TVSquad

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.

(S02E20)

This is an early review.

This two-parter really made me hate Clay Puppington, and I don't think I can say that about any other cartoon character. Hell, Cartman from South Park has done tons of horrible things, even indirectly killed people, but watching Clay treat Orel so poorly and so dismissively made me want to break off his frail, wire-supported arms.

(S02E19)

This is an early review.

Clay Puppington: Hunting dogs are just nature's rabbits.

With every episode, more and more layers have been peeled back from the dynamic between Orel and his father. At first, Orel seemed blissfully ignorant of his father's distance and abuse, but over the course of this season, Orel, like all kids do eventually, is realizing his father is only human, and not a very sane one, either.

(S02E18)

This is an early review.

Orel [reading from the Necronomicon]: I'm gonna read from this book that's written in a different language: "bon jour, arrivederci, ooh la la, that's Italian!, ching ching ching chong, spaghetti, top o' the mornin' to ya!"

When I interviewed Moral Orel creator Dino Stamatopolous last October, he mentioned that an upcoming episode would feature a short film created by Orel himself (but actually animated by Dino*). This is that episode, and it both rewards fans of the series and takes a few shots at those who hate it.

(S02E16) This was probably the most sitcomesque episode of Moral Orel so far; I think it could have played on network television without any issues, which is saying something for a series that has been challenged by the censors on more than one occasion.

But let's not confuse "sitcomesque" with "formulaic," because even if a plot centering on a school pageant has been done before, it hasn't been done in the super-pious town of Moralton, where everyone loves Jesus, and Christian folk bands tell folks to think with their heart and "put a motorboard on your aorta."

Major apologies for being late with this review. I've had a bit of a pain in the gulliver the last few days, but I'm doing better now, thank you very much.

Anyway, perhaps it was because I was sick, or maybe my humor sensors just weren't tuned in properly, but this episode kind of left me cold. I'll admit I loved the whole idea of Orel and the Pious Scouts going on a camping trip but never really exposing themselves to nature, and I loved all the signs at the nature preserve that read, "Warning: Actual Nature" and "No Birds After Six PM," and if you really want to make me laugh, a squirrel committing suicide via hanging is always a good way to go, but the overall theme of this episode felt like something I had seen too many times before.

(S02E13)

Clay: Orel, you know you shouldn't upset your mother by coming home with dirty clothes, because then your mother talks to your father, and no one wants that.

In my last review I said that Moral Orel would benefit tremendously by being a half-hour, rather than an eleven-minute, show. Creator Dino Stamatopoulos has said the same thing in interviews. There's simply too much subtext to cram into such a short amount of time.

(S02E12) Stop-motion animated sex is kind of disturbing. While watching this episode I wondered how much needed to be cut to make it suitable for air. Perhaps nothing needed to be cut, but this was certainly one of the more sexually graphic episodes.

The series was renewed for a third season recently, but I wonder how deep the "idea well" is for a series like Moral Orel. The city of Moralton and the denizens therein are trapped in their own little world, and it's not a world like Robot Chicken or Family Guy where gags can just come from anywhere, and it's not a satire of everything like The Simpsons. I'm obviously a fan of the show and its menagerie of characters struggling to appear righteous while committing all the sins us "normal" folks do, but the Moral Orel universe is so specifically constructed to represent a certain way of life I can't imagine it continuing further without starting to repeat itself.

(S02E11)

Note: This is an early review. The episode airs Sunday, or you can watch it here now.

Clay: Orel, throw dogma a bone: pray correctly.

I liked this episode. I didn't love it, but I liked it.

First, the animation and effects keep improving with every subsequent episode, and this one had several moments where I was really impressed with what they were able to accomplish, especially with the dream-like meditation scenes: Orel's room disassembling and reassembling as he slips out of, and back into, reality was unlike anything the show has done before, and his encounter with a Buddha who speaks like a Southern waitress was probably the pinnacle of the episode, a combination of great visual effects and funny, but poignant (but weird) dialog.

A simple search on this site for the words "moral" and "orel" should provide you with all you need to know about my feelings for this Adult Swim series, but in a nutshell: I've been a fan since the first Christmas episode aired back in December of 2005.

