The Amazing World of Gumball

Full of quirky characters (peanuts and bananas, for starters) and a lot of over-the-top humor, Gumball's world is a place where kids' wildest imaginings will likely come to pass. Usually it's his good intentions that get him into trouble, and his subsequent attempts to fix the problem actually wind up forcing him into a deeper hole, a situation that some viewers can probably sympathize with. Kids will see the humor in Gumball's failed efforts -- like trying to pass off a cardboard DVD replica as one he ruined from a rental store -- but the fact that the learning process usually is lost on him means there aren't any real lessons to be found here.

Expect some of the typical gross-out humor (puking and the like) that's guaranteed to keep kids' interest and some fairly frequent cartoony violence (punching, kicking, extreme accidents) with little real-world effect. If parents tune in, they'll notice another layer of humor aimed at the family dynamics, with the mom filling the roles of both breadwinner and housekeeper and the dad amounting to very little. Unfortunately her work overload sometimes means she's stressed to the max and resorts to shouting and punching walls, but in calmer moments, her kids are her world.