June 17, 2004
Aqua Teen Gets the Love
filed under: Idle Chatter
My life was changed by Aqua Teen Hunger Force. When I realized that a cartoon shown nightly at midnight and 12:15 am was something that I had to see every single episode of, it was the tipping point - we broke down and got Time Warner's DVR (digital video recorder, or TiVo, for the luddites). My first act upon hooking it up was to set it to record every ATHF airing.
I will not attempt to capture any of The Funny that Aqua Teen brings to bear, because I would fail. I will simply tell you that the lead characters are Shake, a large egotistical milkshake; Frylock, a large, goateed, acerbic carton of french fries; and Meatwad, a childlike and innocent... um... wad of meat. The title sequence sets up the ATHF as a classic cartoon hero team. But they're not. They fight no crime. The theme song is an old skool gangsta rap:
My name is Shake-Zula, the mic rulah, the old schoolah, you wanna trip, I'll break it to ya. Frylock and I'm on top rock you like a cop, Meatwad you're up next with your knock-knock. Meatwad make the money see, Meatwad get the honeys G. Drivin in my car, livin like a star, ice on my fingers and my toes and I'm a Taurus. Cause we are the Aqua Teens, make the homeys say ho and the girlies wanna scream.
Best of all, each 15 minute episode runs without commercials, one long stream of consciousness dadaist rant
And boy, if you think I'M prone to over-intellectualizing, please check out this analysis of why Adult Swim on Cartoon network is not only the best programming on television, but represents a new golden age of animation.
And then watch Aqua Teen. Number one in the 'hood, G.
Posted by rjt at June 17, 2004 12:09 PM