jandsm5321

Since the movie industry has gotten so gross with their content and messaging in movies lately I had my doubts. Surely there was going to be some garbage thrown in... but by the end I was really impressed. I like it much more than the older Wonka shows and would love to see a sequel.

We had a blast with the music and the kids have been singing the songs regularly since we watched it. I didn't realize how broadway it was going to be, but I actually like that about it. It's very silly and over the top in a great way, the scenes and colors go to extremes, like a play tends to do.

We found the villains hilarious like you would find in a melodrama, not crossing into the scary or sinister at all. I think Hugh Grant delivered a great performance as well.

My only complaint was it had a little more potty humor than I care for... which really isn't much compared to the things I don't like about most of the movies released these days.

We originally found the show because we were were looking for things that include the goofy version of Steve Zahn (like Sahara or That Thing You Do).

The description seemed interesting, and it had a good start. The main character was learning to cope with his social anxiety, and it had supporting characters dealing with disabilities or weaknesses of their own. It seemed pretty genuine, validating for people that had such disabilities even. The special effects depictions of having panic attacks felt over the top though.

But sadly after a few episodes the main character, Noah, started making absurd leaps in his progress. It killed the point of the show and made it look way to easy to deal with social anxiety. Then it became evident the writers were pushing him to a place where all the characters could all start obsessing about dating... at 11 years old. It's sad to see the show creators perpetuating the lie that kids they need to be in a physical relationship with somebody to be normal or happy. Sure, by the end of the season they make a brief mention of "maybe I don't need to be dating now" but when you spend so much time focused on the opposite message, that's the message your teaching, not the "moral" you toss in at the end.

So ya, sadly I don't recommend it. Once the writers threw in the love triangle they started pushing the drama to really absurd levels that made no sense... like having the characters make painfully dumb choices. The dad fit right into the "men are dumb" stereotype the movie industry loves to portray. Still it's nice to see a show with parents that are genuinely trying to care for each other and their kids.