This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 10
Nobody is going to believe me, but I actually had one more paragraph at the end of my review last week in which I worried there’d be a reveal in this week’s finale that would render how nice Rick had been to Morty entirely moot and make me look like an idiot. Unfortunately, I removed said paragraph because I felt my review would “read better” and now I’ve lost the staggering amount of credibility I’d built up with the Rick and Morty fanbase! This is the worst day of my life! Luckily, there’s a silver lining as “Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation” is a fantastic season finale!
Now, in fairness to me, the reveal that Rick has been uncharacteristically 22 nicer because he replaced himself with a robot that’s programmed to be 22 nicer...
Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 10
Nobody is going to believe me, but I actually had one more paragraph at the end of my review last week in which I worried there’d be a reveal in this week’s finale that would render how nice Rick had been to Morty entirely moot and make me look like an idiot. Unfortunately, I removed said paragraph because I felt my review would “read better” and now I’ve lost the staggering amount of credibility I’d built up with the Rick and Morty fanbase! This is the worst day of my life! Luckily, there’s a silver lining as “Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation” is a fantastic season finale!
Now, in fairness to me, the reveal that Rick has been uncharacteristically 22 nicer because he replaced himself with a robot that’s programmed to be 22 nicer...
- 12/12/2022
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 7
With a lead character who regularly makes clear his awareness he’s on a TV show, Rick and Morty is always plenty meta, but it’s not even a minute into “Full Meta Jackrick” that things get even more meta than usual. And if this hyper-meta-ness feels familiar, it’s because this episode is a sequel to the other most meta episode ever, season four’s “Never Ricking Morty.” Yes, this time the Story Lord from the Story Train has made it out of the fictional world and into the metaverse—oh, uh, wait, we can’t call it that—the meta-reality.
Like the Story Train episode before it, this means a story about stories, replete with cutaways to other story concepts, literal manifestations of storytelling devices, and loads of overt references to creator Dan Harmon’s writing process.
Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 7
With a lead character who regularly makes clear his awareness he’s on a TV show, Rick and Morty is always plenty meta, but it’s not even a minute into “Full Meta Jackrick” that things get even more meta than usual. And if this hyper-meta-ness feels familiar, it’s because this episode is a sequel to the other most meta episode ever, season four’s “Never Ricking Morty.” Yes, this time the Story Lord from the Story Train has made it out of the fictional world and into the metaverse—oh, uh, wait, we can’t call it that—the meta-reality.
Like the Story Train episode before it, this means a story about stories, replete with cutaways to other story concepts, literal manifestations of storytelling devices, and loads of overt references to creator Dan Harmon’s writing process.
- 11/21/2022
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 4
It’s becoming clear now that taking portal guns out of the equation for season six is a device the Rick and Morty writers are using to keep episodes grounded, both literally and narratively. Rick can still fly to anywhere in the galaxy or even jump to other dimensions if he puts the work in, but the blasé days of casually portaling out of danger or to use a toilet in an idyllic environment are over (at least for the time being). So far, season premiere notwithstanding, this has resulted in episodes concentrated around one basic-ish plot confined mostly to one location.
Happily, in last week’s episode, “Bethic Instinct,” and now this one, that location has been the Smith family home, which is great because Rick and Morty does some of its best work when it remembers...
Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 4
It’s becoming clear now that taking portal guns out of the equation for season six is a device the Rick and Morty writers are using to keep episodes grounded, both literally and narratively. Rick can still fly to anywhere in the galaxy or even jump to other dimensions if he puts the work in, but the blasé days of casually portaling out of danger or to use a toilet in an idyllic environment are over (at least for the time being). So far, season premiere notwithstanding, this has resulted in episodes concentrated around one basic-ish plot confined mostly to one location.
Happily, in last week’s episode, “Bethic Instinct,” and now this one, that location has been the Smith family home, which is great because Rick and Morty does some of its best work when it remembers...
- 9/26/2022
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
We don’t know if it’s appropriate to call it a Hot Hulu Summer, but the superior Disney-owned streaming service is certainly coming on strong with its new releases for July 2022.
