Batman: Caped Crusader, Season Two, on Prime Video

The nickname “Caped Crusader” originated in Batman comics, but it is most closely associated with the Adam West TV series. Ironically, the “Caped Crusader” animated series is less cartoony than the campy 1960s live action show. This Batman patrols a film noir-looking Gotham inspired by the 1930s and 1940s. The police, the mayor, and the media still regard Batman as a dangerous vigilante, but Commissioner Jim Gordon and a few honest cops are starting to trust him in creator Bruce Timm’s 10-episode second season of Batman: Caped Crusader, which premieres today on Prime Video.

The good news is there is still no Robin, only Alfred Pennyworth. Also, Timm and company hit pause on the gender-swapping. However, they take intriguing liberties with traditional super-villains, starting with crime boss Rupert Thorne’s lieutenant, Eddie Nygma, who does his riddling with a tommy gun.

Season two also features some deep-cut supervillains, like Roxy Rocket, who gives episode two, “Rocket’s Red Glare,” a somewhat Rocketeer-like vibe. Fans will appreciate seeing Bruce Wayne adopt his Matches Malone undercover persona in “Deep Cover,” possibly the grittiest episode of the entire series, written by Tyrone Finch & Bryce Abood. Linton Midnite returns in the horror-flavored “The Devil’s Due,” in which a cult worshipping a bat demon takes an unhealthy interest in Batman. Their ritual murders are especially inconvenient, given the media campaign against Batman orchestrated by the Hedda Hopper-esque Hattie Tetch, hilariously voiced by Laraine Newman.

Jim Corrigan makes an unconventional but worthy appearance in “The Spectral Hand.” Those who recognize his alter-ego will know what to expect, but his backstory and fate are radically different. Probably the weakest episodes are “Sudden Fear” and “Zero Hour,” because they force Batman to act drastically out of character, collaborating with the fugitive Haley Quinn and Carrie Kelley, a ten-year-old who aspires to be a nocturnal crime-fighter.

“Her Dark Reflection” adds an intriguing psychological thriller element, as well as old fashioned eye-for-an-eye payback. Fittingly, the season concludes with the two best episodes, focusing on a very different Joker. Instead of his manic laughter, this Joker is tightly controlled. He is also a Nietzschean nihilist, who speaks with what sounds like a German accent, perhaps symbolically representing the horrors brewing in Europe.

There’s No Place Like Home, Snoopy, on Apple TV+

Snoopy's doghouse is a lot like the Tardis. It seems to hold infinite storage space. Of course, that is really just the power of his imagination. Still, it is such a shame to lose it. Technically, it was Sally’s fault, but it is still gone just the same in There’s No Place Like Home, Snoopy, the new Peanuts animated special directed by Ridd Sorensen, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

It is time for Charlie and Sally Brown’s annual yard sale. Honestly, it really more of Sally’s yard sale, because he has trouble letting go of his old stuff, for sentimental reasons. In contrast, Sally has no sentimentalism when it comes to money. That’s how she accidentally sells Snoopy’s doghouse. Of course, she was so intoxicated by her sudden revenue, Sally cannot remember who bought it. Somehow, Snoopy will have to scrounge up another deerstalker cap and magnifying glass to track it down. At least his loyal “owner” Charlie Brown will stick with him every step of the way.

Like all of Apple TV+’s Peanuts specials, There’s No Place Like Home is just as cute and endearing as you might expect. In fact, thematically, it sometimes feels closer to Shulz era specials, except that Charlie Brown is maybe a bit more proactive.

My Brother the Minotaur, on Apple TV+

The more you think about the origins of the Minotaur Theseus slayed on Crete (according to mythology), the more you realize it is not a topic you should dwell on. After all, he was the offspring resulting from Queen Pasiphae’s “dalliance” with King Minos’s prize bull. So…yeah. Wisely, this minotaur has a radically different origin story, especially since his show was produced for kids. Nevertheless, finding acceptance is still frustratingly hard for young, horned Lorcan in creator Donal Mangan’s My Brother the Minotaur, which premieres today on Appl TV+.

Being a minotaur, Lorcan ought to live on an island. In this case, tight-knit Bryony isle voluntarily closed itself off to visitors after Lorcan’s adoptive grandparents discovered him in the woods, to protect him from the outside world. His new parents had given up on having their own children, but his younger brother Charlie came along as a happy surprise a few months later.

Charlie is devoted to his older brother, but some Bryony residents have started to resent Lorcan, especially the former hotelier, dastardly Mr. Craignelder. Recently, Craignelder has kidnapped several local pets, hoping to frame Lorcan and drive away residents. If enough Bryony islanders leave, Craignelder will have the votes to sell out the community to a mining concern.

In a case of bad timing, Lorcan’s past simultaneously comes looking for him. Apparently, there is a hidden portal on Bryony to a fantasy realm, where war ages between the despotic minotaur regime and a fairy army, who protect our world against invasion. Something wants to drag Lorcan back, so it uses a shapeshifting Pooka to do its dirty work on the human side of the portal.

Recently, Ireland emerged as one of the most anti-Semitic nations in Europe, with new reports of anti-Jewish vandalism, discrimination, and harassment recorded at a record rate. Apparently, there is also a great deal of prejudice against minotaurs as well. Frankly, the nation desperately needs to hear this series’ message of tolerance.

