Animation
Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85
While Netflix says that the animated ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ is a kinder, gentler sort of ‘Stranger Things’ show, that hardly makes it kind or gentle.
When Everybody Loves Raymond was one season old, I wrote that the show’s “smart scripting and sharp acting make [it] a strong and well-produced television series … but not flawless. Particularly troubling are the cynical put-downs exchanged by family members.”
Seven years and a mantle full of Emmys later, Raymond is still smartly scripted, now with new characters added to a maturing, expanding family. Ray (Ray Romano) and Debra’s (Patricia Heaton) daughter isn’t a precocious five anymore, which has shifted the demands on them as parents toward adolescent issues. Twin boys have joined the fold—not that the kids figure into more than a few episodes per season. Ray’s brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), has married a girl from a conservative religious background. Aside from that, not much has changed. The show continues to benefit from spot-on ensemble acting and laugh-out-loud punch lines. (The sitcom is expected to reel in $1 billion in its first syndication cycle.)
Sadly, its biggest problem is still nasty digs. The Barones have become experts at verbal dodgeball. Ray and Debra mix things up from time to time, enjoying tender moments of affection to offset the tension. But Ray’s parents, Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), never let up. After Ray and Debra get a home security system installed, Frank cackles, “I don’t need an alarm to scare away crooks at my place. I keep an old bat for that.” Later, when his hypercritical wife blackmails him into taking her side during a family squabble, he blurts, “Marie is my wife, and if I [don’t] support her in this, then she’ll be like an ice pick in my ear until I die.”
Mild profanity crops up in each episode. And plot points (usually involving Robert’s pious in-laws) can seem to treat an intelligent faith in God as an oxymoron. Fortunately, sexual innuendoes are usually mild (“It all started with 19 hours of horrible labor,” Marie says about Raymond. “But before that there was a smile!” winks Frank). Consequently, families can choose to sort through the zingers the way they’d rummage through a box of yard sale trinkets, picking out pleasant surprises without buying the whole lot.
Episodes Reviewed: Feb. 23, March 1, 22, April 19, May 3, 2004
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
While Netflix says that the animated ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ is a kinder, gentler sort of ‘Stranger Things’ show, that hardly makes it kind or gentle.
Apple TV’s ‘Last Seen’ is a mature, dark crime drama with a lot on its mind. The contemplative series unearths trauma and harsh profanities in equal measure.
Netflix’s ‘Crew Girl’ is yet another teen love triangle drama filled with coarse language, underage drinking and way too many underdressed teenagers.
‘Dang!’ is Netflix’s newest in a long line of raunchy comedies—a series that, once again, forgets the punchline as it’s telling the joke.