he Smashenburns are just your ordinary everyday family. That is, except for the fact that they live in an alternate video-game universe, and Rip (the dad) is a race car driver who can't get through a race without crashing, while Raquel (the mom) is a gun-toting secret government agent.
As "Meet the Smashenburns" begins, Raquel (voiced by Liu) has just started back to work, feeling that the kids are old enough to get along without her while she's off on a mission. With Raquel's new job, Rip (voiced by Warburton) decides the family needs to bond and feels a pet just might do the trick. He heads off to the pet store with the kids, 15-year-old Alice (voiced by Dratch) and 13-year-old Billy (voice by Daily). They find the perfect cute little pet, but a 300-pound chain-smoking creature with an attitude named Turbo (voiced by Lange) intervenes and they end up with him instead.
Turbo ends up being more trouble than Rip expected, the ninja-fighting Shaolin monks next door are worried about the height of Rip's hedge and neighborhood code violations, and Raquel's off in search of the Golden Monkey. With all this going on, Alice is insistent that her mom come home and help her go shopping. She has her first date coming up and she needs a very special item. But with dad being the only available parental unit in sight, Alice is stuck with having her dad help her buy her first bra.
Raquel feels guilty for working, Rip is horrified his daughter wants to go out on her first date, and Turbo is definitely not working out. It's just another normal day in the life of the Smashenburns.
A promising start for some cool characters
UPN's CGI-animated comedy, Game Over, is an entertaining new series that's funny, but not quite as funny as it should be. The likable characters come to life as they juggle the realities of being in a family against the absurdity of a video-game universe. By making the characters engaging, Game Over becomes more than just another animated series.
"Meet the Smashenburns" is an excellent opening for the series, which sets up the challenges of juggling careers, family life and teenagers. The fact that Rip and Raquel happen to be video-game characters is secondary to the fact that they are parents, even if their video-game careers do interfere.
Voicing the characters is a cool cast, lead by Warburton and Liu. While the characters are well cast, the two leads are especially good, giving depth and dimension in their respective roles. Dratch is also just right as Alice, a character that mixes teenage angst with intelligence.
The animated series has a 3-D look with anime influences. Filled with action heroes, monsters and a universe full of oddball characters, Game Over looks unique.
While "Meet the Smashenburns" has some humor, the writers haven't mined nearly as many laughs out of the material as they could have. Still, they have managed to instill a sweetness in the relationship between the parents and kids that works and adds to the real emotion behind these cartoon characters. Upcoming episodes will find Rip dealing with the fact that his wife makes more money than he does and Raquel getting guilted into helping with Billy's school play.
