Passable Cartoons on Family Channel Again? Gravity Falls is Surprisingly Awesome

Wow. Is Family Channel starting to air relatively acceptable programming again?  I thought quirky kid shows like The Weekenders were gone for good in favour of the self-perpetuating-sanitized-child-celebrity-machine telling us that tank top over long sleeved shirt wearing Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato were "so right now" before we even knew who they were.

(Not that I wouldn't have loved the opportunity to don a conspicuously conservative spaghetti strap dress over long sleeved shirt and tights in the name of childhood fame.)

Anyway, it seems like now that Disney has their XD channel to dump their lame boy-themed programs like Wingin' It, a carbon copy of the world's awesomest Family Channel Sitcom Teen Angel except not remotely funny, they now have room for fun cartoons like Gravity Falls!

Ever-loveable Teen Angel features Marty (right) a deceased teen who died from eating a year-old burger under a bed, trying to help his socially awkward friend Steve (left). 

This is Wingin' It. I'm assuming they're going to photoshop the lockers in later .

Anyway back to Gravity Falls. This surprisingly great, very cleanly animated sitcom follows a pair of 12 year old twins Dipper and Mabel, accompanied by their fez-wearing Grunkle (Great Uncle) Stan as they encounter the paranormal. It watches like a PG South Park in terms of content with a more conventional flow.

Centre is Grunkle Stan in the aforementioned fez.

What's awesome about this show?

1. Paranormal Activity- in the non-mysetrious-sheets-moving way. 

2. Kristen Schaal (Louise from Bob's Burgers) as the voice of Mabel.

A sweater after my own heart- even more so if the circuits are shoddy and give off a lot of heat. ( I get really cold)

Louise from Bob's Burgers- I'm a little more of a sweater girl than a hat girl.

3. This is both a pro and a con: The show at first glance seemed so adorably Canadian without the in-your-face grossness that Yvon of the Yukon, or the desperate Canadian-ness that animated Bob and Doug seemed to have.

Look how painfully Canadian we are eh. -Aw, but still loveable :)

The characters were plaid-clad living in a coniferous forest. It seemed relatively cold- they were often wearing hats and sweaters, and there was even a herd of bison in one of the two episodes I saw.

However, later I discover that the show is only unassumingly Canadian because it's set in Oregon :( 

How the hell is this not Canada?

Now I'm going to pause for a minute to mention how much I hate it when people go far out of their way to try and make something look Canadian. For example, last year I went to see the Nutcracker and it was set on Wellington Crescent. The first five minutes of the ballet was a choreographed street hockey game. BAHH. When I see a Russian ballet, I want it to be Russian. A bit of street hockey isn't going to make this relatable for me. 

Next year this is how Russian I want it to be: Last night at a party, a friend of mine added vodka to pink lemonade and named it Lenin-ade. I want Lenin-ade to be the drink of choice at next year's ballet.

Back to business.

4. The series is by Alex Hirsch, the gravelly voiced maniac responsible for writing and voicing every good animated children's show in the past five years. On his list: The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack, a show that is kind of a mashup between Adventure Time, but with the exaggerated animation of Spongebob Squarepants, and Fish Hooks, a mildly funny show about fish that is made leagues funnier by Justin Roiland, Channel 101 superstar, voicing the main character.

Justin Roiland as Oscar. A paranoid fish in love with his best friend.
"Hahaha, yeah! Hahahaha, yeah!"

In conclusion, give it a watch. It's surprisingly adult. (As all good children's shows are).

Here's the theme. Pretty Cute