(thing) by LordNathan Sat Sep 28 2002 at 21:16:49

The Aqua Teen Hunger Force airs as part of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block of cartoons, aired later at night and directed at adults. Each episode is about 11 minutes and thirty seconds long, which is nice, because it means that the action isn't interupted by commercials. Perhaps the best feature of the show is its zaniness. Nearly everything that happens to the characters makes no sense, and the show is filled with hilarious dialogue. It is pretty difficult to describe just what makes the dialogue funny, but it is. This show is not for someone who is expecting Masterpiece Theatre, and anyone expecting something more than non-sensical dialogue and action is going to be disappointed.


An example of some of the zaniness--in episode two, Escape from Leprauchpolis, Meatwad makes a speech about rainbows:

You don't need a machine to make rainbows, for rainbows are made of happy thoughts, and dreams, and chocolate unicorns, and gumdrops and licorice sunsets, and fuzzy gumdrop bears, in chicken curly chocolate gumdrop land.
As he gives this insightful speech, he comes into view on roller skates (which is remarkable, considering that he's a wad of meat with no legs). Behind him is a cross-dressing leprechaun, a floating bucket of fries, and a talking milkshake. During the speech, a whale, a lobster, a giraffe, a motorcycling bear, a regular bear, a robot, and a yeti all come into the screen as pleasant music plays. Description can't quite do justice to the scene. The show is filled with these sorts of things.


As it says above, the show centers around the exploits of the crime-fighting team known as the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, comprised of Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad. But because of Shake's laziness and Meatwad's stupidity, they rarely solve any mysteries. In fact, many episodes end with little or no resolution of the mystery. Generally, if they do manage to get something done, it is because Frylock (the only one with any form of intelligence or superpower) goads them into doing so.


Each episode in seasons one through three began with a clip of Dr. Weird's castle on the south Jersey Shore (which, according to athf.com, was a scene from an episode of Johnny Quest). Dr. Weird asks Steve (his assistant) to behold what he has created, such as the rainbow machine, or an invisiblity cloak, or a massive guitar. He generally says something along the lines of:

"GENTLEMAN! BEHOLD WHAT I HAVE CREATED:
THIS THING!

Something always goes wrong with "this thing," causing it to be unleashed on the populace. Or on Carl's car. Dr. Weird creates these devices to attack the Aqua Teens, who don't even seem to be aware that he exists (other than a picture of him with Frylock in Frylock's bedroom).


In season four, the standard Dr. Weird beginning was replaced by Spacecataz, which is sort of an Aqua Teen spin-off. It was orginally going to be a separate show, starring the Mooninites and the Plutonians, but seems to have been tacked onto the beginning of Aqua Teen. Each episode of season four will contain a small part of one episode of Spacecataz, presumably creating a whole episode by the end of the 13-episode season four. Perhaps then it will become a separate show, but very little is known at this point (5-10-04).


Beginning with Space Conflict From Beyond Pluto, a story of the genesis of the Aqua Teens was animated into the closing credits. According to ATHF.com, the creators had created this story in case anyone from the network ever asked them about the origin of the characters. Rather than make a whole episode, they decided to just place it behind the closing credits. It begins with them in ancient Egypt, with a carving of the Sphinx (apparently called Drinx by the creators) drinking a milkshake and hieroglyphics of Frylock and Meatwad. Then, inexplicably, they are with Abraham Lincoln, who launches them into space on a wooden rocket (because the FBI was coming, according to the creators). They land on the moon, where they remain until an astronaut shows up and presumably returns them to earth. According to athf.com, they were also enslaved at one point during their stay on the moon.


Another interesting aspect of the show is that there is some continuity between episodes, which is rare for a cartoon. For example, in the first episode, Rabbot, the Rabbot makes a giant hole in the lair of Dr. Weird. This same rabbit-shaped hole is present in later episodes, as well as a similar hole made in the wall of the Powerpuff Mall. Not to mention the fact that there are bunches of little things that are present in each episode that tie them to other episodes and make each episode interesting to watch again. Of course, by the same token, Carl has had his neck broken, his head turned into a connect four board, and has turned into a half-man half-snake... only to return as usual in the next episode. And his car has been destroyed in probably half of the episodes. Oh, and in Dumber Dolls (one of my personal favorites), Shake catches fire at the end. Clearly, there are limits to the continutity.

As of May of 2004, the show is now airing four times per week, and has been greenlighted for thirteen episodes in a new season four. Some of these episodes have already aired, but the bulk of season four will be shown near the end of the summer. Cartoon Network has been advertising the show fairly heavily with the slogan "whet your appetite for crazy as hell!"

Major Characters

I like it! 6 C!s