TVSquad

With the holidays fast approaching, it's good to know that Adult Swim is thinking of you. According to their online schedule, Aqua Teen Hunger Force will return on December 13th at 11:45 p.m. ET with an episode elusively referred to as "ATHF Xmas."

In true Adult Swim fashion, there's been absolutely no indication as to what this episode might be about, however it's likely that it somehow ties into the recently released Aqua Teen Hunger Force Christmas CD, Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas. If you haven't bought it yet, do yourself a favor and get it now. Trust me when I say that you haven't lived until you've heard Meatwad croon his own version of "Silent Night" or Carl cackle his way through "I'll Be Home for Christmas."

Anyway, regarding the episode, it's the only one listed on the schedule, so it's probably not the new season premiere, but it'll hopefully have some sort of performance aspect with songs from the album. That and maybe The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future will show up. Please let the robot turkey be there.

(S06E10) "What?!? I'm re-hydrating!" - Shake

I remember when I first heard about the live-action episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, I wasn't all that excited about it. Most of the ATHF DVD sets have had some sort of live-action Easter egg, usually of some fools dressed up in homemade Frylock and Master Shake costumes. They've never been funny and I just figured this episode would be like one of them. Then came news that it wouldn't be anything like that - T-Pain would be playing Frylock. That alone was worth the wait, but after all the hype... it just didn't do it for me.

Blame the influence of friends; I do. Because we couldn't get the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie to play right, we ended up jumping into Volume 2 of Squidbillies. Now I'd seen part of one episode of this (where Rusty makes his deal with the devil), but I changed the channel. I'm not sure why I resisted the Cuylers. I love ATHF, so you'd think it would be right up my alley, considering it's by one of ATHF's creators. Hell, it even features the voice of Master Shake as Granny.

Even when we first started watching it last night, with Season 3, Episode 1 I was reluctant to say I was enjoying it. Eleven episodes later and I was laughing out loud when Granny was transformed with road kill skin grafts and an udderly disgusting boob job. It's a tradition in our house to look at one another at the end of each episode of ATHF and say "what the f**k did we just watch?!" Squidbillies gives me that same feeling of ridiculous. Not to mention the characters remind me of some of the people who live in the small Midwest town I find myself now.

The season finale of Aqua Teen Hunger Force will involve a live-action episode in which real people will play the roles of Frylock, Master Shake and Carl. The role of Meatwad will be played by an exercise ball.

As with every other episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, you'll probably have to be high to truly understand their sense of humor (which makes sense, since they're probably high whenever they write an episode).

Frylock will be played by rapper T-Pain. Master Shake will be played by Jon Benjamin. Carl will be played by first time actor Dave Long, Jr., the winner of Adult Swim's Carl look-alike contest. I'm so used to hearing Dana Snyder, Carey Means and Dave Willis as the voices of our intrepid heroes that if these actors try to do the same voices, it may feel "wrong" to me somehow. Here's hoping they can nail each character perfectly, or that the animated voices are dubbed over.

Photos are after the jump. Enjoy.

(S06E01) "I studied elevator repair!" - Carl

Yes, before someone says something - I know this episode isn't new. However, episodes being released via DVD prior to their broadcast premiere isn't entirely new. I for one didn't even know that the first four episodes of this season have been available on the volume six DVD since it came out back in December. That being said, it was new to me (and I hope for many of you too).

So... dumpster diving, anyone?

I'm a huge Aqua Teen Hunger Force fan. It's one of the funniest shows ever created. However, for as big a fan as I am, I never know what's going on with it. Trying to interpret the archaic grid schedule at Adult Swim requires far too much concentration and eye-squinting. I finally gave in, though, and it turns out that the show's sixth season returns on Sunday, March 29th at 11:45PM ET. Don't get too excited - there's one big problem.

