Following my posts on "Wordgirl" as a whole, and the series's one-hour special "The Rise of Miss Power", I decided to show you guys a list of my favorite and least favorite episodes of the show.
The significant thing about this, to me, is that normally it's hard for me to single out what episodes of a show stand out to me the most in terms of being awesome, mainly because every episode outside of the ones I dislike are all so fun. But here, "Wordgirl" apparently has episodes that stood out to me so much in terms of being given a thumbs up, I couldn't resist listing what they are.
Before I show you guys what my listings are, I'd like to clarify that they do not list the episodes by ranking. I don't do rankings. I numbered the episodes simply to number them.
So, without further ado, let's start with the list of my favorite episodes, which I happily title "The Terrific Twenty-Five":
1. Invasion of the Bunny Lovers: The story that this episode had was one of the most suspenseful, unpredictable, and accomplished I've ever seen. The amount of high stakes that it presented were able to literally put me on the edge of my seat, and Scoops's character development was amazing. I love that, instead of revealing Wordgirl's secret identity to the world after learning Becky was Wordgirl, he decides to keep it a secret.
2. Rhyme and Reason: As the final episode to air the series's run, this episode was amazing with a capital 'A'! Ferrailo's writing for this episode was so astoundingly heart pounding and emotional, especially when the endangerment of Becky and Violet's friendship comes into play. Plus, Rhyme and Reason proved themselves to be formidable bad guys, and Amy Sedaris and Tyler Labine did a terrific job portraying them.
3. A World Without WordGirl: Consistently funny, heartfelt, and well-written, this episode would've provided a perfect conclusion to the series had there not been more episodes coming after it. Of course, a lot of times I like to count the other episodes as prequels to this episode, seeing that it provides plenty of room to do so.
4. WordGirl Makes a Mistake: Not only do we get to learn Wordgirl's origins and what her true weakness is, but we also see a side to her no one could've expected. Even though Wordgirl's 'mistakes' were retconned by the meteorite from her home planet, she learns that she has to come to terms with the fact that she isn't perfect. Or unstoppable for that matter.
5. Kitty Cat Criminals: Along with the other episodes listed here, this episode is quite frankly one of the funniest I've ever seen. The concept and comedy was all-out hilarious, and there was even a great moral about how much better it is to be yourself and stick with what you have rather than the opposite of that.
6. Peanut Butter Battles: The story and plot line was consistently epic and funny, and Fred Stoller's performance and dialogue was fun too.
7. Nocan the Evil Ingredient Finding Guy: The episode was amazingly witty, funny, and epically entertaining. The chemistry between Chuck and Nocan the Contrarian, and the gags revolving around the latter, were especially worthy of a great big thumbs up.
8. Who Wants to Get Rid of WordGirl?: Admittedly, when I saw this episode while I was still pretty young, I didn't quite get the episode's humor and concept. However, when I saw it again while reviewing the series, I found the jokes to be so funny I couldn't contain my laughter. I guess that's because they're easier for adults to get.
9. The Meaty Dimension: The interesting thing about this episode is that it explores a concept that I don't think anyone had ever thought of delving in before, which is about where the Butcher's meat comes from. The storyline it had was likewise amazingly epic and full of high stakes, and Jack D. Ferrailo gave one of his best performances as the Butcher yet.
10. Say it Again, Eileen: Even though Eileen is definitely not one of my favorite characters in the show, this episode was something that I found to be a breakthrough for her. She was still a little bratty, but yet...she was wanting to reach out to Becky as a friend, and at the end, she was willingly wanting to do what it takes to help Becky feel happy, which was heartwarming to see. To me, this was a real stepping stone for the character.
11. WordGirl vs. Tobey vs. The Dentist: Minus Patton Oswalt's casting and replacing of Matt Besser as Zachary Zany (who voiced the character perfectly in "Who Wants Candy?), this episode proved to be another one of the most fun I've seen. The humor was consistently hilarious, and Oswalt's and Paul F. Tompkins performances as Tobey and Flash Clocktermocktor the Dentist were excellent.
12. The Tooth Hurts: The story by Eric Kentoff was surprisingly heartfelt and full of great moral, which is about what happens when you betray the trust someone has for you, and when you mortify them. Plus, there was lots of great comedy too.
13. Two Brains Forgets: Not only was the story consistently unpredictable, intriguing, and well-thought, but the concept of what would happen if Becky's family found out she was Wordgirl, and Dr. Two Brains's role in the episode, was awesome!
14. Meat My Dad: Ed Asner's performance as Kid Potato was awesome! The story and plot line of the episode, in addition, was extremely heartfelt because of the rekindling between the Butcher and his Dad, as well as what their going through.
15. Meat-life Crisis: Just like 'Meat My Dad', the story and plot line was amazingly heartfelt because of the Butcher and Kid Potato's bond, and the Butcher's development was top notch as a plus. There was some great humor too.
16. Have Snob, Will Travel: This episode is literally one of the most hilarious I've ever seen! I mean, when I read the title and summary of it the first time it was coming, I didn't think the episode seemed like much. But then, when I saw it, I couldn't help but find myself laughing every step of the way, and the concept was marvelously executed. The chemistry between the Butcher and Reginald the Jewelry Store Clerk was fun to watch too, and the performance of H. Jon Benjamin was as hilarious as the comedy.
