#the xtacles

[adultswim2021]

The Xtacles #2: “Operation: Murderous Conclusions” | November 10, 2008 - 12:15AM | S01E02

The two completed episodes of The Xtacles aired on the same night, sorta billed as a 30 minute “special”. I wonder if a third episode was in any kind of state of near-completion? Honestly, these two episodes of Xtacles are about as strong as any of the best episodes of Sealab or Frisky Dingo, and I would’ve loved more of these. 

In this one, President Stan has wasted billions of tax payer money to build a gigantic stature of himself. When it’s unveiled, he’s disgusted at the sight of a huge hole ripped into his giant bronze ass. He asks the Xtacles to solve this crime. The crime is rape!!!

The Xtacles reason that no human could make a hole that big, so they suspect a Gorilla as the culprit. After searching their files for a mythic “Rape Ape” they find “Rapier Ape”, a dapper primate who dresses in medieval garb and carries a rapier, the fancy sword from Shakespeare times. I guess. I don’t know man, I tend to lump all history before the invention of television together. Abraham Lincoln, Rasputin, Jesus Christ (FAKE), it’s all Shakespeare times to me. Anyway, he’s probably innocent, but they insist on harassing him, because the Xtacles are jerks!

Bad news if you don’t like hearing the word “rape”, both for this episode and this write-up, I guess. This one has a handful of lines that made me laugh out loud. And that’s where the write-up ends, because I'll just lamely quote all the jokes I liked. There were a lot! Like, three!

I never did watch these when they aired, and I’m not sure why. I think it just felt a little less pressing than other Adult Swim shows, given that it was basically an aborted fetus. That, and I was probably too invested in the ending of Moral Orel to care. I recall people whose opinions I trusted saying that this show was funny, and I went in with a cautiously optimistic attitude. Issues of modern sensitivity-related scrutiny aside (and the lack of true HD copies of the show existing), these hold up. And, given that these aired mere days after famous limousine liberal Barack Obama got elected president, stuff like this represents the final vestiges of Bush-era comedy, and should be cherished.

EPHEMERA CORNER

The Xtacles Skit (2009)

I'm jumping the gun, slightly, unless this debuted online or something. Maybe it did! But this is actually an extra on the Frisky Dingo season two DVD which came out the following January. I'm guessing it was made before the Xtacles episodes? I genuinely don't know, but this actually legitimately bridges the gap between Frisky Dingo and The Xtacles, and explains why Mr. Ford is on the Xcalibur!

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #the xtacles

[docgold13]

Killface (real name Evelyn) would eventually return to his home planet with Xander Crews to form a Peace treaty with his home planet in the failed spin-off "The Xtacles". & yes it's confirmed Killface just runs around naked as the rest of his race where's clothes.

Yes I watched Frisky Dingo, Adam Reed & Matt Thompson are our most underappreciated creators in adult animation.

ah ha. Good to know. I only have bleary eyed recollections of this show. Did Killface have like a really unfortunate looking son?

[cannibalcaterpillar]

I think one of the reasons I love Tiger King so much is because it’s the most Frisky Dingo thing I’ve ever seen in real life.

You can’t keep track of who the biggest threat is, or even how many villains there actually are.

Joes zoo employees are Xtacles, tell me saff losing his arm and going right back to work is any different than “we got a whole hour”

Both campaigns are so season 2 for obvious reasons. Instead of Lamont they have tigers.

Josh is very Watly and he kinda looks like his soul turned into a crab at the end.

They had ant farm keyboard, joe had sand lube.

#frisky dingo #tiger king

[bravo-delta-tango-blog]

Bash suggests that Dylan fast-track a friendship with his boss by using profanity. Booker busts his 4 year old nephew's birthday party for Copyright infringement.  

#funny #xtacles #frisky dingo #dialogue #comedy #tv show

[multiversitycomics]

Five Thoughts On Frisky Dingo's "Wendell Goes Undercover Again," "Cody Gains a Namesake," and "Differences are Put Slightly Aside"

Five Thoughts On Frisky Dingo’s “Wendell Goes Undercover Again,” “Cody Gains a Namesake,” and “Differences are Put Slightly Aside”

Welcome back to our recap of Frisky Dingo, the Adult Swim series from the creators of Archer for bingers on a TV diet. This week’s episodes bring the season and the short-lived series to a close.