Hulu has a diverse array of original content and library offerings for those looking to escape the oppressive summer heat this month. It starts out on the movie side of things with the Joey King-starring The Princess on July 1. From there, Hulu is releasing original films like The Bob’s Burgers Movie on July 12, documentary feature Aftershock on July 19, and the intriguing Zoey Deutch project Not Okay on July 29.
Read more TV Solar Opposites Character Guide By Joe Matar TV The 10 Best Bob’s Burgers Episodes By Chris Cummins
TV is where Hulu really shines this month though. July 6 sees the arrival of psychic rom-com series Maggie. That will be followed by season 3 of Solar Opposites on July 13 and...
Hulu has a diverse array of original content and library offerings for those looking to escape the oppressive summer heat this month. It starts out on the movie side of things with the Joey King-starring The Princess on July 1. From there, Hulu is releasing original films like The Bob’s Burgers Movie on July 12, documentary feature Aftershock on July 19, and the intriguing Zoey Deutch project Not Okay on July 29.
Read more TV Solar Opposites Character Guide By Joe Matar TV The 10 Best Bob’s Burgers Episodes By Chris Cummins
TV is where Hulu really shines this month though. July 6 sees the arrival of psychic rom-com series Maggie. That will be followed by season 3 of Solar Opposites on July 13 and...
- 7/1/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The live-action remake of beloved anime Cowboy Bebop had all the makings of a Big Deal ™ for Netflix.
In development since 2017, the show was intended to honor Sunrise animation’s 1998 sci-fi neo noir classic while hopefully introducing its world to a new generation of fans. Prior to the Cowboy Bebop’s release, Netflix even unveiled a trailer to depict how the show would closely mimic the anime’s kinetic style.
Now it looks like all those high hopes were for naught. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has canceled Cowboy Bebop just a few weeks after its Nov. 19 premiere. The show starred John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, and Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine – all bounty hunters (called cowboys) in the year 2171 trying to make a living in a corrupt Solar System. The show’s first season ends with a setup for a now extinct second season.
In development since 2017, the show was intended to honor Sunrise animation’s 1998 sci-fi neo noir classic while hopefully introducing its world to a new generation of fans. Prior to the Cowboy Bebop’s release, Netflix even unveiled a trailer to depict how the show would closely mimic the anime’s kinetic style.
Now it looks like all those high hopes were for naught. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has canceled Cowboy Bebop just a few weeks after its Nov. 19 premiere. The show starred John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, and Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine – all bounty hunters (called cowboys) in the year 2171 trying to make a living in a corrupt Solar System. The show’s first season ends with a setup for a now extinct second season.
- 12/10/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
This article contains spoilers for Cowboy Bebop, both the anime and the TV series.
There are certain pop culture totems that the public is incredibly protective over and Cowboy Bebop is a prime example. Shinichiro Watanabe’s masterwork continues to be considered one of the very best anime series ever made. Netflix’s live-action riff on the classic anime caught many people by surprise, but ended up as a passionate product that doesn’t try to replace the original series, yet also finds rewarding ways in which to expand the series’ universe.
Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda), and their lovable Corgi, Ein, make up the eclectic crew of the Bebop, a team of bounty hunters who are just as concerned about procuring their next meal as they are about any upcoming target. Netflix’s visually ambitious Cowboy Bebop does an exceptional job across its ten episodes,...
There are certain pop culture totems that the public is incredibly protective over and Cowboy Bebop is a prime example. Shinichiro Watanabe’s masterwork continues to be considered one of the very best anime series ever made. Netflix’s live-action riff on the classic anime caught many people by surprise, but ended up as a passionate product that doesn’t try to replace the original series, yet also finds rewarding ways in which to expand the series’ universe.
Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda), and their lovable Corgi, Ein, make up the eclectic crew of the Bebop, a team of bounty hunters who are just as concerned about procuring their next meal as they are about any upcoming target. Netflix’s visually ambitious Cowboy Bebop does an exceptional job across its ten episodes,...
