Top 20 Hey Arnold Episodes:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MfaAMtP5i8HcPj63kEYc6zeGQdhaSsIG/view?usp=sharing
Patreon Request: Hey Arnold Movie Review
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G19pXyudLspeTDfWlYkOtwDqojls4VpZ/view?usp=sharing
It's time to knock out a summer Top 20 list and a Patreon request at the same time!
Alright I got screwed over before on this comment system when trying to comment on your videos so before trying to comment here I'm going to actually just test it out. Jack?
ReplyDeleteJACK: TESTING TESTING 1 2 33333333333333333333333333333333333!
... Yeah will see if this works then actually comment on this.
Thoughts on this list
ReplyDelete20. "Monkeyman" - Hey Arnold always had this thing where it would focus on near every character it would introduce in at least one episode, no matter how tertiary a character they may be. A boarding house member, a school mate, a friend and yes even a character who before had only been a background gag got a spotlight. I think one of the more interesting parts of "Monkeyman" sans this being a case of Arnold NOT needing to interfere in something is the fact that even the regular kids try bringing up to Arnold that "the police can help out" before Sid gets his boots stolen that makes the guy want to go back into being Monkeyman. So I guess it is saying "yeah law is pretty limited. Might as well dress up and become a vigilante if you are so able"... well I'm sure someone could read it that way at least.
19. "Vacant Lot" - Thinking about it from this and a few other episodes and even the movie there was this big "kids vs. adults" mentality going on always favoring the kids who were actually fighting for something or trying to achieve something and the adults ruining it somehow. I guess that was the back bone of a lot of kids shows at the time but Hey Arnold for the most part never did it too over the top and this one is a prime example of that. Especially because the adults (not just the boarding house but general people around time) are able to reach a compromise. I think the most interesting part is how they set up the lot to work as a field and how even though limited they can work within those to still actually play games in. I think I remember a kid finding it a bit depressing they had to make markers for the balls that went out of bound but that makes more sense to me now oddly enough.
18, "Downtown As Fruits" - Technically the pilot episode and first one I saw was the "24 Hours Before You Die" which yeah was based on the original first episode. This was the first regular episode to premiere with two shorts and yeah I remember as a kid laughing a lot at this one, especially those two other guys in fruit costumes and Arnold being found out because of his banana shoes (insert game grumps remix here) and them rushing back in the stage and knocking Helga off. I like how sometimes they could get Helga back or show her getting knocked around like the other male kids and this was just one of the more fun light hearted episodes. Sadly this won't win over everyone as Nostalgia Critic didn't seem impressed with it when he saw it for his Nicktoons review but... eh that wasn't even that good an episode at all and honestly this and other shows he needs to look back on and appreciate more especially for someone who claims to be so knowledgable about animation.
17. "The Haunted Train" - Oh yeah one of the first more oddly mythicial/ spooky episodes exploring some super natural element. I don't get why shows had to do the "it may be real twist" either. To try and freak out kids? They think it's funny? They like doing shamalayan twists? It usually never works in the long run and though I may of liked it as a kid not so much growing up. I do like these epsiodes though where Helga tags along and they get to call her out some when she's being a bully. Something again that also makes her relatable is not all her dialogue is 24/7 berating Arnold or the others when around them and what not. And yeah the Brainy stuff always gets a laugh out of me no matter where he shows up... I think Brainy may be one of the few character to not have a full ep dedicated to him but eh that could of ruined the joke with him thinking about it.
16. "Tutoring Torvald" - Probably not as heartbreaking or honestly even as Earnest as "Bart Gets An F" from the Simpsons but I remember this one working due to actually showing Torvald's more broken home and the fact that it does show Arnold's limitations with the guy when Torvald has a chance to be better but then screws around some more. Arnold did become somewhat of a doormat or blank slate as the show went on as the wet blanket who would just help out anyone with only some dry wit but yeah these sparks did show the kid didn't always start out like that.
