Maya and Miguel: Miguel’s Wonderful Life

I have written about great holiday specials. I have written about bad Christmas specials. I have written about holiday specials from franchises I love. Now it is time to talk about a mediocre Christmas episode from a mediocre show, Maya and Miguel. The series’ broadcasting rights just expired, so it is as a good a time as any to give it a little spotlight.

For those too young to remember linear TV being the only option, mediocre shows were a fact of life. Sometimes your favorite shows came on at 4:00 and 5:00. Maya and Miguel was that show that came on in between. Nobody I knew actually liked it, but we all watched it. Overall it was a fine show. It sometimes had stand out episodes, and it sometimes had bad ones, but it was normally best described as “okay.”

For years this was the worst show on PBS Kids Go, and that shows how good that block was. I was never excited for their worst show, but I never dreaded it. When I went through the episode list I could tell I have seen (at least partially) 64/65 episodes, but this is the first time I have seen one in 16 years.

The basic premise is two fraternal twins (the titular characters) get in escapades because Maya has a savior complex, Miguel must get her out of the problems she creates, and their friends do their things with their basic but proven character traits. The biggest weakness is the lead herself, Maya. She is very insufferable and acts like a grandma trapped in 10 year old’s body.

It is one of the few episodes that break the usual formula, as it is more about Miguel than Maya. Overall that is a good thing, as this show is really formulaic. None of the children are voiced by children. The adults are fine. None sound like children, but unless you have say been watching hordes of shows like Arthur, Fetch, and Martha Speaks it is not very noticeable. Especially as other PBS Kids shows like Cyberchase, Postcards from Buster, and Wordgirl (also fellow Deborah Forte show Clifford) had adults voicing children.

The episode starts with Maya giving Miguel a breakfast in bed to look for her Christmas present hidden in his room. Do any ten year olds actually buy/make their own Christmas present? This shows one of the biggest problems, these are not elementary children. They are high schoolers at youngest in elementary children bodies. This is a really obvious trick by Maya, and they have to make the other characters dumber for it to work, and that was a common thing in the show.

She ruins his book report by thinking it is paper towels and… How does she think loose leaf papers on a desk are paper towels? Their parrot paco does the transitions this episode, and this guy is a really unfunny comic relief pet. I do not think this bird is ever funny.

I do not like these designs. The poor animation is a problem, as this show really relies on wacky slapstick, and the animation style is too realistic for it to work. It does not look very realistic thanks to those really skinny and long necks. They are a little boring and a little ugly. Next few scenes Maya solves some problems (Way bigger success rate than she normally has in the show), and this somehow keeps resulting in Miguel getting hurt.

After a few boring minutes the plot actually kicks in. Miguel’s present to his parents is a painting of the family. Maya thinks her nose is too big and selfishly tries to change it messing it up in a scene with actual good animation. Miguel then wishes she never existed resulting in the upcoming dream plot.

I think Maya is a terrible protagonist, but I think she is really good this scene. For once she acts like a real kid making realistic (considering it is exaggerated for comedy) mistakes, and it is in character.

It is really obvious this will all be just a dream, but it is a nice change of pace from the normal structure. It actually changes the usual “It’s a Wonderful Life” plot. Instead of the protagonist never existed it is the sibling never existed.

It is a basic but okay plot. Without Maya the things she did earlier in the episode are undone, the good she did in the first episode is undone, and some good she did off screen is undone. It makes Miguel wish for her back, and… Apparently dream Paco knew all along.

There is a recurring gag about Miguel and underwear that shows how he feels about Maya’s schemes. Early on they result in his pants falling down in public, and this makes him mad. Later without her he gets underwear for Christmas making him sad. Then after she is back his pants randomly fall down in public, and he is just happy she is back.

This episode is… Moderately good. Decent episode for a decent show. I remember thinking this episode was above average for them. It is a good message about appreciating siblings.

This is the real irony. This show’s spinoff, Wordgirl, was way more successful and popular, yet this Christmas episode blows Wordgirl‘s Christmas episode out of the water.

This was the last main post of by far my busiest post ever (barring something really weird happens). Next will be a recap of the year with loose plans for 2026’s 24 main posts and additional PBS Kids “Minor” retrospective posts.

Arthur’s New Year’s Eve

This is the finale to Arthur’s first season and my favorite New Year’s special. It is an exploration at remembering the good times.

To start Arthur has always failed to stay up until Midnight on New Year’s Eve. It is full of foreshadowing that D.W. can pull it off. This whole beginning and most of the plot is about exploring the false meaning of New Year’s Eve, staying up until midnight expecting to see something big. Throughout the episode the real meaning will emerge.

On New Year’s Eve Grandma Thora will be babysitting (with how rare she now appears I think she might have died) and Arthur, unlike D.W. is deemed old enough to stay up until midnight. D.W. asks if she is stuck in a time warp and cannot get older. Considering she has been 4 years old (most of the time) for 25 years she has a point. Hard to believe that came from season one and was not an intentional joke about that.

The next few minutes seem to have no significance, but they are important to the theme. Arthur and D.W. have their usual hilarious sibling squabbles (Fallon’s D.W. was so great) and fun with Pal). As it will explained later remembering small moments like these is what New Year’s Eve is about. Arthur is happy with it, and then it starts with his friends telling him various things that happen on New Year’s Eve at midnight. They all claim the other one is wrong, and now Arthur wants to see all those weird things. This is a good reflection on all holidays, getting too caught up on tiny traditions that they overshadow the actual meanings.

