The latest cartoon from Nickelodeon, Middlemost Post seems like it could fit in with the network's library of wacky cartoons. Upon watching the show, however, I find this to be among the worst shows Nickelodeon has to offer. From the awful writing to the annoying characters, this is a package that should've never left the mail room.
Created by John Trabbic III, Middlemost Post follows the escapades of a happy-go-lucky main character with his dimwitted friend, his cost cutting boss, and a deadpan neighbor as they try and brighten everyone's day with excellent service while also foiling the plans of a short, green, arrogant antagonist. Sound familiar?! It should because this show has almost the exact same set up as Nickelodeon's flagship cartoon, SpongeBob! The creators either didn't realize the similarities or didn't care. Either way, this makes the show come off as a shameless rip-off like Coconut Fred before it. Execution-wise, there are differences, but the biggest difference between the two is SpongeBob has a good execution and Middlemost Post does NOT! Each episode is just 11 minutes of the characters doing the most mundane stuff and it drags the pacing to a crawl. Want to see characters wait in line for some toast? Or characters racing a robot that cheats? Or better yet, characters trying to get across a curmudgeon's front lawn full of traps? No? Well that's too dang bad! That's exactly what you're getting with this show. Common sense is thrown out the window along with good world building and funny jokes. This world isn't well explored or fleshed out and the inhabitants are a bunch of mindless sheep. Then there's the humor, which is painfully unfunny as it relies heavily on gross out, butt jokes and obvious subversions. This show was already fighting a losing battle by being too similar to SpongeBob, but it lost my interest immediately because it's not even a well written show on it's own.
The characters are so annoying, sitting in a room full of woodpeckers would be more enjoyable. Starting with our leading cloud, Parker is a happy-go-lucky kid who likes doing good and helping others. While that sounds like he's a likable character, in practice his a loud, annoying and stupid twerp that's overdramatic about the smallest issues and values his boss' opinion way too much. Speaking off his boss, Angus is the rule abiding captain that Parker worships. He's also unfunny, not assertive, stubborn and pretty stupid. And the fact that he wastes an entire episode staring off into space while assuming the worst that could happen without his beanie makes me like him less as a character. Russell is the dimwitted walrus that has all the mail in her gut, Lily is a deadpan shop keeper whose personality begins and ends with her monotone voice, Miss Pam is the snarky owner of the local dinner, and Mayor Peeve is an evil politician that tries and fails to get rid of the Middlemost Post because his ego forbids him to get a life.
The voice acting is pretty good, though it could be better. Becky Robinson puts on a very convincing boyish voice, though I'd direct her to give a little more energy in her performance. John DiMaggio was excellent as Angus, making him sound gruff but friendly in his delivers. Kiren's monotone voice works for Lily, but I think she needs more voice acting practice to really go above and beyond what's expected. Colton Dunn did a good job voicing Peeve, though his voice could've been a little more gruff. While the voice acying isn't bad, it could use better voice direction.
Visually, this show has some really good animation provided by Yowza! Animation in collaboration with Nick. The character designs are very well crafted with them having different body times, big expressive mouths and appropriate attire. I really like how Parker and morph into anything at will and the animators do a really good job at showcasing his morphing powers. The character animation follows very natural with great use if squash and stretch and really good visual effects. The backgrounds are also very well detailed with the ship and the town looking like it has history and all the lands looking very distinct from one another. It's not enough to save the show, but the animation is still really good.
It'd be one thing if this show was just bad, but this show goes a step further and is shamelessly bad! Middlemost Post is a shameless SpongeBob rip-off with awful writing, annoying characters, and atrocious humor. Even with good animation and voice acting, this is still inferior in every way to the Sponge. You're better off just watching every episode of SpongeBob twice than sitting through one second of Middlemost Post -.-
