User blog:SuperSaiyanKirby/SSK Reviews Episode Eight: The Haunted Hathaways

Welcome back to SSK Reviews. Today, we'll be looking at Nick's newest teen sitcom, "The Haunted Hathaways".

Haunted origins
So... Nick is still terrible. I remember Nick actually being a good network and being loyal to viewers. Then things took a bad downhill like, let's say, 1-2 years ago, though this year is where it's at it's worst. I mean, I enjoy shows like The Legend of Korra and Sanjay and Craig, but Nick has just not been the same lately. I mean, I am not only saying that because of Nick Studio 10 and other shows that shall not be mentioned, but Nick used to be loyal to their viewers. They listened to us and gave us what we want with weeklong events, or the UPick Daily. Then, they stopped listening to the viewers and did their own decisions. Their own bad decisions.

But let's look back... way back before these recent events.

Once upon a time, Nickelodeon was the #1 choice for children shows, leading behing was Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and the Hub Network. These networks tried to copy off Nick by doing bad decisions before Nick did bad decisions.

Cartoon Network started airing live-action on the network, and it was a controversial movement because the network was not living up to it's name of showing cartoons 24/7. Good thing Incredible Crew is the last live-action show there. Also, to try to copy Nick's late-night sitcom block Nick at Nite, they created Adult Swim with, not sitcoms (though they did show Saved by the Bell years ago), but adult cartoons like Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force/Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1/Aqua Something You Know Whatever/Aqua TiVo Avoidance Plan/Aqua TV Show Show (stop changing it's name!), and anime with less cut content (that has continued through Toonami). The live-action movement on the network was not successful, but on the other hand, Adult Swim is #1 in late-night cable viewing.

Disney Channel stopped showing it's classic Disney cartoons and started making teen sitcoms. Sitcoms like Even Stevens, That's So Raven, and Phil of the Future were successful, but they cancelled those and started making potato-quality shows like Good Luck Charlie, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Jessie. It was downhill from there, but somehow Gravity Falls brought ratings up and now the Disney Channel is the #1 kids network. Ouch.

The Hub Network launched in 2010, replacing Discovery Kids. A joint-venture between Hasbro and Discovery, the channel brought shows like The Twisted Whiskers Show, Family Game Night, and Littlest Pet Shop. But the one that defined them all... was Dan Vs. What? You thought I was going to say My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? Come on, Dan Vs. is where it's at! The Hub Network grew from small ratings to average ratings. They syndicated shows from the past like Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, and ALF.

I felt that Nick started going through a downfall in 2009 when they replaced their famous splat logo with text almost similar to Comic Sans MS. Then subsequent shows like AwesomenessTV, Wendell & Vinnie, and Sam & Cat started giving the network bad ratings. Now what I'm trying to get at is that the network has been trying to get back it's image with creator-driven shows. Sanjay and Craig started it, but no sitcom that's creator-driven has premiered yet. Well, unless you like The Haunted Hathaways.

The show
The Haunted Hathaways. Nick's new sitcom that is to compete with The Wizards of Wavery Place which makes no sense since WoWP ended like a decade ago or something. The show follows Michelle Hathaway, a single mother with two children, Taylor and Frankie, as they move into a house which is already owned... by a family of ghosts.

Child rapper Benjamin Flores Jr., or Lil' P-Nut, plays one of the ghosts in this show as a celebrity appearance to appeal to kids. Now you might be asking yourselves "Who in the bloody world is Lil' P-Nut?". That is what I'm asking myself too. If this kid is a "celebrity", then I'm sure I would've heard of him.

The show starts off with the Hathaways moving into the new house, and finding it being old from being without ownership for sometime. Michelle Hathaway's teenage daughter, Taylor, complains about a rocking chair moving on it's own, and the daughter and mother have a talk. A talk? What is this, the 90s when sitcoms were family-centered morals somewhere between Family Matters and Full House? The young daughter, Frankie, sees a ghost named Louie appear, and instead of being freaked out, she thinks it's very cool. Louie goes to a room where his father and older brother live. The Preston family are a group of ghosts who have lived in this house.

Taylor gets freaked out about the ghosts, and while Louie and his father Ray are serious about haunting the Hathaways, Miles wants to be friends with Taylor. Taylor's gymnastic ability impresses a girl who is part of the school's gymnastics team, and invites the team to the family's pastry shop to see if Taylor is worthy of joining the team. And if she's not, she will be executed. Oh wait, no she won't.

An important critic comes to the pastry shop and tastes a pastry. Ray possesses the man and makes his body go wild with him burping and farting out gas that's really a not very well hidden smoke machine. The critic acts like a chicken and Michelle denies of any ghosts... until she sees the man lay eggs. Really? That will tell you that your house is haunted by someone laying eggs? I mean, sure it is unusual, but that's really quick to come to the conclusion with nothing really scary-like happening.

Michelle orders the ghosts to pack up their things and leave, but when that doesn't work, the mother brings up a stereotypical spiritual woman who exorcests unwanted ghosts, and she feels a vibration... which is really a text on her phone.

Elsewhere, Miles tries to change Taylor's mind about him by helping out in the shop and giving her a Frankenstein hair-do, but that doesn't work. Taylor manages to screw up when the gymnastics team see her, and they decide to leave. Miles, feeling bad, decides to use his ghost powers to lock the door, and for the writers to show off how much of "an interesting character" Taylor is, we get to see her gymnastic abilities again, and the team accepts her. So, no execution? What a rip-off! I want my money back! Wait, I gave it to Gabe Newell. Crap.

The exorcist manages to bring up the three ghosts to the house and Taylor and Frankie convince their mother to stop the spell. The ghosts are let free, and the Hathaways and the Prestons decide to live together.

The show ends with the families at dinner, and Louie makes a turkey puppet that obviously had use of a puppeteer instead of CGI dance.

What I think about this show
'''Dear. Lord.''' That was a very terrible show. With another bad show on Nick's schedule, it's now obvious that Nick is never going to get better. This show has bad writing, along with unfunny jokes and bad acting. The audience (if there really is an audience) is easy to get to laugh and cheer when they don't see how bad this show is. Characters like Louie and Miles are not funny. The special effects are terrible. Nothing is terryfing from it's name except for the fact that everything about this show is bad!

1/10 would watch again. Thanks for reading guys.