Turbo Tina

Turbo Tina episode 3 is the only episode yet produced of this sci fi comedy series, and it has the wonderful quality of feeling familiar and indeed that you haven’t missed anything at all by slotting in at the middle.  By familiar quality, I mean that you feel as if you’ve met these characters somewhere before—not in the sense that it is clichéd, but you feel very comfortable with them.  You immediately know when to laugh and when to anticipate a daring escape by Turbo Tina.  The gist of Turbo Tina is pretty quick to pick up, and you quickly find yourself racing across the universe with the no-nonsense, gutsy (American?) heroine Tina (Betsy Pennington) and her robot Ashley as they try to save Earth’s government, headed by the incompetent and lascivious Chief Patterson.  Murgala is the dastardly leader of the Graspatrons who killed Tina’s parents. 

Turbo Tina made me laugh several times out loud.  It has stunningly crisp and imaginative audio effects (my favorite sound effect is when Murgala shoots one of his Troopers and vaporizes, or perhaps liquidizes, them) and peppy music.  The calibre of the performances is high, and it thrives on amusing subversions of sci fi clichés, such as the fact that humans, despite themselves, find the Graspatrons sexually attractive.  This is to say nothing of Ashley’s “French Avenger” mode.  At a rip-roaring half-hour, the episode never lags and leaves you wanting more.  

Turbo Tina starred Philip Elvey, Tim Gambrell, Jenny Lim, Tom Rennie, and Marsha Rose.  It was written and directed by Tim Gambrell and was produced by Andrew Hyde.