planet heroes

We got a free DVD today that I signed up for - it's a promotion by Fisher Price for their new show/toys called "Planet Heroes." It's all about "Saving the Universe". I thought oh, this looks cute - each planet (including Pluto) is represented by a different hero - Earth's is called Ace who is supposedly a 10-year old boy who likes to skateboard, although on the DVD he sounds to be about 17, complete with changed voice. These heroes are saving the universe from this: "Ruthless, scary, and bad to the bone, Black Hole 'Professor Darkness' is a hulking nightmare of twisted ambition and seething destruction. He wants to destroy the universe! From Alpha Centauri to the North Pole, nobody is safe from Professor Darkness, the Black Hole!" (quoted from the packaging) Sounds just right for ages 3 and up, right? First of all, this show has already been done, and done well - it was called Captain Planet and it was awesome. Besides the questionable age-range, while watching the DVD I was amazed at the cheap-looking computer animation and poor writing of the episode. There's nothing wrong with lines like "The only ones who never fail are those who never try.", but it sure is cheesy and a bit over the head of my three year old. Inexplicably, the Mars hero, Digger, has a Scottish accent. I grant that Professor Darkness isn't quite as frightening as his description would suggest. But I definitely would never watch this series with Henry until he's about 8 or so. If I had some money burning pocket-holes I might get him the action figures, but since he has more toys than will ever be necessary (I think they might be breeding) that won't be likely anytime soon. Remember when there were good, wholesome kids' shows on tv like Jem and the Holograms, and DuckTales?