Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street. A long-winded title for a cheesy ridiculous show, right? WRONG. Well, the title is definitely long-winded, but the show is something you do not want to miss. *Contains Spoilers*I am an older teenager who started watching this out of boredom, but I got sucked in and ended up watching every single episode. And then watched them all again. The series is sweet, calmly funny, weird, and it made me cry. THREE TIMES. "Gortimer Gets Shushed" was the first, then "Mel vs. the Future", and "Gortimer vs. the End", mainly because once you get to that point, even though you've watched 39 episodes, you don't want it to end. You want them to stay kids on Normal Street forever. But the whole point, especially the last two seasons, is growing up.Some things that parents should be aware of: There's one brief part where they try to use a Ouija board to contact a "ghost", but it all comes right in the end. There is a (again, very brief) passing mention of "Tom and Dylan's wedding, and a part where they use meditation to get into Mel's brain. There's one kiss on the lips between two teenage characters, but it's very quick and mild. However, the worst word they use is "heck" and that's only once. So zero bad language. And the list of good things is so much longer! The actors are all stellar, they fit their characters so well and have great chemistry. And the characters themselves are awesome. First, of course, Gortimer. One thing I found hilarious is that at one point he says he's thankful his parents didn't name him Onion. That's right, Gortimer, look on the bright side. He's kind, reasonable, friendly, brave, and pretty much a cinnamon roll. Mel, his best friend, is a genius who loves science and being busy and involved in everything at school. She's outgoing and competitive, and cheerful. Ranger, Gortimer's other best friend, is awesome. He loves ninjas, baking, and basketball, and will go to great lengths to make someone's day better. He's a bit more practical than the other two. They all are very loyal to each other, and great friends.I really liked "The Mystery of Marlow Mansion", it's kind of a Clue parody, with a genuine plot twist. And seeing the kids all playing different characters was very fun. "Mel vs. the Future" and the very end of "Ranger and the Fabled Flower of Normal Street" were pretty sad, but good. A parent may want to watch it first and decide if their child can handle it, because it deals with death of a parent. Now I bet you've been needing something like say, a Fork of Destiny? How about a boy that starts turning into a bug, or maybe he becomes a black hole? Maybe some kids who find a pocket dimension, or get to walk in someone else's shoes. Literally. Normal Street is a place that, as Gortimer says, is anything but normal, yet somehow this show feels... well, normal. Behind all the oddball situations it feels so real, I guess maybe like the way it was when I was littler. Like childhood.

I've never written a TV show review, but I know what I like and I like this show. I watched this series with my 11 and 9 year old sons and we love it. As a dad I'm disappointed at the predictability, the lack of creativity and how parents and children are presented in most family programming. Gortimer is well written , fun, the child actors are very real, likable and not obnoxious entitled brats, and the parents are not characterized as clueless idiots like almost every live action show from the Disney machine. If you and you and your family have been looking for quality family programming without being preachy or filled with Hollywood clichés then this is your show. We've watched the whole season and check Amazon often for new episodes.

I really don't like a lot of what is out there for kids in the 8-14 year range. This series is outstanding in that it effectively tells stories from kids' points of view. The episodes show real, thoughtful and respectful interaction between the characters and the adults they encounter, not disrespectful over-the-top behaviors and tripe that many of the networks catering to this age group are showing. My whole family (ages 58, 48, 12 and 10) LOVES it and can't wait for more episodes to be added - as we hungrily watched all that were out there already when we found it over the holidays. Thanks, Amazon, for producing something truly watchable!

I'm only two episodes in, so this is not a review of the full series, but I like what I see so far. The best way I could think of to describe it so far is Desperate Housewives meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid. If you watch it, that will make perfect sense. The cast is great; these kids don't get on my nerves like the kids on the dumb Disney shows that my daughter likes to watch. The plot for the pilot episode was a little ridiculous and the episode felt overly long, but the second episode had much better pacing and a much more interesting story. I'm glad that I gave the show another chance beyond that first episode, and I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series.