- 11/20/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 7
If there’s one thing characterizes season five of Rick and Morty, it’s that everything happens so much, all the time. It’s tough to pinpoint exactly how this makes it different from prior seasons. After all, early in the series’ life, co-creator Justin Roiland said the goal with a Rick and Morty plot was to take a premise another show would’ve made a whole episode out of and instead just make that the first act, using the remaining acts to pile insanity atop insanity. This is a series with a setting of infinite universes and a protagonist who’s basically a god, so the scope of every episode should reflect that by going all out.
It’s therefore tough to say why “Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion” and all the other breakneck-paced, amped up episodes of season...
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 7
If there’s one thing characterizes season five of Rick and Morty, it’s that everything happens so much, all the time. It’s tough to pinpoint exactly how this makes it different from prior seasons. After all, early in the series’ life, co-creator Justin Roiland said the goal with a Rick and Morty plot was to take a premise another show would’ve made a whole episode out of and instead just make that the first act, using the remaining acts to pile insanity atop insanity. This is a series with a setting of infinite universes and a protagonist who’s basically a god, so the scope of every episode should reflect that by going all out.
It’s therefore tough to say why “Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion” and all the other breakneck-paced, amped up episodes of season...
- 8/2/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 5
It’s not like I ask for a lot out of my favorite sci-fi sitcom. I just want there to be some sci-fi as well as some sitcom and a problem that pops up often in Rick and Morty these days is it forgets about the sitcom part. Sometimes an episode gets lost wayyyy up inside its butthole, Morty (as yammered about in the opening of last week’s review), with a sci-fi puzzle box premise that gets so convoluted it feels like you’re in the writers’ room, listening to them work out the machinations of their plot. But the more pervasive issue is that all the protagonists of this show seem to hate each other.
Sure, it makes sense that they hate each other; their obvious, escalating dysfunctionality has been on display for over four seasons now.
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 5
It’s not like I ask for a lot out of my favorite sci-fi sitcom. I just want there to be some sci-fi as well as some sitcom and a problem that pops up often in Rick and Morty these days is it forgets about the sitcom part. Sometimes an episode gets lost wayyyy up inside its butthole, Morty (as yammered about in the opening of last week’s review), with a sci-fi puzzle box premise that gets so convoluted it feels like you’re in the writers’ room, listening to them work out the machinations of their plot. But the more pervasive issue is that all the protagonists of this show seem to hate each other.
Sure, it makes sense that they hate each other; their obvious, escalating dysfunctionality has been on display for over four seasons now.
- 7/19/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 4
There are some episodes of Rick and Morty that I’ve started calling sci-fi puzzle boxes, in which the episode introduces a “what if…?” sci-fi concept and then follows it up by asking “and then what? and then what? and then what?” as it spirals outward, escalating in insane complexity. There are plenty of great episodes that do this, like “Edge of Tomorty: Rick, Die, Rickpeat,” which introduces death crystals that allow one to see potential ways they might die, resulting in Morty so doggedly pursuing an ideal end to his life that he eventually turns himself into an Akira. Half of the classic episode “Meeseeks and Destroy” is one of these too, with the Meeseeks themselves being an interesting sci-fi invention that’s developed until it reaches its violent, bonkers conclusion.
However, some of these puzzle box...
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 4
There are some episodes of Rick and Morty that I’ve started calling sci-fi puzzle boxes, in which the episode introduces a “what if…?” sci-fi concept and then follows it up by asking “and then what? and then what? and then what?” as it spirals outward, escalating in insane complexity. There are plenty of great episodes that do this, like “Edge of Tomorty: Rick, Die, Rickpeat,” which introduces death crystals that allow one to see potential ways they might die, resulting in Morty so doggedly pursuing an ideal end to his life that he eventually turns himself into an Akira. Half of the classic episode “Meeseeks and Destroy” is one of these too, with the Meeseeks themselves being an interesting sci-fi invention that’s developed until it reaches its violent, bonkers conclusion.
However, some of these puzzle box...
