User blog:Lester4567/Sidekick

Notes:
 * This is just a blog post so don't try to delete it.
 * This is only Lester4567's opinion on this show. Click here to see the article from a fan's perspective.
 * Feel free to edit this page, but don't try to steal it.

Sidekick is a Canadian animated television series that aired on YTV through September 3rd, 2010-September 14, 2013 and on Cartoon Network through 2011-2012. The series is created by Todd Kauffman (creator of Grojband and Looped) and Joey So.

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

Why They're Not Like Superheroes

 * 1) 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) The animation, while good and decent, was pretty cheap and lazy in the first season but not as bad as the remaining 7 episodes of the final season of The Fairly OddParents.
 * 3) It tends to be inappropriate at times.
 * 4) *Even worse is that just like Fanboy & Chum Chum and Fleabag Monkeyface, it tends to overuse gross-out humor in most episodes. Examples are, but not limited to:
 * 5) **Almost any scene that involves Trevor.
 * 6) **Eric having smelly feet in the episodes "Match Dot Com".
 * 7) **A gross-out close-up of Kitty's sneezed-filled tie in the episode "The Heartbreak Golly-Gee Kid".
 * 8) **Kitty licking the sludge off of Eric's window in the episode "What's He Hiding".
 * 9) **Eric popping his mutated pimple brother Derek in the end of the episode "My Brother, the Pimple".
 * 10) **Master XOX kissing Eric's feet in the episode "OppoXOX".
 * 11) **Another gross-out close up of Eric's unwashed hand in the epsiode "Vapo House".
 * 12) *As mentioned above, the entirety of the episode "My Brother the Pimple" just focuses on Eric getting a mutated pimple brother named Derek and also uses the gross-out humor this show has as a major plot device.
 * 13) The series writing is mediocre and lackluster, as it just replies on the same old "Yank the Dog's Chain" plot device that is seen in some cartoons, and it leads to a handful of bad or mediocre episodes. Examples are, but not limited to are included:
 * 14) *Fart of Darkness
 * 15) *Identity Crisis
 * 16) *Crudburger
 * 17) *The Short List
 * 18) *This Hour Has 22 Million Minutes
 * 19) *Eric Squared
 * 20) *Everybody is Side-Fu Fighting
 * 21) *Beneath the Missle-Toe (arguably the worst episode and an awful Christmas episode)
 * 22) *Drop the Needles (depending on your view)
 * 23) *Henchman for a Day
 * 24) *Pamplemouse and Son
 * 25) *Lights, Camera, Sidekick Action
 * 26) *Four's a Crowd
 * 27) *Super Frenemies
 * 28) *My Brother, the Pimple (a bad way to start Season 2)
 * 29) *The Superest Day of the Year
 * 30) *Love Fights
 * 31) *The Heartbreak Golly-Gee Kid
 * 32) *App-y Days
 * 33) *Exchange Student from the Black Lagoon
 * 34) *Eric Amazing (also counts as the worst episode)
 * 35) *The Grim Gerbil (depending on your view)
 * 36) *Gimme a Sign
 * I, Sidebot
 * 1) *Sidekicks Rule
 * 2) *Adventures in Supersitting
 * 3) *Mandy-o and Eric-ete
 * 4) *The Maxum Method
 * 5) *Iron Sidechef (a bad way to end Season 2)
 * 6) *Teacher's Pet (a bad way to start Season 3)
 * 7) *Opposum Man
 * 8) *Oh Trevor, Where Art Thou (depending on your view)
 * 9) *Pains, Sprains and Maxum Mobiles
 * 10) *Multikickery
 * 11) *The Dingalish Patient
 * 12) *Parent-Teacher Night of Doom
 * 13) *Pamp My Ride (depending on your view)
 * 14) *The Running of the Trolls (depending on your view)
 * 15) *Those Who Can't Teach
 * 16) *Graduation Daze (which ended the show on a low note)
 * 17) 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)
 * 18) Like with Fanboy & Chum Chum, it tends to reuse character models in some episodes. Like for examples, some scenes of episodes have the same character models of the background characters at their school and just reuse the same character model without no recolors at all. Another example comes from the episode "Maxium Men" where the same models for the 70's women are reused again without any recolors at all. It makes it feel like as if the animators are too lazy to even draw any other background characters at all.
 * 19) There is no sign of character development as each of the characters keep on getting worse.
 * 20) The series ended off on a cliffhanger, as it ends up not showing if Eric or anyone who knows Maxum Man tried to search for him.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The character designs are pretty good.
 * 2) Awesome theme song.
 * 3) There are some good episodes here and there, such as:
 * 4) *Maxium Man Mark 2 (an good introduction to the series)
 * 5) *To Party Perchance To Party
 * 6) *Gone Gaga
 * 7) *Like Supervillian, Like Son
 * 8) *A Monster Headache
 * 9) *Days of Glory
 * 10) *Ain't No Party Like a Maxium Party
 * 11) *Hello, Dolly
 * 12) *Maxium Mom
 * 13) *Moustache-squatch
 * 14) *The Endless Summer
 * 15) *The Bogey Man
 * 16) *The Henchman Challenge
 * 17) *Family Fun Day
 * 18) *Slime Spree
 * 19) *Halloweenie
 * 20) *Internal Affairs
 * 21) *Virtual Mayhem
 * 22) *The Maxium Switcheroo
 * 23) *Sleepless in Splistborro
 * 24) *Ice to Know You
 * 25) *Ye Old Sidekick Village
 * 26) *Escape from Razzuma-traz
 * 27) *Stupor-ize Me
 * 28) *Little Orphan Eric
 * 29) *The Spark is Gone
 * 30) *Wrinkle Resistant (a fine way to end Season 1)
 * 31) *A Sidecar Named Desire
 * 32) *Circus Jerkus
 * 33) *Anty Miam
 * 34) *Fortress of Maxiumtude
 * 35) *Insane in the Crainal
 * 36) *Eric and Trevor's Mediocre Adventure
 * 37) *Master XOX Ray Vision
 * 38) *Eric and the Maxium Brain Factory
 * 39) *Trip Van Twinke Toes
 * 40) *Maxium Men
 * 41) *XOX to Be You
 * 42) *A XOX for Good
 * 43) *Oppoxox
 * 44) *Hullaballoo
 * 45) *Superbest in Show
 * 46) Colorful and beautiful art-style.

Reception
Sidekick currently has a 4.2/10 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.