The 2004 film “Napoleon Dynamite” is a contentious movie, and its cult following is probably why.
    
In my high school, at least, “Napoleon Dynamite” became a phenomenon, and people had entire conversations at lunch that consisted of quotes. Needless to say, tater tots became a much more popular lunch room staple afterward.
   
 I did not mind it. I even occasionally joined in because I watched it in 2004, without expectations just like them, and loved the movie.
    
For those who did not watch it in 2004, however, the endless quoting probably only did two things: a.) annoy the heck out of them and b.) raise the bar unrealistically high for this funny cult movie about an eccentric group of high schoolers. It’s not the funniest movie ever made, not even close, but the later viewers of “Napoleon Dynamite” thought it was supposed to be. (Maybe this is why I do not like “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”) Many of the people who dislike “Napoleon Dynamite” fall into this camp.
    
Gradually, with time, “Napoleon Dynamite” fell out of the public consciousness, as did its star Jon Heder. At the film’s release, Heder looked like he might become the next great comedy actor, but ever since, he has appeared in a number of dull comedies, most notably “Blades of Glory.”
    
So it is interesting that now, eight years later, Fox debuts a “Napoleon Dynamite” animated series, complete with a storytelling approach that more or less requires the viewer to have watched the movie previously. In some cases, like with supporting characters Don and Summer, it is even more helpful to have watched it recently.
    
While “Napoleon Dynamite” is certainly a funny movie, was it the best choice for an animated series? Looking back on the first two episodes, it is inescapable to notice that none of the biggest laughs involve character humor. Usually they are jokes that stand on their own or reference something.
    
Two of the funniest gags from the premiere both reference obscure things. The show spoofs the band at Chuck E. Cheese’s by having Napoleon’s brother, Kip, take a date to Goof Nutz Pizza, complete with its own band. The entirely unimaginative parodies the band plays are hilarious. They include “Takin’ Care of Pizza,” a parody of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business,” and a rendition of “All That She Wants” by Ace of Base that changes the words from “all that she wants is another baby” to “all that she wants is another pizza.” That is truly expert songwriting.
    
The band includes animals and randomly an Abraham Lincoln that pops out of a cabin. The show also makes fun of how obviously fake the performers look by having them immediately slump forward, powering down from a performance. But at the end of the premiere, the show plays with that expectation by having the animals come to life and say hello to Kip, a frequent customer.
    
But perhaps the funniest aspect of the premiere is Uncle Rico reading a book called “Quarterback Detective,” a take-off on some of the horrible juvenile genre fiction, especially that of the crossover variety. Rico getting confused with the simplistic, hackneyed plot is hysterical. “The diamonds were in the football,” he marvels when he is a little farther along in the book.
    
But all the actual attempts at character humor felt tired. It certainly did not help that so many of the supporting characters are so static or unrealistic, especially bullies Don and Summer. In the series’ second episode, “Scantronica Love,” all the characters are strangely paired by a computer dating survey. Summer comes off as a caricature, talking about how much she misses Don because he makes fun of other people. It felt more like she was spouting off her own character traits, rather than actual lines. Then again, much of everyone’s dialogue in “Napoleon Dynamite” feels the same way.
    
In both of the series’ first two episodes, the third acts play out slow and predictably, with lots of action going on and little humor. When the writers do not care enough to solidify interesting character relationships, then the times when the episodes turn to the central plot become much more tedious. It also did not help that the third acts felt so far removed from the original source material. Could anything as fantastic as the Pioneer Punch Club’s Thundercone have really existed in the world of the 2004 movie?
    
All in all, “Napoleon Dynamite” has some funny gags but not enough of a cohesive whole to become a worthy addition to anyone’s weekly viewing schedule.


— Robby O’Daniel is a graduate student in communications. He can be reached at rodaniel@utk.edu.