1. Boosh! Reflecting back on the series, the creators clearly realized that the Xtacles deserved more screen time as the series progressed. Their interchangeable appearances and squabbling dynamic…

View On WordPress

#2018 Summer TV Binge #Frisky Dingo

[lewistown-elementary-school]

re: frisky dingo's abrupt end. there was a follow-up series called the Xtacles. i dunno how hard that is to track down, and it was only 2 episodes, but it's pretty funny if you can find it.

I know exactly what you’re talking about. If I can find it, I will surely watch it.

#Frisky Dingo #The Xtacles #ask #Anonymous

[adultswim2021]

The Xtacles #1: “Operation: Mountain Punch” | November 10, 2008 - 12:00AM | S01E01

Hey, this was actually fairly good!

This is set a year after Frisky Dingo. Xander Crewes is still in space, which means we don’t have to listen to Adam Reed’s voice. The Xtacles are on the Xcalibur (that’s the name of the ship; information I managed to not retain despite watching every episode of Frisky Dingo) just waiting for his orders. Command has been taken over by Jack, who insists that they can’t so much as change the airship’s course without Xander’s say-so, despite him being gone. Hell bent on upholding Xander’s absent leadership, Jack refuses even to navigate around the Rockies, America’s most beloved mountain range. So the ship is just crashing into (and obliterating the tops of) various mountains.

With each mountain, the ship is getting closer to a crucial point at which it can no longer withstand the collision and explode, killing everyone on board. The stubborn Jack is vigilant, insisting that they remain on this track. Eventually the computer’s intelligent hologram is activated to try and talk sense into him. Meanwhile, the Xtacles decide to party, since it could be their last chance to get wasted. 

Okay, from what I can tell, this show was put together because Adam Reed was “on hiatus”, probably so he could commit–I mean, experience sexual… uh, encounters, and NOT crimes, in Prague. Matt Thompson took the lead on this show, which seems to aim to make the Frisky Dingo franchise a little more episodic. I’m saying this without having seen the second episode, and if there’s an interview floating around where he says “we were laying the groundwork for a tightly woven continuity unparalleled in the world of television” then I didn’t read it. Continuity-wise, this does refer to the events in Frisky Dingo, and characters like Mr. Ford and Stan carryover as well. But, this has more in common with I, Robot than it does Meet Killface. Personally, I think that’s a great thing. 

Other notable differences: the Xtacles all mostly have their helmets off, which seems like a wise move. There are some honest-go-god recognizable actors in the voice cast. Stan is now president of the United States, and there’s a fairly funny scene where he hears about the mountains getting exploded while doing an appearance in a grade school, reading a class of small children a book about *A* pet goat. This is a parody of the real-life incident of George W. Bush being alerted about 9/11 while taking part in a similar appearance. Bush opted to finish reading the book to the kids as to not upset them. Stan immediately jumps to the conclusion that terrorists are destroying America and not only does he coldly alert the children to this fact, but he also passes out cyanide caplets and encourages them all to commit suicide to avoid a fate worse than death. 

This is available on Adult Swim’s website. Just go to “Specials”, filed alphabetically on the series page. It’s also currently on youtube, which is actually how I watched it because the Adult Swim app isn’t working correctly on my new (hand-me-down) TV. Quality could be better, so lower your expectations.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #the xtacles

[adultswim2021]

Frisky Dingo #25: “Differences are Put Slightly Aside” | March 24, 2008 - 12:15AM | S02E12

The Frisky Dingo finale is finally here. Please note: I never did watch those Xtacles pilots, so I have no idea if they continued the story at all, or if they were their own thing or what, but this is the final episode of the Adult Swim television series “Frisky Dingo”. Did you like it? 

In this episode? I’m glad you asked. Val, the Decepticles, Simon, Killface, and Xander are all roughly where we left them in the last episode, outside the hotel where Wendell has taken off with the Annihilatrix key and coupling, riding the freshly born ant monster baby like a horsey. The baby grows rapidly throughout the episode, until it’s basically a Godzilla-sized monster. 

