Hidden Gem known as "Dan Vs." Animated TV Show

By Ana Bruja-Khayos

If you are like me you probably no longer have cable service and have switch to mainly online streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.  So unless it gets a lot of internet over hype you have no idea what is going on in the world of Cable TV.  This is what happened to me when it came to show “Dan Vs.” .  Normally I have a very good idea of past cartoon shows and upcoming cartoons shows since I’ve had to work in the world of animation and graphics for almost a decade now. However “Dan Vs”. must have fallen between the cracks because I never heard anybody talk about the show nor did I know that many people that watch the HUB except for people that loved “My Little Pony” or “Transformers Prime”.

I stumbled upon the show as I was wondering the isle of Movie Stop box set sections. Shove between top well know show was “Dan Vs.”  The case was a nice silvery color with a picture of a very angry looking character I could assume was Dan.  I asked the store employee if he knew anything about the show and sadly he did not.  It was a big risk to take by buying a box set nobody knew anything about but for $4 for the entire season 1 I had nothing to lose.

About the show.

The show follows a short guy called Dan. Dan suffers from severe anger issues to say the least. He’s very intelligent but his intelligence is shadowed by his paranoia and obsession with basic and mundane things that don’t make any sense to most ordinary people.  His anger is mainly triggered by some mesele personal experiences, or if something was done to his pinto car.

Dan is accompanied by his childhood friend Chris who is not stupid but he simply a laid back guy who likes to eat.  At this point in Chris life he is married to woman name Elise that is the total opposite of Chris. She’s very very smart but comes with a secret live as an undercover government field agent.  There’s always this strange dynamic and multiple relationships layers that comes with this trio.  Dan just want to have Chris do everything he says regardless of how absurd it is and to leave Elise; Elise loves Chris regardless of how simple he is and really wishes he get’s a new best friends; and Chris just wants everybody to get along, on top of enjoying time with Elise and food.

The Flash or Toon Boom base show will have you at times scratching your head but it does come with many witty moments that will make you grin eye to eye.  So far my favorite episode is Dan Vs. Stupidity.  If you love Idiocracy you will love this episode as well. Through the show, Dan has crazy rivals like Dan Vs.: New Mexico, The Wolf-Man, The Dentist, The Ninja, Animal Shelter, Canada, Traffic, Dinner Theater, Baseball, Salvation Armed Forces, Beach, George Washington, Technology, Barber, Art, Elise’s Parents, Fancy Restaurant, Dan, Family Camping Trip, Brugerphile, Magicians, Lemonade Stand Gang, Thanksgiving, Mall Santa, Neighbors, Dancing, Bank, Monster Under the Bed, Golf, … the list goes on for another season and half.

The show also comes with a great secondary cast that makes the show even funnier and even more relatable at times.  Characters like Mr. Mubels, Elise’s Parents, Crunchy, and Ninja Dave that remind you of people  in your life or people you have meet in your life.

The Production, Cast and Crew.

The show was created by Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson. At the moment they are not very well known for their work but in time I’m sure they will do fine.  The show was produce by Film Roman Productions - “a starz company” (that worked on 2D and 3D shows like the Simpsons, King of the Hill, Avengers, Beavis and Butthead, Kugn Fu Panda), The Hatchery (that worked on Young Blades, Care Bares, and R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour), and was distributed by the Anchor Bay Entertainment and The HUB.

Their main cast include voice actors like Curtis Armstrong who worked on projects such as Locker 13, Supernatural, American Dad, New Girl, Bones, Reaper, Smokin’ Aces, and Ray to name a few.  Dave Foley as Chris who worked on projects such as Monster University, Robot Chicken, Eureka, Monster Brawl, The Batman, Cars, Employee of the Month, Monkeybone, Toy Story 2, Bug’s Life.. the list goes on. Finally Elise is played by Paget Brewster who worked on projects such as Criminal Minds, Venture Brothers, Modern Family, American Dad, King of the Hill, Harvey Birdman, and yes even 1998 Ghost Cop.


Final Thoughts.

Dan Vs. is one of those show that should be experience at least once.  I personally love watching the show several times over because they touch on subject matters that I at times encounter and Dan simply yells out loud what I wish I could say my self. Believe it or now the show has ran for 3 seasons now, so someone out there is watching it but for whatever reason is not picking up enough buzz behind it.  The show was rated PG and was aimed at kids to tween demographic by airing on the HUB when it should be aimed at the teen to young adult demographic like Adult Swim. I personally think that the fall of the show is simply that they miss their demographic and they are not streaming the show on Netflix which is still very popular with younger and more modern adults looking to trend away from high cost of cable. But you can catch season 01 and 02 on Hulu Plus if you can withstand the all the adds they shove in your paid subscription.  But that is just my opinion take it as you will.

