot of tents and a stage. Here is another appearance of Mandy Mouse and Mrs. Mouse. Also, Grampy Rabbit is on the Ferris Wheel and Grandpa's mocking team is here as well. Mr. Stallion and Mrs. Corgi, everyone. Miss Rabbit is on the stage area addressing the crowds who are clearly ignoring her. Mrs. Cow is seen on the Ferris Wheel and a lot of reused models that make Sword and Shield look like a AAA-game. Oh wait...Mr. Labo is playing strong man because he's a toxic muscline man. Molly Mole (and her mother) are here, along with Candy Cat, Mummy Cat and...oh screw it, basically everyone is here although I don't see Grandpa and Granny Pig here. Yet. Doctor Hamster is a clown on slilts in the background and she might as well consider this a new job if her license ever gets revoked as a vet. Mummy Sheep and Suzy Sheep are here to greet the Pig family. Wendy Wolf is in the foreground and apparently, she now has a brother in an orange shirt. Edmond and Zula or Zaza Zebra are walking around with Mrs. Badger playing guitar. So we exchange notes for a while as Daddy Pig claims that there are building things and sandcastles, which I would think would be building things as well. And telling stories as this is what Peppa wants to do first. So everyone into the story telling tent as this is basically the kids from playgroup, minus Gerald Giraffe, Mandy Mouse, Molly Mole and the Panda Twins. No Gigi Gazelle, since the storytelling is done by Miss Rabbit or Mummy Rabbit, which doesn't matter who anyway. Besides, Miss Rabbit's gimmick is getting more and more tragic as this series continues on. Okay, it's Miss Rabbit since she was wearing the stage hat from earlier and takes it off to put on a pirate hat.

We also prep the crowd by doing some pirate sounds and then it's storytime. Okay, I was sobbing with laughter at what happens next: Miss Rabbit is reading the pirate story and you can clearly see the pages and written in the pages are words like "Excepteur", "occaecat" and "cupidatat". It's an inside joke to Lorem Ipsum; which is basically placeholder text in graphic design. Only Sint wasn't used at all, which indicates that the writers were worried that it might be translated into sh*t, somehow. I don't know why they bothered, I guess they didn't want Al Khan to infect this episode or something. Even funnier, when the story ends in ten seconds, Captain Dog is clapping like crazy and praising this book like it's a Pulitzer winning novel, while the kids look confused and are slow clapping. HAHA! That was funny. Even funnier, Captain Dog uses this to try to walk out and break the stips for retirement complete with dream seqeuence of him riding his ship looking for the island. Danny Dog stops him to remind him that the story is fiction and the STIPS~! And Captain Dog gives up! HAHA! Danny Dog was literally grinning from ear to ear after THAT one. So, everyone leaves the tent as on the Ferris Wheel is Doctor Brown Bear with Belinda Bear, for some reason. I thought Belinda's father wasn't Doctor Brown Bear in one of the Series 5 episodes. Okay, this was a little creepy. So, there is more denizens as we make it to the "Making Things" tent as Mummy Pig is relieved that there is no rain and Peppa Pig still wants that mud. So, into the tent of making things as Miss Rabbit runs in literally taking off the pirate hat and it's the noble dunce cap (how symbolic nowadays?!), since it's time for stuff from the olden days. I betcha George makes a dinosaur, just to really jackhammer the "olden" point home. I check the video...Damn; I'm so good. Yeah, they are dragons, but that's an improvement from what Miss Rabbit was suggesting they make (which are hats and baskets). Edmond has to remind us that dragons are not real. I think dragonflies and kimodo dragons might have something to say about that, you child prodigy. I mention this because even "clever clogs" offends Edmond now.

