TVSquad

Nickelodeon has ordered 26 episodes of the new cartoon The Penguins of Madagascar.

Based on the characters from the film Madagascar, the show will depict the further adventures of the militaristic, adventurous penguins who escaped from the Central Park zoo in the film.

Major apologies for being late with this review. I've had a bit of a pain in the gulliver the last few days, but I'm doing better now, thank you very much.

Anyway, perhaps it was because I was sick, or maybe my humor sensors just weren't tuned in properly, but this episode kind of left me cold. I'll admit I loved the whole idea of Orel and the Pious Scouts going on a camping trip but never really exposing themselves to nature, and I loved all the signs at the nature preserve that read, "Warning: Actual Nature" and "No Birds After Six PM," and if you really want to make me laugh, a squirrel committing suicide via hanging is always a good way to go, but the overall theme of this episode felt like something I had seen too many times before.

Over the holidays while I was back in Iowa visiting family, my mother and I stayed up late one night engaging in one of those perpetual conversations about "God vs. Science." Like anyone else, I have my own feelings about how the universe operates, so when I was sent this link to a new boardgame from Growing Pains hunk turned evangelical Kirk Cameron and minister Ray Comfort called Intelligent Design Vs. Evolution, you can bet my brain lit up with about a dozen opinions.

(S10E13)

Atheist in the future: Dawkins knew that logic and reason were the way of the future, but it wasn't until he met his beautiful wife that he learned using logic and reason isn't enough. You have to be a dick to everyone who doesn't think like you.

First of all, I don't watch a ton of science fiction, so who can tell me what the opening sequence was spoofing? It looked vaguely familiar, but my sci-fi exposure is rather limited. Help a brotha out, won't you?

(S10E12)

Mrs. Garrison: Pound my monkey hole, Richard!

I figured Matt and Trey would at least lean toward the side of evolution in this episode, and they did, but it was really about how we tend to oversimplify things. Mr. Garrison reluctantly teaches evolution, telling the kids they're basically all "retarded fish squirrels," the product of a millenia's worth of inter-species butt sex. Later, author and atheist Richard Dawkins automatically turns Garrison into an atheist by telling him that a flying spaghetti monster is as likely to exist as God because you can't disprove either.

(S17E21)

Ned: We want you to teach alternative theories to Darwinian evolution.

Skinner: You mean Lamarckian evolution?

Last night The Simpsons took on creationism versus evolution, pitting Lisa against the rest of the town. This isn't the first time the show has tackled the issue of science and religion, most notably in the "Lisa the Skeptic" episode in which the supposed skeleton of a dead angel is found. Last night's episode had some good moments, but it did feel like they were treading upon somewhat familiar ground and not saying anything especially new.