DVD Review: Fairly OddParents Season 6 Volume 1
Frederator, Paramount Home Video Series Created By Butch Hartman
Nov 18, 2008
The Fairly OddParents have been Nickelodeon's 2nd most popular (and long-running) animated show, after Spongebob Squarepants. At one point, Timmy (Tara Strong) Turner's adventures with his fairy godparents – Wanda (Susan Blakeslee) and Cosmo (Daran Norris) – briefly surpassed Spongebob as the network's #1 rated show.
After a two year hiatus, The Fairly OddParents returned on February 18th with a 2-hour episode called "The Fairly Odd Baby." It featured Cosmo giving birth (don't ask) to a bouncing baby fairy boy named Poof. Poof is just as powerful as his parents but, being a baby, he can't control his abilities. Much mirth, magic and mayhem ensue.
Now Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Video have released The Fairly OddParents' 6th Season Volume 1 on DVD. Does Hartman's show still have the magic?
The Fairly Oddparents: Serious Silliness
Like pretty much every other animated series that tries to appeal to both adults and kids alike, The Fairly OddParents relies on 3 major elements: absurdist humour, pop culture references, and a manic energy roughly akin to 20 kids who have overdosed on chocolate cake.
Most of the characters, such as the Schwarzenegger spoof Jorgen Von Strangle (Daran Norris again) and the Darth Vader spoof Dark Laser (Kevin Michael Richardson), have returned, and there's at least one new addition.
Poof's debut on The Fairly OddParents has met with no little controversy, with many people saying that his appearance propelled the show over the shark. Poof's character is not as annoying as it could've been, but the writers are clearly not sure what to do with him, other than as a McGuffin to create (even more) chaos, or for random poop-and-burp jokes.
In addition to "The Fairly Odd Baby" TV movie, this DVD also features other Season 6 shows like "The Fairly Oddlympics" (featuring an appearance by gold medal-winning figure skater Scott Hamilton) where the fairies, anti-fairies and pixies have a showdown to determine which group has the best athletes.
The show's humour does get a little predictable after a while, but there are still laughs aplenty. The Fairly OddParents' cultural references are woven into the fabric of the plot, unlike Family Guy's now-stale segues out of the main story for some random gag. That goes a long way with viewers who want to catch <gasp> an actual story.
DVD Extras
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
The Final Analysis
If you're in the mood for some serious silliness, then The Fairly OddParents Season 6 Volume 1 is a good bet. However, the show's formula is starting to become more obvious, and Paramount Home Video should have offered more extras for such a longstanding and reliable title. The lack of extras knocks this DVD set down a point, giving it a 6/10.
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