Eventually Killface and Xander form an uneasy alliance to intercept Wendell, taking off in the Killface-mobile (a sensible blue hatchback). In the car we get some goofy conversations about a ringtone called cat party, a ringtone called DOG party, falling deserts, and celebrity prankster Richard Kind. In the car we find out that Killface didn’t realize that Xander was Awesome X, and he’s only slightly bemused by that fact. 

There’s also a tossed-off line about the oceans drying up, which I genuinely didn’t understand either the first time I watched this nor this last time. I literally googled it and got to a transcript of the episode generated by the DVD subtitle track. It’s a joke about Xander hearing “the C is gone” and thinking it means “the sea is gone”. Didn’t get it until seeing it spelled out for me. Like, I remember vaguely thinking that was somehow a plot device of the show, was that Earth no longer had an ocean in the Frisky Dingo universe. 

The C has been broken off the side of Crewes Enterprises and is being used to steer Cody II. Wendell eventually ditches his robot pants figuring out that he’s being tracked. This leads to an uncomfortable joke about him rubbing his cock and balls against the moist, soft skin of the monster baby’s fontanelle.

I yearn for this time period for one reason: I feel like the entire world is neurotically politicizing every tasteless (or tasteful, for that matter) joke there is in some bid to be the most correct, and everyone accuses each other of being a bad actor. It’s very hard to just say you don’t or do like a joke that swings for the fences in this way without coming off disingenuous. I remember thinking Wendell rubbing his pud on a baby was moronic and base at the time. I still do, but I remembered it going on much longer than it actually did. It’s basically just a scene. Anyway, this scene proves that everyone in the entertainment industry loves molesting monster babies.

I’m leaving out plenty! There are entire subplots I didn’t talk about at all! Detours, too! So sue me! But: I forgot how this episode/series ended: an alien spacecraft shows up and destroys the monster. When it lands it’s revealed to belong to the same species of alien that Killface belongs to. His mother is on board, and she demands to know why he hasn’t destroyed Earth yet. “Funny story” he says, sheepishly. END. 

I guess it’s kinda nice that this series is a bit of a recursive loop. Presumably he’s about to tell her the funny story, starting with S01E01 of Sealab 2021, continuing on through the finale “Legacy of Laughter”, and then interrupting that show’s theme song to bring us S01E01 of Frisky Dingo. You can never stop watching these bad shows, even if you try. I mean, I’m finding that to be true for myself, anyway.

Ultimately, I do think Frisky Dingo grew on me and the quality did go up. Having not seen The Xtacles, I feel a little bit at a loss as far as writing some definitive closing sentence about the show. I don’t know if this IS the proper ending, or if this is basically it, or if they somehow referenced a “true ending” on Archer or some shit. I might have welcomed a third proper season, but as it stands I’m glad to have this show mostly under my belt. Onto Xtacles, I guess. Eventually.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters “and Television” (March 30, 2008 - 11:30PM)

On March 30th, 2008, Adult Swim aired a special treat: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters “and Television”. This was a legit screening of the movie on TV. The last time they claimed that they’d show us the movie on TV was the previous year when it hadn’t reached theaters yet. They did show it, but shortly after it started they shrunk it down into a little box in the corner which played over their normal programming. This airing was auspiciously NOT on April Fools, but close to it, and I wonder if they did that to throw us off their scent.

April Fools 2008 was a pretty substantial stunt this year, and I’ll be doing full write-ups for most of those premieres. There are a couple I’m opting to not cover in depth because they were shown in an incomplete state, so I’ll hold off on covering them until they air in full. Okay?

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #frisky dingo

[cindiasaurus]

i now have the following ringtones on my iphone

cat party!

dog party!

the xtacles theme song

BOOSH! and/or KaKow!

#cat party #dog party #xtacles #frisky dingo #the xtacles #boosh #kakow

[nowxthis]

NOW HEAR THIS:

girl on guy 03: adam reed

sploosh! archer creator adam reed and aisha team up to chew on corporate embezzlement, booze's critical role in the creative process, adam's alarmingly feminine hotel room habits, and the global appeal of the hand puppet. and adam unspools an epic self-inflicted wounds that will make you feel better about all your life choices up to this point. plus, adam and aisha invent a new word, and aisha insults the swiss.

