Thomas & Friends: Hooray For Thomas & Other Adventures: In the recent Deep Discount Super Sale, I got a lot of Christmas shopping done. I tried not to buy much for myself but I did get most of the Thomas DVDs that I had not yet bought. Having some free time when the girls were on the PC allowed me to watch this while waiting for dinner.

Most of the stories are in the new style where absolutely all railway rules and regulations are gone. Of course, as someone told me, in the world of train regulations trains don't exactly talk. Putting this aside the episodes are quite interesting at times and some are pretty well written and directed, especially the episodes which feature good human character dialog. I like seeing how they bring Sir Topham Hatt and Lady Hatt more into the stories and keep things consistent by referencing older characters like Jem Cole.

I have mixed feelings about these new Thomas DVDs as a regular reader could easily point out. However I've decided either the episodes are getting better or they are starting to grow on me. Although it probably helped that they did not have the annoying CGI bumpers or Dora the Explorer like games. This release proves that the stories stand well on their own without the annoying extras just as they did when I was a kid.

Labels: Thomas, TV Shows