Crazy Fun Park

I absolutely loved this show, and I watched all ten episodes over a couple of days as soon as I stumbled on it on ABC iView.

I found the tone to be fairly light-hearted, and yet, this is a show about (mostly) dead teenagers (or rather, their ghosts) - and as the way they each died unravelled, you may shed some tears like I did. There are some heavy themes throughout, but they were handled with such grace and compassion by the writers and producers of this show.

I definitely would caution parents of young children against watching this, unless you're all ready for some pretty big questions about death, mental health, and the meaning of life.

I thought the acting was wonderful as well, even the characters who seemed less "animated" - this felt intentional.

I know this only just came out, but I very much hope there will be a season 2! :)

After Mapplethorpe dies in a feat of stupidity at an abandoned carnival, best friend Chester discovers that Mapplethorpe "lives" each night from dusk til dawn, trapped at the park with a group of other ghostly teenagers who met similar fates. Chester sneaks off to visit nightly -- which interferes with his schooling -- and each episode delves into the life and death of a different character.

I went into this blind and was gripped practically from the start. The characters are lovable, there's not one weak link in the cast (Stacy Clausen is a standout as Mapplethorpe, and Judith Lucy chews the scenery as Chester's teacher/counselor), it moves at a brisk pace, there are some really funny moments, plenty of well-structured drama, and a whole lot of heart. My only two criticisms are that Nimrod's storyline devolved into pure schmaltz, and the big mystery surrounding leader Remus ultimately felt sort of... meh.

The thing that I kept thinking was that it reminded me of the 1980s vampire classic "The Lost Boys." That's certainly not intended as an insult, nor did it seem like some blatant ripoff, but there's a similar dramedy tone and many of the same elements.

With just dead air and bad reality shows coming out of Hollywood at the moment, this Aussie miniseries was a welcome surprise. Highly recommended.

This show is an amazing idea that is executed as poorly as possible. To begin, Mapplethorle is downright abusive to his friend yet were asked to sympathize with him. This, in tandem with Clausen's over-acting makes for a downright unbearable character. I'm a HUGE fan of inclusion but this shows hyper fixation is so obsessive that, instead of utilizing it naturally, it turns entire episodes into lectures on pronouns and relationships, which actually stands in its own way. This show celebrates an abusive friendship and fails to find the nuance it needs to make an impact. Absolutely worth skipping.

I went into this not really expecting anything since the Goosebumps re-release was such a disappointment.

I went into it with even less expectation because it was Australian. But I was hopeful since it was Australian and I did not know any of the actors so you do not get bogged down with their personal opinions.

It was going well until episodes 5 or 6 where it starts to show more of the B characters personalities, stories and coupling traits. And then by episode 7 we started with the grammar lessons.

From there you are so distracted and irritated by that unwanted and un-useful injected information that you are annoyed and just quit.

I went in blindly with low expectations and I was not disappointed. This show is a hidden gem! There are no particularly unlikable characters, and once we see their backstories they each get more interesting. I am also surprised at the LGBT representation, it was shockingly good! The acting was good, the storyline was full of heart and even made me shed some tears.

It's certainly not for everyone, but I still highly recommend watching this. The themes of loss and grief might lean into more mature audiences, but isn't exactly a horror series. Some aforementioned themes and visual effects here and there could be a little bit unsettling for some.

For some bad stuff (and this is pretty nitpicky,) some things just get forgotten. I'd give some examples but that's kind of hard to do keeping this review spoiler free. As much as I wish for a season 2, the ending was perfectly fine. I wish this show can get an actual fanbase that I could talk about the show with.

Sorry if this review is a bit ranty, but I just love this show so much.