#aisha tyler #adam reed #frisky dingo #the xtacles #xander crews #archer #girl on guy #podcasts #comedy

[adultswim2021]

Frisky Dingo #10: “Flowers for Nearl” | December 18, 2006 – 12:30AM | S01E10

This will likely be attached to a future post, but I stumbled on a Friday Night Fix promo (Adult Swim’s online video service that would debut new episodes on Fridays) that advertised this episode’s title as “Ten”, which makes me think these episode titles I’m displaying for Frisky Dingo came at a later date. It could also mean that whoever cut that promo together just didn’t know what the episode title was and didn’t feel like speaking to Adam Reed to figure it out.

Previously on: Simon is still a runaway. The Xtacles are still in danger of having their heads exploded each hour. Xander and Killface are both blind and being human trafficked. The Xtacles are planning to pass off Nearl, the local “retarded wino” as Xander Crewes in order to make the head explosions stop. 

This is a very memorable episode, and I remember thinking this was the best of the season. Standalone isn’t the right word, but there is a story here with a beginning, middle, and end, which is nice. It mostly focuses on the Xtacles giving Nearl a makeover, discovering that he looks exactly like Xander Crewes, and then injecting him with a brain serum to make him intelligent. He fulfills his intended purpose of making Stan think that the Xtacles have indeed captured Xander Crewes to make the exploding helmet thing stop happening.

This is when they learn Nearl’s true nature: the reason he looks like Xander Crewes is because he actually is Xander’s long-lost twin brother. He was hospitalized and abandoned on the streets when the hospital closed. This is how he became a homeless wino (Mr. Ford, the pet shop clerk from the last episode, is the orderly who drops him off). This plot thread ends when one of the Xtacles shoots him in the head point-blank. When the other Xtacles scold him, he defends his actions by claiming he was merely simplifying everyone’s lives, that the “plot” (of their lives, I mean) was getting too complicated and having a long-lost twin in the mix would only make things more annoying. The Xtacles begrudgingly, then enthusiastically agree. Real funny.

We also get a little scene showing where the real Xander winds up: with Killface in a sweatshop manufacturing Awesome-X dolls. Killface is popping off the Xander head and Xander is replacing it with Stan’s. Both of them being blind, neither of them have any idea what they are making. They do, however, find out that Simon is now running a rabbit knife-fighting ring. End of episode. 

Most of the laughs in here come from cultural references. Nearl is lured into the Xtacles’ ship because they told him it’s Babar’s house. The Wammy from Press Your Luck is a looming threat on the DNA testing machine (this scene also includes a bit of audio outtakes from the actor playing Stan. Come on guys, this isn’t Space Ghost. Nah, just joshin’, I think it’s funny, please rip-off Space Ghost more). There is a run of the 70/30 dickheads yet again flexing how well-read they are by recalling plot details of Flowers for Algernon (the plot of which largely inspired this episode, obviously), Harrison Bergeron (we get it, you’ve read Vonnegut. WELL SO HAVE I SO FUCK YOU BITCH), among other things. I think. Actually the next thing they reference is Tom Bergeron, so maybe I’m overstating things.

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam is also referenced. I’m embarrassed to remember this but at the time this episode aired I did not know this band and thought the reference was instead to THIS SONG, which I knew because in the late 90s my mom bought it for me for Christmas. She was concerned that even though I was a teenager I did not ask for a single music CD, so she bought me Pauly Shore’s stand-up album, which had that song on it. Earlier this year I randomly found this video and realized I actually saw it in 1991 on MTV. Not only that, it was literally the first time I ever watched MTV in my whole life. I remember my friend Joe, a fellow kid who was also not allowed to watch MTV, turned to me and said “that’s why I love MTV, there’s so many babes!”

The apex of the exploding head gag is reached when one of the Xtacles mentions that he’s missing his kid’s recital, and they cut to a little girl at a piano in front of an audience at a school auditorium, sighing because her dad isn’t there and proceeding with her performance. She (and his new baby, being held by his wife shown in the crowd sitting next to an empty seat) is wearing an Xtacles helmet. The idea that his kids would have Xtacles helmets on, as if it’s an inherited trait, is so exquisitely stupid that I love it. The joke turns dark when they realize she’s susceptible to Stan’s random on-the-hour head explosions. Guess what happens next? This is a serious contender for the funniest joke in the entire series.

