It’s me Heidi, not Diane, writing to review a new TV series that’s on for the first time tonight: Disney Channel’s Dog With A Blog. I can “speak,” but this dog can talk!
Guess what, I liked it! But I like all TV because during it I get to sit on the couch and my peoples let me put my nose in their laps and don’t even get mad if I do something that smells bad although it makes them wave their hands around, especially whichever one is sitting “on the wrong end of the dog.”
Sometimes I see reviews in the newspaper by people who don’t like the show they are reviewing, but I don’t think that peoples should be TV critics if they don’t like the TV. Before, I reviewed a movie for the Patch called Darling Companion, but Dog With a Blog is for TV so it is shorter and looks a lot smaller, too. That is the big difference between movies and TV, the size. They sent me a DVD "screener" so I could watch it even though it wasn't on TV yet.
And I like TV better than movies because when I watch something at my house I can get my toys and snacks and things to make the show more interesting. The movie was especially good for me to review because I am darling, but this review I am also qualified for because guess what, the dog in the TV show writes online, just like I do!
Plus another guess what, the dog Stan is played by Kuma, who was the understudy for Kasey, the dog in Darling Companion. Wow, now he has his own part where he is the real dog not the underdog and could even get an Emmy Award. That is nice but maybe some other dogs should get some of the parts instead of always the same dog. I can play a dog, even one that isn’t me.
Also take a good look at Kuma’s ear, the black one that doesn’t bend. I think they painted it because I learned in my acting career that there are animal colorists that can change the way animals look. I am not saying I should have gotten this part but have two black ears and they both stand up straight just naturally.
I like to be a critic but I didn’t want to do it on Thursday morning. I had my squeaky ball out and I thought it was a good time to play catch, but Diane made me sit down and watch so I could write it for today. At first I fell asleep. But that is not because the show was bad, it is just because I am a dog and the couch is soft.
I missed some of the first part where it was just peoples talking, but I could tell it was about a woman and a man and each of them brought their kids into the house but they were having a hard time getting along as one litter. There’s a dumb son (Blake Michael) and a smart girl (G.Hannelius) and another little girl with bright red hair (Frances Capaldi). The Dad (Regan Burns) decides to get a dog so the kids can all learn to get along by taking care of him, the dog. The Mom (Beth Littleford) is not happy because she says she is a “cat person,” but she looked like a regular person to me, she didn’t even have a tail.
But then I woke up because the dog was on and he was funny! I can understand him when he talks English and when he speaks dog because I am bilingual. I won’t give away the whole story because you are not supposed to do that, but I liked it when he wrote a "product review" of a squeaky toy for his blog and all the jokes that he told. They are things that wouldn’t be funny if a people said them but are funny for a dog. Like this is what he said about the Dad: “Sniffed his butt. Not impressed.” That would just be crazy talk for a people.
Plus what I liked best was that the dog really does bring everybody together. It is like my family -- I am adopted just like Stan, and then I have a big brother and sister who are my Dad Alan’s kids but not my Mom Diane’s. So when we were all growing up sometimes they were here at our house and sometimes not, but I always waited for them and when they got here I was always everybody’s dog the same; there is no such thing as a stepdog. And I think I am the reason Diane is not just a “cat person” anymore and does not have a tail, because I am her first dog. I think in the show the Mom will eventually love the dog, too. That will be good.
So me, Heidi, Studio City’s one–and-only dog critic, gives Dog With a Blog four paws up. I couldn’t do that while standing on the floor because then I would fall down splat. But I can do four paws up when I’m lying on my back on the sofa, which is why I love TV.
