Animated World of DC Comics: Mitefall (Batman: The Brave & The Bold, 2011)

 I've heard of going meta, but the series finale of Batman: The Brave & The Bold does go there, and then some.

By the time "Mitefall" aired, it was already known that Chumptoon Network had decided to cancel the series. The ill-fated Beware The Batman followed several months later. "Mitefall", then, was the producers' way of sending a message to CN, using Bat-Mite (Paul Reubens) to deliver the message. In this outing, Bat-Mite is a little more malevolent than he'd ever been portrayed, behaving like that other 5th dimensional imp, Mr. Mxyzptlk. Bat-Mite even reads off some of the cast list.

With John DiMaggio (ex-Futurama, Kim Possible) doing double duty as Aquaman & Grodd, the writers cut him a break by having Ted McGinley (ex-Married...With Children, Happy Days, The Love Boat) step in for him as part of the plot.

The whole idea of Grodd turning people into bananas reeked of an old Powerpuff Girls cartoon, except that the bananas were subbed in for dogs.

Here's "Mitefall". CN screwed up with the closing credits.

Maybe the snafu with the closing credits was one last FU from CN to the show's producers & writers. What we do know is one extra special guest was added to the mix, with Henry Winkler as Ambush Bug. Whoa! McGinley was cast as a play off his unfortunate rep of joining a series as it's nearing its end.

Rating: A-.