So that’s this one, a real peak for the series as a whole, and very likely the best episode of the season! I’m glad I got to it!

[SORRY THIS POST WAS POSTED LATER THAN USUAL I WAS JACKING OFF TO THE PAULY SHORE VIDEO]

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #frisky dingo

[adultswim2021]

Frisky Dingo #8: “Blind Faith” | December 4, 2006 – 12:30AM | S01E08

Previously, on Frisky Dingo: Killface is blinded by Antagone’s corrosive ant spit. He’s also being sued by Phil for his work-related cancer diagnosis (this plot detail did not need to be recalled! It didn’t have anything to do with the episode!). Xander Crews escaped from his captor and would-be rapist (or, perhaps, he actually was raped and we should be giving him a stand-up special) and is getting some help by some random dorks in the park meeting up to do some dork shit. 

It is the Frisky Dingo show: the show where I usually just recap the plot and then say something like “yeah this one was alright I guess” and then end the write-up. Okay let’s begin: 

The dorks are schlepping Xander around in one of the guys honestly pretty bitchin’ classic car. He learns various things, like that the hooker who blackmailed him back in… episode one, I think? She now owns his house, sold to her by Stan, who is now wearing Awesome X’s armor and being a real showboat. Xander tries to go to Grace Ryan’s house where her Antagone persona takes over and scares Xander away with violence! Before Xander shows up, we see Grace Ryan marveling at her ill-gotten bank heist gains from the previous episode. She’s unsure why her kitchen is now full of gold bars and money bags. This cements the idea that she blacks out when she’s Antagone. 

There’s also a brief bit where we see Arthur, the guy who was slowly turning into a crab, is now mostly crab. Sinn is saying a tearful goodbye to him as he retreats into the ocean in order to not be captured by marine biologists. So I guess that dude is toast. This is one of the small handful of scenes I capably remember from this show, though I don’t know why. 

The episode ends with Killface and Xander crossing paths, quite literally. Killface is seen trying to acclimate himself to his newly sightless lifestyle throughout the episode, and he winds up wandering into a crosswalk in front of Xander’s car. Xander mows the fucker down, who is now discombobulated and likely suffering from a concussion. Xander introduces himself as Barnaby Jones, the titular character from an old TV show I’ve never seen before but for some reason I know that it was released on DVD and they bleeped out a character using the n-word. Uh, sorry for knowing that, everyone. Anyway, this kicks off a partnership between the two, with Kilface blind and concussed and Xander hoping for some angle to take advantage of him. 

This episode is yet another one that feels like its main reason for existing is to push the story forward to some (hopefully) more interesting place. There are plenty of small comedy moments that the show is known for, but they are pretty tepid. The only thing that actually elicited anything close to a laugh from me was when the dorks started doing some annoying alarm noise to mock Xander for mixing ancient fantasy and futuristic sci-fi genres (on account of his robot Xtacle pants). The alarm bit isn’t funny; it’s annoying, unironically. But the third friend losing it, pathetically laughing at what is surely a lame inside joke these three share is wonderful character stuff.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #frisky dingo

[adultswim2021]

Frisky Dingo #7: “Meet Antagone” | November 27, 2006 – 12:30AM | S01E07

Okay, it’s Frisky Dingo time now. This episode advances the plot in a somewhat satisfying way; characters that were in one place are now in another. And that’s… good. 

Xander has been kidnapped by the Xtacles and declared dead by Stan so he can take over Crewes enteprises. Xander tells the Xtacles that he is Awesome-X to keep them from killing him. Ronnie, a thickly accented Xtacle agrees to take Crewes’ hair to their DNA matching machine to prove it’s true (an amusing flashback reveals that they use this to stage their own Maury-esque paternity-related conflicts). Ronnie instead is planning to get Xander alone and rape him. A pretty intelligent plan, but you gotta do what you gotta do, am I right? I’m wrong? Oh. 

Killface has his talons full with a pending lawsuit from Phil, who has a lawsuit pending over getting cancer from the Annihilatrix. He essentially owns Killface’s ass. Also Arthur is turning more into a crab, and Val makes a brief appearance. She’s in the walls of Killface’s apartment. Remember her? No? 

