I had no idea what Pet Alien was before getting these discs (crap, am I at the age where I'm out of tough with what's hip with the youngsters?!) Now, thankfully, I can add another bit of pop culture knowledge to the old database, and wow any eleven year-olds I may happen across. "Yep, I know what Pet Alien is, I'm a cool adult. I swear!"

What Pet Alien is not is a Penthouse Magazine segement or the newest nonsenscial Japanese import toy. It's an animated kids show and, unfortuantely, it's also not terribly interesting. The plot of the show involves a young kid named Tommy, who has taken in a group of aliens. Together, this band of misfits live, appareantly unsupervised, inside a lighthouse. Adventures ensue.

Each of the two discs, Aliens Unleashed and Atomic Tommy contain four ten minute episodes.

Aliens Unleashed
"The Thing on the Corner"
Dinko feels shunned, and befriends a mailbox.
"A Pirate and His Dog"
The dog/alien thing feels shunned and befriends a pirate.
"Stage Fright"
Tommy searches for an act to perform at a talent show.
"Horror Scope"
The aliens try to protect Tommy from what they feel is a sinister astrology reading.

Atomic Tommy
"The Amazing Atomic Tommy"
The aliens beleive Tommy is a superhero and attempt to prove it--with zany results.
"The Land That Size Forgot"
There's a whole lot of shrinking going on.
"I Was a Teenage Bearded Boy"
Thanks to some alien mischief, Tommy wakes up one day with a green beard, and ll the kids want one.
"The Day That Wouldn't End"
In this Groundhog Day homage, Tommy finds himself the subject of the aliens time warp hijinks.

So what do I think of Pet Alien? Not too much. There's a lot of eye-candy with the computer genreated animation (though it does look fairly dated) and some moments are funny, but overall, the show failed to distinguish itself from the buffet of other kids programs out there. It's not particularly witty and the characters are fairly annoying. Tommy is especially irritating and the aliens are your typical goofy cartoon sidekicks. Still, the little ones will likely enjoy this. I, however, am not a fan.