- 7/12/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 3
It seems like Rob Schrab is nostalgic for the era of kids’ cartoons from my childhood. I say my childhood, because Schrab—longtime collaborator and friend of Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon—is over a decade older than me, but he loves to parody cartoons from when I was growing up. He had a major role doing a Cobra Commander impression in the animated episode of Harmon’s sitcom Community, “G.I. Jeff” (which he also directed) and now he’s written this episode, “A Rickconvenient Mort,” half of which is a parody of the nineties’ environmentalist cartoon, Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
I really didn’t enjoy “G.I. Jeff.” It was a bizarre, confused episode with humor that didn’t work unless you had a fondness for the eighties (and/or early nineties)’ cartoon series,...
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 3
It seems like Rob Schrab is nostalgic for the era of kids’ cartoons from my childhood. I say my childhood, because Schrab—longtime collaborator and friend of Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon—is over a decade older than me, but he loves to parody cartoons from when I was growing up. He had a major role doing a Cobra Commander impression in the animated episode of Harmon’s sitcom Community, “G.I. Jeff” (which he also directed) and now he’s written this episode, “A Rickconvenient Mort,” half of which is a parody of the nineties’ environmentalist cartoon, Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
I really didn’t enjoy “G.I. Jeff.” It was a bizarre, confused episode with humor that didn’t work unless you had a fondness for the eighties (and/or early nineties)’ cartoon series,...
- 7/5/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 2
Man, Rick and Morty is a weird fucking show.
I know I’m stating the obvious here but I mean it’s weird on a fundamental storytelling level because, the thing is, under all the sci-fi madness, there’s meant to be a gooey sitcom center to this series and sitcoms usually want you to care a lot about their characters. You’re supposed to get emotional highs and lows from them and want them to succeed. In short, you’re supposed to love them.
“Mortyplicity” is one of those Rick and Morty episodes that very loudly and clearly tells you that you should not be invested in these characters’ lives. You’re supposed to love them, in a way, but that way is as cynical, wisecrack-spouting, sci-fi comedy vehicles. However, you’re not really supposed to invest...
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 2
Man, Rick and Morty is a weird fucking show.
I know I’m stating the obvious here but I mean it’s weird on a fundamental storytelling level because, the thing is, under all the sci-fi madness, there’s meant to be a gooey sitcom center to this series and sitcoms usually want you to care a lot about their characters. You’re supposed to get emotional highs and lows from them and want them to succeed. In short, you’re supposed to love them.
“Mortyplicity” is one of those Rick and Morty episodes that very loudly and clearly tells you that you should not be invested in these characters’ lives. You’re supposed to love them, in a way, but that way is as cynical, wisecrack-spouting, sci-fi comedy vehicles. However, you’re not really supposed to invest...
- 6/28/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 5 episode 1.
After its season 5 premiere, Rick and Morty is now 11 episodes into its impressive 70-episode order at Adult Swim. Even back in 2018, when the deal was announced and the show was at its creative apex, 70 episodes sure seemed like an ambitious undertaking.
Rick and Morty is set in a world of infinite universes, but do infinite universes really mean infinite compelling storytelling opportunities? Many of Rick and Morty’s animated peers have enjoyed (or in some cases endured) lengthy episodic runs. That doesn’t necessarily guarantee that 100+ total episodes is creatively viable, particularly for a show that tends to flirt with serialization and continuity.
Rick and Morty season 5 episode 1 “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” goes a long way in assuaging those fears of the show losing storytelling steam. One plot arc, in which Morty encounters a Narnia-like world filled with behooved cow and/or goat creatures,...
After its season 5 premiere, Rick and Morty is now 11 episodes into its impressive 70-episode order at Adult Swim. Even back in 2018, when the deal was announced and the show was at its creative apex, 70 episodes sure seemed like an ambitious undertaking.
Rick and Morty is set in a world of infinite universes, but do infinite universes really mean infinite compelling storytelling opportunities? Many of Rick and Morty’s animated peers have enjoyed (or in some cases endured) lengthy episodic runs. That doesn’t necessarily guarantee that 100+ total episodes is creatively viable, particularly for a show that tends to flirt with serialization and continuity.
Rick and Morty season 5 episode 1 “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” goes a long way in assuaging those fears of the show losing storytelling steam. One plot arc, in which Morty encounters a Narnia-like world filled with behooved cow and/or goat creatures,...
