Before I begin, I want to be upfront and say I only saw 3 episodes, so maybe things get better in later seasons? I don't know. Probably not.
I loved watching the original Inspector Gadget show as a kid. I randomly stumbled on an episode of this newer show on the official YouTube channel, so I thought "Why not? I'll give it a shot."
Now, I know that the original show was from 30 years prior, so changes had to be made to appeal to newer audiences, but I feel like almost every change they made was for the worst.
The character of Inspector Gadget himself is fine for the most part. My main issue with Gadget is his voice actor. I'd be arrogant to be upset that Don Adams isn't voicing Gadget. After all... he's dead.
I don't blame Ivan Sherry for doing an impression of Don Adams. In fact, that's the best move he could have made. My issue is that, while it's not bad, it's not great either.
Literally, the person who did Inspector Gadget for the Robot Chicken parodies was better. I'd say he's 60 percent there, but the missing 40 percent is really noticeable.
Again, I don't blame him and I'll bet that Ivan is a great voice actor, but when I hear him, I don't hear Inspector Gadget. I hear an imitation. And that's exactly what this show is.
Penny is now voiced by Tara Strong instead of Cree Summer. I get hiring someone new and I like Tara Strong, but when I think Penny, Tara is not what comes to mind.
As this is a sequel show to the original, Penny is now 14 and in training to be an agent. She now assists Gadget officially instead of in secret.
I hate this. Because of these changes, Penny is now a completely different person. Her personality is different, her clothes are different. Everything other than her pigtails are different.
In the original show, Penny won by outsmarting Claw, even when captured. In this, she is now trained in martial arts and has futuristic gadgets.
Remember her old computer book and wristwatch? They're gone. Now she has this fancy futuristic holographic tablet built into her gloves and, if you ask me, that's just too far.
Brain is fine, but I hate how he now changes his costumes with a futuristic gadget now. That's nitpicky though, I'll admit that. So I'll let that slide.
But Dr. Claw? Oh, what the hell?
Dr. Claw used to be menacing. He had diabolical plans and was constantly trying to kill Inspector Gadget. In this, he sounds like a deadbeat father who smokes too much.
The first episode has Dr. Claw wanting to launch a "Stink Missile" at HQ. I saw another episode where his "evil plan" was to steam-clean his minions uniforms by dropping a giant ice cube into a volcano.
.......No, seriously. That was it. He even says that he's doing it because it's cheaper than buying new uniforms.
There was another episode where he wanted to make a giant magnifying glass to make the Grand Canyon even grander. When given the suggestion to blackmail the governments to give them "A Zillion dollars" He went "What would we do with a Zillion dollars?"
This is NOT the Dr. Claw we used to know and fear. This is.... This is sad! They made Dr. Claw a sad, pathetic man.
One of the newest additions to the show is Talon, Dr. Claw's Nephew. He's smart, he can fight and he is basically the main henchman they deal with in the show.
Making an evil parallel to Penny makes sense. You'd think this would work, but it really doesn't.
Talon is..... Well, he's an idiot. There is never a moment where he ever has a good plan or outsmarts Penny. He rarely outsmarts Inspector Gadget and that is saying something.
He is not a force to be reckoned with. He's comic relief.
In the first episode I saw, they end up capturing him, but he escapes by making a hole in the ice with lasers off-screen.
This is basically my big complaint. The change I hate the most. Every episode I saw used excuses like this for everything. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Whatever situation they are in, they have some nonsensical contraption at the ready to save them.
There is never a moment in the show where you think "Oh god! How are they going to get out of this?" Now, it's "Ugh! What are they gonna pull out of their asses now?"
Inspector Gadget was upgraded way too much. When they were on a bus that was sabotaged to encase them in ice if they stopped, Gadget used lasers to cut the bus in half and sent the front through a portal he made.
A FREAKIN' PORTAL!
Literally in the first episode, HQ is hit with an EMP, destroying all electronic devices and also deactivating Gadget. Oh god! What will they do!?
...They turn him back on.
Another issue I have is the forced romantic tension between Penny and Talon. They do a "Love at first sight" attraction that sticks around despite them not having any chemistry. It's pretty generic.
Generic. I think that's the best word for this show. A sequel show for Inspector Gadget could have and should have been amazing, like the Ducktales Reboot. But this is not that. This is far worse.
I haven't even gotten to the animation. It looks like an upscaled PS2 game. Everything about how the show's look screams "Low-budget".
They were never going to compete with the original show with this, which makes me wonder why they even bothered.
