TVSquad

I'm a fan of British TV, so I can say with a huge degree of pleasure that Wallace and Gromit are returning to TV after a break of over ten years. The new episode will be called "Trouble at Mill" at involves the disappearance of twelve of the local bakers.

I enjoy Nick Park's animation. Like the South Park creators, he cleverly combines crudity with the sophisticated but takes it in a totally different direction. The beautiful thing about his work is that, since his work is G-rated, he can speak ot children. However, it never feels like he's talking down to them.

If you lamented the early cancellation of CBS' Creature Comforts as I did, don't shoot yourself just yet: all seven episodes will be available on DVD October 9. The set will also include interviews not shown on television.

Creature Comforts began as a UK series, based on the Oscar-winning short by Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit). The American version, like the British version, features real-life interviews filtered through animated animals, resulting in what I thought was a funny and often poignant new way of experiencing everyday conversation among normal people. Apparently not too many viewers felt the same way, because the series didn't last long.

As I said in my early review of the new CBS animated series Creature Comforts, I never saw the original Channel 4 version from the UK, so I couldn't compare and contrast, but I loved the pilot episode of the American version, which creator Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit) is also involved with.

Luckily, I found a video preview of the pilot episode via Animation Magazine, and I've placed it below for your viewing pleasure. I absolutely love the idea of putting the words of regular folks into the mouths of these animals, because in doing so, it makes the stories seem less personal and gives them a more universal appeal. It's one of the smartest and cleverest ideas for an animated series I've seen in a long time, and it's nice to see another animated series that, not unlike King of the Hill, doesn't rely heavily on random weirdness to be funny (not that I have a problem with "random weirdness," I just like variety).

Creature Comforts debuts on CBS this Monday at 8:00 p.m.

I have never seen the original Creature Comforts, neither the Oscar-winning short film by Nick Park and Aardman Animation, nor the British TV series, so I can't compare the new American version to them, but I can say that the upcoming CBS animated series Creature Comforts is one of the most engaging and charming things I've seen in a long time.

Don't expect something goofy and fast-paced like The Simpsons or Family Guy, because that's not the kind of laughs this series is going for. Instead, the series takes interviews with regular people and then sticks their words into the mouths of cartoon animals. For example: two men sniffing wine become two dogs sniffing another dog's butt.