- 6/21/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 1
The season premieres of Rick and Morty’s second and third seasons were unique in that they followed cliffhanger finales, so—even if the second season’s didn’t turn out all that great—those premieres felt like epic reintroductions to the show’s world that had to get the characters out of a previously-established sci-fi pickle (not a literal one this time) in a way that was satisfying and cool. The series stopped doing season cliffhangers after that, so the season four premiere was just more Rick and Morty and the season five premiere is much the same. In fact, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” even echoes “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Repeat” with a plot to do with time, Morty’s forever-crush Jessica, and the idea that—no matter the permutation of sci-fi circumstances—Morty is doomed to forever be,...
Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 1
The season premieres of Rick and Morty’s second and third seasons were unique in that they followed cliffhanger finales, so—even if the second season’s didn’t turn out all that great—those premieres felt like epic reintroductions to the show’s world that had to get the characters out of a previously-established sci-fi pickle (not a literal one this time) in a way that was satisfying and cool. The series stopped doing season cliffhangers after that, so the season four premiere was just more Rick and Morty and the season five premiere is much the same. In fact, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” even echoes “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Repeat” with a plot to do with time, Morty’s forever-crush Jessica, and the idea that—no matter the permutation of sci-fi circumstances—Morty is doomed to forever be,...
- 6/21/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
With 2017’s The Lego Batman Movie having grossed over $311 million worldwide, building on the block toy franchise’s cinematic success, a sequel seemed like a no-brainer for studio Warner Bros. However, external constraints intervened when Universal Pictures landed an exclusive deal for the rights; a twist of fate that essentially canceled the sequel in the midst of its development. Consequently, director Chris McKay’s most recent—unfortunately inauspicious—update on that front also came with intriguingly bittersweet plot details.
How’s this for a pitch for The Lego Batman Movie 2? A dramatic ordeal resembling themes from The Godfather Part II and Boogie Nights teaches Batman the value of friendship. Of course, those rather random sources of inspiration—from a dour early 1970s-era epic and 70s-nostalgic 1990s cinematic caricature—may seem like a puzzling plot structure for the kid-friendly animated film franchise, but there was a method to the apparent madness,...
How’s this for a pitch for The Lego Batman Movie 2? A dramatic ordeal resembling themes from The Godfather Part II and Boogie Nights teaches Batman the value of friendship. Of course, those rather random sources of inspiration—from a dour early 1970s-era epic and 70s-nostalgic 1990s cinematic caricature—may seem like a puzzling plot structure for the kid-friendly animated film franchise, but there was a method to the apparent madness,...
- 6/14/2021
- by Joseph Baxter
- Den of Geek
Rick and Morty season 5 is nearly upon us and, even among all the high-quality productions released at a rapid clip these days, the show still stands out as a unique television experience. Yes, there are a lot of amazingly well-crafted dramas (I’m looking forward to the conclusion of Better Call Saul) and this seems to be the heyday for brilliant comedies that actually turn out to be the most heartbreaking thing you’ve ever watched. But truly great sitcoms that do what sitcoms are historically known to do—namely make you laugh a lot and endear you to a cast of characters—are rarer.
For those of us who grew up with the golden age of The Simpsons and like our sitcoms densely packed with clever, layered jokes, there’s a lot less out there. Bob’s Burgers and its offspring The Great North are pretty great, but there’s a simpler,...
For those of us who grew up with the golden age of The Simpsons and like our sitcoms densely packed with clever, layered jokes, there’s a lot less out there. Bob’s Burgers and its offspring The Great North are pretty great, but there’s a simpler,...
- 6/8/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This interview contains Spoilers for Solar Opposites seasons 1 and 2.
Mike McMahan and Justin Roiland’s sci-fi animated sitcom Solar Opposites is technically about a family of aliens stuck on planet Earth, learning lessons about how to love one another while, they try to repair their spaceship. However, as the first season progressed, the show slowly revealed it was simultaneously telling another story.