Killface goes to the mall with Phil because Phil demands some shark oil or something cuz he’s all into holistic healing shit. Killface and Grace Ryan, now fully in her Antagone alter-ego (a radioactive ant-themed super villain) confront one another when she tries to rob the Xander Crewes bank and Killface tries to wet his beak by skimming a little off the top for himself. He discovers that she’s mostly stronger than he is. This also weighs into his son Simon’s want for a new mother figure, as he’d been nudging his pappa to try and date Grace Ryan. Unbeknownst to everyone, he is currently sparring with her alter ego. She spits acid in Killface’s eyes, blinding him.

Xander escapes, but he has a blonde wig superglued to his head and has demeaning things written on his chest, on account of the attempted rape. He lands in a gazebo to find three cosplay dorks, commandeering one of their cars. END OF EPISODE. 

My response to this show is still fairly tepid, but it’s mostly fine. There was exactly one laugh: When killface tries to gank a gold bouillon from Grace Ryan/Antagone’s bank heist, he calls over to Phil “come over here, you have pockets”. The show is filled with chatty character moments like that, and it’s hit and miss for me. Many of those interactions just seem forced. But that one got me. I laughed! Out loud! I laughed exactly once at this 11 minutes of television so take that however you like.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #frisky dingo

[adultswim2021]

Frisky Dingo #3: “Pimp My Revenue” | October 30, 2006 – 12:30AM | S01E03

The serialization continues! In this episode, Killface becomes a talking-point on a Regis and Kelly style morning talk show, where a rapper-turned-actor (promoting a movie whose clip is essentially a parody of Reservoir Dogs but with clowns) and the hosts mock Killface's postcard for it’s bad grammar (It says “welcome to you're DOOM!” and also “DOOM!” is in quotes for no reason).

Val, Killface's geishafied assistant, was partially responsible for the fuck up (though she blames Killface for signing off on the proofs), redeems herself by getting Killface on the show to discuss his position of wanting to destroy Earth by pushing it into the sun. It doesn't go how he planned; he unwittingly helps them shill for Toyota Scion. The Toyota Scion would actually wind up being advertised in Assy McGee, an upcoming Adult Swim show. I vaguely recall their ads showing up during commercial breaks on Adult Swim. I think at this time Adult Swim was starting to partner with their advertisers to create unique ads.

Xander Crewes is periodically shown monitoring all this. He has a prototype Killface doll (in episode 2 he revealed his plan to make Killface Awesome-X's new villain so he can market a new line of action figures). He gives a presentation that sorta re-iterates his plans, but these scenes are sorta nonsense if you haven't been already following along. They call back the Stan's clone gag and unless you saw the last episode it's inexplicable. A similar insert shot of the Xtacles watching Regis and Friends is also inexplicable.

I feel like covering this show is going to be a lot of me saying the same thing over and over. I don't laugh out loud when I watch this show, much, but I do marvel at the fact that it's fairly well-written despite coming from the morons who brought us Sealab 2021. It's decent, but I don't usually laugh.

I want to touch on a thing, and I don't really have a point here: I just think it's neat to track public opinion at various points in time and like to think there's value in it. Killface's cathchpase almost was like “hate America”, like he muttered it under his breath when he was frustrated by something he perceived to be a specifically American cultural phenomenon. I guess a true thing about this guy is that he hates America so much he's willing to destroy the entire Earth just to get to America. For those of you who don't remember 2006, Post 9/11 and the war on terror were a terrible time for this country. Being unpatriotic would easily get you ostracized, beaten-up, or both.

A few episodes ago I talked about how common rape jokes were at this time as an acceptable-to-most “edgy” punchline. Anti-American sentiments were extremely uncommon in American media, and I would bet that most people would have considered this edgy? I don't know, maybe not. I just think most comedy didn't go there that much? Like satire that criticized America had to be slyer than this, without actually verbalizing “this is anti-American”. I don’t know, this was the era when Amanda Bynes made some PG-comedy and the studios opted to re-edit the poster so she wasn’t doing a peace sign, afraid that the movie would be protested by pro-war republicans. You can make an argument that this isn’t actually censorship, but functionally it sorta is. I guess the point I’m making is: America has always been awful and full of bad actors over-reacting to stuff.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Not sure the date on this, but remember when I talked about Adult Swim being in bed with Scion? Where here’s one of their bumper/ads. They always did that color grey to signify that it wasn’t a real bumper, but a commercial disguised as a bumper:

