Well, the pickin’s are pretty slim this week for free stuff on iTS. I guess Apple figures that the new iTunes and iTunes Store is enough to keep people interested, and with all the excitement surrounding the new iPod nanos and shuffle, folks will be too busy buying them to bother looking for free stuff. The only things new and free on the iTS is a Disney cartoon called The Replacements and a jazz song by Susanne Abbuehl.

I like a good cartoon as much as the next guy. In fact, I just bought the newly released first season DVD of The Tick. (Every time I see the ’Tick vs. The Uncommon Cold’ episode I bust a stitch. "You would do battle with the nose that spawned you?") Plus, I will still watch some of what passes for Saturday morning entertainment these days, so I was game to watch The Replacements.

I have to admit, I liked it!

The premise is kind of odd: A pair of orphans, brother and sister, respond to an ad in the back of a comic book for a company called Flemco. With a phone call to the company, the pair can replace any adult with someone more helpful to them. Their ’replacement’ parents are a female british master spy (Agent K) and an American stunt car driver (Dick Daring). The stories are based on typical pre-teen angst-generating situations -- the two free episodes dealt with first dances and skate parties. The humor, however, is right on the money and can even get a chuckle out of us old guys. (I’m still snickering over the raccoon juggling bit.)

There’s subtle humor too. For instance, Agent K comes off as a female James Bond. She’s smart, sophisticated, sexy, and well spoken. Dick Daring is the stereotypical outlandish American. He wears a red, white, and blue jumpsuit a la Evel Knievel, seems fascinated with himself, and rushes into things without thinking. Political statements? I don’t know and I don’t care, and neither will your kids. It’s funny stuff. Definitely worth the price.

The only other free download at ITS that you may not be aware of is a jazz track from singer Susanne Abbuehl. "In the Dark Pine Woods" is a soft, lilting song, and Susanne’s voices gives it a pure yet haunting quality that’s hard to pin down, but very easy to listen to.

That’s it. There’s nothing else new (besides the Teddy Bears Free Music Tuesday single ’Yours to Keep’). Even most of the old free stuff is gone, but there’s still a few things left to check out if you haven’t already.

So check it out already!

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.