I could not possibly co-sign this review more strongly, except for one thing: I don't agree that it going over kids' heads sometimes was a problem at all. It had far more than enough to keep kids watching even if they didn't get some things, and realizing the Genius Bonus many years down the road is quite the, well, bonus and a hallmark of a truly great show. On the other hand, an adult Looney Tunes would probably have lost much of the charm – just look at what happened to the reboots that didn't even go that far. Same kind of goes for being a huge sci-fi fan, by the way – it's undoubtedly a big bonus but not at all a requirement to enjoy the show.
It's incredibly disappointing that nobody at WB has seemingly even tried to understand what made Duck Dodgers different from all the other reboots, even after so many years have passed since the show ended (not to mention since this review).
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The Only Reboot That Worked!
This series revives most of the original Looney Tunes in a science fiction setting. Just like the original cartoons, it is based on funny and lovable characters, strange and funny situations, and pop culture references. There is some minor character development to keep things interesting, plus the addition of Queen Tyr'ahnee, the only sane character, and leader of the Martians.
Episodes are either adventures Dodgers and the Cadet have while exploring, or their conflict with the martians (Marvin appears as Commander X-2). There are often whole plot references to Star Trek, or other shows.
The series is basically built on stand alone episodes, but if you have access to the whole series, you can spot one ongoing arc, the Dodgers/Queen relationship. She believes his dumbness is all part of a plan, and that he is a military genius, and that he has nearly every quality a sci-fi captain should have. (he doesn't) On some occasions, she has shown attraction to him, once attempting to marry him. However, he doesn't really care whether she is trying to kill or marry him, as he is indifferent to almost everyone. Well, except the Cadet. Unlike Daffy's later portrayals, this one is depicted as a jerk with a heart of gold, and he becomes a bit less self-centered as the series goes on.
The humor is pretty funny, although much of it comes from references to other things.
The only con of the show is the size of its potential audience. To fully enjoy it, you must A) Love the Looney Tunes cartoons enough to get all the references to them. B) Love sci-fi (especially Star Trek) enough to get all the references and homages to it. As in, seen every sci-fi thing ever made.
Now I fall into categories A and B, but I certainly doubt the target audience did.
For example, one episode features the President of Space depending on the heroes to get some important information. Unfortunately, it was hidden in Daffy's mind, so everyone must go inside his mind. There, they encounter his ego, superego, Id, and other things kids wouldn't have heard of. The whole humor in the episode comes from references to psychology, and even though they are pretty funny, the target audience wouldn't understand
Sadly, with a Y7 rating, this show was really misaiming. I'm pretty sure all the fans are adults, as kids wouldn't get 9/10 of it.
10/10 in my opinion