#adult shows #adultswim2021 #frisky dingo

[adultswim2021]

The Drinky Crow Show #8: “Elephant Man” | January 5, 2009 - 12:15AM | S01E07

This is one of the few episodes of Drinky Crow that I remember watching on television. I liked this one fine, but I didn’t really have a dramatically different take on it this time around. You know, the kind of dramatically different take that might, MIGHT, make a crapped-out write-up on a bad blog really sparkle.

Drinky calls the suicide hotline and makes a friend in the Elpehant Man, who works the Suicide Hotline. Drinky seduces Elephant Man to his suicidal worldview, and the two start hanging out without Gabby doing “suicide stuff”. Gabby steals the Elephant Man away out of jealousy and uses him to get pussy. Elephant Man now has a boost in confidence, which makes him decide to get “the surgery”. I mean, plastic surgery, to make him look pretty.

Turns out Drinky, without Gabby, has turned his life around to such a degree that he’s the surgeon. Gabby begs him to throw the surgery, which is being viewed by an audience. After a difficulty arrises, Gabby encourages Drinky to fall off the wagon, and tosses him a bottle of hooch as if it’s Popeye’s spinach. Gabby acts as his nurse even, while triumphant music plays. The pair walk away, pleased with the miracle they just worked. The episode ends with the grim reveal that they just mangled his body into pieces and that the Elephant Man is now dead.

Despite having seen this before, it does move in a surprising way. This show performs absurdist plots pretty well, and it’s well documented that that’s the “sort of stuff I like”. I think I laughed once out loud, which is pretty good all things considered. Okay, jokes I liked: 

Both Gabby and Elephant Man’s utterances of “I thought you said this guy was fun” (when Elephant Man tells Gabby he doesn’t drink and when Gabby tells Elephant Man he’s not suicidal, respectively). 

Drinky at an opium den but at the end of his hookah is just a bottle of liquor.

The reveal that Drinky is a surgeon is funny, but it’s explained by the fact that he’s been away from Gabby’s no-good influence. I preferred the initial impact of the joke, where I thought Drinky was just casually revealing that he’s been a surgeon this whole time.

There is a small part of the episode where it's revealed that Elephant Man has a hot mom who it's implied she's in an inappropriate sexual relationship with. I left this out of my write-up, because the only thing I thought during this reveal was "lucky!" and I would rather not unpack that.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Frisky Dingo - Season Two DVD (January 6, 2009)

Frisky Dingo Season Two came out, which is nice, because it’s better than season one. This release was fairly bare, except for the inclusion of a promo for the DVD release itself and an EXCLUSIVE SHORT (which you can find on youtube) that bridges the gap between Frisky Dingo and the then-thought-to-be-upcoming Xtacles series. What actually happened is the two episodes of Xtacles aired as a special, and then later this came out.

The DVD was likely produced to come out before The Xtacles, back when the plan was to actually make a full season. It seems like a shameful missed opportunity that the two Xtacles shorts couldn’t have found a home on this volume. I just want some decent-looking copies of them online.

MAIL BAG: 

Been sick. Managed to build up a queue to keep Space Ghost Week going through the holidays. Didn’t foresee myself getting sick immediately after Thanksgiving was over. Don’t know how it happened. Nobody else I spent time with got sick. I even threw up a whole bunch one night. That sucks! You’re not supposed to puke! You’re not supposed to be sick at all. Not covid. Got to take two days off work. Luckily I'm all better, and get to go to work now, a place where I physically can't watch movies all day. What fun!

i can think of one joke you cribbed from kids in the hall, if i remember scott thompson is in a bear costume when he says it

Spiritually I’m more quoting the other guy in the sketch–HEY WAIT

ugh joey fatone. awful.

His voice is even bad. He just seems like a guy who doesn’t understand how sweaty he is, and he keeps trying to sit next to you and he even puts his head in your lap at one point. Joey Fatone... HANG UP THE STUFF.

