New Kids Show: Odd Squad

[Flying Saucerian]

Ran across this recently and was rather taken by it. It's the latest PBS educational kids show. Odd Squad concerns an elite bureau operated entirely by kids who investigate strange, unusual, and paranormal activity, sort of like a combination of The Men In Black and those old commercials with factories run entirely by little kids. Its main purpose is to teach math concepts. God knows I could use it. Yes, I know it's for kids aged five to eight. I could use it. My math really is that dismal.

The main characters are field agents Olive and Otto and their hard-as-nails boss Miss O but I'm rather taken with Oscar, the bureau's chief scientist, a quirky little guy with a hair bump and a tendency toward high geekiness. I especially like the fact that I looked him up on the IMDB and discovered the young actor who plays him is credited on another project as 'Pissy Elf.' I hope that's a description. I'd hate to think that was the character's actual name.

Not much "real" Forteana --Look, it's for little kids-- but lots of demented little moments. The characters tend toward that bent hyper-serious tone one associates with Adam West, periodically busting out of their straight faced attitude for some kiddish moments, as when Oscar explains he likes to think of the 'greater than/lesser than' symbol as a hungry alligator whose mouth opens toward the greater number. "Rargh, rargh!" (Everyone stares.) "Um, anyway..." Later, he's back with a gator puppet. There are also throwaway gags; when Agents Otto and Olive are meeting in Miss O's office to discuss a case, it takes a couple seconds to realize the extras have formed a conga line and are dancing in the background outside the glass paneling.

Heck, I like it. It's cute.