So, the family heads outside and Gerald Giraffe is in the background with Molly Mole now. Apparently, this festival allows for camping out at night and it's a two day festival. Mummy Pig is not amused by this camping stuff. So, she now hates camping after camping with the family in previous series?! That is totally random in my view, and not in a good way. So, we scene change to AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) with the Pig family meeting Suzy Sheep reading a comic and Mummy Sheep reading Ezza Magazine while having orange juice with lemon slices and umbrellas. So, basically the Sheep family is not camping, but basically camping like they are in their own home, complete with modern house stuff like a full scale bathroom and flush toilets. Yes, you can have a full scale bubble bath in this tent. I guess Mummy Sheep found a better job after all that didn't involve Suzy not seeing Peppa anymore. And yes, they have a living room with full cable television showing Super Potato. Of course, this camping has a name: Glamping. Instead of camping with them for the night; the family leaves and they are going to camp like they always do in this series, because Daddy Pig is the SPORTS MAN OF MAN~! At least he's more reasonable then most; but after glamping; C'MON MAN~! So, Daddy Pig puts up the smallest yellow tent he has and does it with ease. Miss Rabbit comes in as she somehow got her stage hat back in the confusion and asks how they are doing. Peppa claims that it's brilliant as Mummy and Miss Rabbit are relieved that it's not raining. One more note: When Monteray Jack says "Too right"; it's not an Australian motif, it's more of a British motif since Miss Rabbit says the same thing here. So, the family gets into the tent as Miss Rabbit leaves. Daddy Pig declares that it will NEVER....EVER rain tonight as he somehow manages to get in the tent without any trouble this time, so that tent is a TARDIS, sort of. We zoom out and then it rains like crazy to end part one at 4:44. The end credits feature festival goodies; but little else except for the rain sound effects. This was the usual festival episode with some funny moments. And remind me to never let Daddy Pig be a weather man ever again. *** 1/2 (70%).

Muddy Festival: We conclude this festival in the morning at the yellow tent as the entire place is filled with mud. Even better, the rain stops just as the rooster crows as the narrator sums it up nicely. Out comes Daddy Pig, who remembered to put on his green boots no less (proving that he knew he was screwed the moment he said that it will never rain last night), slips and splashes into a conveniently placed muddy puddle. Sadly, it's not as funny as Daddy Pig walking into a swimming pool during the Italian holiday since the muddy puddle looked rather contrived and forced. Mummy Pig is already asking Daddy Pig about the mud and Daddy claims that it's a little bit of mud; and everyone else comes out and Mummy Pig is already hating this, with Peppa loving this and jumping up and down like this is her dream vacation. George loves it too and is muddy already. Daddy Pig looks at the guide which reminds them that this area gets rain and a little bit of mud; which pisses off Mummy Pig because this is the most mud she has ever seen, and Peppa calls it brilliant. Nice troll move there, Peppa. So, the festival continues without anyone except Mummy Pig caring about the mud despite some has splashed on the tent somehow. So, the next event is making sandcastles, which I would think would be an issue since any sand has turned into mud. So, the kids and grown ups make it to the area and in comes Miss Rabbit in full yellow rain gear. Wendy Wolf is gone and Gearld Giraffe makes his appearance giggling as Miss Rabbit points out the obvious problem. But no worries, we are going to do the next best thing: Make mud castles. Of course! So, it's basically the same as sand castles, only with mud. Daddy Pig praises Miss Rabbit for the brilliant compromise and Miss Rabbit sums it up nicely for me: It always rains, so we always make mud castle. HAHA! So, Daddy Pig and company check the guide and next up is the tent of painting. So, we head there as the children have made it with a whiplash jump cut as Miss Rabbit runs in and has containers of colored mud. So, the mud is the main ingredient in paint? Really, show?

So, Peppa is pondering over what to paint with mud paint and then decides to paint a muddy puddle. Of course! She paints a muddy puddle, the rest of the kids are doing the same thing in different colors. Sadly, they cannot keep the pictures as Peppa and George skip out of the tent and want to do something next. And Daddy Pig has something he considers fun and my heart sank because it is about the history of concreate in the olden days and this bores Peppa. I'm more concerned about Daddy Pig's kink being out of control again, considering what happened to him in Simple Science. So, we head to the CEMENT MIXER OF DOOM area and lo and behold; there is Pegi and Pandora Panda! YAY! All the main kids are here! Miss Rabbit runs in and takes off her beret and now wears a construction hat. No surprise, no one cares about concreate but Daddy Pig. But wait, the concreate has been muddied; so Miss Rabbit has a better idea. Let's do Peppa's favorite past time. You know what it is, you know. It just had to end this way. Daddy Pig doesn't mind anymore and cannonballs into a muddy puddle and everyone is now officially muddy, and even Mummy Pig is laughing at it. Mummy Pig don't care about mud anymore. Until dancing is involved and now she's regretting it. Of course! So, on stage coming out of retirement is Gigi Gazelle and the Rocking Gazelles playing the remix version of the Muddy Puddles song! And doing a great job too. Everyone dances and jumps up and down in muddy puddles of course! And I do mean everyone, outside of the Rocking Gazelles of course. There is officer Panda and Mrs. Grey Squirrel joining in for security reasons and the Kangeroo family made it all the way from Australia! Peppa loves muddy festivals, everyone loves muddy festival. Sadly, I was hoping they would do the biggest backsplash laugh in history; but it doesn't happen to end the episode at 4:30. They merely laugh, which is lame considering the cameos in this two parter. It was a lot of fun with a lot of neat cameos, but it was the usual Peppa Pig love in, so *** 1/4 (65%).

