We've all been there. One or more toddlers will insist on watching the same, often animated, show on the living room television over, and over, and over. It definitely helps when the subject of their endless obsession is well conceived and well executed. The toddler may not appreciate that, but adults who must share their video addiction certainly might.
"The Stinky & Dirty Show", in my opinion, meets that standard nicely. The series, created by Guy Toubes, is based on a four book series by Kate McMullen (author) and Jim McMullen (illustrator). The main characters are anthropomorphized cartoon versions of a garbage truck (Stinky), and a backhoe loader (Dirty). These two are best friends (who knew?). Stinky and Dirty follow a distinct plot pattern in each of the 39 episodes (in two seasons) which streams on Amazon Video. Their adventures take place in, or near, a fictitious metropolis called "Go City". At some point, near the beginning of the episode, the duo will be presented with a challenge. The solution to this challenge often involves one or more of a host of other animated, talking vehicles.
Stinky and Dirty will discuss the problem they are faced with and, at some point, Dirty will
show signs of
thinking. The problems they face vary from episode to episode, but the approach to resolving their challenge is the same every time. As soon as Stinky realizes what Dirty is doing, he does
a little dance and announces, "I know what you're doing! You're thinking! Lemme help, lemme help!" Dirty then uses his loader blade to smooth out a patch of dirt and does simple line drawings of several potential solutions (usually 3). These are always silly and impractical ("maybe we could throw a rope around the moon and pull it down..."), as are the reasons for rejecting said solution. Dirty, at the end of this process, will say, "That's it!". Stinky will ask if they are really going to try the last silly solution, and Dirty will say, "No, but we could do x" where x represents a solution which might actually be possible. The whole process is reminiscent of
brainstorming sessions to solve corporate or organizational challenges.
One of the things this writer likes best about TS&DS is the music. It is written and composed by Dan Bern, who has at least 16 albums to his credit. I've included, below, a link (just over one minute) to one of my favorite examples of Mr. Bern's "Stinky & Dirty" compositions, excerpted from the Valentine episode, "Song for Sender". Sender is a mail truck, of course. Our heroes, in this episode, realize that Sender delivers Valentine greetings yet never receives any herself. They gather a bunch of their buddies and a player piano and present Sender (voiced by Anna Camp) with a musical Valentine gift. Good times in Go City.
Song for Sender Sing-Along