Sidekick

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Sidekick
Sidekickposter.png
Welcome to Splittsboro, where every single superhero is an unlikable jerk.
Genre: Comedy
Action
Adventure
Fantasy
Superhero
Running Time: 22 minutes (2 11-minute segments)
Country: Canada
Release Date: September 3, 2010 – September 14, 2013
Network(s): YTV
Created by: Todd Kauffman
Joey So
Distributed by: Nelvana Enterprises
Starring: Miklos Perlus
Christian Potenza
Denise Oliver
Stephanie Anne Mills
Ron Pardo
Tony Daniels
Seasons: 3
Episodes: 52 (104 segments)


Sidekick is a Canadian animated television comedy series created by Todd Kauffman (former co-director of Total Drama, and later co-creator of Grojband and Looped) and Joey So. The series ran from September 3, 2010, to September 14, 2013, on YTV. In the US it airs on Cartoon Network and in the UK it airs on CBBC. The series is based on the original shorts originally titled The Not-So-Superheroic Adventures of Sidekick aired as part of the 2005 TV series, Funpak.

Premise

Sidekick centers on an orphan boy named Eric Needles, with his best friend Trevor Troublemeyer and his two female friends, Vana Glama and Kitty Ko, who are training to become sidekicks at the Academy for Aspiring Sidekicks in the city of Splittsboro. While dealing with intense sidekick training, Eric must also contend with his strict guardian Maximum Brain, his grumpy teacher Professor Pamplemoose, the evil Master XOX, and keeping the disappearance of his superhero mentor, Maximum Man.

Why It's a Terrible Sidekick

  1. To begin with, the main problem with the show is that it's way too mean-spirited to the main protagonist as every episode just has him being tortured by every single character for no reason to the point where it makes it unwatchable.
  2. It has very messed up and horrible messages:
    • "If you do something wrong, you get off scot-free, but if you haven't done anything wrong, you get punished by torture."
    • "Who cares how you act? Looks are more important than behavior."
  3. Aside from being mean-spirited, the show is also littered with everyone being a hypocrite and an idiot.
  4. The animation, while good and decent, was pretty cheap and lazy in the first season.
  5. It tends to be inappropriate at times.
    • Even worse is that just like Fanboy & Chum Chum, it tends to overuse gross-out humor in most episodes, especially in episodes like "My Brother, My Pimple". Examples are, but are not limited to:
      • Almost any scene that involves Trevor.
      • Eric having smelly feet in the episode "Match Dot Com".
      • A gross close-up of Kitty's snot-covered tie in the episode "The Heartbreak Golly-Gee Kid".
      • A fart joke, which happens at the very beginning of "Everybody is Side-Fu Fighting".
      • Vana and Kitty, in turtle form, having a burping and then a farting contest in "Eric and Trevor’s Mediocre Adventure". This scene, however, was censored in reruns on Qubo.
      • Kitty licking the sludge off of Eric's window in the episode "What's He Hiding".
      • The entirety of "My Brother, My Pimple", which focuses on Eric getting a mutated pimple brother named Derek. He even pops him at the end.
      • Trevor's close-up view of his disgusting thighs in "Master XOX Ray Vision".
      • Master XOX kissing Eric's feet in the episode "OppoXOX".
      • A gross close-up of Eric's unwashed hand in the episode "Vapo House".
      • Superbaby soiling his diaper, which happens frequently.
  6. The writing is mediocre and lackluster, as it just relies on the same old "Yank the Dog's Chain" plot device that is seen in some cartoons. As such, the series is filled to the brim with a handful of bad or mediocre episodes, such as:
  7. Almost every character is unlikable and dull, except for Eric Needles and Kitty Ko.
    • Trevor Troublemeyer is perhaps the worst character in the whole show, because he does something wrong, and he refused to take responsibility for his terrible actions, so he frames them all on Eric. It's to the point where this character is making Jake Spidermonkey look like a saint.
    • Vana Glama is your generic mean popular girl, but her selfish attitude and hatred towards nerds have been taken to the extreme, and not even people like Trixie Tang would be this harmful (except in "Just the Two of Us").
    • While likable, Kitty Ko is a creepy stalker to Eric due to her obsessive crush on him.
    • Professor Pamplemoose is just too mean to Eric, especially when he constantly gives him F's, even when the answers are right. Sound familiar?
    • Maxum Brain is just your generic caretaker without any charm, unlike Elder Kettle from Cuphead. What's worse is that he never defends Eric for something Trevor did and just blames it all on him.
    • Alan Amazing is your generic handsome guy that people go gaga over. He does something wrong, and gets off scot-free, just because "looks matter more than behavior".
    • Kid Ruthless is your generic bully who's praised just because he raps. He's also a rip-off of Buford from Phineas and Ferb.
    • Not even the superheroes are likable.
      • Maxum Man is very mean and selfish towards Golly Gee Kid and even Maxum Brain.
      • Savannah Glama is a horrible sister to Vana Glama.
    • While likable, Eric Needles himself can be selfish and lazy on his own, and didn't bother to clean up his room.
      • In one episode, he even blamed Trevor for his actions, but even this is justified, since Trevor himself completely deserves that (as karma), meaning Eric is still likable in said episode.
  8. While the voice acting is decent, it can be lackluster and annoying at times (ex: any scene whenever Vana screams or mainly Eric's voice sometimes).
  9. Constant recycling of character models. Certain scenes have the same character models of the background characters at their school and just reuse the same character model without being recolored. Additionally, in the episode "Maxum Men", the same models for the 70's women are reused over and over again without any recolors. It makes it feel as if the animators are too lazy to even draw any other background characters at all.
  10. There is no sign of character development as each of the characters keep on getting worse.
  11. Maxum Man can be seen in person anywhere, like when he's at his actual Mansion of Maxumtude, or when he grabs candy from the Maxum Mobile, but none of the characters seem to recognize him.
  12. The series ended off on a cliffhanger, as it ends up not showing if Eric or anyone who knows Maxum Man found him.