Strawberries: Here is episodes #280 on the animation paper as we begin this one on the white house on the hill as the back door opens and out comes Granny, Grandpa, Peppa and George walking down the hill as they are building up to showing off the epic strawberry bush to make strawberry jam. So, Grandpa Pig lifts the barrier off his strawberry bush and it's literally...one strawberry. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was funny! It turns out that the reason behind the one strawberrry is because the bird ate the rest, and one purple bird appears to end the last one when Grandpa Pig lifts the white cage, because this was not enough to contain those birds. Even Daddy Pig has better luck than this. Granny Pig is not amused and Grandpa Pig is angry at those cheeky bastard birds, so strawberry jam making is cancelled. But wait, Granny has a better idea: just go to a strawberry farm. So, we logically scene change to the strawberry farm, which is basically a green house with a gift shop inside and strawberry farm patch outside. Basically, exactly like in Nova Scotia, only cooler, I guess. And I'm talking about the quality here. To no one's surprise, the owner is Miss Rabbit and this is getting tiresome now. Why not Mr. Bull or even Mummy Rabbit? Damn, this angle is way too overplayed to be healthy now. So, the babyfaces all walk to the other side of the hill and Peppa and George pick out the baskets, as Miss Rabbit tells them to pick as many as they like. Up from the hill of strawberries is Pedro F'N Pony and his family; and somehow, Pedro has a full basket of strawberries while the parents baskets are empty. And somehow, the parents repulse when strawberries are mentioned because in storyline, the adults ate all the berries because they are addictive, or something. The problem here is: Most parents don't eat strawberries and it is usually the kids who do, and even if it was the kids, even I didn't get a stomach ache after eating them and even I didn't eat baskets full of them.

Of all the times to make Pedro look smart, this is the spot they picked and it was at the expense of the adults. I shake my head in disbelief and I betcha Granny and Grandpa suffer the same fate as well. Pedro and family walk stage left as Mr. Pony doesn't want to see another strawberry again. Grandpa Pig takes it as hating them, I disagree violently with that diagnosis. So, the Pig family walks down to the strawberry patch and Peppa eats one berry along with Grandpa Pig as the strawberries are tasty. And I can atest to that one, so no worries. TEDDY RUXPIN SONG OF DOOM ensues as they do a whiplash jump cut to make sure Peppa and George have full baskets of berries. So, as I suspected; Peppa is smart enough to eat one; but put another one in the basket. The grandparents are dumb and just eat and I betcha they get the stomach aches just after this song is over. I check the video...Damn, I'm good and shame on the parents for enabling kids there, show! I hope you are proud of yourselves. Peppa and George talk to the purple birds and even the purple birds do not want any part of the strawberries. I love strawberries, but I didn't think they were THIS addicting. Grandpa and Granny pretty much sum up their aches and pains as it's home time. Jump cut to Danny Dog with Captain Dog and Mrs. Dog on the top of the hill with baskets. So, we basically get the same interactions as with the Pig family and Pony family, only the Pig adults are the ones with the stomach aches. In fact, the promos they cut were almost word for word actually. Jump cut to Miss Rabbit at the greenhouse as I discover that the green house is in fact the gift shop and the babyfaces must go through it to pay up. Miss Rabbit goes through the inventory, which is all strawberry themed and nothing else, DUH! Granny and Grandpa proclaim that they have had their fill as Miss Rabbit rings in Peppa and George's baskets as it's eight dollars for both baskets. Sounds about right as she wants to make strawberry jam and the grandparents groan again. And then they stop selling and laugh anyway, killing the gimmick that the episode was shooting for, ending the episode at 4:30. Great beginning, below average episode otherwise, as they made the adults way too dumb for my liking. ** (40%). The Strawberry song continues into the credits, by the way.

