Detention really wasn't that bad of a show. I actually thought it was quite entertaining. I used to watch it on kids WB on Saturday mornings. Detention was a show about kids always winding up in Detention. The characters were: Shareena Wickett, the leader of the group, Emmitt Roswell, who was searching for aliens, Duncan Bubble, who was always playing with his yoyo and never talking, Lemonjella LaBelle and Orangejella LaBelle who were the smart twins, Jim Kim, who liked reading comic books, Gug, the weird kid, and Shelley Kelley, the teacher's pet who just went to detention because she liked to. My favorite characters were Shareena and Jim. Coming from a true Recess fan I find no resemblance between these two shows. Overall I give Detention an 9/10 stars.
4 Reviews
It's...okay
AnAveragePerson16 March 2023
Firstly, I just want to set the record straight that this is NOT a "ripoff" of Disney's Recess. For the past two decades, it's been the main thing Detention has been known for, but really, apart from being two 90s cartoons with a mean teacher and a rebellious group of kids as the protagonists, they're nothing alike. The characters are completely different, Detention's characters are more one-dimensional, and Detention's episodes don't rely on the school as much as Recess does.
That being said, I'm not necessarily trying to defend Detention. The series revolves around a group of seventh graders who struggle to keep their rebellious acts in check, and whenever they let loose, they end up in detention, which is supervised by the former military sergeant, Miss Kisskillya. These children are Shareena Wickett, the sarcastic goth; Jim Kim, the comic book addict; Emmitt Roswell, the superstitious. Theory obsessed with outer space; Gug Gugliamo, the short-tempered Hispanic with a knack for fighting; Duncan Bubble, the silent kid who communicates with a yo-yo; Shelley Kelly, the goody two-shoes who is Kisskillya's assistant; and Lemonjella & Orangejella, the genius identical twins.
So how come I gave it a rating of 6 stars? Firstly, there was a reason I said Detention's characters are more one-dimensional than Recess', and that would be how you can't define almost any of them beyond stereotypes. All of Jim Kim's lines have something to do with comic book superheroes. A majority of Emmitt's lines have something to do with aliens and conspiracy theories. Shelley's entire character is blindly worshipping Kisskillya and wanting to be part of the group. Gug is just a short-tempered brute with an ego and a Napoleon complex.
This show was really not built to run for 22 minutes per episode. You may come across repetitive gags that do nothing more than try to fill up the runtime, such as Shareena's water balloon constantly crying throughout "Boyz n the Parenthood", or Shareena and Kelly hiding from Kisskillya while skipping school in "Too Good to Be Truant".
With that being said though, you actually can't blame the writers. In a 2014 interview, Bob Doucette stated Warner Bros. Was very difficult to work with, as they had bad blood with most of Detention's staff team. He fought to keep them from getting fired, but alas, nobody could agree on what Detention would be about.
On that note, when Detention cracks a joke that isn't just something like "Haha Jim Kim is obsessed with comics" or "Haha Emmitt believes in aliens", they can land. Shareena has a very deadpan, sarcastic nature that balances her out within the group, and Kisskillya's over-the-top, sergeant behavior is funny as well.
It's a shame Detention only lasted one season. More seasons would've been a benefit, because considering what happened behind the scenes, the show could've proved itself to be a unique addition to the Kids' WB catalog. Considering how animation studios have been tossing out revivals in recent times and how Bob Doucette said he'd love to revisit the characters, perhaps we could see something new one day.
That being said, I'm not necessarily trying to defend Detention. The series revolves around a group of seventh graders who struggle to keep their rebellious acts in check, and whenever they let loose, they end up in detention, which is supervised by the former military sergeant, Miss Kisskillya. These children are Shareena Wickett, the sarcastic goth; Jim Kim, the comic book addict; Emmitt Roswell, the superstitious. Theory obsessed with outer space; Gug Gugliamo, the short-tempered Hispanic with a knack for fighting; Duncan Bubble, the silent kid who communicates with a yo-yo; Shelley Kelly, the goody two-shoes who is Kisskillya's assistant; and Lemonjella & Orangejella, the genius identical twins.
So how come I gave it a rating of 6 stars? Firstly, there was a reason I said Detention's characters are more one-dimensional than Recess', and that would be how you can't define almost any of them beyond stereotypes. All of Jim Kim's lines have something to do with comic book superheroes. A majority of Emmitt's lines have something to do with aliens and conspiracy theories. Shelley's entire character is blindly worshipping Kisskillya and wanting to be part of the group. Gug is just a short-tempered brute with an ego and a Napoleon complex.
This show was really not built to run for 22 minutes per episode. You may come across repetitive gags that do nothing more than try to fill up the runtime, such as Shareena's water balloon constantly crying throughout "Boyz n the Parenthood", or Shareena and Kelly hiding from Kisskillya while skipping school in "Too Good to Be Truant".
With that being said though, you actually can't blame the writers. In a 2014 interview, Bob Doucette stated Warner Bros. Was very difficult to work with, as they had bad blood with most of Detention's staff team. He fought to keep them from getting fired, but alas, nobody could agree on what Detention would be about.
On that note, when Detention cracks a joke that isn't just something like "Haha Jim Kim is obsessed with comics" or "Haha Emmitt believes in aliens", they can land. Shareena has a very deadpan, sarcastic nature that balances her out within the group, and Kisskillya's over-the-top, sergeant behavior is funny as well.
