Earth to Ned arrives on Disney+ on Friday, September 4th. This new improv show from the Jim Henson Company focuses on an alien named Ned that was sent to earth to destroy it. However, upon arriving he finds himself fascinated (or maybe obsessed) with what Ned considered to be Earth’s greatest. The rest of the world may have different thoughts as Ned is fascinated with the celebrities of Earth. More than that, he also becomes enthralled with the late-night talk show format and creates his own show… on his ship. By now, this ship is hidden deep underground on Earth. From here, Ned beams aboard celebrities from many different genres of entertainment and interviews them, plays games, and creates his own talk show. He also learns about different types of entertainment while doing this. All of this is done with the help of his sidekick Cornelius, the ship’s artificial intelligence named BETI, and the less than helpful CLODS.
DAPS MAGIC was given early access to this show to review it and it quickly became apparent that Earth to Ned is a quirky improv comedy show that will be enjoyed by the whole family.
The Characters
There are four main characters or sets of characters on Earth to Ned. The lead is of course Ned. He is the son of an admiral from a race of aliens that are going around the galaxy invading planets and destroying them. Ned, the commander of this particular mission to destroy the earth, is about as incompetent as they get. He is also incredibly self-centered but equally likable. To be completely honest, he is probably the last person on Earth (yes. I know what I did there) that should be hosting a talk show. However, his incompetence is incredibly likable. He also really just wants to have a loving relationship with his Admiral daddy which is also quite endearing. For as terrible as a commander of a space invasion and host that he is, he is also incredibly enjoyable to watch.
Cornelius is Ned’s lieutenant on the ship and sidekick on the show. It appears that he is actually surprisingly good at both. He also is sent on missions to Earth. These missions tend to have him beamed somewhere to gather intelligence. He seems to be rather kind, other than an occasional joke at Ned’s expense. Because of this, he is probably the most endearing character in the cast. It will be interesting to see how his character develops as the show continues to move forward.
BETI is an interesting character that is basically like the ship’s computer with a personality. BETI also acts as the sort of stage manager for Ned’s show. BETI is a completely different approach to puppetry and is fascinating to watch from that point of view. From a personality point of view, BETI adds a level of awareness that Ned often doesn’t have. BETI also sometimes is a foil to Ned’s efforts which can be enjoyable to watch.
The CLODS are in a word, hilarious. I’m not entirely what their roles are on the ship but on the show they fill in all the gaps. They help with sketches and tend to just always be around. In the Star Wars episode, they may be the highlight of the show (and also in other episodes as well). They are rather simple puppets but it is amazing how much they add to the show… they also might have been my favorite characters in the show.
While not a main character in the show, Roaster Toaster deserves an honorable mention for some incredible roasts at Ned’s expense.
The Guests
The guests that appear on Ned’s show are really quite enjoyable to watch as well. There is quite a collection of celebrities from across different genres of entertainment. The interviews Ned has with them are all improv. Because of this, there are some memorable moments throughout the program. While DAPS MAGIC did not review all of the episodes being released, the ones that were watched were a lot of fun. Part of the reason they were so fun was that the guests clearly at times had no clue what was happening next. This created an unpredictable hilarity to the interviews.
Earth to Ned Final Thoughts
Earth to Ned is a show that will be fun for the whole family to watch. I found myself intending to sit down and watch one episode but ended up watching all the episodes that were offered as screeners. To put it simply, this show is fun. At different points in the show, it is different types of fun. There are lots of different types of entertainment represented and lots of nods to different types of entertainment and even other Disney properties. There are also different segments, games, and even a musical episode!
Earth to Ned is a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and has fun with itself and that fun comes through the screen. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the episodes when they arrive on Disney+! I also hope that this is the first of multiple seasons of Earth to Ned! I would love to see where this show could go, what guests could be on it, and also more from the world/backstory of Ned! I definitely give this show a hat tip and am looking forward to more of it!