Grandpa Pig's Birthday: Next up is episode #281 on the animation paper and the episode opens on the little house on the hill, with Daddy's pig parked at the front door. Out comes the pig Family dressed in their very best clothes. Outside of the shoes, Peppa and George best clothes are almost the same as their regular clothes. HAHA! The kids are laughing in the backseat as the narrator explains that it's Grandpa's Birthday and Grandpa Pig likes fancy rich stuff for his birthday. Peppa sing songs about a party and then Daddy drives the car down the hill and onto the boring road as Daddy kills the party angle dead by saying that it's not a party; it's basically a meal at a fancy resturant on Grandpa Pig's birthday. However, it'll all be fun because Peppa has never been to a formal resturant before and Peppa is fine with it. So, we head to the resturant on the hill; which should be it's official name. "Resturant On The Hill"! Daddy Pig parks his car and everyone goes inside as Mr. Labo and Mr. Bull are at a table and I'm shocked no one threw them out for being sexist. Mummy Rabbit and Mr. Rabbit are at a table, along with the adult Cat family, adult Fox Family and Mr. Stallion and Mrs. Corgi. Because they have to cameo in a Grandpa Pig focused episode. Peppa runs in and sits at a table as Daddy Pig is telling her to come back, because the waiter must show them to their table. The head waiter comes in, who looks like a brown wolf with a mustache wearing the waiter's tuxedo. He's voiced by David Graham, who voiced King Alfonso in the episode where Daddy Pig tested a block of concreate and was Mr. Labo as well. He don't care about Peppa's rudeness and shows the family to the table where Grandpa Pig is as they walk towards the table, and Peppa says hello to everyone and all of them actually say hello back to her; all while Daddy Pig is basically telling her to shut up. Peppa don't care and neither does the head waiter. And it's not a party. So, we finally make it to Grandpa Pig's table as Peppa shows off a birthday card to Grandpa Pig, so it might not be a party, but it has the trappings of one.

Grandpa Pig thinks he's too old for a party, but Peppa don't care and neither does George. Evidence #1: Using the napkins as party hats. HAHA! Mummy Pig takes them off and puts them around the necks explaining the real use of them. I don't think this is enough protection for their best clothes, considering...If this episode doesn't end with them jumping up and down in muddy puddles, then screw this show! So, the head waiter comes in and asks for orders for drinks and Mummy Pig wants a bottle of water. Head waiter then makes the error of asking for anything else because Peppa wants those party hats and Head Waiter has the look of "Are you serious?". Yes, Peppa is serious because it's Grandpa's birthday. Head waiter decides to bail to see what he can do. Usually this means, there are no party hats and Mummy Pig even points this out....and then the waiter returns with a platter of...party hats. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Mummy Pig is shocked as we start the ordering of food and the head waiter's reccommendations are so hilarious that it's better to just say "Stained Carrots On A Mussel Shell" and be done with it. Grandpa and Granny order the dried fish and Daddy wants some cream of Swede, please. George and Peppa want spaghetti, please; as George still hasn't gotten over that speech impediment, despite at times sounding like he can speak perfect English. So, he's just trolling with it now. The head waiter claims that it's not on the menu, but he'll ask the chef about it before bailing. So, it really is one of the items, but it's on the wrong menu. I'm amazed that Peppa has never been to a resturant, but remembers the children's menu of said resturant, for some reason. Mummy Pig scolds Peppa for her trolling and this is the fastest resturant in history because literally seconds after Mummy Pig scolds Peppa, the head waiter already has Mummy and Daddy's meals served. That looks like a carrot on butter to me. I smell some false advertising here as the dried fish is literally minnows; but Peppa and George gets the dome treatment as they get spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

