It’s weird how “For Better or Worse” never actually took off as an animated series. Comic strips like “Charlie Brown,” “Garfield” and even “The Boondocks” hit big as series, with the former two offering up their own iconic Halloween special. “The Good For Nothing” is a Halloween special mostly in spirit as the central conflict is set primarily on Halloween. That doesn’t make “The Good for Nothing” bad. It just never quite rises to the occasion to be as good as “The Great Pumpkin.”
It’s Halloween, and son Michael is having trouble with a local bully named Brad who insists on tormenting him. Meanwhile, family dog Farley keeps getting himself in all sorts of trouble, causing him to eventually run away after he’s branded “good-for-nothing.” But when Michael gets caught in a tight spot with Brad, Farley shows up and proves he’s more than just a “good for nothing.”
“The Good for Nothing” is a nice, sweet, albeit a tad milquetoast, Halloween special that doesn’t do a lot with the whole occasion. The only thing scary is that Michael has to deal with his horrible bully, who stops at nothing to make his life miserable. The parents, and little sister Elizabeth don’t really do much during the half hour TV special, as most of the movie revolves around Michael trying to get around Brad, and Farley coping with his new nickname. As with the comic strip, “The Good for Nothing” relies a lot on the charm of the Patterson family, and how they deal with conflicts through non-violent means.
Michael is sadly pushed in to a spot where a violent confrontation is inevitable, but the script does a good job in using it as a means of emphasizing Farley’s importance. I don’t know if “The Good for Nothing” is essential Halloween viewing (not a fan of “The Goblins are Out” song), but it’s a sweet animated short competently bringing to life a typically amusing and reliable comic strip.