Dog with a Blog
Dog with a Blog is an American comedy television series that aired on Disney Channel, premiering on October 12, 2012 and ending on September 25, 2015. The series stars G. Hannelius, Blake Michael, Francesca Capaldi, Regan Burns and Beth Littleford, and also features the voice of Stephen Full.
Plot
Set in Pasadena, California, Avery Jennings' mother, Ellen, had just married Tyler and Chloe James' father, Bennett, so now the new family needs to make some adjustments on living together. They face an even bigger adjustment when they discover that their new dog, Stan, can talk. Only Avery, Tyler, and Chloe know this. Unbeknownst to the family, Stan also has a blog where he discusses happenings in the Jennings-James household. The children learn of Stan's talking ability in the first episode and agree to keep it a secret from their parents, fearing if the world finds out that Stan can talk, he will be taken away for experimentation.
Why It's Bad With a Blog!
- The plot makes no sense half of the time. A talking dog would work better for an animated show instead of a live-action sitcom
- Like most modern live-action sitcoms, the laugh track plays too often.
- The plot isn't very original, but rather generic, as shows and movies about talking dogs and secrets have been done countless times before and are still done a lot to this day.
- Some of the characters are unlikeable, especially Avery herself.
- Some of the characters have no personality nor originality in them.
- For example, Avery is so wayward and pretentious.
- Like other teen sitcom families, the family in this show doesn't really love each other and are very hateful towards each other, especially Avery towards Tyler. We're not saying that they need to be perfect little angels, but come on!
- It has a very mean-spirited episode called "Stan Steals Christmas", where Stan steals the kids' presents and buries them in the park to teach them a lesson on arguing at each other, but the plan backfires once the kids' presents are donated to a toy drive.
- The acting can be laughable at times.
- There are a lot of fake "heartwarming" moments and other unfunny scenes.
- Weak and unfunny humor that falls face flat.
- Stan's blog doesn't even have a huge purpose in the show, so the title doesn't make sense. Not to mention, the show focuses more on the family than it does on Stan making the title even more nonsensical.
Good Qualities
- Stan is a cute, very comedic, incredibly expressive, and likable character.
- While Stan's blogs sadly don't have a huge purpose of the story when it's the title of the show, every blog Stan makes about his stories are done in an interesting and also done in a funny way at times (whether they are hit-or-miss), in fact, it is arguably the best part of the show and they are a lot more intriguing than the plot itself or the bland, unfunny episodes that ensue.
- Decently well-done and catchy theme song.
- Some genuinely funny moments here and there.
- The special effects of Stan talking is actually pretty good. And not so poorly made and looks unlike another show with cheap effects.
- The idea itself sounds somewhat interesting but was poorly executed.
- It can be so bad it's good to some viewers.
- Some good/tolerable episodes here and there.
- The episode, "Cat With a Blog" shows the Jennings-James family's lives going downhill without Stan around.
- The series finale "Stan's Secret Is Out" was a good way to end the show.