![]() ![]() It's too soon to predict whether stores will soon be stocking "Manny" tool kits in the same numbers that they stock "Bob the Builder" merchandise. "Handy Manny" is a great idea, if not a new one. (But TV series have an arc don't expect anything to happen before the third season.) Lopart, and Kelly, the redheaded proprietor of the local hardware store, who clearly has a yen for Manny. Manny's perfect character might become annoying if he weren't performed by the "That 70's Show" star (and Lindsay Lohan ex-boyfriend) Wilmer Valderrama, whose casual delivery helps to dilute Manny's tendency toward preachiness.īeyond his toolbox family, Manny's friends include his accident-prone neighbor, Mr. In the series premiere Turner and Felipe get themselves stuck together fighting over a bottle of glue. Stretch the tape measure is an overachiever, Rusty the monkey wrench is neurotic, and the screwdrivers Turner and Felipe (a Phillips head) bicker constantly. ![]() Manny's co-stars are his seven tools, difficult little personalities who appear to be mutant descendants of the Seven Dwarfs. Mostly this series is concerned with the usual life lessons: sharing, cooperating and always covering your work surface with newspaper before using glue. The Latino flavor of "Manny" is more than a gloss, but less than an overriding theme. Each 11-minute narrative features a few Spanish words (although hardly enough to merit the word bilingual, which is sprinkled throughout the show's press material) and Latin music, with a theme song written and performed by Los Lobos. ![]() Tromping through the pastel town of Sheetrock Hills (part East Los Angeles, part Candyland), Manny repairs community centers, citizenship trophies and, occasionally, attitudes. Manny Garcia wears his Hispanic identity as proudly as he wears his sturdy brown boots. "Handy Manny," which has its debut on the Disney Channel's educational bloc with back-to-back episodes today, is a natural fit for preschoolers who've had their fill of Baby Einstein but find Bob the Builder a bit too, well, WASPy. Modest, reliable and hard-working, Handy Manny is the kind of handyman you find only in dreams or in the doubly idealized world of animated children's television. Disney Channel, today at 10 a.m., Eastern and Pacific times 9 a.m., Central time. ![]()
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