About Michael Edwards
Location: Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Knife Sharpener
Bio: I was born in 1518, in the village of Glenfinnan, on the shores of Loch Shiel...and I am Immortal. (cough…cough) (You know, writing a silly origin like this makes me think of the time I was at a Star Trek Convention and saw a balding, overweight guy in a Starfleet Uniform on a stage say, “Hello, I am Captain Hochsteader from the USS Klondike.” I wanted so badly to say, “Noooo, you’re Melvin Goldfarb, Accountant from Plano.”)
Favorite movie: Hmmmm... It's a toss up between Schindler's List and Cabin Boy. (Kinda makes you wonder about my ability to review DVD’s don’t it?). Actually, if I use the criteria I used above of “never get tired of watching…etc…”: The Road Warrior, The World According to Garp, Creator, Terminator 2, Somewhere in Time (If I wanna get reaaallly weepy)
Greatest video game accomplishment: Buying and beating the first ever home PONG game. Haven’t really played much else… Well, there was the time I died on the first level of MediEvil. Or the time I died at the beginning of Resident Evil. Of, course my favorite was dying while playing Tetris.
If you could have any one superpower, what would it be?: The power of Super Speed. There just never seems to be enough time to do everything I want to get done. And I can never get anywhere fast enough. (However, this would have to be combined with certain degrees of Super Agility and Invulnerability so as not to have to wear Band-aid Brand Nuclear Knee-Pads.)
Posts: 427
More from this author
Being that I have a daughter now, I’m very careful about what she watches on TV. Granted, I don’t really think kids should watch any TV until they are well into their teens but realistically that’s not possible. I tend to let her watch DVDs, that way I can better monitor what she’s watching and get less surprises. When I check out some of the newer shows for kids I have to shake my head as what utter crap they are. The promise of educational materials usually acts as a guise for outlandish marketing in order to get the kids hooked on equally crappy snacks or toys.
It is a given that any movie or show that is positive is still going to have some amount of marketing, after all they need to make money to survive. So I carefully look at the DVDs we get in order to find something that will entertain without being too crass. Over the last few years I’ve received a lot of shows that I think are well produced and enjoyable for the whole family, even some that are a little bit on the sappy side. But kids like sappy, and so do I. Last week I received a DVD set for the first season of The Secret World of Alex Mack.
I had heard good things about The Secret World of Alex Mack when it originally aired on Nickelodeon, but not having a daughter at the time ever watched it. I looked the set over and read the premise, which involved a junior high schooler who accidentally acquires a bunch of interesting powers. She can levitate objects and the like. The cover of the box promoted the fact that a young Jessica Alba starred in the series (though not as the lead character - which was played by Larisa Oleynik). I wasn’t too thrilled with that being a big part of the marketing, considering who that marketing would be targeted at, but I understood the need to use any advantage to promote the product.
After checking out a few of the episodes, I pretty quickly determined that my daughter would definitely enjoy them. They have the simple silliness that one would expect from the older Nickelodeon shows, but certainly nothing harmful or inappropriate. I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of the ‘magic’ that Alex can do, and will no doubt run around the house pretending she can do the same.
Admittedly for the adults watching you’ll recognize some of the more formulaic plotlines dealing with school bullies and the like, as well as the ability to solve the problems in less than a half hour. However, after the first couple of episodes the cast really begins to gel, and the acting does start to improve to a point where we can enjoy it to. This is good, since I highly recommend watching it with your kids (as you should watch EVERYTHING your kids watch).
The DVD set has 14 episodes, but no special features. I was a little surprised that there wasn’t anything added in the way of interviews or ‘how they did its’ being that Warner Brothers is usually a little better about that. Still, even without the features The Secret World of Alex Mack is ‘better than your average bear’ in the world of kid’s shows and I’m looking forward to experiencing with my daugher.
Episodes:
The Accident
Shock Value
Hoop War
Cold Day In Paradise Valley
False Alarm
School Daze
The Science Fair
Alex And Mom
The Feud
The Video Tape
The Solo
Annie Bails
Road Trip