Redeeming Qualities

  1. The character designs are good.
  2. The soundtrack is excellent, particularly the theme song.
  3. Despite their criticisms, Eric Needles and Kitty Ko are the only likable characters.
    • Eric can be treated as sympathetic since he was abused as a punching bag in almost every episode.
  4. There are a handful of good or decent episodes here and there, such as:
    • "Maxum Man Mark 2" (which was a good introduction to the series)
    • "To Party Perchance To Party"
    • "Gone Gaga"
    • "Like Supervillain, Like Son"
    • "A Monster Headache"
    • "Days of Golly"
    • "Ain't No Party Like a Maxum Brain Party"
    • "Hello Dolly"
    • "Maxum Mom"
    • "Moustachesquatch"
    • "The Endless Summer"
    • "The Bogey Man"
    • "The Henchman Challenge"
    • "Family Fun Day"
    • "Slime Spree"
    • "Halloweenie"
    • "Squawk"
    • "Internal Affairs"
    • "Virtual Mayhem"
    • "The Maxum Switcheroo"
    • "Sleepless in Splittsboro"
    • "Ice to Know You"
    • "Ye Old Sidekick Village"
    • "Escape from Razzuma-traz"
    • "Match Dot Com"
    • "Stupor-ize Me"
    • "Little Orphan Eric"
    • "The Spark is Gone"
    • "Wrinkle Resistant" (which ended Season 1 decently)
    • "A Sidecar Named Desire"
    • "Circus Jerkus"
    • "Anty Maim"
    • "Fortress of Maxumtude"
    • "Insane in the Cranial"
    • "Eric and Trevor's Mediocre Adventure"
    • "Master XOX Ray Vision"
    • "Eric and the Maxum Brain Factory"
    • "Trip Van Twinkle Toes"
    • "Maxum Men"
    • "XOX to be You"
    • "A XOX for Good"
    • "Oppoxox"
    • "Hullaballoo"
    • "Superbest in Show"
  5. Amazing art style and backgrounds.
  6. The animation is good, despite it being pretty cheap and lazy in the first season, and the voice acting is passable as well, in spite of it occasionally being lackluster and annoying.

Episodes With Their Own Pages

Reception

Sidekick received mixed to negative reviews from critics and audiences, and currently holds a 3.9/10 on IMDb.

Trivia

  • This show is the second show made by Todd Kauffman to carry on the tradition of having a skull on one of the character's appearances. In this case, it's on Eric's shirt.
  • In the episode "Master XOX Ray Vision", Scaredy, Dave, and Sally from Scaredy Squirrel made a cameo appearance when Eric puts his glasses on after he puts on contact lenses.
  • This show was formerly on Best Shows & Episodes Wiki, but this page was even a candidate for deletion after this page was created on this wiki, and it was deleted later because of the negative reception on this series.

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