As it turns out, "The Best Christmas Ever" was actually supposed to be the last episode of the first season, something that is discussed at length on the audio commentaries of this DVD set, which hits stores on April 24. Going back and watching the shows in order (the set contains all of season one and the first five episodes of season two), it's easier to see how the writing and animation improved as the creators became more and more comfortable with the town of Moralton and its citizens. The first ten episodes follow the same basic template of Orel trying to do good but ultimately having his intentions backfire, resulting in such chaos as attacks by Christian zombies who pray before they devour people, and a rash of pregnancies across town caused by Orel injecting his sperm into women while they sleep using a pastry bag.

Someone left a comment on my latest Moral Orel review asking whatever happened to Boondocks. Oddly enough, Boondocks will return with a new season in March, along with the second half of the current season of Moral Orel.

Before all of that, however, there are two new series debuting in February: Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, a fifteen-minute sketch show from Tom Goes to the Mayor creators Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim will kick off on February 11 at 11:45pm, followed by the Sid and Marty Krofft-inspired Saul of the Molemen at midnight. Also look for fifth season episodes of Family Guy to debut the same night. In addition, new episodes of anime series Trinity Blood, Eureka 7 and Bleach will continue throughout February along with repeats of 12 Oz Mouse, Harvey Birdman, Minoriteam, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies and Home Movies. Adult Swim HQ also writes that a new anime series will replace Trinity Blood in March.

Finally, it looks as if a third season of the Venture Bros will debut sometime later this year. Wikipedia says as much, and on January 4 co-creator Jackson Publick wrote on his LiveJournal that they had just begun to write episodes for the next season. So it's happening, but you'll have to be patient. I suggest watching the first and second DVDs over and over again.

(S02E07) The first thing I noticed about this episode was the opening. As far as I know, this is the first time creator Dino Stamatopoulos wasn't credited with writing the episode. Instead, that credit went to Mark Rivers, who composes the music for the series.

At this point, I think fans of Moral Orel have come down off the high of the first season and have settled in to simply enjoying the show. We're more familiar with it now, but it's still smart and funny, and manages to go places you don't expect. When this latest episode began, it had a very "first season" feel to it: Orel hears Reverend Putty's sermon and takes the lesson to heart. I settled in for an enjoyable if not familiar episode, but by the end of it I was laughing so hard I had to take anti-laughing pills to stop.

(S02E04) Sadness is nature's spankings. - Clay Puppington

Those of us who have been watching Moral Orel since the beginning know that the show is more complex than it appears on the surface. The inner tensions within his own family and the other grown ups in Moralton were hinted at in the first season and have come more into focus this season. I'm not a television writer, but I imagine trying to meld the funny and the emotional into an eleven-minute amalgam can't be easy, which is why I think the "slow reveal" approach has worked so well for Moral Orel. In this episode, when Orel finds out his mother might have another family, the scene doesn't feel like it was suddenly sprung on us out of nowhere, because Bloberta's unhappiness and detachment has been part of the show's subtext since it first aired a year ago.

(S02E03) So far this season Moral Orel has delved a little deeper into the lives of the other characters, and it's nice to see Orel's tiny universe expanding to include everyone else.

This episode examines the enigmatic, mostly homosexual and definitely polyamorous Coach Stopframe, who jumps between loyalty to God or Satan as frequently as he gains and loses interest in both men and women. He definitely has a thing for Orel's father, but it's still somewhat vague what their history is exactly, or what it is Clay wants from the relationship. I can't decide whether Clay is in denial about his homosexual tendencies, or if he just likes being lavished with the kind of attention Coach Stopframe gives to him. People don't always reveal themselves with absolute clarity, and Moral Orel seems to understand this, peeling back a little more about each person with every episode.

Finally, some religion is coming to iTunes. Religious satire, anyway.

Starting tomorrow, and following the premiere of each episode of Moral Orel on Adult Swim, the latest episode will be available on iTunes. If you're bummed about Morel Orel not being shown on Adult Swim Fix, or you're like me and can only enjoy animation when it's on a tiny screen you hold in your hand, then sing hallelujah and rejoice, brothers and sisters. Moral Orel joins Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Venture Bros. and Sealab 2021 in the iTunes store. This news is according to the always-informative bumps that pop up during Adult Swim's block. That onscreen text hasn't steered me wrong yet. I trust it more than my own mother, who doesn't even watch Adult Swim if you can believe it. Since the show doesn't hit iTunes until tomorrow, I'm not sure of the cost per episode, but one would assume the usual $1.99.