ReplyDelete15. "Harold The Butcher" - I can't remember if I saw "Harold's Bar Mitvah" first as I swear my memory tells me this is the first episode that I remember addressing Harold being Jewish but eh hard to remember the specifics of things from like 15 some years ago. Either way this is still pretty solid. One of my own relatives I always compare to Harold (more on that later) who yeah was initially just the big bully character but then became the "stupid sort of jerk" character with a lot of spotlights. I think my personal favorite one was oddly enough "Aptitude Test" but this one's also pretty good as they actually spent a decent amount of time building up why Harold would like working as a butcher. Like most Hey Arnold stuff though there isn't much continuity with this in later episodes even though we obviously see Harold and yeah even Mr. Green again but eh what can you do?
14. "Crabby Author" - Eh nowadays I honestly much prefer kind of more out there/making fun of the fans and of something in general type of authors found in "Daring Don't." I also remember this being an episode I only caught the tail end of at first before watching the whole thing later. For me what makes this worth it is the Author reacting to what Arnold said about her at the end and the rest is... okay but nothing stand out for me but again your list so if you like it, you at least did a good job explaining why that is.
13. "Sid The Vampire Slayer" - Though Harold and Stinky are portrayed as buffoonish characters, I think Sid with his super paranoia and weird obsessions may sometimes be the stupidest. And honestly his outbursts make this one sort of amusing. Though I admit I've grown tired of "character a thinks character b is something because of weird circumstances and tries going out of their way to prove it" and just winds up making themselves a fool. Granted Sid is usually a fool but seriously Stinky a vampire? Ugh, yeah that's just stupid especially with the ending. You know Are You Afraid of the Dark actually did a GOOD ending twist with one of their episodes involving a vampire that made sense and actually explained why the vampire would be around with the whole daylight thing to worry about. Much more so then this.
12. "Eugene Eugene" - I think I saw this one but admittedly some of the later episodes, you know the ones shown over a year after the series actually wrapped held over because sometimes when you cancelled a show you hold on to it's last episodes to air whenever just to try to pretend for a couple of years you still air it... I haven't seen. It feels familiar but eh might just be because feels like something that would happen in other Hey Arnold episodes. Not really my favorite of Eugene's any even if he does win more in the end (if I remember I did see it or not correctly) but seems like the premise is at least interesting. Though I think Moral Orel did the whole "playright changes the ending which annoys the main star" thing better.
ReplyDelete11. "Weighing Harold" - Yeah again one of my relatives I knew as a kid I related to Harold and knowing him really reminds me of this episode. That's all I'll say about that as I don't like spreading stuff about people I know too much but I could see how anyone would relate to it and I do like it taking the whole thing realistically more then most "character realizes they're fat" show episodes do.
10. "Arnold Visits Arnie" - I remember how much a big deal they made about Arnie when he first debuted in "Weird Cousin" for... whatever reason I don't know and how I did find his incredibly offbeat attitude amusing. This is better though and yeah (SPOILERS) It was all a dream is a pretty lame cop out though granted one here that at least makes sense (END SPOILERS) is weak the rest is really good. I remember actually watching this one first half way through where we're introduced to alt world Helga talking to Arnold and being like "wait what are they doing here exactly? That's not Helga" before later realizing this is the one where everyone acts kind of opposite. Though nice more soft spoken polite Helga and... honestly let's be upfront about this, pretty kid slutty Lila stand out having the most screen time the background bits are good too and yeah one of the few in the later run giving Arnold more of a personality. Maybe that explains why it's a dream I mean you know that ending... oh screw it the episode's been out for over a decade. This episode was mostly a dream people... whoever reads this anyway.
9."Arnold's Halloween" - This one took me awhile to see as well, though that's because as a holiday episode Nick wound up only releasing the one around the Hoiidays so I only saw it one time around Halloween. And yeah parodying War Of the Worlds (before Simpsons did BTW as there was a treehouse of horror also lampooning this) does make this pretty unique. And Kudos for getting Maurchie Lemarche here famous for his Orson Welles impression to do a voice in this one.
