Let's begin...
The Batman, Kids' WB on the CW, Saturdays 11:30am
Cartoon Network; IMDb; Kids' WB; TELETOON; TV.com; Warner Bros.; Wikipedia
A new Batman cartoon, a whole new continuity. The show starts three years after Bruce Wayne first donned the cape and cowl, becoming Batman, beginning his quest against crime in Gotham City. At this point he's still generally considered an urban legend by the general public, and that's how the police want it. They also consider him a vigilante, and want him caught. Detective Ethan Bennett, and old friend of Bruce's, has been assigned a new partner, Detective Ellen Yin, formerly of the Metropolis PD, and together they've been charged with the task of catching the Batman. The show will of course also be introducing all the members of the Rogue's Gallery. Some of them are at least tolerable versions, others just totally suck. Oh, and at the end of season 1, Ethan is transformed into Clayface (a new take on an old Bat-villain). Kinda reminds me of Bruce's friend Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face in other Batman incarnations.... I can't think of anything to say about season 2 at the moment. But in season 3, we get to see Commissioner Gordon supporting Batman, and also his daughter, Barbara, becomes Batgirl, the Batman's occasional sidekick. And in season 4, Dick Grayson's parents are killed by mobster Tony Zucco, and Dick becomes Bruce's foster son, and also becomes Robin, Batman's sidekick.
Anyway, I find myself fairly disappointed with the show, but not quite enough to stop watching. My opinion of the show probably unfairly suffers because of my higher expectations for anything Batman. I might like it better if this were the first and only incarnation. Or not, it's hard to say. Some episodes are better than others, anyway. You should also see the DVD movie The Batman vs. Dracula (animated films 6), which I like better than the average episode of this series....
The Brak Show, Cartoon Network
Adult Swim; IMDb; TV.com; Voice Chasers; Wikipedia
It could be a kind of stupid show, but it could also be pretty funny sometimes. Both wacky and zany, I'd say. It featured Brak and Brak's parents and Zorak and other characters sometimes, in a sort of mock-50's sitcom. The best character was probably Thundercleese, a battle robot who lived next door to Brak. But it's not Brak's best work (which was on Cartoon Planet - see cartoons 2). Anyway, I dunno what to say. I think it sort of deserves to be on a higher tier. But not much higher. Sometimes it was kinda great and sometimes it kinda sucked, so basically I kinda liked it. Okay?
Before this show, Brak did a couple eps of something called Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak (IMDb; TV.com), which was actually a sort of variety show with real live guests and stuff. It was okay, but probably not even quite as good as the Brak Show is.
Codename: Kids Next Door, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network; IMDb; Toonarific; TV.com; Voice Chasers; Wikipedia
Well, I must say, some episodes (or "operations," the titles of which are always acronyms, and often rather complicated ones) are better than others. Of course, I don't watch this very often, so I'm sure I miss alot of really cool stuff, but then I'm sure I also miss so-so stuff that wouldn't interest me much. In any event, I think the show's premise is incredibly cool, and has all kinds of potential, even if it's only occasionally realized. The idea is, there's this worldwide organization called the Kids Next Door, which is made up of lots and lots of kids, who are each known by a number (or "numbuh"), and they battle adult tyranny. Mostly; but there are also some kids who are enemies of KND, most notably "the Delightful Children From Down the Lane." They serve KND's greatest enemy, "Father," who appears only as a dark silhouette, and who can shoot fire. However, there are lots of other villains, young and old (though most of the show's villains are kind of ridiculous).
The world in which the KND live is rather interesting; while they don't want to grow up, and many adults intentionally work to oppress children, the kids also seem to love their own parents and realize that some adults are fairly innocuous. Still, KND operatives have to be decommissioned when they turn 13, which means their memories of KND stuff are erased, their names taken out of the database, access to KND facilities and such rescinded, and stuff. Because otherwise they could pose a great threat to the entire organization, as growing up somehow tends to alter their loyalties, in most cases. (Which is actually a concept I've always wondered about, in real life... that somehow growing up could in some mysterious way alter everyone's personalities, or whatever. Luckily that's never happened to me....)
