adult swim-related stories
Posted Nov 19th 2009 12:53PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Animation, Adult Swim, Reality-Free
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.
Posted Nov 17th 2009 11:06AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Chris Elliott is quite possibly the most famous person few people have heard of. His early '90s sitcom
Get A Life is a classic and he's had runs on TV shows like
Late Night With David Letterman and
Everybody Loves Raymond as well as some memorable movie cameos. And now he's in
a new TV show.
It's called
Eagleheart and it's about an over-the-hill action star who uses his television show of the same name "as a soapbox for his right-wing politics and conservative paranoia". He'll likely be more carictaure than character. Is the character based on Chuck Norris, I wonder?
It is produced by Conan O'Brien's production company. Conan actually co-created a pilot with similar themes (an over-the-hill star trying to remain relevant) in the early 90's called
Lookwell starring Adam West.
It's got the right star and the concept certainly sounds amusing. But did it have to be Cartoon Network? Isn't the word "cartoon" in the network's title? Yet another example of
channel drift.
Posted Nov 16th 2009 12:41PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Animation, Adult Swim, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E05) This episode was certainly a surprise in many respects. It was one of the funnier installments of the season so far. It also brought back a lot of old themes and cleared up some incomplete storylines that had started to gather dust. On one hand, I'm glad that those have been resolved, because most of them were revealed to be kind of irrelevant anyway, but I also felt as though it was rushed, like, five loose ends from old major arcs had to be hastily tied up in twenty-some minutes. Well, it's better than continuing to string us along, right?
Continue reading Review: The Venture Bros. - The Revenge Society
Posted Nov 9th 2009 12:40PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Animation, Adult Swim, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E04) It's enough to make you stop believing when tears come fast and furious, in a
town called Malice. Yeah. I totally just made that up. Right now. Free words of wisdom, from me to you.
This episode wasn't spectacular for the purposes of laughing-out-loud. It was funny in a few moments, yes, but I spent most of the twenty-some minutes resting my chin on my fist, brow furrowed with concern. All the characters are going through some heavy stuff right now, and that inner turmoil, dealing with loss and identity and love, came bubbling to the surface in this episode. Doing so, again, isn't much of a gut-buster, but it makes for beautiful character development. Can you tell I have faith in this show? Maybe a little too much.
Continue reading Review: The Venture Bros. - Return to Malice
Posted Nov 5th 2009 10:02AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: TV on DVD, Adult Swim, Reality-Free
The new
Adult Swim In A Box is an embarrassment of riches - six boxed sets for six different shows and a bonus disc featuring five unreleased pilots -- more than 20 hours on 12 DVDs. I was especially happy to get season two of
Sealab 2021, which I have never been able to catch regularly, and season one of
Metalocalypse, which I have always enjoyed.
Getting season two of
Robot Chicken, volume one of
Moral Orel, volume two of
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and volume three of
Space Ghost Coast to Coast just seemed like a bonus. Well worth the suggested retail price of $69.98 for Adult Swim fans who haven't already purchased any of the included sets.
The pilots are a mixed bag, but mostly good.
The Best of Totally for Teens is a live action parody of a moralistic teen variety show hosted by thirtysomethings trying to be hip. It's a promising premise, one that should maybe be revisited, but the pilot is a bit of a mess. It hits topics ripe for satire in the format like teen insecurity, drugs, and sex, and has the right look for Adult Swim.
Continue reading Review: Adult Swim in a Box
Posted Nov 2nd 2009 8:35AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Animation, Adult Swim, Episode Reviews
(S04E03) I swear to you, dear reader, that I do my best to stay somewhat objective when reviewing
The Venture Bros. It's tough, though, when the writers keep knocking them out of the park like this. We're only a few episodes in, but I'm already enjoying things more than I did with season three, and it's not just because this episode had mind-blowing prog rock and UPS guys with the Shining.
Continue reading Review: The Venture Bros. - Perchance to Dean
Posted Oct 26th 2009 12:08PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Animation, Adult Swim, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E02) First things first. If you are not a connoisseur of '90s superhero cartoons or a huge nerd that has been closely following
Venture Bros. news all the way through production, you may have missed out on the full "Handsome Ransom" experience. That is not to say the unaware couldn't have a good time, but things were made ten times funnier if a viewer knew that the not-so-pure Captain Sunshine was voiced by Kevin Conroy, aka Batman.
Continue reading Review: The Venture Bros. - Handsome Ransom
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 9:32AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Web, Adult Swim, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Two very unique comedies will get a time slot on an equally unique cable network.
Conan O'Brien's "Conaco" production company and actor Rob Corrdry both scored spots on Adult Swim for two new live-action sitcoms.
O'Brien's company won a spot for Eagleheart, a show about a fading TV star who wins a chance for glory once more on a production in Texas, but constantly clashes with the low-level TV exec in charge of the show.
