I’ve mentioned previously that I recently started writing for a great website called MonstersAndCritics.com.  I thought this weekend, I would share a couple of my first articles that appeared there. Here’s my first one, found at this link:

>>’Unnatural History’ Adds ‘Life’ To The Cartoon Network

For a while, the Cartoon Network has been trying to add live-action programs to their line-up.

While the early experiments didn’t fare very well, the unscripted shows Destroy Build Destroy and Dude, What Would Happen? have become solid hits for the channel.

Then, too, Ben 10: Race Against Time, a live-action version of an animated series, also did well back in 2007.

So it is no surprise that the CN has added Unnatural History to its line-up, with new episodes airing on Tuesday nights.

Here’s the program’s overview, as provided by tv.com:

“This show follows Henry Griffin, a teenager with skills acquired through years of traveling the world with his anthropologist parents. He must now use those skills to move back to America and attend a public high school in Washington D.C. With the help of his cousin Jasper and his friend Maggie, Henry uses the skills he learned around the world to solve the modern mysteries of high school.”

Unnatural History has been described as “Indiana Jones by way of Freaks And Geeks.” The good thing is that the teens—Henry Griffin played by Kevin G. Schmidt; Jasper Bartlett by Jordan Gavaris, and Maggie Winnock by Italia Ricci—are very believable and “natural” as the show’s leads.

Henry is the “fish out of water” in the bunch, so he sees things without any pop culture prism, unlike Jasper, who is a techno-geek. Maggie serves as moderator between these two extremes and they have quite a nice balance among them.

Each week, much like Warehouse 13, the teens encounter “unnatural history” in the form of a book, a gem or an some other item in the museum where Henry serves as a volunteer.

The episode I have enjoyed the most to date is “Fountain Of Youth,” in which someone is using Ponce De Leon’s discovery to help win a basketball game. (Hey, they are teens, after all!)

There’s an interesting mystery going on, and I was pleasantly surprised by who was behind it and why. I also like the titles of many of the episodes. An upcoming show is called “Thor’s Slammer.” (Someone’s been keeping tabs on upcoming movies, apparently).

Another is named “Curse Of The Rolling Stone,” which I doubt any of the younger audience will get the joke about. Anyone else remember Dr. Hook’s famous song?

Yes, there’s something of a formula each week as we see Henry learning more about his past coupled with a self-contained “unnatural” event. But the pacing is good, the writing is crisp and the actors do a great job of believing what they are saying.

It’s a good show that makes me wonder why they don’t change the name of the CN to something more inclusive, like Syfy did not so long ago.

If Unnatural History continues to be a success for CN, look out for Tower Prep, which debuts in the fall.

Unnatural History airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Cartoon Network.<<

And here’s a video about the show:


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