As I said, I understand why changes had to be made, but I don't understand why they couldn't keep the essence of the original show and it's characters.
I loved watching the original Inspector Gadget show as a kid. I randomly stumbled on an episode of this newer show on the official YouTube channel, so I thought "Why not? I'll give it a shot."
Now, I know that the original show was from 30 years prior, so changes had to be made to appeal to newer audiences, but I feel like almost every change they made was for the worst.
The character of Inspector Gadget himself is fine for the most part. My main issue with Gadget is his voice actor. I'd be arrogant to be upset that Don Adams isn't voicing Gadget. After all... he's dead.
I don't blame Ivan Sherry for doing an impression of Don Adams. In fact, that's the best move he could have made. My issue is that, while it's not bad, it's not great either.
Literally, the person who did Inspector Gadget for the Robot Chicken parodies was better. I'd say he's 60 percent there, but the missing 40 percent is really noticeable.
Again, I don't blame him and I'll bet that Ivan is a great voice actor, but when I hear him, I don't hear Inspector Gadget. I hear an imitation. And that's exactly what this show is.
Penny is now voiced by Tara Strong instead of Cree Summer. I get hiring someone new and I like Tara Strong, but when I think Penny, Tara is not what comes to mind.
As this is a sequel show to the original, Penny is now 14 and in training to be an agent. She now assists Gadget officially instead of in secret.
I hate this. Because of these changes, Penny is now a completely different person. Her personality is different, her clothes are different. Everything other than her pigtails are different.
In the original show, Penny won by outsmarting Claw, even when captured. In this, she is now trained in martial arts and has futuristic gadgets.
Remember her old computer book and wristwatch? They're gone. Now she has this fancy futuristic holographic tablet built into her gloves and, if you ask me, that's just too far.
Brain is fine, but I hate how he now changes his costumes with a futuristic gadget now. That's nitpicky though, I'll admit that. So I'll let that slide.
But Dr. Claw? Oh, what the hell?
Dr. Claw used to be menacing. He had diabolical plans and was constantly trying to kill Inspector Gadget. In this, he sounds like a deadbeat father who smokes too much.
The first episode has Dr. Claw wanting to launch a "Stink Missile" at HQ. I saw another episode where his "evil plan" was to steam-clean his minions uniforms by dropping a giant ice cube into a volcano.
.......No, seriously. That was it. He even says that he's doing it because it's cheaper than buying new uniforms.
There was another episode where he wanted to make a giant magnifying glass to make the Grand Canyon even grander. When given the suggestion to blackmail the governments to give them "A Zillion dollars" He went "What would we do with a Zillion dollars?"
This is NOT the Dr. Claw we used to know and fear. This is.... This is sad! They made Dr. Claw a sad, pathetic man.
One of the newest additions to the show is Talon, Dr. Claw's Nephew. He's smart, he can fight and he is basically the main henchman they deal with in the show.
Making an evil parallel to Penny makes sense. You'd think this would work, but it really doesn't.
Talon is..... Well, he's an idiot. There is never a moment where he ever has a good plan or outsmarts Penny. He rarely outsmarts Inspector Gadget and that is saying something.
He is not a force to be reckoned with. He's comic relief.
In the first episode I saw, they end up capturing him, but he escapes by making a hole in the ice with lasers off-screen.
This is basically my big complaint. The change I hate the most. Every episode I saw used excuses like this for everything. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Whatever situation they are in, they have some nonsensical contraption at the ready to save them.
There is never a moment in the show where you think "Oh god! How are they going to get out of this?" Now, it's "Ugh! What are they gonna pull out of their asses now?"
Inspector Gadget was upgraded way too much. When they were on a bus that was sabotaged to encase them in ice if they stopped, Gadget used lasers to cut the bus in half and sent the front through a portal he made.
A FREAKIN' PORTAL!
Literally in the first episode, HQ is hit with an EMP, destroying all electronic devices and also deactivating Gadget. Oh god! What will they do!?
...They turn him back on.
Another issue I have is the forced romantic tension between Penny and Talon. They do a "Love at first sight" attraction that sticks around despite them not having any chemistry. It's pretty generic.
Generic. I think that's the best word for this show. A sequel show for Inspector Gadget could have and should have been amazing, like the Ducktales Reboot. But this is not that. This is far worse.
I haven't even gotten to the animation. It looks like an upscaled PS2 game. Everything about how the show's look screams "Low-budget".
They were never going to compete with the original show with this, which makes me wonder why they even bothered.
As I said, I understand why changes had to be made, but I don't understand why they couldn't keep the essence of the original show and it's characters.