Clearly, there is no denying Minotaur’s Irishness, since it was produced by the Irish animation house, Cartoon Saloon and filmmaker Tomm Moore (who helmed Song of the Sea) signed on as an executive producer. Like all Cartoon Saloon projects, the new series has a charming hand-drawn style.

Although written with kids in mind, Mangan’s series often takes its dark fantasy elements in a very horror direction. There are a lot of dark and stormy nights on Bryony. Yet, it also celebrates family bonds, especially those that were not originally based in blood. In fact, the relationship between Lorcan and his grandfather George is especially memorable and endearing.

Kevin, on Prime Video

If you’re a cat, fur balls count as prime scatological humor material. Yet, weirdly, they are the only form of excrement that does not feature prominently in Prime Video’s latest adult animation series. The title character is a cat, so he is supposed to be anti-social, but how does such a pampered feline pick up such a potty mouth? Of course, he will hear even worse once he moves from his sheltered Astoria home to the Furrever Friends animal shelter in showrunner-co-creator Joe Wengert’s eight-episode Kevin, which starts streaming today on Prime Video.

Dana assumed Kevin would come with her when she broke up with Dan (the couple are played by real-life ex’s and series co-creators Aubrey Plaza and Wengert), but instead he walked out on both of him (pets and humans talk together as more or less equals in this cartoon world). He soon regrets it when he starts crashing at Furrever Friends. At least he finds some new cronies including Armando, a very cultured Persian (originally from Provincetown); Judy, an aging kitten afflicted with multiple ooze-producing ailments; Cupcake, a hard-partying sex-worker alley cat, and Bear, who is like the Ron Swanson of the canine world.

The shelter residents are intermittently funny. However, Seth, the human proprietor, and his abusive shih tzu Brandi regularly generate litter-boxfuls of cringe. Their shtick becomes painful.

Admittedly, each episode has its laughs, but after watching one or two, you will become keenly aware that you are just listening to pets cuss like sailors. That is really it. The humor starts there and stays there. To be fair, there are a few slightly daring jokes, but Wengert and Plaza over-rely blue language and foul looking fluids.

If there is a second season, the co-creators and their writers’ room should impose a per episode cap on raunch, to force themselves to mine cleverer veins of humor. Right now, Kevin just feels like a bunch of other “edgy” animated series that have already come and gone. Also, the animation is serviceable, but it is far from the Titmouse studio’s best work.

The Mighty Nein, on Prime Video

If you were an acholic goblin, you’d probably cuss a lot too. Swearing is big for the Critical Role franchise, almost as important as the epic fantasy elements. Arguably, they maybe overdid the former and somewhat neglected the latter with their first animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina. Their second stand-alone series returns to the land of Exandria, but the tonal mix is better in the 8-episode first season of showrunner Tasha Huo’s The Mighty Nein, which premieres today on Prime Video.

War was already brewing between the Kryn Dynasty of Xhorhas and the Dwendalian Empire, but it fully erupts when thieves steal “The Beacon,” a precious relic that holds the Xhorhas’s eternal souls. It is rather murky as to just who was behind the theft, but the Beacon soon falls into the hands of Trent Ikithon, the Machiavellian leader of the Empire’s Archmages. However, he has a secret accomplice from Xhorhas, whose motives are much more emotional.

Warrior-monastic Beauregard Lionnett is supposed to investigate the strange events surrounding the theft for Cobalt Soul, her scholarly order with decidedly Shaolin tendencies. However, she discovers her superior has been compromised by Ikithon’s Volstrucker warrior-wizards, who nearly kill her. Saved by the high-ranking Expositor, Lionetti is quietly reassigned to investigate corruption within Cobalt Soul and amongst the Kryn court.

Whether she likes it or not—and she most definitely does not like it—Lionett teams up with a motley band of fellow adventurers. She immediately clashes with Caleb Widogast, a formerly down-and-out, but still stinky wizard. However, Widogast is closely aligned with Nott the brave, a foul-mouthed drunkard goblin thief, who sees herself as his protector.

Weirdly, tiefling (a slightly devilish-looking race of D&D characters) healer Jester Lavorre feels similarly towards Fjord Stone, a half-orc sailor tormented by his captain’s death and the sudden source of his mysterious new powers. Frankly, they are all eccentric and annoying in their own ways, but tiefling fortune-teller Mollymauk Tealeaf might irritate his new companions the least. They bicker and fight amongst themselves, but, somehow, they come together as a team to pull off a series of fantastical capers.

Too often, the Vox Machina writers hoped the frequent use of the “F” word by traditional-looking fantasy characters would be sufficiently funny to keep viewers entertained. However, the first shared-world series often came across as too hip and too ironic for its own good. Nott drops plenty of F-bombs, but the fantasy premise is much more intriguing. Arguably, this time around, the use of profanity for comic effect feels much more earned.

There are also wizards all over the place, which is something the first six episodes of Vox Machina lacked. In fact, the characterization in general is much stronger. The relationship dynamics shared by both Widogast and Nott, as well as Lavorre and Strong, provide an intriguing foundation and payoff throughout the season. There is still plenty of kvetching, but it lands better.

