Gushing About Gadget

For many people of my generation, the first cyborg we watched may have been Inspector Gadget.  The series was combined efforts of DIC Entertainment, Nelvana, and the French cartoonist Bruno Bianchi.  Gadget had a wide array of technological enhancements that could provide a personal helicopter, roller skates, binoculars, and other tools.

As if Inspector Clouseau had gotten upgraded by Ian Flemming's Q Branch, misadventures often made for great episodes.  MAD (an evil syndicate led by Dr. Claw) had a different diabolical scheme each episode.

While Inspector Gadget's follies brought laughs, what seemed to make the show so popular may have been how empowering it was for the children watching someone closer to their age fight crime.  I'd venture to say that the true heroes of the series were Gadget's niece and dog, (Penny and Brain) rather than the title character.  With quick thinking, disguises, and Penny's computer book (13 years before the MacBook) and the two-way radio in Brain's collar, the duo would protect Gadget from harm and thwart MAD's plots.

The cast for the TV show had some very big names.  Don Adams had played Tennessee Tuxedo and Maxwell Smart before portraying Inspector Gadget.  Though Penny and Brain were played by a few actors during the length of the show's run, it was pretty special that they had both Cree Summer and Frank Welker for most of the series.

Later on, there were Inspector Gadget live-action movies starring Matthew Broderick and French Stewart as Gadget.  They were entertaining, but the cartoon was a tough act to follow.  Since then, there's a been a comic book from Viper Comics, a video game, an educational series about world travel, and presently a series reboot.

The Cookie Jar Company (the current incarnation of DIC) celebrated Gadget's 30th anniversary with a new CGI series.  Ivan Sherry took up Adams's role and does a great job at it.  New characters include a new friend for Penny and a nephew for Dr. Claw.  The stories are half as long, and the tone is lighter.  I find it funny, but personally prefer the original.  After seeing phenomenally CGI-rendered  Roadrunner cartoons Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Raddids Invasion, I expect better visual quality.  I'm not sure if it was accessible for Cookie Jar, but maybe they should have gone with computer generated 2D.  It worked well for the Looney Tunes Show and the recent Scooby-Doo show.

In the age of Fitbits, Google Glass, and other wearable tech., I'm wondering how Gadget's gizmos will change