Chowder (Cartoon Network)

CHOWDER follows the misadventures of a young chef's apprentice whose enthusiasm for his work can't overcome his obvious ineptitude for the job. A resident of the colorful and bizarre city of Marzipan, Chowder (voiced by Nicky Jones) is living out his dream, working under the watchful eye of master chef Mung Daal (Dwight Schultz) at his bustling catering company. It's Chowder's excitement that stands in the way of culinary success; he tends to get ahead of himself -- and Mung's instructions -- and often ends up cooking up more trouble than food. From accidentally poisoning a popular dish to leading himself and Mung into unfamiliar territory on a delivery run, there's no shortage of misadventure when young Chowder is around.

While Chowder offers plenty of tween-friendly silliness in its fantastical setting, outlandish characters, and surreal scenarios, it's clear that it aims strictly to entertain, not educate. Kids might not notice that there's little of substance here, but parents certainly will. The characters are shallow, the situations are unlikely, and there's impossibly little consequence to Chowder's constantly sub-par job performance. Plus, one young female character has an obsessive crush, and there's occasionally icky potty humor (body odor, vomiting, and the like).