Robot Chicken

Or so says Professor Fritz Huhnmorder, who resurrects a chicken corpse, fits it with robotic components in a mock Frankenstein style, and then forces it to watch a giant wall of televisions in a rather Clockwork Orange-esque manner all the while Les Claypool of Primus yells "Its alive!" in the background. 

Still with me? Good, here's the strange part.

The audience sees what the chicken sees, roughly twelve minutes of random and bizarre comedy skewering subjects from Napoleon Dynamite to the Thundercats and everything in between.

Did I mention it was done entirely in stop motion animation? With dolls, actions figures, and clay sculptures? It's sort of like if animation pioneer Harryhausen were really smashed and let loose upon the airwaves. But that's not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, the distinct animation is part of what gives Robot Chicken its charm.

And who could possibly be responsible for such an insane conglomeration of eclectic comedy? Why, none other than co creators Seth Green and Matt Senreich. Green, who is well known as the voice of Chris Griffin of Family Guy, uses his connections with the popular show and the influences can be seen clearly. Not only have numerous members of the Family Guy cast lent their voice talents to Robot Chicken, but some of the more integral aspects of the Family Guy formula have carried over to Robot Chicken as well.

Family Guy is known for its tendency to go off on a tangent with non sequitur jokes and obscure references that are somehow perfectly entwined together with the loose plot. Robot Chicken can be seen as the bastard child of that over-the-top concept; it is made up entirely of non sequitur jokes, a rapid volley of skit after skit which works surprisingly well.
It is this short and quick nature where both the show's greatest strengths and weaknesses lay. Since the skits are so short-some are as quick as a few seconds- it is comedy served in bite sized packaging. Don't think a certain bit is funny or don't understand a specific reference? That's okay, there's bound to be a skit coming up you will enjoy. As they say on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, the late night block of comedy that hosts Robot Chicken, "whatever your alley is, we're up it."

In the same regard, since the episode is so short, it always leaves you wanting more. And Adult Swim had this frustrating habit of showing only one episode of the show each week which leaves a viewer forced to buy the season box set to satiate the cheated feeling from only half of a 30 minute block. Thankfully they've updated their schedule to squeeze in multiple reruns, but Robot Chicken is the kind of show that gets funnier with multiple viewings as you catch some of the jokes and references you may have missed in previous viewings.

Much like when the creators of South Park first stunned the nation by poking fun at pop culture with their scandalous antics and crude bearing, Robot Chicken does likewise; both with simple shock and sharp satirical barbs.

In one skit we find our president readying himself for a trip only to find that Bill Clinton has stolen Air Force One for a funky party flight to a Burning Man concert led who else than Snoop Dogg.

Another bit features the Olsen twins as those lovable yet useless members of the Justice League, the Wonder Twins. (And yes, one of them does take the form of a bucket of water.)

The show features many big name celebrities in the various bits such as 'N Sync, Mark Hamill, Ryan Seacrest, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Burt Reynolds, Scarlett Johansson, among others who usually play themselves.

While Robot Chicken offers a multilayered medium of comedy not seen since the golden years of the Simpsons, it is certainly not for the light of heart or faint of mind; and by no means is it for minors. The violence, profanity, and explicit content, while all animated, can be pretty intense at times. Scenes of brutal mutilations, decapitations, and gore abound.

The final verdict?

If you're old enough and can handle it, by all means watch it at 11:30 pm eastern time on Cartoon Network on Sundays and enjoy two episodes back to back at midnight on Wednesdays, but you're probably better off buying the box set for extra features and commentary.

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