So, all the adults try to weasel out of their meals and want spaghetti and I was expecting the head waiter to say "no, this is only on the children's menu"; but Mrs. Goat and Mrs. Giraffe all serve the same meal anyway. So, the head waiter is grating cheese on George's pasta as I have East Side Mario flashbacks again. Peppa, once she gets into the trolling mood, refuses to turn back because she wants balloons now. She is hellbent into making this an actual party and I'm waiting with baited breath to see dancing and music played before our eyes and ears, in that order. So, the head waiter bails and returns with a string of balloons and ties them to Mummy's chair. I'm glad that they are not filled with helium, that would suck and Mummy Pig would probably be hating life. Daddy Pig then mention that all this needs is a cake and the lights go dim and in comes the head waiter with homemade chocolate cake with seven lit candles. I'm guessing that it's one for each decade, so Grandpa Pig is 70 years old now. So, yeah; Grandpa Pig blows out the candles and the head waiter calls for birthday music and claps as it's time to DANCE, DANCE, DANCE TO THEIR DOOM! HEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... Yup; it's a birthday party now, Peppa wins, LOL! The head waiter is also dancing for fun as Peppa sums it up and then we all shout hooray to end the episode at 4:30. See, I didn't buy that Peppa has never been in a resturant before. I liked this episode actually. **** (80%).

Petting Farm: The next episode is episode #282 on the animation paper as the episode opens on the boring road with Daddy Pig, Mummy Pig, Peppa, George and Rebecca Rabbit for some reason. Peppa asks what is a petting farm and Mummy Pig explains where you get to meet tiny little animals. Apparently, Mummy Pig is bored with the kids and wants to pet them at a petting farm. Oh come on, now! You could see this coming a mile away, vision or no vision. Apparently, stroking them is different from petting them as the kids are in awe of this. Daddy Pig gives them a fair warning that before and after this event, they wash their hands as the car makes it to the petting farm and parks on the steep side of the hill...AGAIN! So, we see a badger anthro wearing a green coat, blue pants, purple boots and a red scarf as this is Mrs. Badger's debut, whose voice is the same person who voices Mummy Pig, Morweena Banks. I'm guessing that she is doing her Doctor Hamster voice for this one. No, she sounds similar to Zelza from Teddy Ruxpin now that I think about it. So, as promised earlier, the kids wash their hands in the conveniently placed basin and use soap to scrub and now I see where Peppa learned the song for washing their hands from, it was Mrs. Badger's song. Nice bit of continuity from the writers there. It's always nice when the self-contained episode actually remember their past episodes. (I wrote the Pizza! Pizza! review before this by the way). Although Rebecca shouldn't put her hands near her mouth when giggling. So, it's time to see all kinds of small animals, starting with the chickens. It's lunch time, so it's feeding time. Now, here the kids feeding the animals is perfectly acceptable because they are supervised by someone with expertise in animals, who knows what to feed them. I also had hoped Mrs. Badger teaches them about only feeding animals if they know what to feed them, but that would take too long, even in a 44 minute episode, so this will have to do. Peppa and Rebecca throw corn in front of the chickens, George does the dump corn method, which sounds less abusive. Mummy calls the chickens lucky and the chickens burp a lot. So, next up is the kids holding chicks gently from a basket as they stroke and pet them gently for a while, mostly in order for the narrator to complete his promo which is as overwrought as ever. So, Mrs. Badger has more animals and they are guniea pigs. But wait, we must wash our hands. Okay, that sounds reasonable even if Daddy Pig never mentioned "during the event" to do that; but you can never be too careful.