8. "Helga On The Couch" - Another one of those I saw half way through at first but really got and appreciated watching the whole thing. I think what makes this one especially good is that the idea of Helga being angry at her parents for constantly ignoring her, of feeling the other kids would laugh if they knew her secret, and of her annoyance at her sister's perfection... these are all issues that the show has gone to great lengths to showing before. These aren't just issues brought up for the sake of this episode but rather something we've seen quite a few times in Helga related episodes. This one just ties it all together with finally figuring out why Helga loves Arnold so much which yeah you would really get from a child's point of view. I don't know if the "still bully around and yell at the other kids" is the best message to get across but I guess it's a "I know what you're going through sucks so if you have agressions get them out without really hurting ayone else" which I think probably is a healthy message especially as psychologists would normally not say that in a kids cartoon. Even when maybe they should. And yeah sucks that Nick canned the Patakis. Hmmm you think the Nick now would of done that after we got "Legend Of Korra".... probably with not only how poorly Korra was treated by Nick but there others shows right now.
ReplyDelete7. "Helga's Parrot" - Honestly that was a trope used a lot in the show but one that never bothered me as much because honestly if you keep coming up with amusing jokes and interesting twists on it then I'll be fine even if the payoff is always the same. Plus I like seeing Helga put herself in these situations just to keep her crush a secret. I think the best take on this myself was "Helga's Locket" because I love the dialogue between Arnold and his Grandpa about the locket from Grandpa wanting to keep it for his love for Arnold and Arnold saying that's creepy and to change it to show a picture of his Grandmother. Still this was pretty good though in my book the best use of "parrot about the spill the secret of someone" was much better in Dexter's Laboratory "The Parrot Trap" ("Wait just a minute... where am I going to get worms and plastic minnows?" "The Florida Everglades!"/"Dexter how many times have I told you not to throw the bird?")
6. "Mugged" - As a kid even I got a bit intimidated by Arnold when he was going through that whole "now he knows karate so he shows off in front of everyone" part. Though one of my favorite jokes of the show is Arnold doing the Taxi Driver "you talking to me" monologue and grandpa coming in quickly saying "I didn't say anything" and having that little rimshot joke... I still find it amusing. But yeah dead on man about this being a good example of "don't become a bully asshole with your abilities but don't take crap from others" with Arnold owning the mugger at the end. My more violent side would of liked to see him get more payback but... yeah that's probably a side I should ignore. Though this is something I wish carrred over in other episodes: Arnold NOT being a victim of bullying and showing his bullies not to pick on him. That so needed to be in "Girl Trouble" my most hated episode of this entire show so so baddddddddddddly.
Now I'm curious. What are your feelings on "Arnold Betrays Iggy"? The episode where even the title is a lie.
Delete5. "What's Opera Arnold" - I think this was an idea or even episode held over from Season One because yeah in "Arnold's Valentine" Arnold gets over his crush on Ruth and then in "Miss Perfect" Arnold starts crushing on Lila for most of the rest of the show. So it's weird to have Arnold in love with Ruth again for... no real reason which again makes me think it's a hold over as yeah that happened a few times throughout the show. Eh I don't remember this one working for me as much as I prefer Looney Tunes esque shenanigans in my opera cartoons and honestly Arnold's done much better episodes involving theaters and plays like "School Play" for instance.
ReplyDelete4 "False Alarm". Uh Hey Arnold takes place in ELEMENTARY school as the kids are all like 10. Seriously they do a lot of things you'd see more in middle school or high school but these are still suppose to be middle school kids. Thus why they're picked on by sixth graders who look so much bigger then them. Seriously man you should be better then that mistake. Anyway yeah the episode is pretty solid and the banter between the kids is good. Honestly I think King of the Hill did a better set up to 12 Angry Men in it's episode "12 Dang Old Angry Men" flipping it so it wasn't just a trial but still had a reason to have so many people arguing back and forth. Family Guy also had a parody of that movie but... yeah to much more lackluster events as any time you were trying to get caught up in the drama or point they were going for they'd have some sort of weak cutaway or forced gag pop in. Honestly more then any other episode this is where Family Guy's lackluster meanspirited or random humor gets in the way the most times. Not the worst of it but just the most times in general... oh kind of veering off topic of Hey Arnold who again did this decently at least.