Bat-Fam, on Prime Video

Most DC fans think of the “Bat Family” as Batman, the other Bat heroes, like Batgirl, and the current and former Robins, including Nightwing and the Red Hood. However, this Bat-Fam consists of more literal family ties that make for a much stranger family unit. Even the ghost of super-villain Ra’s Al Ghul now inhabits stately Wayne Manor, watching over his bratty grandson, Damian Wayne, a.k.a. “Little Batman.” Set in the world of Merry Little Batman, this Batman makes the Westverse look like Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The Dark Knight isn’t so dark anymore, but parenthood often makes him much more stressed out in showrunner Mike Roth’s ten-episode animated series Bat-Fam, which premieres today on Prime Video.

In many of the comic storylines, Damian is indeed the son of Bruce Wayne and reformed super-villainess Talia al-Ghul. In Bat-Fam, Batman gave the ghost of his old nemesis Ra’s permission to haunt Wayne Manor, for reasons that now escape him. Perhaps even more bizarre to longtime comic readers, former super-villain turned anti-hero Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a.k.a. Man-Bat, also crashes with the Waynes, basically living the life of Reilly. As the series opens, yet another “family-member” is about to move in.

Alicia Pennyworth, Alfred’s niece and Wayne’s childhood friend, has returned to Gotham. The Waynes are delighted to have her company, but they are leery of her new gig as the chief social worker for E*vil, a halfway house for reformed supervillains. Indeed, Little Batman’s skepticism will get him into some big trouble.

To make matters even more complicated, Wayne is still struggling with his foster-father arrangement with Claire Seiton. She was once the super-villainess Volcana, but when her associates betrayed her, Batman could only save her by immersing her in the Lazarus Pits. Awkwardly, she came out rejuvenated as a moody goth 12-year-old, with only fragmentary memories of her life of crime. Instead of dropping her off at Gotham Academy like Olive Silverstock in the comics named for her elite boarding school, Bruce Wayne takes Seiton in as his newest ward. He likes having his wards, doesn’t he?

Regardless, Bat-Fam is goofy even by the standards of the 1966 TV series. Obviously, there is precedent for this approach, but Bat-Fam often feels more like an animated sitcom than a proper DC series. Arguably, it is a little too chaotic and too prone to kvetching. Yet, some of the better episodes focus on the relationship between Damian and Claire, who really come to think of themselves as siblings. On the other hand, Alicia Pennyworth’s woke restorative justice lectures quickly grow nauseating.

In contrast, Langstrom/Man-Bat is often rather amusing as the source of random out-of-left-field humor. However, this incarnation of Ra’s al-Ghul looks and sounds more like a Bela Lugosi-inspired vampire than the mystically-empowered near-immortal super-villain of the comics and films.

Star Trek—The Animated Series: Beyond the Farthest Star

According to Gene Roddenberry, it wasn’t official franchise canon, yet many devotees have tried to sneak it in through back doors, like licensed novels. Regardless, fans were thrilled to have new Star Trek, especially during the desert years of the 1970s. In fact, real deal Trekkers welcomed the Trekness of the animated episodes, thanks to the original cast-members and executive producer-story editor D.C. Fontana, who wrote several previous and future Star Trek episodes. The animated format also allowed them to present big, cosmic science fiction elements that would have been poorly served by the quality of 1973 TV special effects. That was especially true of the pilot, “Beyond the Farthest Star,” which airs tonight as a new addition to the ME-TV Tunes line-up.

“Beyond the Farthest Star” is indeed the first animated episode, but some Southern California stations jumped ahead to the second episode, to avoid “equal time” complaints during George Takei’s campaign for LA City Council. Ironically, this episode does not prominently feature Sulu. Arguably, exploring the familiar characters’ personas in general takes a backseat this time around to portraying the kind of teamwork that made the original such a classic.

During a far-distant stretch of their exploration mission, the Enterprise falls into the gravitational pull of a weird alien spacecraft that looks more like a system of branching vegetation than a conventional rocket or flying saucer. According to the warning message left behind by the centuries-dead insectoid crew, they fell victim to an invasive parasitic entity that operates very much like an AI virus.

Admittedly, Filmation’s animation looks dated by contemporary standards, but many of the visuals, especially the vine-like spaceship are still really cool. In fact, the retro vibe is nostalgically charming, Yet, hearing the voices of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy doing their thing as Kirk and Spock is pure joy. The additions of James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols as Scotty and Uhuru, who also have considerable bridge roles to play in this episode, should seal the deal for skeptical fans.

Sadly, Walter Koenig’s Chekhov was cut from the animated series for financial reasons, but he wrote two later episodes. His replacement, the three-armed Arex, also voiced by Doohan, became a cult-favorite within the Trekker community. (His unidentified alien race, differed in various novelizations, either Edosian or Triexian.) This isn’t a spotlight-showcase for him either, but it represents his introduction to the fanbase.

Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, on Apple TV+

The Peanuts comic-strip premiered in 1950, but Charlie Brown and the gang have always been Gen X’ers at heart. Think about it: they stay outside all day long and they never have any adult supervision. That is why they love camp, except maybe Sally. She is like the Gen-Z’er of Peanuts, who would rather stay home watching TV. Just for the record, this is not Camp Remote from Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. This is Cloverhill Ranch, where everyone feels welcome, even a blockhead like Charlie Brown. He is excited to introduce Sally to the camp’s activities, but it turns out this might be the last hurrah in Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, directed by Eric Wiese, which premiers this Friday on Apple TV+.

