When I saw the previews for the new Marvel TV shows on Disney+ I was less than thrilled. They looked dumb. I know that Kevin Feige wasn’t really a part of the other Marvel TV shows on Netflix, but someone somewhere in the chain of command allowed Iron Fist to happen and I couldn’t help but have that in the back of my head. So, it wasn’t until this weekend that we decided to give WandaVision a shot.

It was David’s birthday on Saturday and what says romantic birthday evening like piling in a queen size bed with two adults, a teenager and a Great Dane with Domino’s pizza? The Great Dane didn’t have the pizza, to be clear, and a completely off topic aside, ham, pineapple, onion and green peppers on their gluten-free crust is an excellent dairy-free option!

So, anyway, back to the first four episodes of WandaVision. As soon as we started the first episode I was struck by how good it was. First, I am tickled pink by the use of their source material. By source material I mean both the comic story run House of M and my favorite old sitcoms. I Love Lucy, Bewitched, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, The Dick Van Dyke Show and I’m sure there were others that I didn’t catch. The humor was simple and light and a bit dumb and gosh darn it, I liked it. I won’t go into the House of M material because MASSIVE SPOILERS, but I have said this more than once, I have no idea why certain comic adaptations feel the need to reinvent the wheel. They have so many brilliant story lines just lying around that can be retrofitted for their particular universe. COME ON DC, YOU ARE KILLING ME!!!!

Second, I love, love, loved the way they filmed this show. The episodes are only 30 minutes a piece, not unlike their sitcom counterparts, and they are filmed like the sitcoms of that time period were filmed. It’s a sound stage with the classic 3 camera set up and the sound design for the first episode was brilliant. The tinny, far away sound was perfect and the fact that it changed during the Mr. Hart choking scene and then came right back with laugh track and all. Brilliant. The opening credits morphed into a 4:3 aspect ratio with the wide screen returning at the end … I have no words. It’s so good.

Third, they let the actors act. I already knew that Paul Bettany was a great actor, but to see Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn and Emma Caulfield acting, along side a bunny no less (BUNNIES, BUNNIES, IT MUST BE BUNNIES!) was so great. There was no real action, or at least very little, just slapstick physical humor, and creepy dark moments.

The fourth, and my favorite part of this show, was how well they melded this weird sitcom into an uncanny valley, almost horror show. I will again come back to the moment in the first episode where Mr. Hart was choking. The tight camera shots and sound change with the ticking clock in the background and Elizabeth Olsen not moving and then finally saying “Vision, help him,” was so chilling.

I can’t wait for the next episode to drop this week. Also, I love Kat Dennings with every fiber of my being and Darcy Lewis is my all time favorite MCU character. We actually watched Thor and Dark World right after we finished WandaVision just so we could see more Darcy.