The King of The Hill Episode is "Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men".
Delete3. "The Journal" - To be fair it's not like Nickelodeon kept making more seasons after the fifth... they just delayed airing the last episodes of season 5 for two years for again reasons I don't get and asked for a much more generic esque plot of the Hey Arnold movie.... honestly why does it feel like Nick is sabotaging the movie ideas of it's own brand sometimes?
ReplyDeleteCRAIG BARTLETT: Hey I want to make a movie that ties up Hey Arnold and involves the main cast having action packed hijinks in the jungle and finally connects the hero back with his family.
NICK EXECUTIVES: Ehhhhh doesn't sound like anything that will sell. Do that movie about saving the neighborhood and have the kids go against the big bad man again and maybe we'll talk in senveral years.
MICHAEL DIMARTINO AND BRYAN KONIETZKO: Hey people want to know the story of what happened to Zuko's mother and think that would make a good movie or direct to video special.
NICKELODEON EXECUTIVES: Eh no one cares about that. Besides this M Night Shamalayan really wants to make an Avatar movie and I think we can expect the director of Lady and the Water and The Happening to make a quality epic story thank you very much.
Hmmm maybe Nickelodeon just doesn't want people to find out what happened to parents if it's suppose to be a mystery. Good thing the Rugrats creators never wanted to make a movie about Chuckie's mom or else we'd have been fucked a third time over. Still this is a very solid pick whose sadly biggest fault seems to be Nick preventing there from being an ending cause... insert reason 153,242,111 why Nick sucks here.
2. "Arnold's Christmas" - I think this is the moment even as a kid I realized this show is something special. It's not about the comedy or the kids or even sometimes the laid back tone but just a sense of drama and emotion that very few shows ever get that just make this one work so much. It still has it's laughs with Arnold and Gerald having to do shopping for this guy or getting into the building and of course Helga's plot for the perfect present but no you remember this episode cause of the stuff with Mr. Hyunn and his daughter... it's really sad how there were like at least 5 other Hyunn stories after this one and we never saw his daughter again and only got a mention of her. Which I never got: seriously dramatic and comedic there are so many possibilities of the guy reconnecting with someone he's lost for so long. Why not take advantage of it?
ReplyDeleteNICKELODEON EXECUTIVES: A parent trying to reconnect with their child? What kind of nonsense is that! You better just make him a country singer or something cause we ain't having any of this connection nonsense.
... Again fuck you Nickelodeon. Fuck you.
1. "Pigeon Man" - I do remember this one being weirdly uplifting when I was a kid but I don't know if it ever hit as deep for as some of you other guys. I mean I do remember feeling terrible for Pigeon Man when the kids wrecked his bird houses (in fact I think I remember not seeing repeats of that part because of not liking that feeling specifically) but don't know if it was to the "this is incredibly uplifting" degree. Though yeah if you know the history I guess the reasoning makes more sense. And yeah I much prefer the idea of Pigeon Man living with the idea that some people are decent then of killing himself. And honestly it makes more sense with him flying away then killing himself cause kids wrecked his cages. I guess sometimes Nickelodeon meddling is okay.
NICKELODEON EXECUTIVES: Yeah, just like we told the creators of Angry Beavers they shouldn't ever have the characters say shut up. Those words are way too harsh for kids to hear.
.... Other times you're more retarded ass retarded then thought possible.
But yeah very solid list man. Personally one of my favorites is "Snow" because the idea of hating the snow because of how much work you have to do in spite of it and how annoying kids can be playing in it... yeah man that hits soooooo much harder now then it did as a kid and you don't think about those things but is still a good mix of "you have to set aside time to do work" as well as "you should still have fun and enjoy yourself in this too."
Actually Arnold's mom is a botanist, not a nurse.
ReplyDeleteI got, "A-Bob"!
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that the Movie effects the series. It was established that the April Fools episode was set after the movie. Meaning Arnold was using Helga's crush against her, and was flirting with her during the dance scene.
ReplyDelete