Of course, the Peanuts kids can sing. They had their own hit Off-Broadway musical, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Group singing also happens to be a very camp thing to do. Frankly, Charlie Brown enjoys everything about Cloverhill, which seems very un-Charlie Brown, but the recent Apple TV+ specials have cut Chuck a lot of breaks. It is sort of nice, because we all love the character, but it still feels sort of wrong, because it breaks with the tradition established by Charles Schulz.

Regardless, Cloverhill is his happy place, but Charlie Brown cannot help noticing there have been fewer and fewer campers every year. Yet, he initially focuses on convincing Sally to be less of a miserable Gen Z wet blanket, while Snoopy and Woodstock commence a treasure hunt using the map they accidentally unearthed. Unfortunately, just as he starts to make progress with Sally, the invisible adults announce this will be Cloverhill’s final season. How can the Peanuts gang save the camp? This is a musical, so that should be your first clue.

In fact, this happens to be a pretty solid musical. It isn’t quite Good Man, but it features two pleasingly melodic and memorable tunes penned by Ben Folds. “When We were Light” is a standout that measures up to anything you can currently hear on Broadway, while “Look Up, Charlie Brown” has a really nice musical theater dramatic arc. However, Folds’ best Peanuts tune remains the title song to Snoopy Presents: It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown, which should have won an Emmy (or even a Grammy).

Teen Titans: Snowblind, at Paley

KGBeast is one of DC’s most sinister villains, but his alter-ego, Anatoli Knyazev was converted into a good-guy on Arrow, because who could believe Russians might commit heinous crimes against humanity? So far, DC animated productions have been much more successful incorporating its Cold War characters and legacy, especially in Superman: Red Son. As a further case in point, the early 2000’s animated Teen Titans series offered an interesting take on Red Star in the episode “Snowblind,” which screens at the Paley Center as part of its Winter Frolic programming.

In this version of DC reality, Leonid Kovar, a.k.a. Red Star, was the lucky subject of a Soviet “super-soldier” experiment devised by the notoriously reliable Prof. Chang (a recurring villain in the animated series). Yet, much like the Hulk, the super-Soviet could not control his powers. When over-agitated, he expelled tremendous bursts of radioactive energy. Consequently, Red Star sequestered himself in an adapted bunker outside the secret military installation where he was formerly based.

Suspicious radioactive readings brought the Teen Titans to Kovar’s remote Siberian homeland. However, Red Star is not producing the energy they detected. There is something else terrorizing the local village, but they just assume it is the same radioactive devil they know.

Screenwriter Rob Hoegee does his best to play down Red Star’s Communist era origins, but they are inescapable. Indeed, Raskov, his former commander turned persecutor, bears all the worst hallmarks of the Soviet era military. However, this version of Red Star is an acutely tragic character, who is developed fairly thoroughly for a half-hour episode.

Secret Level, on Prime Video

"Live, die, repeat” was the tagline and Macguffin of Edge of Tomorrow, but it is just how things work in video games. Some of these animated short films cleverly incorporate that aspect of gameplay. Each original constituent film is set within the world of a popular game (including massively multiplayer online RPGs), but maybe not too popular, since their rights were still available. As is usually the case for anthologies, the results vary considerably in creator Tim Miller’s 15-part Secret Level, which premieres tomorrow on Prime Video.

There is a lot of CGI, featuring human depictions that try and most often fail to traverse the uncanny valley. As a result, some of the less “realistic” looking films stand out more. The opener, “Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle” is a perfect example of the CGI look that will quickly grow repetitive. However, the story written by Brooke Bolander certainly delivers on its promise of dragons. It is also one of the more successful at character establishment. However, the cliffhanger-style ending feels like a bit of a cheat (which too, will be a recurring response throughout Secret Level).

The next two constituent films are also two of the best. “Sifu: It Takes a Life,” directed by Laszlo Ruska with a story credited to Rich Larson is a mystical martial arts beatdown, in which our hero takes on a brutal gang to avenge his grandfather, even if it kills him, repeatedly, just so long as he still has one of his lives signified by a string of gold coins left after the carnage.

“New World: The Once and Future King,” written by JT Petty & Philip (The Spine of Night) Gelatt, is by far the funniest, thanks to voiceover work of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gamely satirizes his own action image while providing the voice of the hapless King Aelstrom. The entitled idiot intended to conquer the kingdom of Aeternum, but since the land there bestows eternal life, it creates a meritocracy among residents, leaving him ill-equipped maintain the status he expects by birthright.

“Unreal Tournament: Xan” looks very much like many other Secret Level mini-sodes. The hook here is that it openly invites viewers to root for the “rise of the machines” and against humanity when the evil Gamemaster (voiced by Elodie Yung) condemns a group of rebellious androids to a series of gladiatorial games against humans. Doesn’t that just sound like a really bad idea?

The lowest point probably comes in “Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear,” in which a group of space-faring marines are dispatched on a mission that is almost impossible to follow, because the animation is so confusing.

If you are expecting anything like the old Saturday morning cartoon from Victor (Nocturna) Maldonado & Alfredo Torres’ “PAC-MAN: Circle,” you will be shocked. In this case, it an extremely dark allegorical take on the classic arcade game. The ambition here is impressive, but your nostalgia will be dashed to smithereens, so temper your expectations.