So, we repeat the spot of washing hands again and now the kids are singing Mrs. Badger's washing hands song. So, we head to the guniea pigs area and they are the hairest guniea pigs ever and they are pooping right on camera as well. Uh-oh! I smell a stinky moral guardian alert flashing on my screen. Or not, I guess the moral guardians are more concerned about Daddy Pig being fat shamed again. Speaking of Daddy Pig, he's not thrilled about these animals and thinks they are ugly, speaking of shaming. I wouldn't call them adorable, but they are interesting to say the least. Peppa wants to keep it as a pet, even though (a) I don't think Mrs. Badger would sell her animals, (b) Daddy Pig doesn't seem to like the prospect and (c) Peppa already has Goldie the goldfish as a pet and has enough problems with Goldie as it is, maintance wise. So, logically; the answer is no. On the other hand, at least it's not a giant whale as a pet like Kit had in All's Whale That Ends Whale. So, they have the most awkward conversation for and against the pet I have ever heard. Oh yeah, that's easy for you to say Mrs. Badger, you are an expert in taking care of animals! Daddy and Mummy Pig are so dumb to not point out that they already have Goldie as a pet that they start trying to misdirect Rebecca into thinking her mom is here...and even I was fooled because in comes Mummy Rabbit with the stroller containing Robbie and Rosie rabbit. I believe this is the first time I have seen them since Mummy Rabbit gave birth to them. And the kids all act like they are seeing them for the first time, despite Peppa and Rebecca being responsible for naming them in the first place! So, Rebecca and Peppa want to cuddle them; but wait! It's time to do the washing hands singing spot again! Hey, there is a good reason for doing this, so I can accept them repeating the spot three times in the same episode! Also, Daddy and Mummy Pig join in for fun as after this, everyone is cuddling animals. Mummy Pig asks if Rebecca had a good time and Rebecca says yes and Peppa recaps the entire trip in case someone missed the last three minutes of the episode as everyone laughs to end the episode at 4:30. The only thing of note is the guniea pig burping. The song was the best part of the episode, everything else was just there *** (60%).

Pizza! Pizza!: Here is episode #283 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the little house on the hill at the back door with Mummy Pig reading Ezza Magazine on a chair while Peppa and George are bouncing the spotty ball. By the standards of this show, Mummy Pig loves doing nothing...AND THE ROCK SAYS NOTHING! Out comes Daddy Pig asking what fancy stuff do they want for lunch and everyone wants pizza. George basically says the episode title fifteen seconds in. Daddy claims that he's a bit of an expert of making pizza. Considering the last time he made pancakes, I'm not as confident of this as I should be. Peppa and George want to help and Daddy Pig agrees to it so we all head to the kitchen table as we bring down the stuff to make pizza, including the toppings. George brings out a pineapple for fun because he loves pineapple on his pizza and this causes Daddy Pig to claim that pineapple is not right on pizza and might be against the law. And sweet corn isn't?! If sweet corn is a pizza topping, then so is pineapple, you meme hater! And the narrator has to remind everyone that putting pineapple on pizza is perfectly all right and not against the law. So, the first thing we do is sing the Wash Your Hands song while washing and scrubbing hands in sink with soap and water. They also clean the table with a yellow cloth and put aprons on for fun. Sadly, when they mix the flour and water; Peppa and George cannot do their contracted messy stirring spot because the dough becomes so sticky that it's impossible. So, it's time for Daddy Pig to knead the dough with flour and claims that you need to be big and strong to knead the dough, which is in fact a lie. You just need good techinque and to not overdo it. Peppa and George demonstrate my theory nicely here. So, we divide the dough into four balls and Mummy Pig rolls her with a rolling pin. But wait, Daddy Pig's overestimation of his masculinity levels start to click in as he's going to do the old techinque of flipping the dough and shaping the pizza with his hands and let gravity take it's course. I betcha it lands on the ceiling like the pancake. I check the video...Not quite. It lands on his glasses. Close enough.

George and Peppa laugh at his expense, although Peppa's accurancy on where the dough landed still needs some work. Luckly for Daddy, the pizza dough is shaped well, so he gets the last laugh. So, it's tomato sauce spreading time and George and Peppa finally get their contracted mess stir spot in. So, the gist of the topping is to make funny faces with the toppings along with the shredded cheese. Daddy Pig uses mushrooms and olives for his look. I rate that one ***. Mummy Pig uses basil leaves and red onions for her face, ***. Peppa uses tomatoes and sweet corn for her face, *** 1/4 just for the sweet corn reference. Hey, they had to pay off the topping somehow, and it's only fitting for the troll to do it since sweet corn is a troll topping in my humble opinion. George uses pineapple rings and swiss cheese for the mouth; thus winning with a **** 1/2 rating. So, we jump cut to the pizzas being in the oven and it's time to clean the table; so Peppa and George basically say "That's your problem, adults" and bail upstairs to play like the trolls that they are, while Mummy and Daddy clean up the mess without even trying to encourage the kids to come back to help. This was so great until that moment! While they are tidying us the kitchen, the bedroom is a total mess of toys and I would think that where this is going now: no pizza until they clean up their room and I would fully approve of this, in a "the trolls got trolled" sort of way. Nope! Daddy calls them for lunch and the kids all run downstairs to the back where the picnic table is set up. Some things never change with this show. So, everyone sits down for pizza as Peppa references Mummy's pizza with her face and Daddy's pizza with his face. Daddy claims that it looks nothing like him and I'm not so sure about that. Mummy and Daddy notice Peppa's pig looks like Peppa and George looks like George, which in order is yes and no. They take slices of pizza and laugh while they eat to end the episode at 4:30. This was a really good episode until the kids started weaseling their way out of cleaning up. *** (60%).