But all in all I give they show 4 out of 5 stars. I love it but it will have make a banging 4th season to beat Gargoyles, Exo Squad, and Batman the Animated series out of my top 3 animated series.

Your weekly Nerdgasm 03/18/2013

                    Jurassic Park IV, Beetlejuice II and The Rock Says he wants to be in Star Wars Ep. VII




Pack a snack, we're going back to the park-

Just after the first of the year, Universal Studios released a statement that indeed Jurassic Park IV was once again a go. There's been at least 3 false starts to the ever looming 4th part to the saga, even Spielberg himself wanted to end the movies on a better note than we were left with in Jurassic Park III (which had plot holes big enough to swallow a T-Rex whole). Colin Trevorrow has been selected as director while script writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, of Rise of the Planet of the Apes fame, have already finished the script. With bearded McBillions himself Steven Spielberg as executive producer the movie has been slated for a mid June release next year.

It still leaves a lot of question brewing in fan's heads. Where will it take place? Who from the original cast will return for their "jump the shark" last hurrah? How deeply buried is that awful screenplay that involved human/dinosaur DNA mixing? And if all these questions have you itching to pull out your DVD or VHS of Jurassic Park, just wait till April 5th and you can see the film that spawned two really poorly planned sequels in theaters in 3D!

(what could have been......you hope.)

It's showtime! (again?)

Yes, the end of last week brought some exciting news to fans still holding on to the hope of a sequel to the 1988 paranormal comedy Beetlejuice. The picture below was posted on Seth Grahame-Smith's Twitter account to tease fans always asking about the fate of his script for the upcoming movie. With his past penning of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, I'm sure he's doing a fine job breathing life into the corpse of this over-hashed sequel. Two years ago when someone somewhere mentioned it; Geena Davis, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder all said they were game to reprise their roles in some capacity. Let's face it, those three haven't seen legit work in years and would probably do Frosted Flakes commercial cameo if you promised a warm meal and gas money. Keaton is supposed to have something to the effect of a supporting role in the RoboCop reboot but that has yet to be seen in more than production stills.

Now talks of a Beetlejuice sequel have been floating in the air since the movie made back it's initial investment five times over, spawned a toy line and a Saturday morning cartoon as well as catapulted Tim Burton to superstar director status. That led Burton into the director's chair of the first two Batman movies, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas and Mars Attacks. While his work as of late hasn't charmed us like it used to, if they allowed the original idea for the impending sequel "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian", his body of work would have far less impressive and the world may have never gotten to know Johnny Depp which I'm not sure if that would have been a good thing or a bad thing. Anyways, Burton has expressed interest in directing another adventure into the hereafter. Beetlejuice is available on DVD and Bluray.

Skywalker, can you smell what the Rock is cookin'?

Yes, former WWF multiple time champion Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has expressed a serious interest in getting a role in the upcoming Disney/LucasFilms Star Wars Ep VII. Doesn't that sound like a bad idea? Well, not just the whole Rock wanting to be in the new Star Wars movie but the whole there's going to be new Star Wars movies in general. Doesn't it sound like a bad idea the more and more it's brought up? With the Star Wars saga rich with existing characters and all the new ones they'll be creating just for the next 3 films, not too many of them call for a giant, muscle-bound mountain of man meat. I mean, we all remember his breakout role in the Mummy 2 as the Scorpion King? Even the spin-off franchise only starred Dwayne Johnson for the first movie and moved on to some other professional fighter reprising the role for the second part. I'll be honest, I never watched the second film and only have fragmented memories of the first movie. All I remember is I was far from amused and even the action figures were lackluster and dull.

Anyways, the Rock won't be satisfied till he's ruined everything from your childhood. First GI Joe, then Star Wars.....what's next? He-Man? M.A.S.K? Power Rangers? My Little Pony?

On a side note, Dave Bautista of former WWF fame has been confirmed as Drax the Destroyer for the upcoming Disney/Marvel release Guardians of the Galaxy and I'm totally cool with that. Seriously, paint Dave Bautista green and there you go.....DONE!