One of the aliens, Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone), has a habit of shrinking down humans and imprisoning them in a wall-sized terrarium. In a surprising twist, we get to see that the tiny humans have actually formed their own Mad Max-ian style society in there. We learn more and more about this society until, seven episodes into the first season, Solar Opposites ditches the aliens for an entire episode set inside he Wall.
It ended up being just about everyone’s favorite thing in the show.
“We didn’t...
Mike McMahan and Justin Roiland’s sci-fi animated sitcom Solar Opposites is technically about a family of aliens stuck on planet Earth, learning lessons about how to love one another while, they try to repair their spaceship. However, as the first season progressed, the show slowly revealed it was simultaneously telling another story.
One of the aliens, Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone), has a habit of shrinking down humans and imprisoning them in a wall-sized terrarium. In a surprising twist, we get to see that the tiny humans have actually formed their own Mad Max-ian style society in there. We learn more and more about this society until, seven episodes into the first season, Solar Opposites ditches the aliens for an entire episode set inside he Wall.
It ended up being just about everyone’s favorite thing in the show.
“We didn’t...
- 3/29/2021
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This is a guest post from Brittany Cavallaro, author of the Charlotte Holmes series and the just-released Muse, the first book in a YA duology set in an alternate history American monarchy.
The first time I played BioShock Infinite was the June when we were so broke that my then-husband started selling his plasma for money. When he wasn’t doing that, he was working as a roofer around Milwaukee while I twiddled my thumbs. I had a job lined up teaching writing that wouldn’t start for another three weeks. No temp agencies would have me. What had begun as a summer of infinite possibilities boiled down to just one: misery. In later years, we called it the Bad Summer, the capital letters always implied.
2013 was a Pbr summer, a lay-flat-on-the-cold-hardwood-floor-at-noon summer while I tried to escape the wretched heat; it was the summer that the bed I’d...
The first time I played BioShock Infinite was the June when we were so broke that my then-husband started selling his plasma for money. When he wasn’t doing that, he was working as a roofer around Milwaukee while I twiddled my thumbs. I had a job lined up teaching writing that wouldn’t start for another three weeks. No temp agencies would have me. What had begun as a summer of infinite possibilities boiled down to just one: misery. In later years, we called it the Bad Summer, the capital letters always implied.
2013 was a Pbr summer, a lay-flat-on-the-cold-hardwood-floor-at-noon summer while I tried to escape the wretched heat; it was the summer that the bed I’d...
- 2/4/2021
- by Kayti Burt
- Den of Geek
Have we ever been in more need of a laugh than in 2020? Amidst a historic global pandemic, a tumultuous American political election, civil unrest, wildfires, Murder Horne… alright, you get the picture. 2020 has been the pits, man. Thankfully, this year from hell featured some bright spots on television, even if rays of sunshine were sorely lacking in reality.
If the shows on our list weren’t making us laugh, we would have been ugly-crying since March. While we were all locked in our homes, we got reacclimated with the Warner Brothers (and sister), said goodbye to BoJack Horseman, and met regular human bartender Jackie Daytona, making quarantine a bit more bearable, if only in 30 minute increments. From brand new series like How To with John Wilson, to swan songs for Den of Geek favorites like Schitt’s Creek, TV comedies in 2020 kept us cackling through the chaos.
To determine the best...
If the shows on our list weren’t making us laugh, we would have been ugly-crying since March. While we were all locked in our homes, we got reacclimated with the Warner Brothers (and sister), said goodbye to BoJack Horseman, and met regular human bartender Jackie Daytona, making quarantine a bit more bearable, if only in 30 minute increments. From brand new series like How To with John Wilson, to swan songs for Den of Geek favorites like Schitt’s Creek, TV comedies in 2020 kept us cackling through the chaos.
To determine the best...
- 12/18/2020
- by Chris Longo
- Den of Geek
Sitcom characters very rarely come off of the page fully formed. Many classic (and not-so-classic) network sitcoms rely on time as an ally. Time spent with characters allows for not only an audience to get a better sense of them but also for the writers and actors to do so as well.
