Parents' Guide to Green Eggs and Ham

This beautifully animated book-inspired series is hampered a bit by a meandering and cumbersome plot but still manages to keep viewers' attention with references to various elements of Dr. Seuss's full compendium of works. Obviously green eggs and ham feature prominently in the story, in this case as a tangible indicator of the chasm between Sam's and Guy's polar perspectives on life. Sam makes repeated attempts throughout the series to encourage Guy to try the unusual dish, but stalwart Guy refuses, telling Sam, "I do not like them." As the story evolves, we also recognize nods to One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Oh, the Places You'll Go!, among other famous Dr. Seuss works, and the intermittent narration by Keegan-Michael Key ties it all together with the author's familiar rhyming cadence.

Green Eggs and Ham stumbles at the start on its own eagerness to hook viewers, overwhelming them with introductions of numerous main and supporting characters who are only loosely connected to each other at first. As the story plays out and their acquaintances are more solidly defined, the big picture becomes clearer and easier to settle into. The show makes excellent use of cliffhanger endings to lure you back for the following episodes, a somewhat novel feature in kids cartoons that's notably fun in this case.