Main cast: Richard Yearwood, Lawrence Bayne, George Buza (Armstrong), Richard Chevolleau, Joel Gordon (Tim), David Hemblen (The Vault Keeper), Elizabeth Hanna (The Old Witch), and John Kassir (The Crypt Keeper)
Director: Laura Shepherd
The best thing about Dead Man Don’t Jump is the opening segment, which sees the three mascots of the old EC Comics flagship lines generally being silly together, and the Old Witch introducing the story like she’s auditioning to replace the Crypt Keeper in the adult version of this show.
As for the story itself, well, this is the black kid special, so of course it has to be about basketball, heh.
Erin is proud of his older brother Nathan being a basketball jock, but the nerdy kid is also concerned that Nathan is falling under the bad influence of Marvin, who charges money for anyone to take on Nathan in the local basketball court.
Indeed, Marvin is leading Nathan down a dark path… no, not one full of PEDs, which one can argue isn’t that bad as long as one is using carefully and doesn’t get caught in some random pee test, but rather, the guy sets up a match with a mysterious fellow that may end up being the death of them all.
This episode… well, there are no female characters here, so this means no shrill voices, stupid stereotypical bimbo behavior, screaming, and other nonsense, so this episode is already watchable by default. The plot is pretty dumb, but the episode for the most part wisely focuses on silly antics so the dumb nature of the plot isn’t so much in the forefront.
I do like that Nathan is protective of his geeky brother no matter what an unpopular fellow that kid is, but my goodness, Erin is so sanctimonious, annoying, and judgmental, plus the younger kid practically stalks his brother 24/7 in a manner that is either creepy or unhealthy—either option makes this kid obnoxious and disturbing, which is something considering how many shrill and idiotic characters that populate this show.
All things considered, though this one is alright in a don’t think so much, just let this play in the background way. This show is what it is, after all, so let’s not overthink it!