There are also several seeming impossibilities that are quite commonplace. Like, KND use "2x4 technology," countless vehicles and gadgets and weapons (most of which, like the episode titles, have names that are acronyms) which mostly couldn't possibly work in real life, but which are rather ingenious nevertheless. They even have a base on the moon, which serves as the command center for the entire KND organization. Various KND members work there, including the Supreme Commander, Numbuh 362 (real name Rachel; she assumed the position after Numbuh 274, and there's a rather interesting story behind that), and the Head of Decommissioning, Numbuh 86 (Fanny Fulbright, a girl with like a Scottish or Irish accent, and a bad temper, who doesn't really get along well with others, especially boys; her father is Mr. Boss, one of KND's greatest enemies, who sometimes organizes adult villains to work together against KND, and who also runs the company for which several KND operatives' parents- who aren't villains- work). Of course, not all KND operatives' numbers are quite so straightforward. Some can have decimals, or words, or whatever. But mostly the numbers are simple.
Anyway, there are KND sectors all over the world, most of them in the form of treehouse fortresses, which are very well defended and armed, full of 2x4 technology of all sorts. The series focuses primarily on Sector V (that's the letter, btw, not the Roman numeral). Five operatives are stationed there: the leader of Sector V is Numbuh One (Nigel Uno, a boy of British descent, apparently, who is intensely devoted to the KND cause); the others are Numbuh Two (Hoagie Gilligan, Jr., who creates most of their 2x4 tech, and also loves telling really lame jokes), Numbuh Three (Kuki Sanban, a girl of Japanese descent, who's rather silly, very into fun and cute stuff, such as Rainbow Monkeys; she's my favorite character), Numbuh Four (Wallabee Beetles, a boy of Australian descent, apparently, who's mostly interested in kicking butt), and Numbuh Five (Abby Lincoln, an African-American girl who's always talking in the third person, and is second in command of Sector V).
Numbuhs 3 and 4 clearly have something of a crush on each other, though nothing much comes of that, largely because of Numbuh 4's reluctance to share his feelings. Numbuh 1 eventually gets a girlfriend named Lizzie, who can be rather possessive. Numbuh 2 has a little brother named Tommy, who wanted to become a KND operative, but ended up becoming a sort of lone hero called "The Tommy," who kinda reminds me of Darkwing Duck (cartoons 2). Numbuh 3 has a little sister named Mushi. Numbuh 4 has a little brother named Joey. Numbuh 5 has an older sister named Cree, who used to be KND operative Numbuh 11, until she became a teenager and turned evil, joining a group of KND enemies called Teen Ninjas (which also includes Chad Dickson, a very important former KND operative). Numbuh 5 and Cree's father, it bears noting, is a parody of Bill Cosby. Oh yeah, and Numbuh 2 has a crush on Cree.
Welp, not sure what else to say right now. I kind of think I should watch this more often, and might like to put it on a higher tier. We'll see. Meanwhile, there's a TV movie called Operation: Z.E.R.O. (cartoon specials), which I think is really excellent, and seriously renewed my interest in this series....
El Tigre: The Aventures of Manny Rivera
The Fairly OddParents, Nickelodeon
IMDb; Nickelodeon; Toonarific; TV.com; Voice Chasers; Wikipedia; YTV
Okay. There's this kid named Timmy Turner, and he has a pair of fairy godparents, a married couple named Cosmo and Wanda. Cosmo's pretty stupid. Also the two of them spend alot of time disguised as goldfish. And sometimes we see other fairies, or even fairy world. Anyway, Cosmo and Wanda grant Timmy wishes. And there's this evil babysitter named Vicky. And a school teacher named Mr. Crocker who wants to prove to the world that fairies exist. And there are some other characters, like Timmy's parents, and his friends. And lots of weird, silly things happen all the time. It can be fairly amusing, but I don't watch it much at all, I'm not terribly interested, I'm afraid.... I almost feel like putting this show on tier x, but... meh, I think I like it just a little too much for that.