#adultswim2021 #adult swim #the drinky crow show

[adultswim2021]

Frisky Dingo #22: “A Take on Hooper” | March 3, 2008 - 12:15AM | S02E09

Well, Frisky Dingo is back. I’m not that excited, mostly for selfish reasons; the show is mighty plotty and sometimes I feel obligated to hit every story beat and I just don’t wanna. I’ll probably leave some stuff out.

This one begins with it’s usual “previously on” style segment, depicting Killface optimistically announcing his bid for presidency as well as the companion campaign documentary. Then it cuts to the final scene from the previous episode; Killface addresses the camera saying they don’t have enough time for exposition, so if you want to see what happened between those two scenes “try iTunes”. This really does capture 2008 pretty well; the time when on-demand was fairly primitive and not quite as ubiquitous as it is now, but not yet the thing that replaced the need for “previously on” segments. I’m guessing. I don’t know, do they still do “previously on” segments these days? I don’t really watch modern television. Is it good?

Sinn reveals herself to the world; she was masquerading as Hooper all along! She, along with the Dread Lobster (the guy who turned into a lobster monster in season one), the Sisterhood of Chaos (Antagone and Val; the first of which is pregnant with the yet-to-be-mentioned giant mutant ant baby), and the Decepticles (the Xtacles reskinned) stand on the Annihilatrix where Sinn announces her intent to hold the world hostage as well as the upcoming birth of a big huge monster baby. It’s set to come barrelling out of Antagone’s snatch any day now. Plans are set into motion by Xander, Killface, Wendell, and President Taqu'il (yes, we’re so past the election that we now have an actual new sitting president) respectively to put a stop to her.

Xander unfortunately is in traction and can’t really do much. His predicament is similar to the film Hal Needham masterpiece Hooper, starring Burt Reynolds as a stunt man who breaks his neck and sets out to perform one final big-money stunt, so big that he could retire off of it. The downside is that it could kill him. This is all covered in dialogue, along with a full-throated endorsement from Xander’s doctor that the movie is indeed awesome. They beat a similar drum for The Electric Horseman during Sealab 2021. Say what you will about the 7030 dickholes, but their movie recs are good shit. 

Did you remember that Simon is dating the Hobbit nerd? That’s how Simon got hold of a rocket launcher, the same one that is used to shoot down the president’s plane. President Taqu’il very stupidly brings most of his line of succession on board, and we briefly see Mr. Ford poisoning the remaining two people ahead of him who weren’t on the plane. Mr. Ford may soon become President Mr. Ford. Good! I like him! He’s nice! For the record, President Taqu’il and his VP Stan seem to escape the crash, so there’s still a couple of big bosses for Ford. 

If I left anything out, (Dan Aykroyd voice) who cares. But I will mention one scene that I thought was sorta funny: The Decepticles are all shocked that Hooper/Sinn (hey, she’s had the same name as that Hal Needham movie this whole time! What are the odds?) is a woman, prompting a flashback where we see one of the Decepticles actually walk in on her in the bathroom and see her vagina. He spreads the news to the rest of his crew, oblivious that it means that she’s a woman and instead think he’s still a man but with a vagina, so they have a meeting without her to discuss how they need to be sensitive to their crewmate by stopping the use of gendered insults, like calling each others dicks or pussies. You couldn’t do this scene nowadays! Wait, actually, it’s a bunch of guys sitting around talking very plainly and instructively about how it’s bad to use gendered insults for the sake of sensitivity. Not only could you do this scene today, but I’m willing to bet that this scene has one-hundred percent occurred in a locker room on Ted Lasso.

It’s also important to note: there is no more pretense of the show being a documentary. It’s not THAT much different, but I guess it’s different. I also remember this show sorta limping to the finish line at this point; the last batch of episodes were a genuine high point for the series, and this was a little closer to average. I liked a couple bits, though.

MAIL BAG

I have a confession to make: I don't know whether Family Guy has actually done a hippie episode. It just seems like they probably have. Don't be mad at me!

I’m not mad. I just assumed there was one too because the vast majority of Family Guy has been unseen by me. Also “Hippie Episode” seems like it can be open to interpretation somewhat. Didn’t they do one where they started performing a folk act and getting into drugs and stuff? Could that be their hippie episode? Is there an institute of hippie episode studies?? Do we need to do another list????

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #frisky dingo