The best one by far is Binky’s wrestling one. Honestly I am surprised I never got into wrestling with how great Arthur portrayed it. Maybe I doubted it could live up to this bizarre Groundhog Day/ New Years crossover.

A key part of all these scenes is that they are all clearly enjoying this. Remembering these small moments with friends is part of what the holiday is about.

D.W. is trying to stay up and offers to help Arthur who is just upset at her for trying. I do remember how moments like this and the blanket from earlier made one thing clear, at least in the earlier seasons D.W. was the better sibling.

Arthur of course falls asleep, while D.W. makes herself stay up and then it is almost midnight. I think this does a great job at portraying it. Lots and lots of buildup only for another minute to pass. I really do find it underwhelming, and that is how D.W. feels.

Arthur wakes up and now D.W. makes up some nonsense stuff that happened. It also shows how Arthur’s friends had all those weird New Year’s traditions, they made stuff up to make it sound more important than it was missing the actual meaning.

Arthur is very upset at missing the entire point of the holiday until Grandma gives him the real meaning.

It is really about remembering everything great he did the past year. It shows flashbacks to moments of season 1. Curiously they are not key highlights of Arthur’s year like winning the spelling bee, getting Pal, saving buster’s academic life, managing the Tibbles, bonding with Kate, fixing the farm, the video show, cleaning the park, or the poetry read. I had to think this through, and I think I know why the clips are from such normal every day activities, that is for the viewer to reflect on their own life. For an “average” guy Arthur has an amazing life, and the point of the episode is to look back on the amazing things we, not Arthur, did this past year. The clips are normal things like having fun with friends since that is a much more realistic year. The clips show laughing at their harmless mistakes, fun amidst their flaws, fun from their abilities, and just playing with them. This happy reminiscing does make a great scene for what could have been the end of the series.

A small detail I like is Arthur still looks outside with a sad look. After the flashbacks only then does it switch to a happy voice about what he will do next year showing he is now happily looking forward to next year’s lookback.

Next time on Tuesday January 11th- After my upcoming new Year’s look back I want to go through animation history- my favorite animated film of each decade.

The Looney Tunes Show: A Christmas Carol

The Looney Tunes Show is my favorite version of The Looney Tunes, and season 2 had their Christmas episode. Obviously from the title they would parody A Christmas Carol and…

Or it is a massive heatwave dividing us into two plots. Lola tries to put on a play with the same name as the book, but nothing in common, while Daffy and Foghorn go to the North Pole to install a fan to end the heatwave. This is exactly what the show is- a crazy group of early twists and turns that uses typical sitcom plots starring The Looney Tunes in really crazy ways. In addition I really love all the desert imagery.

So for plot A we have (from left to right) Porky, Tosh/Mac(?), Mac/Tosh(?), Yosemite Sam, Lola, and Bugs. The theater has ice cold air conditioner, so it is a guaranteed hit in 104 degree weather like when Don Bluth made A Troll in Central P… Okay nothing is a guaranteed hit.

They get to a few gags like Speedy was cast as a basketball player and Porky is a non-anamorphic pig. Lola is the lead, but she cannot remember the lines that she wrote. Everybody else agrees the script sucks, but they are sticking with it for their friend. It also is shown that the dialogue is very generic. At the play Lola needs Bugs to give her a line.

Every

Single

Word.

It really is very funny.

Because of this Bugs memorizes the entire play to his sadness, and everybody but Lola agrees the play is terrible. Everybody but Bugs gets stuck in a trap door, and now he is trying to please Lola by doing every role.

Daffy and Foghorn have to jump out the plane with Daffy already questioning Foghorn’s sanity. He is the one bird who makes Daffy look normal after all. Daffy quits, but he then comes back to keep pushing the fan, and they get to The North Pole.

Daffy proclaims he always knew they would make it except for that time he laid down in the snow to die and that time to tried to kill Foghorn to lie in his corpse to keep warm. Even Foghorn stops smiling at that.

Unfortunately Foghorn made it power plugged, and they obviously have no outlet. This leads them to looking for Santa’s workshop while freezing to death. Daffy gets hypothermia and starts hallucinating, but he finds Santa Claus and gets it on film. They tell everybody the good news and watch the film.

He was hallucinating, and they are already talking about going back with a battery powered fan.

Seems to me that everybody but the main characters like it.

This is where the two plots come together. Daffy and Foghorn go to the play thinking it is the normal version. Instead they see a mess where Bugs also goes through the trap door only for Santa Claus to arrive. He gives a few messages like how Christmas and all the work that goes into it brings us together, how horribly made works of fiction still have lots of effort put into them, and that nothing worth doing is easy.

When they go outside he says he plugged the fan in, and a snow storm has ended the heatwave. That ends the main plot and starts a merry melody to end, “Christmas Rules.” It is mostly just a sweet song that has basically every character from the show, and my dad and I’s favorite line.

Daffy: what a lovely Christmas Wraith.

Buggs: You mean wreath?

This is the first time I just reviewed a normal tv show episode, which is quick but not that fun to analyze. Overall this is just a funny episode from one of my favorite shows. It is nothing profound like A Charlie Brow Christmas or even that funny like The Santa Clause, but it is a fun usage of 23 minutes.

Next time. For New Year’s Eve I am reviewing “Arthur’s Shiny New Year.”