Damian (Another Day of Life) Nenow’s “Crossfire: Good Conflict” is a refreshing change of pace, partly because it is the only short that does not incorporate any science fiction or fantastical elements. It also tells a fully self-contained and satisfying story, while maintaining a high degree of ambiguity regarding the why’s of everything. There is also a whole heck of a lot of shooting.

“Armored Core: Asset Management,” based on a Peter Watts story, also feels very similar to the “Unreal Tournament” and “Warhammer 40,000” episodes, but it is easier to follow and features stronger characters. It has the benefit of Keanu Reeves as a broken down mecha pilot who still thinks he has the right stuff. The mecha-action is very video game-like, but that hardly counts as a criticism for a series like this. Wisely, the animators also deliberately modeled the pilots features on Reeve’s, which should please his fans.

Valley of the Dinosaurs: Forbidden Fruit

Zeitgeisty media often come in twos. Usually, it is similarly themed films that release around the same time, like Armageddon and Deep Impact or Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down. We’ve had dueling Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent movies. It happens in TV too. Literally fifty years ago today, two animated children’s series about modern-day families transported back to prehistory debuted. One was the hybrid-stop-motion Land of the Lost. The other was a traditional cell-animated adventure from Hanna-Barbera. Although it was not a huge hit, there was probably enough early-1980s syndication and licensing for Valley of the Dinosaurs to make an impression with some Gen X’ers, even though we probably missed the initial episode, “Forbidden Fruit” when it premiered on this day in 1974.

Logically, professor John Butler and his wife Kim took their entire family on his Amazonia research trip, including their dog Digger. Frankly, we can accept Digger, because he causes far less trouble than his bratty son Greg, who is the one they should have left behind. He will be quite a burden for his older teen sister Katie, who is often the one who must corral him. Nevertheless, they were all together in the raft that was swept up into a vortex and sucked into a “world that time forgot.”

Fortunately, Gorok’s neanderthal family befriends the Butlers, teaching them how to survive in their extreme new environment. They match up pretty well, since Gorok and Gara have a teen son, Lok and a younger daughter Tana. They even have a baby stegosaurus, Glump, who becomes Digger’s playmate.

In fact, Digger and Glump are all kinds of likably cute. Dogs and dinosaurs are definitely sure-fire, evergreen animation subjects, which were in Hanna-Barbera’s wheel house. Nineteen years before Jurassic Park, animation was still the best way to present humans and dinosaurs in the same frame. However, Valley probably did not earn many paleontologists’ endorsements, especially when “Forbidden Fruit” portrays a rampaging brontosaurus.

However, it evokes all kinds of archetypes when he Butlers mistakenly harvest the “forbidden fruit” reserved for Maligue, the giant (vegetarian) brontosaurus. Of course, most of the Butlers heed Gorok’s warning, but not Greg, who was a proto-Gen Z’er, refusing to listen to his Boomer parents, way back in 1974. Of course, Maligue smells his fruit, so he comes looking for Greg’s stash.

Shrewdly, Hanna-Barbera did not waste time with a long, drawn-out origin story. They give viewers the essentials every week in the opening credit sequence. Instead, they jump right into the adventures. Obviously, this series follows a formula, in which the Butlers’ ignorance (most often Greg’s) land them in trouble, but the scientific knowledge of Prof. John (who resembles a white-haired George Peppard) helps save the day. Perhaps when they are rescued, he will bring back some dinosaur DNA, just for the sake of science.

Batman: Caped Crusader, on Prime Video

There have been a lot of different Batmans, ranging from the Adam Westverse Batman to the Dark Knights of Christopher Nolan and Frank Miller. This Batman of this 1930s looking cartoon-universe probably “knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.” He is still very much the Dark Knight and Bruce Wayne fans know and love, but several regular supporting characters have been altered for dramatic and/or other purposes in creator Bruce Timm’s 10-part animated series Batman: Caped Crusader, which premieres tomorrow on Prime Video.

For a lot of fans, the absence of a Robin is maybe goods news. Regardless, the gist of Batman’s backstory remains the same, but he is not yet working cooperatively with Commissioner Gordon. He is still considered a vigilante, whom the conspicuously corrupt mayor wants behind bars. However, crooked cops like Dets. Flass and Bullock clearly are not up to the challenge.

Since those two are on the take, new crime lord (or rather lady) Oswalda Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin, only has Batman to worry about. Rather colorfully, Timm and co-writer Jase Ricci reconceive the supervillain as ribald torch-singer in the Sophie Tucker tradition. Minnie Driver’s voice perfectly positions her as the psychotic Auntie Mame of super-villainy. It is the rare case of gender-swapping that comes across as clever rather than unnecessarily forced.

In fact, Timm and Ricci nicely balance the usual suspects with some fresher choices, like Oenomania and Clayface. The latter’s civilian alter-ego, horror movie actor Basil Karlo, is appropriately given features reminiscent of Boris Karloff and Peter Cushing.

However, Greg Rucka’s script for “And Be a Villain,” directed by Matt Peters, does not embrace the 1930’s Universal monster aesthetic to the extent Timm did in his 2014 short film, Batman: Strange Days, the unofficial, retroactive pilot for Caped Crusader. In a mere three minutes, Timm stylishly created a “Batman vs. Frankenstein,” using Hugo Strange and his “Monster Man” as surrogates for the infamous mad scientist and his creation.

