Robot Chicken: 100 episodes of irreverence, and I’m digging it.

For my birthday, I received the first 5 seasons of Robot Chicken and I couldn’t have been happier.  When I first heard about this show, I was very skeptical.  Then, as I saw the initial episode I was taken aback, and giddy with glee.  Imagine a world where the toys you own live a life that’s so real, it’s surreal.  These toys would live very adult, raunchy, obscene, and different lives that we know them to live.  Can you imagine members of the Justice League of America taking part in “The Real World”?  Or, how about toy versions of the celebrities of “The Surreal Life” taking part in the quest for the Ring of Power in Middle Earth?  That’s just a sample of the insanity and hilarity that ensues on Robot Chicken.  It’s been around for 7 years, with a year hiatus between the 4^th and 5^th season, most likely due to developing the show on a higher level of quality.  It runs with 20 episodes a season at an astounding 10 to 15 minutes an episode.  The only ones that run for 30 minutes are the special episodes, usually parodying a popular franchise.  And as of present time, it has reached 100 episodes and going into the 6^th season.  Yes, they reached the level for syndication on other channels.  It’s quite the milestone for a relatively young series.   Robot Chicken is one of my favorite series.  So, why would I be fine watching it end?

Here’s a quick recap on what Robot Chicken is all about.  Actor Seth Green and writer Matthew Senreich came up with a series called “Sweet J Presents”, where they would take various toys, puppets, and models and create stop-motion animation jokes pertaining to the various things they found funny or reminiscent to them.  This show was also written by their friends, Doug Goldstein, Tom Root, and Mike Fasolo.  It started as a web sensation of sorts, with their videos being found in various places.  Cartoon Network found the show to be very interesting and wanted to put it forth on their cartoon block, Adult Swim, for older viewers.  When the show was picked up, Green and Senreich had to come up with a name.  They came up with various names that were all rejected.  Then, upon ordering Chinese food, they had an order called “Robot Chicken”.  They pitched this name and it was approved.  From then on, they would start the arduous yet successful journey into late night television, putting together episodes for their new show.  The premise was simple:  the chicken that crossed the road was killed by a moving vehicle.  It was then found by a mad doctor, taken to his laboratory, fitted with robotic parts, re-animated, and then strapped to a chair with its eyes held open (like “A Clockwork Orange”), and forced to watch a collection of different channels with different programming that ranged from various levels of obscenity, crudeness, and depravity all while they parody different instances in pop culture.  As viewers, we are watching through the eyes of the chicken.  It’s quite the disturbing premise, but it has a comical edge to it.  You could say it’s a dark comedy, but also a light one, as the barometer swings back and forth.  So far the premise has worked, based on the ratings, DVD and merchandise sales, as well as Emmy nominations the show has received. 

From season to season, the jokes get more and more brazen but comically enhanced.  And with the money received for their continued efforts, the quality of the show continues to grow more and more.  Instead of jokes dropped in milliseconds and segments going as far as 5 minutes, we get a joke that are drawn out for 3 to 5 minutes and segments that border on 5 to 7 minutes.  Qualitatively, some say the show is still as sharp as ever, rivaling that of other animated comedies like Futurama and Family Guy.  Others say that the show has lost its edge and the one-note jokes wear thin, especially if the same joke or jokes are used in different contexts over different episodes.  Honestly, I can see both sides of this argument, and yet, I still soldier on watching because, to me, it’s still one of the funniest shows on television, cable or otherwise.   I have raised an eyebrow or two over the jokes as the subtlety of said jokes tend to get tossed aside for a hard punch line.  One would say that the show has gotten decidedly grimmer than usual, increasing the darkness in the humor.  However, if there is one on-going joke that combines the dark humor with the light humor in some instances, it’s their season finale episode segments where a joke continues to be made about the future of the show.  Every season, the creators would not be sure if the show would be renewed and the last episode of the season would lampoon that joke with its final segment.  And, true to form, the following season they would find a way to fix the problem, either in throw-away fashion or with an actual resolution.  But, it wasn’t until season 5 that I felt convinced that it would end. 

Season 5 ended with the actual 100^th episode of Robot Chicken (if you exclude secondary episodes in place of first run episodes due to various reasons, specials, etc.)  The running gag was that the robot chicken finally got free and escaped the mad doctor.  Upon returning home, he realized the doctor learned of his escape and captured his wife.  The chicken then proceeded to prepare for his one-man raid on the doctor’s castle to save his wife.  Long story short, he kills virtually every notable character in Robot Chicken, then the doctor, and saves his wife.  At that point, once seen, I figured that this was it.  He finally got his revenge.  There was no more torture.  There was no more need to watch these crazy shows.  And after 5 or so years of timeless, yet obscene jokes, the show had no need for direction, even if they had new ideas on tap.  Then, I learned that there was going to be a special episode based on DC comics that would serve as episode #0 for the 6^th season.  The premise: the chicken and his wife reanimate the mad doctor with robotics and force him to watch the bad episodes.  I got a glimpse of episode 101 and it was pretty good, with decent call-backs to the very first season.    Still, I felt a bit disheartened.

There’s a saying: quitting is not the same as quitting while you’re ahead.  Eventually, things end.  But, you can choose to end on a high note.   I would have been perfectly fine with Robot Chicken ending after the 5^th season.  It seemed pretty complete in its storytelling to me.  Also, you don’t want to see a good show get stale, or get tough to watch.  Some say the show has lost its luster with its joke delivery.   Perhaps, though, it’s too early to tell if a show has lost its flair.  If it still works on whatever levels, it shouldn’t be a problem.  I did say I enjoyed the newest episode.  So, perhaps there’s a little more creative juices left in the tank.  Or better still, a whole tank full of creativity they have yet to touch on.  Oh, and if you’re wondering why they haven’t gone through with other endeavors, it is because both are finished.  Morel Orel survived for a few seasons, parodying “Davey and Goliath” before its untimely end.   Titan Maximum was a parody of Voltron and Power Rangers that only lasted for no more than 13 episodes.  It was unfortunately canceled with no sign of renewal.  Perhaps the true strength of Green’s creativity can only be found in Robot Chicken as it has drummed up the most ratings of the three shows mentioned.  Also, with a plethora of toys, puppets, and models to use, I’m sure they will come up with something or other to add to the humor.  Let’s not forget that they also like to tap into the various shows, cartoons, and the like of their childhood and growth for forms of humor.  After all, how many people remember the show, “Out of this World”?  And if you do, don’t you think it would be funny to see an irreverent joke about it played out in this day and age?  If not, that’s cool.  If so, keep your fingers crossed for jokes on “My Secret Identity”. 

Robot Chicken is, to date, my favorite show on television, as it ranks above the shows of Animation Domination.  Would I be content with it ending soon?  Sure.  But, it’s not really broken yet.  So, there’s no need to fix it.  In fact, it’s not even worn out.  The shows are still just as funny, the animation is still just as crisp, and the appeal hasn’t died out.  In fact, with a whole slew of references to pop culture of the past and the present, the well may never truly dry up.  The show has a chance to be as fresh and as long-lasting as South Park.  So, kudos to you, Robot Chicken and your hilarious nature.  I hope to never get tired of laughing, but when the time comes that I do, I won’t be that broken up about it.  Now, how about we see some Clerks references?  Come on!  You know the toys exist.