17. Dr. WordGirl-Brains: Seeing Wordgirl and Two-Brains be in each other's shoes by accidentally exchanging their minds to each other's bodies was a joyride worth being on, and the humor the episode had was so hilarious.
18. Mousezilla: The villainous team up between Tobey and Doctor Two-Brains was really fun to watch, even if it was on the verge of falling apart. The episode as a whole was also intriguing, entertaining, and well-done.
19. The Handsome Panther: Fred Stoller gave one of the funniest performances as Chuck yet, and the overall concept was funny to the point of laughter and surprisingly well-worked. Ryan Raddatz was apparently able to give one of the best episodes of the series he's written.
20. Bampy Battles Bots: Tim Conway's performance as Bampy Botsford was amazing! He was clearly meant for the part, and his comedic-chops apparently knew no bounds. Plus, the story it had was another one of Ryan Raddatz's best.
21. Yarn-4-Gold: Seeing Bampy and Wordgirl team up to defeat Granny May and foil her scheme was a wonderful thing to watch, and the story was continually unpredictable and intriguing to see. It has its funny moments too.
22. I Think I'm a Clone Now: The storyline it had was extremely unpredictable and full of emotion, and Lady Redundant Woman was perhaps at one of the most evil levels she's been in. When you don't count the episodes she's featured in after this one as sequels, this one would even be a great conclusion to her character arc.
23. The Learnerer: Ferrailo was able to write one of the best villain introductions of the show I've ever seen. It had lots of surprises and intrigue, and the Learnerer himself was quite a force to be reckoned with. "Weird Al" Yankovic's performance as the character was likewise fun.
24. Sonny Days with a Chance of Showers: The comedy aspect of the episode was literally just so fun to watch, and Al Roker did a terrific job performing Sonny Days. Also, I love how, instead of Eileen being convinced to be generous by Wordgirl, she willingly wants to help Huggy by being her partner for the three-legged race at the Annual End of the Picnic Season Picnic.
25. The Rise of Miss Power: I've already made an individual review of this episode, but I will say that this is an all-out awesome one, thanks to a terrific story from Jack D. Ferrailo, and stunning vocal performances from Dannah Phirman and Jane Lynch. If you'd like to know what the rest of my thoughts on it are, check out the review I made of it the day before.
Now that we have seen what my favorite episodes of "Wordgirl" are, it is time for me to show you what my least favorites are, which I'd like to call "The Shameful Seven":
1. Oh, Holiday Cheese: The biggest problem with this Christmas-themed episode is that it didn't celebrate Christmas itself whatsoever, not even mentioning it. Instead of celebrating Christmas, the Botsfords and all the people they invited have a celebration about cheese. While I am aware that the city they live in has celebrations revolving around stuff like cheese, this episode took things too far because it was like worshipping cheese as a god, which was completely irresponsible and liberalistic towards Christmas itself.
2. A Better Mousetrap: The episode itself was largely mean-spirited and pointless. I mean, really? What was the point behind that episode other than to see Wordgirl and Dr. Two-Brains consistently humiliate each other with the clips from their past adventures? It was mean of Wordgirl and Scoops to start the whole thing to begin with, and they were frankly the real villains of it all who, thanks to Dr. Two-Brains, got what they deserved.
3. Don't Mess with the Best: As a whole, the episode was a terrible point to carry Victoria Best's development as a super villain into. The humor was lackluster and unfunny, and the story's only reason for existing was apparently for Victoria to humiliate Wordgirl and the other villains. Victoria also defeated Wordgirl too easily, and whatever it was that Wordgirl and Two-Brains were trying to tell her was not very clear or understood. It doesn't help that this would be the beginning of Victoria's one-dimensionalism and her constant turning things to her own advantage at the end of each episode she'd be featured in.
This is also my humorous side speaking, but the only real attention grabber the episode had was Victoria's redesigning of Granny May's jetpack suit and how great she looks with it on.
4. El Queso Mysterioso: The story of the entire episode felt utterly ridiculous, and Becky's behavior at the Magician's Convention was rather irritable and out of character of her.
5. The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour: On one hand, I found this episode to be amusing in some areas. However, the episode as a whole felt rather needless and didn't seem to have much purpose. The lack of well-thought and great scheme from Mr. Big to use the mind-controlled Wordgirl for certainly didn't help any, as it felt more ridiculous than clever.
6. Set Sail for the Bake Sale: It has some great humorous moments, the best of them coming from when Huggy did the funny dance to distract Nocan the Contrarian. Once again, though, Becky was rather out of character. She kept putting her wants to go to "Pretty Princess on Roller Skates" above the wants and needs of the Debate Club, and even after she realizes the error of her ways, she was still being selfish.
7. Can't Touch This: While it was interesting to find Becky's family get to Wordgirl's spaceship hideout, the episode was another needless installment of the series. TJ was literally a jerk in this episode, because he kept taking things that didn't belong to him and playing on things without permission. His parents certainly didn't help any, that's for sure. The way the concept played out was likewise a little more dumb than entertaining.
I hope that you all enjoyed these listings, and that you find my thoughts on these episodes reasonable. This is something that I'm very new at, so feedback would definitely be appreciated.