Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
It takes exactly 15 seconds of T.U.F.F. Puppy’s title sequence to learn everything you need to know about Nickelodeon’s latest animated show about a crime-fighting pup:
“Dudley Puppy was a plain old mutt,” we hear as the show’s star merrily slurps water out of a toilet. “He’d scratch, he’d dig and then he’d chew his butt,” the song continues, just in time for the canine to sink his canines into his derriere.
The balance of the intro tells us what else the show is about: “But when bad guys got too rough, he went to work for T.U.F.F./And now he’s doing secret agent stuff.” Or, as series creator Butch Hartman said in an interview with toonzone.net, “Get Smart with a dog.” And Hartman’s show does indeed feel like an unlikely mash-up of Underdog and Maxwell Smart … along with a nod to the inane antics and winking double entendres that made The Ren & Stimpy Show a cult hit in the ’90s.
T.U.F.F. stands for Turbo Undercover Fighting Force. And it’s there that Dudley meets his match in the trusty—and generally much smarter—Kitty Katswell. Both of them report to a retired field agent known as Chief, an out-of-proportion flea who sits in front of a camera much of the time in order to be seen. A stuttering, bespectacled dog named Keswick equips our fuzzy fuzz with all manner of secret-agent gadgetry.
Loitering in the shadows of Petropolis, always ready to hatch a dastardly scheme, are the agents of D.O.O.M. (Diabolical Order Of Mayhem), led by the maniacal (and lisping) rat Verminious. As dastardly, diabolical, maniacal, lisping villains are generally wont to do, Verminious lives for the day T.U.F.F. and its agents are permanently out of the way. Among other things, that might mean chasing Dudley and Kitty through Petropolis in a Godzilla-like robot. And on the days Verminious and his lackeys feel like taking a break, supervillains such as the shape-shifting Chameleon and the evil Bird Brain stand at the ready to take up the bad-guy slack.
Throughout Dudley’s crime-fighting shenanigans, (very) young viewers soak up a steady stream of pratfalls and mock cartoon violence. And, of course, the mild toilet humor I mentioned above. Characters belch, joke about passing gas and vomit. What they don’t do is pass along any grand moral lessons, or even very many of the small, practical day-to-day lessons that usually get flung at tots from their favorite tube-time series.
Of note: The show is fond of dressing Dudley up in women’s clothing and make-up as it flirts with all sorts of references to characters’ effeminate traits. That’s something Bugs Bunny used to do, too, but animated heroes in drag these days evoke different interpretations.
“Internal Affairs/Dog Daze”
Dudley and Kitty foil Verminious’ plot to destroy Petropolis while the villain’s lackeys complain about outfits they think look like dancers’ costumes. So Verminious sends Dudley an e-mail that hypnotizes him. First he suggests, “You’re a hungry woodpecker,” whereupon Dudley destroys the T.U.F.F. office. Then he tells the dud of a dog, “You’re a pretty princess, and you’re late for the ball”—a role Dudley assumes with gusto by wearing a dress, make-up and asking others if he’s pretty. Dudley also becomes a pirate who marauds his way through a county fair. Eventually, playing all three roles simultaneously, Dudley announces, “I’m a pretty pirate princess who’s late for the woodpecker ball.”
Elsewhere, stuttering Keswick says of Chief’s baking, “His pies taste like sh, sh, shoes.”
Dudley gets shrunk down to Chief’s insect size in order to stop Chameleon, who’s trying to launch a missile at T.U.F.F. HQ. Chameleon eats them, and the pair must fight their way out of his stomach (past his heart and brain) to stop him. To keep them from escaping, Chameleon eats a spider and a jar of pickles, which he later says he’s about to throw up.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
An elf mage contemplates on connection and regret as she watches her human friends grow old and pass away.
