Review of Dan Vs.

Dan Vs. (2011–2013)
8/10
A never-ending romp of laughs and genuine writing...
12 September 2012
What I love about Dan Vs. is the maintenance of its writing quality through each episode. Rather than what's expected from viewers, the writers often take the series in a whole different direction, tackling such concepts as "The Wolf-Man" or "The Catburglar", so the show is unexpected and refreshing. Not only that, but surely (even though you may not be a rampaging jerk hellbent on vengeance in regards to everything you deem has wronged you), we can all relate to Dan's shenanigans one way or another.

You basically have the three main characters: Dan (voice-talented Curtis Armstrong), his friend Chris (Dave Foley), and Chris' wife Elise (Paget Brewster). Dan is an anti-hero in his own right and easily becomes one of the most hilarious characters on the show. Chris is a pushover known for his excessive eating and some of the humor stems from this fact. Elise often disapproves of Chris' constant aiding of Dan's schemes, but will occasionally join in if she has something to gain by it (as is the case in the pilot episode). This keeps the episodes varied and adds a touch of adventure to them.

The jokes are cleverly-written and - since the show was originally intended to be a live-action sitcom - you get that same sort of vibe in them, mainly stemming from Dan's witty intelligence... or a lack thereof. (Though you really have to love Dan's social commentaries.) While the character designs are great (particularly the main characters), the animation (which is done entirely in Flash) is occasionally shoddy and would need some improvement. Other than that, the show is generally visually-appealing and manages to pull off quite nicely.

I first viewed this show after seeing several promos of it back during the beginning of 2011, when The Hub was a fairly new network. Most often, people tend to skip this show in favor of The Hub's more prominent programming - such as My Little Pony. While I hold no grudge against these shows in particular, I would recommend thinking "outside the box" and giving this one a try. Not the best cartoon by any means, but one that manages to surpass other recent releases.
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