Arguably, Strange Days, is more visually arresting than anything in the series, but the Film Noir, vintage Warner Brother gangster movie world-building hospitably suits this alternate Batman. Timm and company also deviate from standard lore in unexpected but not disrespectful ways when they introduce Selina Kyle in “Kiss of the Catwoman” and Harley Quinn in “The Stress of Her Regard.” Again, Christina Ricci and Jamie Chung are shrewdly cast as the respective super-femme fatales.

In between, the fourth episode, “Night of the Hunters,” boldly ends on an ironically pessimistic note. Even though Batman averts tragedy, some of the bad guys are empowered. “Night Ride” also takes a risk breaking format to allow for a supernatural storyline, without a Scooby-Doo explanation. Linton Midnite is a cool and intriguingly morally ambiguous addition to the “Caped Crusader” universe. Voice performer Cedric Yarbrough brings a lot to later episodes, both as Midnite and Rupert Thorne, the mob boss trying to corrupt DA Arthur Dent, who appropriately looks and sounds a lot like Norman Mailer.

Mr. Birchum, on Daily Wire+

As a junior high shop teacher, Mr. Birchum’s classroom concerns are binary in nature. His students are either wearing their safety glasses or they aren’t. Their power tools are either on or off. His students’ “lived experiences” and “their own truths” do no make any difference. Unfortunately, that is the kind of thinking his school’s new J.E.D.I. (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) officer wants to stamp out. However, the cranky wood-worker will not be quietly cancelled out of his job in the debut episode of Adam Carolla’s new animated series, Mr. Birchum, which premieres tomorrow on Daily Wire+.

It is the first day of school, but Birchum and his best buddy workmate, driver’s ed teacher Mr. Gage, are already dreading the stupidity of their students and the school’s bureaucracy—even before they meet Karponzi, the new J.E.D.I. officer. Since Birchum’s unwoke rep proceeds him, Karponzi is already gunning for him and the lazy, feather-nesting Principal Bortles is not about to object.

Mr. Birchum is a character Carolla developed early in his radio career, whom he resurrected to serve as a zeitgeisty critic of the decaying American educational system. There is a little bit of Archie “Silent Majority” Bunker in him and even more of Tim Allen’s Home Improvement persona. However, Mr. Birchum is more right than wrong and he is smarter than 99% of the people around him.

He is also really funny. Yes, this is a Daily Wire+ series executive produced by Ben Shapiro, but it is important to remember Carolla paid his dues touring comedy clubs for years, before he became a leading free speech advocate and critic of “safe spaces.” Carolla and writers Mark Hoffmeier, Byron Kavanagh, and Mike Lynch score plenty of points against Karponzi’s rigid extremism. However, some of the funniest gags come from traditional workplace and family sitcom situations.

The show’s pointed perspective just gives them more bite, as when Birchum’s sympatico, woodworking-crazy stepdaughter Jeanie stages a protest against her realtor mother’s desecration of a mahogany fireplace. The writers even gently mock Birchum’s rightwing persona, when he grudgingly admits the teachers’ union he despises probably saves his bacon.

Nevertheless, some of the series satire is worthy of South Park, which was obviously a source of inspiration. Arguably, J.E.D.I. is the funniest, most ruthlessly cutting acronym since Team America’s Film Actors Guild.

The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, on Prime Video

For years, the setting of James White’s Sector General novels was science fiction’s classic space hospital. It probably still should be. His long-standing series was known for its pacifism and tolerant depictions of alien species, yet compared to sex and identity politics that dominate recent “trendy” sf writing, White’s books probably seem rather old-fashioned to many editors (but not necessarily to readers). This space hospital clearly reflects current trends. Nevertheless, viewers can easily see how White’s concept might have been cannibalized in creator Cirocco Dunlap’s animated series The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, which premieres today on Prime Video.

Friends since med school, Dr. Klak and Dr. Sleech (try not to call her “Screech,” that’s another show) are hot-shot surgeons at a space hospital that takes all varieties of aliens, no matter how weird. Dr. Klak suffers from debilitating anxiety that her own mother fuels to generate fodder for her pop psychology books. Sleech is recklessly confident, both professionally and in her promiscuous hook-ups, but they are platonically devoted to each other, when they are not arguing like grumpy old men.

In episode one, Klak and Sleech discover a parasitic brain worm that eats anxiety. Unfortunately for Klak, if the worm grows too large, it can burst the host’s skull. Nevertheless, it seems like such a promising avenue of research, they keep it in containment, violating all kinds of laws and protocols. Their experiments will continue throughout the first eight-episode season, while they also navigate dysfunctional romantic relationships.

Klak still carries a torch for the spider-like Dr. Azel, who is chief of surgeon at the number one hospital in the galaxy, thanks its highly compromising corporate sponsorship. Meanwhile, despite her aversion to commitment, Sleech can never quite disentangle herself from Dr. Plowp, a bird-like empath, who is feeling especially needy, because of his species’ late-adult puberty.

There is a lot of sexual content and slapstick fluid splattering, but it is not as exhaustingly and self-indulgently edgy as the aggressively abrasive Hazbin Hotel. Frankly, most of the sex scenes in Second Best are visual gags built around bizarre alien anatomy. Like most successful sitcoms, just about all of the characters are unlikable and annoying, but that is what Dunlap and the writers derive humor from. We can laugh at all of Sleech’s humiliations, because she has them coming and we groan at Klak’s Charlie Brown self-sabotaging, because she just cannot help herself.

