A.N.T. Farm

I cannot see how this show even passed the drawing board. I know Disney has had poor taste lately but this just adds to the idea of failure. Basically, the show is a bunch of pre-teens who are in an advanced program set at their local high school. One of them is a musical prodigy even though it is blatantly obvious that she cannot play any of those instruments. The other is a person who can memorize everything they see and hear. That is not exactly likely. The jokes are cheesy and overdone. I cannot see that plan even passing in the real world. Where do you get enough geniuses to create this program? The acting is lousy and very overly dramatic. Just skip A.N.T. Farm.

I have watched Disney Channel since I was 6. At that age, they had some good shows, like Lizzie McGuire and That's So Raven, and Phil of the Future and Life With Derek, as well as So Weird, also worked too. However, with the birth of "Hannah Montana," Disney went majorly down-hill. Wizards and Good luck Charlie were amusing and tolerable, but Fish Hooks is really stupid and annoying -and Shake it Up?!?! Come on, I loathe the THEME SONG of that...that...(It's so dumb I cannot even call it a show.) However, A.N.T. Farm (and maybe their new show,Jessie) may bring Disney, while not to its former prime (that can never happen again), at least a bigger fan base and less patheticness.I think A.N.T. Farm is, while sometimes cheesy,Cute, eye catching, and watchable! I like the principal a LOT, and Wacky The Wolf random appearances,well...that's ant-tastic! Hahahahahahahahhaaaaaaaa! OK, that's enough random ANT-humor.

Advanced Natural Talent, that's what an ANT is in the world of high school Magic Kingdom style. Some of these kids are stretching the boundaries of what might be talent. One young lady has a photographic memory, another kid makes robots, one is an aspiring gymnast. But our protagonist young Chyna Ann McLain only sings beautifully. All the kids are too young for high school and none of them really fit in, nor do the others try. In fact one of them is Carlon Jeffrey who is Chyna's older brother and he's more of a traditional misfit.

ANT Farm is neither the best or the worst of Disney's juvenile comedy shows. It's like Hannah Montana in that it really only comes alive when a very talented young lady like Miley Cyrus opens up and sings.

I had no high hopes for this show, and I was right, this show is awful. Let me start with the characters, we have: The smart fun girl(Chyna Parks); The crazy wacky Girl (Olive Doyle) ; And the Guy who hangs out with them (Fletcher Quimby) and has a crush on Chyna. Hasn't iCarly already done this? The characters are 2 dimensional, by that I mean they have no deep character what-so-ever. The acting is mediocre and sounds too forced and fake, making the show quite bad in general. Also, the premise is very simple and plain, I'm assuming the idea was: "Hey! How about we take middle-schoolers, and put them in High School! Genius!" The comedy is very dull and annoying, relying on randomness and visual gags. For example, Chyna opens her locker and a bunch of plastic balls fall out; Fletcher paints his teacher as a skeleton, etc. This show also uses young children in attempt to connect to the audience, which doesn't work.

Take my advice, watch something else.

As much as I did grow up on Disney, I do dislike most of the stuff on the Disney Channel nowadays. I do like very much Sonny with a Chance, Good Luck Charlie and Phineas and Ferb, but there are some like Hannah Montana and Shake it Up that I can't stand, I find those shows irritating and unfunny.

I actually wasn't expecting much from A.N.T Farm, but got far more than I expected and in a good way. I can understand though why some mayn't like A.N.T. Farm, some of it is cheesy(with a rather edgy reference to Satan at one point) and the pilot episode is not as funny or as exciting as the other episodes(the haunted locker episode was one of the better episodes).

That said, I do think A.N.T. Farm has potential to grow. A lot of TV series when they first start are rocky to start with, and get better until they're great. Although A.N.T. Farm has only just started, it's not bad, in fact I like it.

For instance, the production values are well above average, with trendy fashions, sets that don't look tacky and good(if not award-worthy) photography. The music is also very memorable and catchy, with nice melodies and lyrics that make sense and are intelligible.

The writing is amusing mostly, some of it is cheesy, but the dialogue does make me laugh and the jokes are not as clichéd or as stale as they can be on some Disney Channel shows. The story lines may have some predictable moments, but overall they're interesting and well paced.

I personally really like the characters. Chyna is very charismatic and fun, and the actress who plays her seems to be having a ball playing her, but my favourites are Lexi and Olive, played very appealingly by Stefanie Scott and Sierra McCormick. Paisley, Gibson and especially Fletcher are also fun characters. The actors do have chemistry, and I was most surprised by the singing, the lead actress has real talent and could go a long way with a voice like that.

In conclusion, this show to start with is not perfect, but it's far better than expected and has room to grow. 8/10 Bethany Cox