The premiere focuses on an outing to a burger joint/play space with a group of Clarence’s friends, who are equally odd, including one who is positively phobic about anybody touching his French fries. That is to say, he’s cheerfully oblivious to almost everything except eating and trying to enjoy himself, while his mother (Katie Crown) sounds OK with him doing just about anything as long as it doesn’t end with him getting hurt.
If only some of that creativity rubbed off on the channel’s new and wholly unnecessary “The Tom and Jerry Show” reboot, which, to the target audience, will probably just feel like a watered-down “Itchy & Scratchy.”Ĭreated by wunderkind producer Skyler Page (who also provides the voice of the title character) through the network’s digital-short initiative, “Clarence” focuses on a young boy who, for once, actually acts like one. The characters aren’t much to look at - indeed, they’re generally grotesque - but its two mini-stories in the premiere are certainly a lot of fun.
Amid a spate of live-action comedies featuring boys as the protagonist, Cartoon Network’s animated “Clarence” arrives as a nifty little gem, so quirky and idiosyncratic as to feel fresh, even if it treads in well-worn territory.