Clarence

Clarence
"I'm the king of the World!!!"
Genre: Surreal comedy Slapstick Adventure Black comedy Running Time: 11 minutes Country: United States Release Date: April 14, 2014 - June 24, 2018 Network(s): Cartoon Network Created by: Skyler Page Distributed by: Warner Bros. Television Distribution Starring: Skyler Page Spencer Rothbell Sean Giambrone Tom Kenny Roger Craig Smith Katie Crown Eric Edelstein Seasons: 3 Episodes: 130

Clarence is an animated series created by Skyler Page, notoriously known for his immoral acts, for Cartoon Network. It aired episodes from April 14, 2014, to June 24, 2018, getting mixed to positive reviews among critics and audiences.

Plot

The series involves 10-year-old Clarence, a blonde fun-loving kid, as he stumbles into odd adventures and events, mostly with the fellowship of his BFFs: Sumo, the rabid-acting kid who comes from a broken family, and Jeff, the clever squared-head of the trio.

Why It Is the King of the World

1. As a point, the show does a good job of reviving everyone's childhood without appealing to the kids with today's stuff. In effect, the ambiance barely resembles something that came out from the '80s or '90s, or '2000s, as features even old things like Tamagotchis or old-school bonds.
2. Awesome animation that does another good job of feeling the show as it comes from those years, especially the 2000s.
3. While is not the funniest ever made, the humor can be decent with some well-delivered jokes.
4. Amazing voice acting.
5. Funny, well-written, and adorable characters such as:
   • Clarence is the optimistic kid who loves making friendships and exploring the outside, despite being way too clumsy.
   • Sumo acts as if he got rabid and is very destructive, yet still funny with an incredible friendship with Clarence and Jeff.
   • Jeff is the nicest character in the show as he is intelligent and likable, despite being the main butt-monkey of the show.
   • Belson is Cartoon Network's answer to Squidward as he can be grumpy and somewhat unfriendly to others, even though he has his justifications for acting like that.
   • Ms. Baker is the besieged teacher of Clarence.
   • Mary is a lovely mother to Clarence who gives him important morals and unluckily once went divorced.
   • Chad is Clarence's stepfather and is the funniest character of the show due to his high stupidity.
6. The theme song is watchable and catchy, and the outro has very relaxing new-age music.
7. Good chemistry between the characters. For example, Jeff and Sumo's conflicting relationship doesn't get in the way of friendship itself, mostly thanks to Clarence.
8. Every character has a distinct personality and design which helps to be more recognizable, like another CN show.
9. Clever plots for each episode. For example, one episode is animated and is a love letter to 30s cartoons, another features Clarence making his currency through the school, and another involves Clarence, Sumo, and Jeff taking care of a stray dog.
10. Colorful and detailed background design.
11. Lots of good/decent episodes, such as:
    • "Fun Dungeon Face Off" (which started the show decently)
    • "Pretty Great Day with a Girl"
    • "Money Broom Wizard"
    • "Lost in the Supermarket"
    • "Clarence Millions"
    • "Dinner Party"
    • "Dollar Hunt"
    • "Zoo"
    • "Rise 'n' Shine"
    • "Man of the House"
    • "Dream Boat"
    • "Slumber Party" (despite the bad and trollish ending)
    • "Nature Clarence"
    • "The Forgotten"
    • "Belson's Sleepover"
    • "Too Gross for Comfort" (despite having too much gross-out themes, albeit justified)
    • "Pilot Expansion"
    • "Goldfish Follies"
    • "Chimney"
    • "Tuckered Boys"
    • "Detention"
    • "Chalmers Santiago"
    • "Water Park"
    • "In Dreams"
    • "Balance"
    • "Spooky Boo" (which is a great way to finish season 1)
    • "The Interrogation" (which started Season 2 with high regard)
    • "Freedom Cactus"
    • "Plane Excited"
    • "Escape from Beyond the Cosmic"
    • "Ren Faire"
    • "Saturday School"
    • "Field Trippin'"
    • "Ice Cream Hunt"
    • "Clarence Wendle and the Eye of Coogan"
    • "Skater Sumo"
    • "Mystery Girl"
    • "Space Race"
    • "Plant Daddies"
    • "Bucky and the Howl"
    • "Tree of Life"
    • "Capture the Flag"
    • "Cloris"
    • Beside Manners
    • "Pizza Hero" (which positively concluded season 2)
    • "Sumo Goes West" (a nice way to kick off season 3)
    • "Rock Show"
    • The "Clarence's Stormy Sleepover" miniseries
    • "Pool's Out for Summer"
    • "Chad and the Marathon"
    • "The Trade"
    • "A Nightmare on Aberdale Street: Balance's Revenge"
    • "A Sumoful Mind"
    • "Anywhere But Sumo" (which ended the series on a decent note)
12. It's one of the best and most innovative series aired during the Cartoon Network's dark age, and that says a lot.
13. The studio outro logo is creative as it features Clarence in a stick.

Bad Qualities

1. Due to what the creator has done, unfortunately, this show didn't age well.
2. Many scenes could be too awkward, disturbing, scary, confusing, or strange for a show made for everyone, especially the ones that involve Clarence's imagination, which got the show banned in Kenya.
3. Some occasional bad/mediocre episodes, such as:
   • "Jeff's New Toy"
   • "Honk"
   • "Average Jeff"
   • "Neighborhood Grill"
   • "Patients"
   • "Nothing Ventured"
   • "Jeff Wins"
   • "Goose Chase"
   • "Straight Illin" (the worst episode of the series)
   • "Hurricane Dilliss"
   • "Hairence"
   • "Li'l Buddy"
   • "Where the Wild Chads Are"
   • "Breehn Ho!"
   • "The Big Petey Pizza Problem"
   • "The Break Up"
   • "Lost Playground"
   • "Game Show"
   • "Dullance"
   • "Jeff's Secret"
   • "Worm Bin"
   • "Clarence and Sumo's Rexcellent Adventure"
   • "Valentimes"
   • "Gilben's Different"
   • "Animal Day"
   • "Dog King Clarence"
4. Despite his redeeming qualities, Clarence himself can be quite dumb and hateful of his naivety, along with other characters in the show. Clarence is one of the polarizing protagonist who only caused trouble to his friends, thus making him an obscure character than a main character than Chowder from the said show.
   • As stated before, Belson is the most despicable character in the show.
   • Other characters like Ms. Shoop, Joshua, and Sandy are unlikable as they are treated like garbage.
   • Mostly Joshua and Belson can be unlikable.
5. There is a lot of gross-out and fart humor here, although not too much as this show has.
6. The second half of Season 1 wasn't that good compared to the first half and the other seasons.
7. The voice acting cannot be very good at times. Clarence's voice doesn't fit the nature of his character, sporting an awkward Elmer Fudd speech impediment that sounds too deep for a kid, although this drops after Season 1. Sumo's voice is pretty unfitting too, sporting a nasally Beavis-like voice. Percy's voice is too whinny sounding and the background character, who is a little girl was voiced by a man.
8. The Romanian dub is mediocre.
9. The art style can be seen as ugly for some viewers.
   • Some of the title cards can scare viewers, especially Neighborhood Grill, Balance, Time Crimes, etc.

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