However, relentlessly sarcastic Nurse Tup gets the most laughs, by far, thanks equally to her mordantly observant dialogue and Natasha Lyonne’s sly voice-over performance. Kieran Culkin also outdoes the Crane Brothers expressing Plowp’s neuroses. However, the voices of Keke Palmer and Stephanie Hsu are not particularly memorable as Klak and Sleech.

Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin, on Apple TV+

Charles M. Schulz’s introduction of the black character Franklin in his beloved Peanuts comic strip eleven days after the assassination of Martin Luther King is widely considered an important statement on behalf of racial integration. Yet, Franklin was even more culturally significant, because he was the son of a Vietnam veteran (at least as I see it, as a fellow son of a Vietnam vet myself). Franklin’s arrival is adapted (and somewhat updated) in the latest Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

To reflect current times, Franklin’s dad is still a vet, but the details of his service are kept vague. Of course, like most military brats, he has had to move constantly to each new duty station. This time, they have relocated to wherever Charlie Brown lives. Always a little shy, Franklin has a particularly hard time fitting in, because he is thrown by Lucy’s grouchiness and Linus’s weird “Great Pumpkin” babble.  And then there’s Pigpen.

The only one who talks to him is the round-headed kid, Charlie Brown. Both could use a friend, so they enter the local soapbox derby together, but like in Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, the dangerous competition puts them under stress, before bringing them back together.

Although Franklin never had a surname in the comic strip, Schulz dubbed him Franklin Armstrong in one of the specials, as a tribute to cartoonist Robb Armstrong, who co-wrote this special. In most respects, it stays faithful to Franklin’s debut in the strip. However, it follows a trend in some of the new Apple Peanuts specials that moderates Charlie Brown’s born loser blockheadedness. Poor Charlie Brown just isn’t supposed to kick the football—ever.

Hazbin Hotel, on Prime Video

Apparently, even in Hell, nobody really believes in criminal rehabilitation. Charlie Morningstar is the exception. She can believe whatever she wants, because being Satan’s daughter technically makes her Princess of Hell. Unfortunately, nobody takes her earnest progressive reformist agenda seriously in Vivienne Medrano’s animated series Hazbin Hotel, which premieres tomorrow on Prime.

Every year, warring angels from Heaven sweep down on Hell to annihilate the (already dead) overflowing ranks of damned sinners and the demons who hold their souls in thrall. It is a horror show Morningside would like to avoid. Her vision is the “Happy Hotel,” where she will help rehab sinners, so they can climb that stairway back up to Heaven. Few believe it is possible and even fewer are willing to mend their wayward ways.

In addition to her girlfriend, Morningside has the “help” of Alastor, the “Radio Demon,” a powerful and mysterious overlord. The former 1920s radio star sounds somewhat like Rudy Vallee’s voice broadcast through his megaphone, which is a clever device. When he was mortal, Alastor was a New Orleans native, so he has good taste in music. Supposedly, he offered his services out of boredom, but it is pretty clear the demon has his own nefarious agenda.

One episode of Hazbin Hotel can be funny in a naughty, snarky kind of way, but the dark attitude quickly becomes exhausting. The barrage of crude sexual comments and explicit cursing simply does not wear well over time. One of the hotel’s first reluctant residents is “Angel Dust,” a gay adult film star—and boy, do they go there, a lot.

Hazbin also happens to be a musical, featuring a Broadway-style number in every episode. However, they cannot compete with Satan’s showstopper in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. The animation is colorful and lively, but the personalities viewers must spend time with are abrasive and/or annoying, especially including Morningstar. It really is the characters, not the setting, considering the superior charm of the animated feature Hell and Back. By far, the best voice performance is that of the great Keith David (who can make anything sound interesting) as Husk, the hotel bartender.

The Velveteen Rabbit, on Apple TV+

What do Rankin-Bass, Hanna-Barbera, pianist George Winston, and Don Bluth all now have in common with Magic Lantern Pictures (the producers of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom)? They have all worked on adaptations of Margey Williams children’s classic. Sadly, Bluth’s never came to fruition, but the latest from Magic Lantern might just become the definitive version. Jennifer Perrott’s The Velveteen Rabbit (with animation directed by Rick Thiele) also plays up Christmas, making it perfectly timed to premiere this Wednesday on Apple TV+.

While clocking in at a kid-friendly 45-minutes, this Velveteen Rabbit incorporates live-action with both stop-motion animation of the Rabbit interacting with the other toys and traditional cell animation of the floppy-eared mammal’s imaginary adventures with William. The lad is a shy and moody little boy, who is having trouble making friends in his new school. (You would think he would have no trouble making friends, because his family is clearly loaded, but so be it.)

Ever since William received the Rabbit as his first Christmas present in their sprawling new manor house, they have been inseparable. Yet, the snobby other toys look down on the Rabbit, because he lacks their shiny metallic parts. Nevertheless, when William gets sick, it is the Velveteen Rabbit who offers him comfort.

In some ways, Williams’ story is a bit of a downer. To the credit of all involved, including screenwriter Tom Bidwell, the Magic Lantern production stays faithful to the early 1920’s realities of Scarlet Fever. Yet, when you really think about it, the Rabbit’s ultimately reward definitely relates to some seriously Christmasy themes.