(S05E09) "Well... I'm about to update your "MyFace" page with my ass unless you get in there and read us a story!" - Shake

Well, not the best episode of ATHF, but I liked certain parts of it. The addition of new or temporary characters is always so touch and go on this show. Sometimes it's huge and repeat appearances are warranted. Think Mooninites, Plutonians, and MC Pee Pants. The Bible Fruit? Despite the extra points for being a well-done knock off of the openly Christian themed VeggieTales, I'll be glad if I never see them again.

(S05E08) "Listen, when we dock, I'm gettin' a tattoo of an anaconda that's coming outta my groin region!" - Shake

Every episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force should be this good. Hands down, the best and funniest installment of the current season. This is definitely not a show that I would ever expect to have even the slightest bit of relevant social commentary, but what do I know?

(S05E07) "You seen my fingers?" - Carl

Right from the beginning, I was ready to hate this episode. But I just couldn't. At first, it seemed so corny and felt like a rip-off of Chucky merged with a bad R.L. Stine novel. But the character of The Dummy (despite his limited vocabulary) was hilarious and the decision to knock on every horror movie cliché imaginable was well done too. It's always great when a show like ATHF branches out and tries to do something different like mocking an entire genre in ten minutes.

(S05E06) "The flames are tickling your buttocks!" - Shake

Frylock's eyes. Who knew they could become the basis for a whole episode? Heck, I didn't even realize that he wore contact lenses. I thought his eyes just launched laser canons naturally. I mean, he is a talking carton of french fries so I figure anything is possible. But leave it to Shake and his megalomaniacal delusions (remember The Drizzle?) to steal his good friend's "laser lenses."

(S05E05) "I shook it! Only processed meat makes that sound!" - Shake

Blame the President's Day holiday weekend, but I completely forgot about Aqua Teeen Hunger Force on Sunday night. If anything, it was a pleasant surprise when the lightbulb went off in my head this morning and I realized I had something funny to watch. Then... I watched it. Not so funny. To be honest, I thought this episode jumped around a lot. It actually felt more like a few different elements that got folded together to make one big mess.

(S05E04) "Women don't get turned on by "safe!" They crave danger!" - Shake

Back to normal. Markula is gone, the Aqua Teens are back in their house, and Carl is back to being Carl. It's like the first three episodes of this season never happened. As much as I enjoyed that little trilogy, this is the type of stuff that I've been missing: Shake shoving kittens into the microwave.

So, we've got this promotional thing going on with this new zero calorie sparkling drink from Pepsi called Tava. Haven't heard of it yet? Well, from what I can tell, you certainly will. What did they give us to give away? How does this sound:

• Two (2) 80GB iPod Classics.
  
• Five (5) swag bags containing TAVA Canvas tote bag, TAVA t-shirt and TAVA pen.
• Seven (7) sample packs of TAVA.

What do you need to do? Well, to accompany this post I'm listing a bunch of memorable fictional drinks from TV. All you need to do is list your favorite, either from this list or one I missed. More details on the giveaway are at the end of this post, after the jump.

(S05E03) "...and how was your fix? Did you ride the white horse?" - Markula

Wait just a second. Last week was mind-boggling enough, but did we just witness the completion of a trilogy? An actual episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force that required you, the viewer, to have seen the previous two episodes to know what was going on? Inebriated college students around the country are surely cursing at their TVs in an effort to understand why their favorite drunken hobby has suddenly required them to think.

(S05E02) "Sing for him John Kruk!" - Chrysanthemum

Wait a second... I'm going over this whole series in my my mind. Did we just get a continuation of a story line? An actual episode that picked up where last week's installment left off? Is ATHF going serial? This is madness! Sure, there are recurring characters that come back now and then, but there's never been an on-going plot that warrants two whole episodes. The one downside (it's really not all that bad), is that we went another week without Frylock, Shake, and Meatwad. But I'm sure they're having plenty of fun with Marcula's military desert spiders or whatever the hell kidnapped them.