At Foster's, the friends might be imaginary but the crimes are not. Jackie Khones, now he ought to know. He's waiting for a client in his stall-sized office (as in, toilet stall) when Mac comes running in. The librarians! They're after him! Someone's framed him by running up the fines on his library card! Mac's just a kid getting by in the big old world, and he'll pay Jackie in sandwiches, so the one-eyed private eye takes the case.

Just in time for the first mentions of summer reading lists, here's a Cartoon Network episode full of red herrings and hilarity. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is at its best when it fuses its vector-animated, technicolor world with well-loved adult genres. Jackie's short attention span strains a few of the timing jokes, but anyone who remembers Kojak, Magnum, and Spenser will know the punchline's just for them. (And if you don't have the reruns handy, I hear USA's Burn Notice is coming to DVD.) Mac's a perfectly desperate client living on, literally, borrowed time. With apologies to all the young library science majors in my acquaintance, the librarians are convincing as a sinister mob of senior citizens who are going to collect. Or else.

The escalation of Jackie's time-wasting antics come complete with a shadowy figure, a list of unlikely suspects (self-effacing Wilt is on the list because he says 'sorry' so much that he must have done something), and the usual punny, funny accusations. Watch out for that figurative gun-on-the-mantelpiece, too. But before Jackie can uncover who started World War I, he must first survive the mayhem of the mysterious figure! It's all the excitement of film noir in an after-school package.

The suspenseful build-up sticks to the format of many a P.I. potboiler. The payoff is Foster's gold. One cinematic shot is such a noir cliché, but all it takes is a series of exquisitely timed 2D circles to make it all worth it. When the wordplay breaks out of the snappy Sam Spade homage and into modern Bloo-and-Mac craziness... well, when the familiar phrases click, you'll either think it's nuts or comic genius. The whole ride pays for itself in laughs, plus expenses. Whether you make a French connection to the car chase, or sputter over the bottom-of-the-dregs confession, you'll want to stick around to see who gets hit when they finally throw that book.