Corrdry's medical drama spoof web series
Childrens' Hospital will also go to Adult Swim. The channel will show re-edited versions of the episodes that aired on TheWB.com as well as produce new ones. Corrdry originally pitched the show to
Comedy Central, but negotiations broke down with the network, probably because the show didn't have enough bimbo strippers and shirtless fat guys to fill their quota (cough,
Secret Girlfriend, cough).
Posted Oct 19th 2009 1:37PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E01) Is it going too far calling
Venture Bros. the
Lost of animated shows? Because, especially when one compares it to other programs in the [adult swim] line-up, it definitely is. While shows like
Robot Chicken are custom-tailored for short attention spans (which isn't necessarily a bad thing),
VB does a beautiful job of rewarding the loyal who take time to learn and love the show.
You know how else it's also kind of like
Lost? It's really damn confusing sometimes. It wasn't until the very end of the premiere, when bits of my brain were coming out my ears, that I finally managed to put most of the story together in my head, though I knew I would have to watch it at least once to more to seriously understand. I see what you did there, Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick. Real sneaky.
Continue reading Review: The Venture Bros. - Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel (season premiere)
Posted Sep 13th 2009 11:03AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, Animation, Adult Swim
In case you have not heard already, the fourth season of
Venture Bros. arrives on [adult swim] at midnight on October 18 (meaning the night of the 18th, technically the morning of the 19th). Mark your calendars.
This news has already been floating around for a while, thanks to sites like the
Mantis-Eye Experiment, but things have been confirmed by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer during their panel at DragonCon. Some footage of this has finally been released by AdultSwim.com, so you can stop crawling around YouTube for people's crappy cell phone recordings.
Continue reading Venture Bros. premieres October 18
Posted Sep 12th 2009 10:14AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Celebrities, Reality-Free
It was mentioned a few months ago that some of the folks behind
Robot Chicken (including Seth Green)
are making a new Adult Swim series called
Titan Maximum, which is basically a
Voltron parody. I didn't realize when I first heard of this project that there was also a little
Thunderbirds in the mix as well. And quite probably some
Team America: World Police.
It's too early to tell, but based on the preview, the show certainly looks funny. Unlike
Robot Chicken, this show will likely have things like plots and regular characters (the nerd kid from
Robot Chicken doesn't count). In that sense, it's more a parody in the vein of
The Venture Brothers.
Continue reading We got your Titan Maximum right here
Posted Aug 20th 2009 10:02AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Video, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Adult Swim has put a three and a half minute promotional video for
The Venture Bros. Season 4 on their site. To save you folks a click, I've embedded it here at the end of the article.
The intro goes immediately into silliness, noting various significances of the number four, most of which are completely ludicrous. In the preview, Hank is sporting a different haircut, and I have no idea what's happening with Dean. He seems to be bonding with his father, among other strange misfortunes.
Brock is only in a quick clip with a shaven head without a clue as to what's happened to him since he quit his bodyguard position. The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend only appear in a brief segment, as well. It's weird to see 21 without his henchman outfit.
Continue reading The Venture Bros. Season four promo
Posted Aug 18th 2009 9:07PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, Cable/Satellite, Animation, Adult Swim
It seems that all of television is slowly losing its identity. The History Channel doesn't cover history. TV Land clogs their airwaves with run-of-the-mill reality shows. Comedy Central gives Carlos Mencia his own show.
It must be hard to draw in the kind of ratings the average television executive expects (average=viewers who are willing to commit mass suicide if they miss a rerun of
Chico and the Man) when you're anchored to one theme or genre. But it's not impossible.
One network that seems very close to giving up entirely is the Cartoon Network. According to the
Los Angeles Times,
CN's new lineup of live-action, reality-based programming is tanking in the ratings and
rumors are swirling that the CN may drop the "C" in its name. Does the head of
Radio Shack now work for the Cartoon Network?
Continue reading Will Cartoon Network become "The Network"?
Posted Aug 10th 2009 11:00AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Video, Reality-Free
This is almost a year old, but I've never seen it before, and I bet a lot of you haven't either. It's an infomercial parody from
Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job! It would be one thing to parody an informercial. That's been done a lot. But they got Cathy Mitchell herself to do the sketch, along with John C. Reilly as her strange co-host.
Posted Aug 6th 2009 10:02AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Animation, Music and Variety, Adult Swim, Reality-Free
Dethklok, the animated heavy metal band heading up Adult Swim's
Metalocalypse,is going live action and heading out on a 34-city North American tour.
Grammy Award-winning band Mastodon hits the road with Dethklok. Surprisingly enough, Mastodon is a small chamber orchestra specializing in the work of Debussy.
Actually, no. It's not. Mastodon is a big, loud, heavy metal act ready to rival Dethklok in the blown-out amp count when the tour kicks off on October 2 in Portland, Ore. You can get tickets online
here.
Continue reading Metalocalypse's Dethklok hits 34-city North American tour
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