It’s the two-hour extravaganza with the silly title! So what is it, really? As far as I can tell, it’s an excuse to showcase Cartoon Network original programming.
Hosted by Johnny Bravo, the Fancy Anvil Show makes a good attempt to spoof all those other self-important award shows that air at this time of year. At the same time it gives CN a chance to run a few choice episodes of their core properties, namely Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls and Ed Edd and Eddy.
Some of the presenter bits were clever, the human host segments weren’t too painful, and the production quality was surprisingly good. On the flipside, the continual appearance of Goober and the Ghost Chasers as an award nominee was moderately absurd. I mean, who the hell cares about a Scooby Doo knockoff? I don’t like Scooby Doo in the first place, let alone cheap imitations.
As an obligatory beef, I’d like to point out that there was absolutely no anime representation on the show. None. No Tenchi Muyo, no Cowboy Bebop, not even any DBZ… and with the amount of Dragonball aired on that channel, you’d think they’d leverage that somehow. Ah well.
Overall, it’s cute enough to watch but not so great that you’re going to want to tape it for posterity.