Kim Possible

Created by: Bob Schooley, Mark McCorkle

Executive Producers: Bob Schooley, Mark McCorkle

Starring: Christy Carlson Romano (Kim Possible), Will Friedle (Ron Stoppable), Tahj Mowry (Wade Load), Nancy Cartwright (Rufus), John DiMaggio (Dr. Drakken), Nicole Sullivan (Shego) 

You know, thinking more deeply about it, I'm not even sure why I love this show so much! Like Teen Titans, it's another one whose theme song would absolutely grab my attention as a kid, and always took top priority when it aired. Something about the quick wit, Kim's fun and hilarious personality, and Dr. Drakken's way of destroying super-villain cliches. 

Even the theme song was something I relished. Christina Milian's trendy voice, with Kim swinging around fancy techno-digital effects, captured something in me and I would watch with intensity -- and still do! Somehow, even with the show's lack (largely) of magical powers, it drew me in just like Samurai Jack and Firefly. Though to Kim Possible's credit, it does have touches of both scifi and fantasy. 

I loved the idea that Kim was basically an average high schooler, as proclaimed in the theme-song. And I loved even more that everyone knew about both: Kim's parents, siblings, and even classmates were aware of her saving the world: an iconic dialogue exchange between Kim and her rival classmate, Bonnie, went: 

Bonnie: Well, it's really your ish. You seem tired. 

Kim: I did fly in from Abu Dhabi this morning. Rescued an ambassador. 

Bonnie: Which is... nice, but you gotta ask yourself, did you give the squad 110 percent today? 

Kim: 120 percent, Bonnie. 

Bonnie: I happen to think the squad deserves a captain who gives... like, 130! 

I just love the irony of how flippantly Bonnie brushes that off. "I just flew in from Abu Dhabi from saving an ambassador." "That's nice, anyway." And on the other side, Kim's arch-villain Dr. Drakken is also fully aware of her being a teenage highs school girl and is even aware that his old colleague is her father! It's so funny to me because in any other spy-mission-impossible world, or even superhero vigilante world like Batman's, the villain knowing your "secret identity" is bad -- they'd go after your parents or wife in order to get to you. But Dr. Drakken... well, it's unclear! Those kind of stakes just don't serve this show, and that's okay! It's interesting because Dr. Drakken doesn't hesitate to put people in deadly situations, though it's always indirect. He's always too busy trying to invent something all by himself or come up with some world-dominating scheme that he doesn't actually care about going directly after Kim. In fact, if she wasn't constantly trying to stop him, I don't think Dr. Drakken would really care about her existence at all. It's only his assistant Shego who actually seems to carry a grudge. 

Which brings me to my next point. Shego. Oh my goodness, Shego. I absolutely love the dynamic between Dr. Drakken and Shego, it's absolutely hilarious because Dr. Drakken is totally the impediment to his own plans. Dr. Drakken is incompetent. He's almost at the level of Pokemon's Team Rocket, because while he can create impossible devices, he can never make them work. Whereas Shego is the actual skill behind Drakken's.... money? Ability? Driving force? I couldn't say. Shego's almost scary because she's so talented and so deadly, she actually has the potential to do damage. If it weren't for Drakken's incompetence, Shego might actually be able to take out Kim. But, Shego doesn't seem to care a whole lot about much of anything besides just getting to be evil. She just likes to cause harm and destriction and Drakken's ridiculous plots give her some sort of aim. 

And that's why most episodes end up with Kim sparring Shego, and Ron sparring Drakken-- because Ron's incompetence is on par with Drakken. Drakken couldn't hold a candle to Kim just as Ron couldn't to Shego. Also, Ron's knack for incompetently doing good things (similar to Star Wars' Jar Jar Binks, I suppose) is pretty similar to Drakken's incompetently doing bad things. The pairs make great matches, and those dynamics make most episodes very entertaining. 

I'm also endlessly entertained by Kim's family. Her parents, Drs. James and Ann Possible (Gary Cole and Jean Smart, respectively) are rocket scientist and neurosurgeons, which is where the show's lore seems to credit Kim's fierce skill. Both of these parents are on the forefronts of technological and biological advancement and the show pulls plenty of robotic and mutant baddies from their colleagues. I also love how casual their parents are -- the kindest, healthiest, sweetest parents who totally support her "hero-work" and "world-saving" as long as she gets her homework done. And then there are Kim's twin brothers, Jim and Tim (Shaun Fleming, seasons 1–3; Spencer Fox, season 4) who follow in their father's footsteps as robotics geniuses. They invent scifi wonders on their own smaller scale that rival those from professional scientists. Kim doesn't recognize their genius at first, but as the show progresses, she realizes they actually pose a legit help for her missions. Though-- they don't need her approval, which I also appreciate. Jim and Tim form their own perfect duo and invent little robotic plot devices that help each episode and defy villain (and often allied!) expectation. 

So basically, I love everything about this show! The characters are hilarious and genius, and the whole concept of a world-saving high school girl is genius too. Plus, it's cool to have a female lead and male side-kick; it's a nice stereotype-defying edge.