Curses!, on Apple TV+

The "restricted wing" of the Vanderhouven family mansion is sort of like the antique vault in Friday the 13^th: The Series (unrelated to the movies) or the sinister collection of demonic objects (like Annabelle) assembled by the Warrens in the Conjuring films. The difference is the Vanderhouvens want to deaccession their collection, returning the objects to where they came from. They have their reasons in creators Jim Cooper & Jeff Dixon’s ten-part animated series Curses!, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Twelve-year-old Pandora spends most of her time skateboarding through the halls of their stately, but eccentric mansion and devising new ways to act irresponsibly, while her older brother Russ concentrates on being a whiny introvert. Unbeknownst to them and their poor mother Sky, their father Alex is desperately researching occult means to reverse the curse afflicting the Vanderhouven family. Unfortunately, his time is up, which means he has been turned to stone.

When searching for their petrified father, the family discovers the restricted wing and meets his enchanted helpers: Larry, an eye-patch-sporting pirate skull and the more fastidious Stanley, a wooden totem or fetish. As they blunder around, the Vanderhouvens reawaken the powers of the collection amassed by Great-Grandfather Cornelius Vanderhouven, who was not unlike Uncle Louis Vendredi in Friday the 13^th. After corralling a wild baboon mask, the family deduces they might be able to reverse the curse, if they return all the antiquities Cornelius plundered to where they belong.

Curses has been billed as gateway horror for kids, but maybe fifty percent of the time, the series is more like tomb-raiding (or rather restoring) adventure. They even jet-set around in a Grumman Albatross piloted by their tough-talking no-questions-asked family pal, Margie. Probably the coolest and most truly horror-like episode takes the family into a rare Japanese painting inhabited by demons, but there is also an excursion to the Himalayas that adds clever mind- and time-bending dimensions.

Regardless, there is a good deal of intriguing magic and cosmic mayhem. Fittingly, the legendary Robert Englund supplies the voice of nasty old Cornelius, who will have a role to play in this nefarious business. The kids need to be grounded, but Larry and Stanley are guaranteed to charm eight- to twelve-year-olds. They also look very cool.

Shape Island: Creepy Cave Crawl, on Apple TV+

If you do not enjoy Halloween, you’re a square. That is literally true in this very young-skewing Apple TV+ series. In a Three Bears-like distribution, Square is miserable during Halloween, Triangle loves the holiday, especially the tricks, while Circle enjoys celebrating in responsible moderation. Circle will most likely have the right approach in Shape Island’s holiday special, “Creepy Cave Crawl,” which premieres this Friday on Apple TV+.

Basically, this is a late bonus episode for season one of Shape Island, but it is still nice to see Apple semi-revive the tradition of the animated holiday special (remember the B.C. Easter special?). The scares are all very gentle, but Triangle is still cruising for a Halloween bruising. Circle is usually more indulgent of his monster-themed pranks, but he is really pushing it this year. In fact, when he repurposes all the holiday jam she and Square just finished making for his haunted cave tour, they both storm out in a huff. That leaves Triangle alone with all the cave’s spooky inhabitants, who had been quietly watching them.

Of course, there is no gore or serious peril in “Creepy Cave Crawl.” At least this special is also refreshingly free of woke messaging and virtue signaling (I can’t vouch for the rest of the series). There is also enough pumpkin spice and innocent Halloween cos play to satisfy young viewers’ seasonal expectations.

The character designs (adapted from Jon Klassen’s illustrations for Barnett’s books) are obviously very simple, but they have distinct personalities. For older viewers, just seeing a Halloween special is sort of nostalgic. It makes you hungry for Dolly Madison Zingers. Nice and age-appropriate, “Creepy Cave Crawl” is recommended for kids when it starts streaming Friday (10/20) on Apple TV+.

Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, on Apple TV+

In terms of temperament, Marcie is probably the closest to poor Charlie Brown, but she is no blockhead and there is no way her best friend, Patricia Peppermint Patty would ever forget about her. Still, there are times she takes Marcie for granted. In fact, many of the shy, bookish girl’s insights go unappreciated in Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, the latest Peanuts special, which premieres tomorrow on Apple TV+.

Peppermint Patty is determined to win her school’s annual golf tournament, even though she has incredibly stiff competition from Snoopy. Her not-so-secret weapon is her caddy, Marice who can read greens and winds better than Bagger Vance. However, Marcie has other issues on her mind, like the insufficient number of pizza slices in the cafeteria at lunch time and the hall congestion in between periods that always makes the undersized underclassmen late for class. She has ideas to solve these problems, if people will listen to her.

One-of-a-Kind does not have an original song like the memorable title tune of It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown, but it is another good opportunity for a long-time supporting Peanuts character to get a turn in the spotlight. Marcie is definitely a sweet kid, who has many admirable traits worth emulating. Plus, her golf tips are surprisingly good for a cartoon character.

Of course, Snoopy rocks golf clothes like nobody’s business. He has relatively little screen-time in this special, but he makes the most of it. Screenwriter Betsy Walters does a nice job deepening Marcie’s relationship with Peppermint Patty, in ways that the Charles Shultz family clearly felt was in keeping with the original comic strips and their conception for the special.