as was the case with “Seinfeld”). This is how we unceremoniously lost classics like “The Ben Stiller Show,” “Freaks and Geeks,” and “Undeclared” after one season.
Advertisement
While I’d like to think some of these series would’ve eventually caught on with a large enough viewership to justify their continued network existence, many oddball series were doomed from the outset. Due to this, the smart move for talented alternative comedy writers and/or performers was to seek the more permissive shelter of a cable channel like HBO or MTV. These channels wanted weird stuff, and they were willing to stick with off-center shows that connected with a small but dedicated audience (provided the budgets stayed low).
When Cartoon Network debuted its adult-skewing Adult Swim lineup in 2001, it immediately became a hotbed of bizarre comedy series. Already existing titles like the groundbreaking “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast” moved over to this programming block, but it was the array of hilariously baffling new shows that turned this endeavor into an oasis of knowing absurdity in a world that, post-9/11, had unknowingly lost its marbles.
Advertisement
There were many animated classics created for Adult Swim in its early days (e.g. “Sealab 2021,” “The Venture Bros.,” “Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law”), but its most distinctive success was “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” Created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro, this gloriously strange show followed the exploits of a wise box of french fries named Frylock (Carey Means), a sociopathic milkshake known as Master Shake (Dana Snyder) and a childlike, shapeshifting hunk of beef called Meatwad (Willis). No one asked for “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” but all you had to do was watch one episode to know if this was your kind of nonsense. The series hit the mark for many weirdos for well over a decade until Adult Swim abruptly canceled it in 2015 against the wishes of Willis and Maiellaro. Why did the company kill such an enduringly popular show?
