Superman on Television

Krypto The Superdog: Episode Reviews

Season 2 - Episode 12: Mechanikalamity/Barrump Barrump

Reviewed by: Mike Poteet

Actors & Roles this episode:
Samuel Vincent - Krypto
Alberto Ghisi - Kevin
Scott McNeil - Ignatius/Ace the Bathound
Brian Drummond - Streaky the Cat
Tabitha St. Germain - Andrea/Melanie
Mark Oliver - Mechanikat

Mechanikalamity

Written by: Unknown
Directed by: Unknown

No doubt still smarting from some previous, protracted, controversial recount involving hanging and dimpled catnip, Mechanikat is running for the office of president of the Intergalactic Villains' Club. Seeing that his incumbent opponent, Glurg (a green, tentacled creature who resembles the Flying Spaghetti Monster of Internet fame), enjoys insurmountable public support from the cosmos' most notorious critter criminals, Mechanikat upgrades his armor to become "Mega-Mechanikat" - the operator of a giant-sized, fully robotic version of himself. Seated in the robot's head, Mechanikat buries himself on a small planet - conveniently coated with "just enough kryptonite dust" to render his nemesis helpless - and sends a false distress signal. Krypto and Ace the Bat-Hound fall for the trap, but - with the help of new spacesuits from the Dog Stars - are eventually able to defeat Mechanikat, sending him back to the Intergalactic Villains' Club just in time to endure the bitter humiliation of inadvertently casting his own vote for President Glurg's re-election.

Comments: The youngest viewers will especially enjoy watching the antics that Krypto makes the Mega-Mechanikat armor perform once he gets hold of Mechanikat's remote control.

Quotable Quote: "Glurg is a wanted criminal in sixteen galaxies!" "And he always brings those crispy rice treats to our meetings!" - two of the intergalactic villains on Glurg's qualifications for office.

Barrump Barrump

Written by: Mosa Kaleel, Nancy Joslin Kaleel
Directed by: Scott Jeralds

Brainy Barker leaves a "time-stopper" with Krypto and Kevin for safekeeping - a device that resembles the old electronic "Simon" game (ah, the 1980s!) but that actually works just like the stopwatch that caused Burgess Meredith so much trouble in that one "Twilight Zone" episode. Instead of stowing the device in Krypto's rocket for safekeeping, in order to keep it out of the hands of the monkey Barrump Barrump (whom Brainy describes as "the biggest prankster in the gallery," thus proving that the producers of "Krypto" haven't gotten around to introducing an animal equivalent of Mr. Mxyztplk - one can only hope for season three!), Kevin - with logic worthy of the Silver Age Jimmy Olsen ("Jeepers! Superman brought back glowing candy from an alien world! Think I'll eat some!") - uses the device to buy extra time for cleaning his room, catching the school bus, and skipping math class. He also decides to keep the time-stopper in his hip pocket, enabling its inevitable fall into Barrump Barrump's hot little paws. In the end, Kevin and Krypto manage to trick the trickster (ah, the time-honored literary motifs!) by pretending to be frozen, allowing Krypto to snatch the time-stopper away from the mischievous monkey. Comments: Maybe I'm being too hard on a kids' show, but surely there could have been a better resolution than one that involves our heroes depending on the whims of the villain of the piece. What if Barrump Barrump's final push of the time-stopper's buttons had been to freeze time rather than unfreeze it? The galaxy would still not be safe!

Quotable Quote: "This is the greatest invention since the cartoon!" - Kevin, on the time-stopper.



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