Psyche-TheSphinx
It is to the date my favorite of all times. I grew up with Captain Simian et the Space Monkeys. My love for philosophy and a big part of my identity comes from the character of Shao Lin, who was the only female monkey yet somehow adverted the token woman category by merit of being The Lancer, the Badass Preacher (and Technical Pacifist) and all round dispenser of wisdom you often find in the Mentor. She was still a romantic interest to the protagonist but not a character that was defined by that role any more than any of the aforementioned roles. Brownie points for adverting the weaponization of feminine wiles throughout the show, too. Instead she was the specilist and a tank on her own right. She would drop some very wise line every once in a while - that was later made fun of or subverted for laughs, or just in the interest of humanizing her. Her 'true wisdom comes from seeing things from all sides' still resonates with me as one of the most basic truths in my philosophy of life.The show was more than this about Shao Lin's Eastern wisdom and character composition, though I find it's a good example of what made CSstSM such a nice and complete story. You can find similar attention to detail for all main characters, with some being more plot driven than others. Puns and references make the bulk of the shows dialogs, along character dynamics and development that was so rare to find in other shows back at the time. It parodied all kind of movies and series, even outside the sci-fi genre. Very intelligently written, humor and action packed, character-driven plots, it was never cheap. You have to love CSstSM. It rarely took itself all that serious. After all, they were monkeys in space. But it wasn't dumb by any stretch of the imagination.I always got sore by the fact they weren't as popular as they should have been >.< If you haven't watched it, at least one episode, I recommend it whole heartedly.
Capt_Simian
I watched this show every Sunday morning on, I think it was UPN, and loved it, I still love it. Like you said earlier, it was funny, smart (maybe too smart for the younger children) but it was still funny all the way around.I was curious if anyone knew when (or if) a DVD would be coming out for the entire series? Because I know if a DVD ever came out I would buy it in a heart beat, and watch all 26 episodes.I loved and still love every minute of that show, especially the opening theme song...brilliant! Why did it have to leave? I still have the memories...
Ginger87
"Captain Simian & The Space Monkeys" was a great show. I used to wake up early on Sunday mornings to watch it on UPN. This show gave me some good laughs and I was sad to see it go.My favorite monkey was Spydor. He was really funny. I also liked Capt. Simian. He was really brave and he would do anything for his crew. I liked Shao Lin, too. She was cool and brave.My favorite episodes of "Captain Simian & The Space Monkeys" were "Escape From the Plant of the Apes" and "Invasion of the Banana Snatchers". I loved theses episodes. They were classics!I really enjoyed this show and I wish they made more episodes of it. I give this show 10/10 stars.
argyle
Captain Simian is possibly the best cartoon ever aired, without exaggeration. It was funny, clever, well-drawn and well-animated, and had a stellar voice cast.This series, which tragically lasted a mere 26 episodes, was the sort of cartoon that parents would have loved to watch with their kids. Sadly, neither generation knew the show existed. (In my area, the show bounced around the Saturday morning lineup, briefly moving to Sunday, and even changed networks. I had to search for it again and again.)The show was funny on multiple levels. It was a cartoon about monkeys -- kids don't need much more than that -- but that was the lowest level of humor this show reached. It also made jokes that *only* the parents would get. There were references to "A Clockwork Orange" (Malcolm McDowell did one of the regular voices), a film noir episode that paid homage to "Maltese Falcon" and "Chinatown" beautifully, even an episode titled "Surf Monkeys Must Dive!" (named after a Troma film that NO child should ever see). The in-jokes went on and on.On top of that, there was the simple irony that the main adversaries, Captain Simian and Lord Nebula, were voiced by Jerry Doyle and Michael Dorn -- the battle of the primetime Sci-Fi Security Chiefs -- Mister Garibaldi and Lt. Worf in a grudge match for control of the entire universe.The show died its unfortunate death because the toys weren't selling well. (As I understand it, the toys weren't selling well because they were being dumped directly into the 3/$10 bin at the major chains, rather than being shelved.) If the toys don't sell, the show isn't seen as worthwhile.It's still around in re-runs, but no one can say for how long. So watch it while you can.