Reviews WesternAnimation / Danny Phantom

So much potential...

So Danny Phantom is a series about a kid with ghost powers. His parents are ghost hunters, determined to murder him. His arch nemesis is his fathers old college buddy who is obsessed with having his Mom. His friends are good, his Sister is wise and the ghosts he fights are significantly more dangerous than the villains of other shows (I'm thinking of a Ghost from the future in particular).

Some episodes are the stuff of Nightmares and it's a testimony to the characters fortitude that he's able to keep his head together. Were this all, I would reccommend the series to anyone. But it's not all and it's got quite a few drawbacks.

First and foremost is this series sense of humor, while some of the jokes are spot on, most of them lack subtlety and finess to even come close to humor and that's because of it's horrible timing (I imagine that the Nostalgia Critic and Casper would spend a lot of time together when reviewing an episode due to his Running Gag). Butch Hartman inserts a joke at the worst times, and most of the time it's Fairly Odd Parents-esque jokes which ruin the pacing and the tone of the episode.

Second is the inconsistant characterization. Now, I'm NOT saying that there is not character development. There is, and it's almost famous for how subtle it is (point in the shows favor), but I am saying that they sacrifice characters for the sake of the shows 'humor'. Jack Fenton is a nominal example of this, him being the butt end of jokes so often that his genius comes very close to being an Informed Attribute. Almost. The sad part is we never really get an explanation for this and this happens to other characters as well (Tucker being the most famous, due to having more episodes as the villain than any other protagonist).

Now, if those don't sound like enough to dissuade from the series, don't let it. I personally love the series and everything it shows, but I would be delusional to declare it the perfect show. However, if you find episodes are lacking, watch the good ones (My Brothers Keeper and The Ultimate Enemy in particular) and then make a bee line to the fanfic recommendation section of his page and enjoy. You'll find it flooded with many stories which are arguably better than the actual show and I don't think you'll be dissapointed.