Regular Show

For a long time Regular Show fell under my radar (like Adventure Time and Bravest Warriors still do). When I finally got a chance to watch it, I immediately fell in love.  Much like Adventure Time, J. G. Quintel's show is aimed at both children and hipster/nerd adults at the same time.  The show follows the adventures of two screw-ups at their jobs as ground keepers at a park as they try to avoid work.  The episodes always start innocently enough, but about midway through things get really weird and off the rails.

At first, I thought that Regular show was like an adult swim rated cartoon until I saw my young nieces and nephews really loving it.  I found this odd as the show is clearly about post-college life with a thin filter.  With unexpected plot-turns and often 80's inspired wackiness, the cartoon is one of the most creative shows on television.

Dexter's Laboratory

Everyone should already know about Dexter's Laboratory. It's that simple. This show was one of two shows I remember taping when I was a kid, and I regretted not taping more for a long time. Recently I've gotten access to the show and it holds up tremendously. Dexter's Lab gave rise to superstars in the animation world like Genndy Tartovsky (the show creator), Craig McCracken and Seth MacFarlane.

The show itself had a great 1950's tone which was in no small part due to the art style. The simple and clean lines were matched perfectly with an colourful yet slightly muted colour palette. This art style and tone were heavily carried over into the Powerpuff Girls when Craig McCracken started that project.

© Cartoon Network

In terms of writing, Dexter's lab had a very unique feel as all of the episodes were made up of 8 minute shorts. This gave the show the advantage of incorporating other segments such as The Justice Friends, Dial M for Monkey!, and my favourite one-off short dedicated to my doppleganger Mandark (according to my wife). It's easy to see where Dexter's Lab's influences were from (like comic books and kaiju), and how they bled all over the show.  I can't stress how much I loved this cartoon.