Parents' Guide to

Johnny Test

By Joly Herman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Kid-friendly 'toon is more imaginative than most.

TV Cartoon Network , WB Kids' Animation 2005
Johnny Test Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 45 parent reviews

gumballfanse
gumballfanse Parent
February 26, 2022
age 14+

This is for teens

I know this is aimed at kids, but I think it is more aimed at a teenage audience. It mentions gross stuff like "Power poots" and the main character, Johnny Test and the dog, are equally annoying and lazy. It is unoriginal, a shameless ripoff of CN's "Johnny Quest" and the intro is a plain knockoff of "Green Day - American Idiot".

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
3 people found this helpful.
RecessGymClass2
RecessGymClass2 Adult
November 25, 2016
age 5+

I hated this show.

I couldn't stand watching this show. Nothing was good about it. The animation was so ugly. The colors are just really boring, the characters are ugly, the timing in season 1 was poor, and the animation got worse when it switched to Flash Animation. The characters are annoying. Johnny is an annoying little brat. I hate his hair, clothes, and everything about him, even his voice is annoying. Dukey is the same, as well as Johnny's parents. Johnny sisters are so annoying. Gil is a completely stupid, unlikable character. He just the personality of a wall. Bling Bling is annoying and uninteresting. The theme song is just AWFUL. The beat is just annoying, the singing is horrible, and the lyrics are just unorganized, and make no sense. The humor is horrible. Never laughed once during this show. The jokes are just stupid, fall flat, try too hard, and are just remotely not funny. The show itself is just really boring, I have actually YAWNED during this show. That is pretty bad, a show so boring that you are yawing while you are watching it. Yeah, on my behalf that is pretty bad. This show has the most watered down dialogue ever. Even inconsistent at times. 'Nuff said. I'm surprised that this show ran so long, it should've been cancelled after the first season. At least Cartoon Network no longer reruns Johnny Test, and may they never rerun the show again.
2 people found this helpful.
See all 45 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Johnny Test (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) is an 11-year-old kid who likes to play air guitar and wants to impress his friends. Everything seems pretty normal ... until his sisters begin to experiment on him with the vengeance of amateur mad scientists. With Mary and Susan's help, Johnny gets powers such as the ability to travel through time or gain supernatural intelligence when he dons a pair of pants. Other experiments have silly side-effects like hairstyles that change in the blink of an eye.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (45 ):
Kids say (120 ):

Surprisingly inventive and not as violent as other cartoons in this genre, JOHNNY TEST is an age-appropriate choice for kids. The only thing worth mentioning: All the experiments Johnny undergoes are unattended by adults, which allows all types of zany plots to unfold. But as long as he's in one piece by dinner time, Johnny is free to be experimented upon every day.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Johnny's parents' role reversal. Hugh is a stay-at-home dad, while Lila is an extremely busy working mom. How do real families cope with sharing roles? How have these roles changed over the years?

  • Which of Johnny's powers would you most want to have? Would you be willing to go through a dangerous experiment to get a special ability?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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