The Charge

"Television tastes funny."—Cheese

Opening Statement

After Cartoon Network aired the telefilmGood Wilt Hunting last year,I assumed it was curtains for the best original show in the network's all-ageslineup. Usually such a "feature-length" episode means that a networkwants to slow down production, close out a series, or move the creators on tonew projects. Creator Craig McCracken had been through such a move twice before:whenDexter's Laboratory moved to a new production team after a 1999telefilm (Ego Trip, which McCracken co-wrote) that was supposed to finishthe regular run of the series, and when McCracken handed over the reins ofThe Powerpuff Girls after its theatrical feature, to see the showcontinue for two more seasons with a different crew.

Fortunately for all of us, new episodes of the show seem to be tricklingout, the online game "Big Fat Awesome House Party" has been popularenough that Cartoon Network has extended its run another six months, and DVDsets of the show are on a steady release schedule. Oh look, I've got one of themright here. Ready?

Facts of the Case

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: The Complete Season 2 featuresthirteen episodes of wonder and weirdness starring young Mac, his best friendBlooregard Q. Kazoo, and a house full of the strangest characters ever unleashedby the imaginations of children. Check these out:

• "The Big Lablooski": The "usually sweet, quirky,and adorable" Madame Foster flips her lid when her bowling rival snatchesup her team. So Mac assembles a new team from our Foster's regulars.
• "Where There's a Wilt There's a Way/Everyone Knows It'sBendy": Wilt's giving and forgiving nature makes him a target forexploitation. Here his efforts to enjoy a basketball game are constantlyinterrupted by the selfish denizens at Foster's. Next, the deceitful Bendytrashes the house and manages to pin the blame on everyone else.
• "Partying Is Such Sweet Soiree": When Madame Fosterleaves for the day, Bloo plans a wild party. Mac tries to stop the chaos, butBloo has a secret weapon to distract his best friend: Mac's sugar addiction.
• "Sight for Sore Eyes/Bloo's Brothers": A seeing-eyefriend (made mostly of eyeballs, of course, and voiced by a screaming KevinMacDonald) loses his blind kid. Then, Mac's school friends are so inspired by avisit from Bloo that they imagine a room full of mutant Bloos.
• "Cookie Dough": Bloo tries to raise money to get Foster'sa new roof by selling Madame Foster's homemade chocolate chip cookies. But, asusual, he screws it all up by getting greedy. "It's business, babe,"the would-be Willy Wonka tells Madame Foster. "Don't blame me; blame ourcapitalist society."
• "Frankie My Dear": Macgets a schoolboy crush on Madame Foster's granddaughter and housekeeper. SoBloo, always competitive, has to try winning Frankie's heart too. Too bad shealready has the hots for somebody else. Is it the pizza delivery guy? PrinceCharming?
• "Mac Daddy": Behold the power ofCheese.
• "Squeakerboxxx": The gang pools theirtickets from the local arcade to get a pink, squeaky elephant. Bloo, greedy asalways, wants the elephant all to himself.
• "Beat With aSchtick": Bloo might be the best comedian and practical joker in the house,but a new and scary imaginary monster wants to challenge him. Will Bloo survivehis "crushing date with destiny?"
• "The SweetStench of Success": Bloo gets a craving for fame. "It's always been myweeklong dream to be on TV!" he moans, then scams his way onto a local newssegment. Then comes the Hollywood contract—and Bloo's new career as acommercial pitchman for deodorant. But it's not all limos andInside theActor's Studio.
• "Bye Bye Nerdy": Ever wonderwhy Mac has no friends other than imaginary ones? Bloo finally cluesin—and he rejects his best friend as "a big, giant nerd." SoBloo tries to train Mac to be cool. Oh, you know wherethis isgoing…
• "Bloo Done It": Uncle Pockets is thebest imaginary friend ever. Which makes Bloo jealous. Which makes Bloosuspicious. Which makes Bloo sneaky and vengeful. Which gets Bloo in lots oftrouble. Which is just another average day at Foster's.
• "My So Called Wife": Eliza Doolittle has nothing on ademented Coco, who must play society lady on Herriman's arm to deceive apotential financial donor. Meanwhile, Mac and Frankie try to teach Bloo the fineart of sarcasm. It's like giving a loaded gun to, um, Bloo.