It's a shame Detention only lasted one season. More seasons would've been a benefit, because considering what happened behind the scenes, the show could've proved itself to be a unique addition to the Kids' WB catalog. Considering how animation studios have been tossing out revivals in recent times and how Bob Doucette said he'd love to revisit the characters, perhaps we could see something new one day.
this show can actually hurt kids (i think)
idiotoff30 March 2001
I just saw my first episode today despite seeing the trailers for a long time (i just don't get up on Saturdays early enough to watch it and now it's on in the afternoon). Based on this one random episode this must be one of the worst kid's animated series on TV disguising as a good show (i.e. i don't count those cheap 'japanese imports' like the various 'pokemons', those are in the class of their own). It is dull and boring to the core with no point and nothing to say. No funny jokes or interesting storyline here. What you find here is a cliche upon cliche, some bad music, bad-to-average voice talent, sub-standard assembly-line quality animation (and not the Korean (?) in-between part but the key art sucks as well). Character design is of unimaginative generic WB-style with the possible exception of the main female character ('Shareena Wickett') who almost looks like there has been some thought put into the character design. Yet she is not really original being basically an arguably better-looking version of Lydia(?) the girl from the animated series Beetlejuice. Her character definitely seems out of place in this cartoon looking inexplicably "gothic" among all the boring boring rest of the animated cast (a low point: the animated Mowry twins). Even the names of the characters are distinctly not funny yet they are trying so hard...
The worst thing about this series however is its primitively stereotypical negative depiction of adults and the 'uncool' kids. Let me tell you what i remember from the episode i just saw... Cool kids are being cool by kicking adults in their butts or spilling ink all over their (adults) heads. Uncool kids are trying hard yet remain uncool no matter what they do (even if they do something much more dramatic like flooding the school gym with a hose). Cool kids pity the uncool ones: "they just ain't got what it takes...", i.e. the cool are also the compassionate ones while the uncool are utterly hopeless and will never be accepted... Adults are all evil and stupid and have nothing better to do but to constantly spy on kids with the sole purpose of entraping them into earning - you guessed it - a DETENTION! This word is shouted at the rate 2-3 per minute and that alone is as annoying as a toothache.
This show was supposed to be something like 'Recess' (a quite boring yet quite original animated show) meets 'Animaniacs' but it lacks the originality of both and zany humor of the latter. It reeks of commercialism, half-assed job, lack of talent, sheer stupidity... Is this the 'food for thought' we want to feed to our kids? (my first baby is due in 2 weeks). This show can teach them nothing good, by reinforcing the worst stereotypes it can only propagate the dreaded 'American teen values' that are formed by the mindless showbiz and then the whole country shudders in amazement: whatever happened to our young generation?..
well, i am not good at speeches, let me just conclude: the creators of this show must not be allowed nowhere near children and, preferably, should be put in jail (for the damage they've already done).
KEEP YOUR KIDS AWAY FROM THIS ONE!!!
The worst thing about this series however is its primitively stereotypical negative depiction of adults and the 'uncool' kids. Let me tell you what i remember from the episode i just saw... Cool kids are being cool by kicking adults in their butts or spilling ink all over their (adults) heads. Uncool kids are trying hard yet remain uncool no matter what they do (even if they do something much more dramatic like flooding the school gym with a hose). Cool kids pity the uncool ones: "they just ain't got what it takes...", i.e. the cool are also the compassionate ones while the uncool are utterly hopeless and will never be accepted... Adults are all evil and stupid and have nothing better to do but to constantly spy on kids with the sole purpose of entraping them into earning - you guessed it - a DETENTION! This word is shouted at the rate 2-3 per minute and that alone is as annoying as a toothache.
This show was supposed to be something like 'Recess' (a quite boring yet quite original animated show) meets 'Animaniacs' but it lacks the originality of both and zany humor of the latter. It reeks of commercialism, half-assed job, lack of talent, sheer stupidity... Is this the 'food for thought' we want to feed to our kids? (my first baby is due in 2 weeks). This show can teach them nothing good, by reinforcing the worst stereotypes it can only propagate the dreaded 'American teen values' that are formed by the mindless showbiz and then the whole country shudders in amazement: whatever happened to our young generation?..
well, i am not good at speeches, let me just conclude: the creators of this show must not be allowed nowhere near children and, preferably, should be put in jail (for the damage they've already done).
KEEP YOUR KIDS AWAY FROM THIS ONE!!!
Pathetic rip-off of Recess.
dootuss18 January 2002
This show was basically a rip-off of the highly popular Saturday morning cartoon "Recess" only this show really sucked and was not as original as Recess was. Unlike Recess (which had various kinds of unique characters, and stories) this show had lame characters, and horrible story lines. The main female character was freaky, and was scary looking (Is it just me or are cartoon characters with big black eyes always look creepy?), but then again all the characters were weird. It also had the Mowry twins showing off their voice talents something they don't have as well as acting!!
I'm glad they axed this show. It's bad enough that the WB airs that stupid Pokemon garbage, but this show was even worse! Stick with Recess instead of this rubbish called Saturday Morning cartoons.
This show sucked period!
I'm glad they axed this show. It's bad enough that the WB airs that stupid Pokemon garbage, but this show was even worse! Stick with Recess instead of this rubbish called Saturday Morning cartoons.
This show sucked period!
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