Puppy Dog Pals: Does Not Hold Well After Two Years

5:53 PM · Jun 12, 2021 "it's another "i wish this show was done in 2d" ep"

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been kind of dreading talking about Puppy Dog Pals. It's been two years since I finished the show, and honestly, it wasn't memorable at all. I could talk about my theories with kid shows, and how well this one appeals to adults, which it really doesn't outside the positivity and irony factors, and even then the show gets too stressful for my blood.

6:40 PM · Jun 12, 2021 "realizing puppy dog pals is just a stressful version of rugrats"
6:53 PM · Jun 12, 2021 "hating puppy dog pals for the same irrational reasons that i hate the middle"

I could talk about the lore development of the Puppy Dog Pals, going from two dogs (Bingo and Rolly) who travel the world, to a bunch of dogs hanging out at Puppy Play Care, but I feel like I've done that before.

6:06 PM · Jun 13, 2021 "the show seems to improve with seasons, but it is still privy to that disney baby show thing where they have to have lore. in this show it's adding new characters and settings. season 2 has keia, season 3 has the puppy play care. i'm told two new puppies join the cast in s4."

I could talk about the merchandising, and how there's so many toys and backpacks from this show, the last thing I saw at my Disney store before it closed being a ton of Bingo and Rolly toys.

I could talk about recurring character Keia, one of the first friends the puppies make, who I apparently adored, but retained absolutely nothing about.

11:29 PM · Jun 13, 2021 "keia's character development"
11:32 PM · Jun 13, 2021 "cupcake is a shitgirl but she has no likeable traits.... i dont feel positively about any of these characters except frank and keia"
12:28 AM · Jun 14, 2021 "keia is kind of the dewey duck of puppy dog pals but she's funny about it"

I could talk about Bulworth, a minor character played by Huey Lewis, known 2014 beefucker, and man who rode a train without a credit card. I could talk about how he helps the puppies on multiple occasions, like when Bingo gets lost in St. Louis.

12:08 AM · Jun 14, 2021 "why is it when bingo ends up lost and all alone it's in a beautiful place but when I end up lost and all alone it's always in a snowy industrial place?"
12:09 AM · Jun 14, 2021 "this ep takes place in st louis and is about huge lewis"

I could also talk about how much money Disney must be paying him for a gig like that, and recall the one time I saw Huey Lewis live. 18 years old. Blisters on my feet. A rich man praising me for ordering a cheap meal at a restaurant on his dime when his stepkids ordered expensive pizzas and didn't finish them beforehand. Sitting in front of a moshpit mostly full of children while my dad is off somewhere else. Watching a rich restauranteur's son, he's 30 or 40 years old, play guitar with Huey Lewis. For the son, it's a dream come true. Huey Lewis is miserable, but at least he's getting paid. Was he like that with this show? I know I'll never know, but I have to wonder...

But I think I'll start by talking about the one thing I actually remember from this show: The once-an-episode song. 

It's kind of annoying, but it does have its charm.

7:08 PM · Jun 12, 2021 "godzilla AND mothra"

6:03 PM · Jun 13, 2021 "it's funny bc i hate the theme and the mission song but these in betweens are cute"

Every episode has its own sort of couch gag in the middle of the song where Bingo and Rolly do something either related to their destination, the episode, or they just make a silly joke. And I think that, along with the song itself is gonna be what sticks in most people's minds when they think about this show.

Of course, this is true for me and this show, but when I think about the preschool cartoons I was raised with, did I remember the deep interpersonal dynamics and toilet seat obsessions of the cast of PB&J Otter? Fuck no, all I remembered was the Noodle Dance. Back when I worked with kids, a bunch of them only remembered the songs from Little Einsteins whenever the show was brought up.

On one hand, I kind of get it. They make the most annoying song to get you to come back, because when you're a little kid, the repetition is nice, but the cost is when you grow up, it's all you remember about the show. But on the other hand, I feel a little sad that all that's left of some of these shows, even ones that aren't that great like PB&J Otter or Puppy Dog Pals, is this knowledge of the songs and this understanding that the thing was "your childhood" without any further nuance is something that saddens me, and I can't help but feel a little disappointed that this is really all I remember from Puppy Dog Pals.

Well, except the humans.

4:39 PM · Jun 11, 2021 "which of you bastards kinassigned me this man"

 

 

 

 

 

 

5:52 PM · Jun 12, 2021 "bob would never be a scar character bc he runs out of bread whereas my bread simply goes bad"
5:42 PM · Jun 13, 2021 "BOB IS A VOLUNTEER?"
5:51 PM · Jun 13, 2021 "bob is so fucking cereal it hurts"
11:38 PM · Jun 13, 2021 "i feel like bob would be an nft guy..."

Bob, as he's referred to in the theme song is "a guy ... who makes up inventions." Which I presume is used for some of the more fantastical elements of the show. Though honestly, while his inventions sort of help explain the world the dogs live in, I really see him more as an excitable baseball nerd. One of his prized possessions is an autographed baseball by player Marcus Bestie, and yet the dude goes out of his way to get.... a second baseball autographed by Marcus Bestie. 

12:13 AM · Jun 14, 2021 "bob honey you already have an autographed baseball by this man."
12:14 AM · Jun 14, 2021 "MARCUS BESTIE....."
12:15 AM · Jun 14, 2021 "trading ep"
12:28 AM · Jun 14, 2021 "bob's favorite foods
-baseball
-ketchup
-his keys
-bouncy balls"

But as silly as Bob is, he holds no candle to the greatest this show has to offer, the Expositions.

These guys are great, especially the husband, Frank! They're some of the first human characters you meet in the show that aren't Bob, and you quickly notice that these guys travel all over the world with the pups, usually spouting facts about the location we've ended up in, and also very excited to see the sights and try the foods in that sort of way one does whenever they're in a show made for toddlers. Honestly, seeing Frank and Esther is my favorite part of any episode, and it's a bit sad, because as the pups stay home more often, they show up less and less.

Ultimately, very little with regards to Puppy Dog Pals kept, but I guess that isn't a huge deal, because I wasn't particularly keen on it to begin with. It's really just a forgettable preschool show.

Overall Rating for Puppy Dog Pals: D Tier