The Evidence

Season Two ofFoster's showcases the inspired visual composition Igushed about in my review of Season One. No surprises here: the show crackleswith a smart energy lacking in other, more popular (and exhaustingly rerun)Cartoon Network fare. Characterization is always strong, from the pulsing idthat is Blooregard Q. Kazoo to the clever and witty imaginary friends that gueststar through the season. Meet Bowling Paul, the zen master of the three-holedball. How about Uncle Pockets? A funny clown would seem obvious, but the showmanages to put a fresh spin on him by—well, that would betelling…

The best new character—perhaps the funniest character on theshow—is Cheese. How can I sing the praises of Cheese, the half-wit who maybe the quintessence ofFoster's surreal charm. His askew physique, hisabsurd outbursts ("I like chocolate milk!") that seem to emerge fromsome primal ur-child that baffles even the needy and ego-driven Bloo (no wonderMac initially thinks Cheese is Bloo's half-brother), his ability to seemcompletely unexpected no matter how often you see his (altogether too few)episodes of the show—Cheese is a marvelous creation. Although he onlyfeatures in a single episode in the second season, that one episode is such astandout that Cartoon Network throws pictures of Cheese all over the DVDpackaging. Cheese handles the menu transitions. He licks your televisionset—from the inside. Cartoon Network offers as an extra on this set acommentary track on "Mac Daddy" by Cheese himself (voice actress CandiMilo): he screams whenever he sees the scary "yellow man," tries totalk to the characters, and has absolutely no comprehension of what he iswatching. You will either find it brilliant or brutally annoying. There is alsoa "CheeseQuest" music video, showing clips from the video gameplayable on the Cartoon Network web site. It made my brain hurt. Cheese alsoappears in several of the show promos. Piles and piles of Cheese. (Other extrason Disc Two include the gag sequences that run during the closingcredits—the best one is the "lesson" Bloo imparts for "ByeBye Nerdy"—and a gallery of imaginary friends seen in passing duringthe show.)

The show occasionally focuses on "playground lessons" for kids,like after-school bullying in "Beat With a Schtick" (adults will alsoenjoy the shots at bad prop comics in this one) and being a geek in "ByeBye Nerdy." The show also continues to prove that it isn't just for kidswith some deft satire, particularly in "Cookie Dough" (with itsrapid-fire attacks on corporate greed), "The Sweet Stench of Success"(the cult of celebrity and the advertising biz), and "Bloo Done It"(tabloid journalism, plus some Hitchcock parody). Scripts are densely packedwith gags that are actually funny—even the endless visual puns. (Andusually puns are a cheap out for comedy writing.) These are cartoons that lendthemselves to multiple viewings: visual gags, crisp dialogue, tightstorytelling. Whatever it is Craig McCracken and his crew is doing on this show,they should bottle it. But they should not let Bloo sell it, because he'll justget out of control again.

Closing Statement

If you have an imagination, you should go out and buy both seasons ofFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends as soon as possible. If you have noimagination, you probably haven't read this far in the review. So you can't seethat we are all laughing at you right now. And that haircut of yours. And what'swith those shoes?

The Verdict

Go buy this. Don't just leave it there on the shelf, DitchyMcAbandonpants.

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Give us your feedback!

Did we giveFoster's Home For Imaginary Friends: The Complete Season 2 afair trial?yes /no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.

Scales of Justice

Special Commendations

• 14-Day Most Popular: #1

Perp Profile

Studio:Warner Bros.
Video Formats:
• Full Frame
Audio Formats:
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (English)
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (French)
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Spanish)
Subtitles:
• English
• French
• Spanish
Running Time: 297 Minutes
Release Year: 2007
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Genres:
• All-Ages Entertainment
• Animation
• Comedy

Distinguishing Marks

• Commentary Track by Cheese on "Mac Daddy"
• CheeseQuest Music Video
• Cartoon Network Bumpers
• Gallery of Friends
• Closing Credit Gags

Accomplices

• IMDb
• Cartoon Network Official Site
• Foster's Big Fat Awesome House Party Online RPG
• CheeseQuest 3D Game
• Toonzone Fansite