Roman Day: Here is episode #285 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the white house on the hill as we zoom into the kitchen as Peppa and George are at the kitchen table painting Polly the Parrot. Leave it to George to dinesaur Polly in the process as usual. Grandpa Pig likes the paintings of course. Peppa wants Polly to look at the picture *SNORT* and that is what Polly does and says in that order *SNORT*. HAHA! At least they have brought back the mimicry gimmick as Grandpa puts the pictures on the fridge door as Peppa asks where Granny Pig is and Grandpa claims that she's out with her friends as we hear car honking and we see outside Mrs. Wolf driving her car with Granny Pig and Gigi Gazelle all cosplaying as the Romans. I would have went with the Vikings instead, but whatever. So, we exchange notes for a while as we discover that the three women have been doing historical re-enactments in clothes which Peppa calls funny and "hysterical readenactments" in that order. Grandpa Pig shames them into claiming that they only sit around and drink tea and Granny rightfully takes offense to that. Mrs. Wolf leaves with Gigi in the car as Peppa wants to cosplay a Roman, and Granny Pig just happens to have two helmets for Peppa and George to play with. I also love that the helmet tops are drawn to look like the bristles of brooms. Granny Pig also does the Roman chant of "I came, I saw, I conquered". I'm sorry, but Val Venis' version of it was much, much better. Grandpa Pig mocks it as her having a cup of tea. Bigot. And yes, Granny is saying the chant in Latin, which I believe is the first time Latin has been spoken of in this show. Somehow, Peppa is able to chant this march without screwing it up as everyone goes inside to the kitchen as Grandpa Pig shows off the drawings featuring Polly. Polly repeats Granny's line and then Granny reveals that she made a mosaic out of color pieces showing a daisy on a yellow background. The colored pieces are usually glass in real life. I say this because I'm certain that it's colored plastic here, ala the plastic gold running gag. And I've been proven wrong as the four pigs walk out the back door to Grandpa's shed.

Grandpa Pig is looking for colored pebbles and brings out a wheelborrow filled of pebbles and dumps them onto an out of nowhere muddy puddle. Of course! So, George makes a dinosaur (of course!) and Peppa makes the sky of the dinosaur. After putting the red eyes on the dinosaur, Peppa and George are all muddy as Granny tells them that they need a bath before Mummy and Daddy come back to pick up the kids. George stomps his foot and no sells the deal, because this was just getting good now and she's ruining George's buzz. Granny then tells George that the Romans were great at bath and since this is Rome, you do what the Romans do: take a Roman bath. George agrees to that. See, you don't need force or violence to get children to do the right thing, sometimes a kind cultural gesture is all you need. So, we have a Roman bath, which is basically a bath with the Roman helmets on in Granny's bathroom. So, Peppa and George finish their baths and put on white robes as Mummy and Daddy Pig arrive at the house with their car. Peppa learns her second phrase in Latin which is "Time sure flies" and Polly learns his first words in Latin of course. Jump cut to the front door with Mummy Pig peeping through the door inside, calling for the kids as everyone comes down stairs as Grandpa Pig puts leaves on the kids' ears because they are Romans for life as Peppa and George are now wearing bath robes since their clothes are all muddy previously. George learns his first Latin words without any prompting and we get the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. A really fun educational episode that taught the kids a few words in Latin. Why not? It's not like the English language isn't some unique language or anything. *** 1/4 (65%).

Bird Spotting: Last up is episode #286 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the little house on the hill as Grandpa Pig's car parks on the steep side of the hill...AGAIN! Out comes Granny and Grandpa as Grandpa has a book about birds and looks like a goofy detective with that hat. The back door opens and out comes the entire Pig family for the meet and greet. Peppa calls the hat funny as Grandpa explains that he is doing some bird spotting, which is basically bird watching over here. Pretty much the same thing. Peppa wants to know what this is and Granny calls it the latest hobby to keep Grandpa happy, I guess. Now, now Granny; don't start with that kink shaming. There are far worse hobbies to have than bird spotting, you know. Grandpa is not impressed, so he shows off his bird spotting book and shows off a number of bird pictures to kill time. Grandpa flips the pages and hopes to spot a rare cuckoo cyan blue bird type as Granny nicely blows him off for that. Grandpa wants to do some bird spotting here before lunch and Mummy Pig accepts those terms because lunch won't be done for ages, implying that they just had breakfast. Okay. Most of the adults leave as Grandpa Pig allows Peppa and George to come along for the bird spotting. So, the trio of bird spotters go down the hill and into the forest of trees as Peppa is confused since we see no birds present. Grandpa counters by whistling like a bird as a way to draw the birds out. A brown sparrow flies in and perches himself on a branch, so Grandpa checks off the sparrow from the book, which is a good start. Then in comes Mr. Stallion and Mrs. Corgi with detective outfits and bird books; just to ruin Grandpa Pig's buzz. When I mean ruin the buzz, I mean, spotting a ribbon-tailed bud of paradise bird which has three colored tails. Grandpa Pig gets lightly mocked for spotting a common sparrow when their rare bird is so rare in Great Britian and then exit stage left. Grandpa Pig recovers and decides to do more bird calls as Peppa Pig does a duck call and in comes Mrs. Duck who has somehow got her yellow feathers back, so apparently, the white feathered Mrs. Duck was only temporary. Whatever.

And yes, there is a checkbox for Mrs. Duck, but it is not special. Mrs. Duck should only be so lucky because George does his pigeon call and brings out the entire pigeon army and apparently, there is no checkbox for that. This book is so racist, and here comes the two bird detectives to mock Grandpa Pig's bird calling skills. Yawn. Grandpa Pig stammers and Peppa Pig tells the truth, and I'm just not feeling it today. Grandpa shows off the cuckoo bird, which is just asking for a mockery; but here comes Daddy Pig to break it up. And it just dawned to me: I know how this episode ends without seeing it: Grandpa Pig sees the cuckoo bird in the cuckoo clock and that's the punchline for this episode. So, the two mock detective ask how Grandpa Pig is going to find a cuckoo and Grandpa does the bird call and we hear a cuckoo sound in the background. Of course, the sound is coming from the cuckoo clock in Peppa's bedroom, which should be impossible to hear outside. Man, these furries have godly-like hearing. So, the bird spotters and one fool go into the house and up the stairs as the family follows, and even Peppa Pig knows that Grandpa is full of BS when it comes to the cuckoo. And then the cuckoo bird comes out of the cuckoo clock and Grandpa Pig is disappointed. Yup, that was basically the finish of this episode. Grandpa Pig cannot check it off because it's not real, but Peppa claims that it's special and even the bird spotting detectives actually agree with Peppa, probably so they can make fun of him later for doing such a stupid thing. Daddy Pig thinks this is unscientific; but is cut off and Grandpa checks off the cuckoo bird and they all do the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. Just an episode with a dumb ending. ** 1/4 (45%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Well, another eight episodes are in the books. I wasn't much of a fan for Strawberries because it really made the adult look so painfully dumb here and they made the strawberries look like drugs when they really were not. I eat a lot of strawberries and almost never got this bad of a stomach ache (most of that was because they were frozen). Birdspotting was perfectly fine, but the ending was just dumb because it basically made Daddy Pig look like a disrespected scientist once again, just to save face with Grandpa Pig. I did love Grandpa Pig's Birthday for Peppa's fun trolling as she acted like she had been in this resturant before despite never actually being in one. And she basically got her party kicking and screaming, too. The rest was fun and I did like that George can pronounce Latin words properly, but not Italian words or dinosaur. Overall, a fine set of episodes as Peppa Pig is settling into a groove of good episodes, but nothing really great. This will become a problem when they have no outstanding episodes to have, positive or negative. TaleSpin had the same problem, although almost all their episodes were good, which is bad than really below average episodes, but nothing actively bad. So...

Thumbs up for Grandpa Pig's Birthday, thumbs down for Birdspotting and Strawberries and thumbs in the middle for everything else and I'll see you all next time.

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