Community was no exception. Each of the ensemble cast’s seven main characters (and tertiary characters like Ben Chang and Dean Craig Pelton) arrived in the pilot fundamentally unfinished. And each of them evolved over time, in some cases sharpening creator Dan Harmon and the writing staff’s original assumptions or defying them. No character, however, changed more from conception to execution over time than Britta Perry as played by Gillian Jacobs.
Originally, Harmon designed Britta Perry simply as a romantic foil to series lead Jeff Winger. When Community first premiered in 2009, The Office was entering its sixth...
Community was no exception. Each of the ensemble cast’s seven main characters (and tertiary characters like Ben Chang and Dean Craig Pelton) arrived in the pilot fundamentally unfinished. And each of them evolved over time, in some cases sharpening creator Dan Harmon and the writing staff’s original assumptions or defying them. No character, however, changed more from conception to execution over time than Britta Perry as played by Gillian Jacobs.
Originally, Harmon designed Britta Perry simply as a romantic foil to series lead Jeff Winger. When Community first premiered in 2009, The Office was entering its sixth...
- 9/15/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The wait between Rick and Morty season 3 and season 4 took somewhere between forever and forever and a half. Or at least that’s what it felt like in the moment. In reality, the delay ended up being just over two full years. That’s a unit of time that “A Song of Ice and Fire”, Venture Bros., and Curb Your Enthusiasm fans like to call a “blink of an eye.”
The good news is that Rick and Morty season 5 is likely to arrive quicker, if not much quicker than season 4 did. There was a rather specific reason for the season 4 delay. Unbeknownst to all, Adult Swim and Rick and Morty co-creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland were working on a deal that would keep the pair and the show at the network for a long time. Harmon and Roiland’s animated sci-fi comedy would eventually receive a truly impressive 70 episode order.
The good news is that Rick and Morty season 5 is likely to arrive quicker, if not much quicker than season 4 did. There was a rather specific reason for the season 4 delay. Unbeknownst to all, Adult Swim and Rick and Morty co-creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland were working on a deal that would keep the pair and the show at the network for a long time. Harmon and Roiland’s animated sci-fi comedy would eventually receive a truly impressive 70 episode order.
- 6/2/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The following contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 4 episode 10.
Despite many of its fans’ pleas, Rick and Morty isn’t too keen on serialization. Rick himself winks at this in the season 4 finale when he remarks of a fallen foe “She died the way she lived: over-serialized.”
Still, creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon often resist the allures of serialized storytelling in favor of playing in their enormous sci-fi sandbox. Every now and then, however, they’ll throw fans a bone with a mythology-expanding installment. Such is the case with the Rick and Morty season 4 finale.
“Star Mort: Rickturn of the Jerri” features numerous callbacks to Rick and Morty’s past. Tammy Gueterman and her imperial army return to destroy Earth. Birdperson rises from the ashes as Phoenixperson – a mechanized monster intent on enacting Tammy’s bidding. Even Smtih family therapist Dr. Wong makes a brief appearance, allowing Susan Sarandon...
Despite many of its fans’ pleas, Rick and Morty isn’t too keen on serialization. Rick himself winks at this in the season 4 finale when he remarks of a fallen foe “She died the way she lived: over-serialized.”
Still, creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon often resist the allures of serialized storytelling in favor of playing in their enormous sci-fi sandbox. Every now and then, however, they’ll throw fans a bone with a mythology-expanding installment. Such is the case with the Rick and Morty season 4 finale.
“Star Mort: Rickturn of the Jerri” features numerous callbacks to Rick and Morty’s past. Tammy Gueterman and her imperial army return to destroy Earth. Birdperson rises from the ashes as Phoenixperson – a mechanized monster intent on enacting Tammy’s bidding. Even Smtih family therapist Dr. Wong makes a brief appearance, allowing Susan Sarandon...
- 6/1/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 10
Up until now, the thesis of Rick and Morty’s fourth season has been “Forget serialization! Everything is one-off sci-fi gag adventures now!” Some fans even read the story train episode as the series’ vocal rejection of serialization, the way it crammed a ton of fan favorites into a glimpse at a hypothetical series finale only to laughingly point at everything and say “get an eyeful now, nerds, because this dumb bullshit is never going to happen!”
Luckily, the season finale indicates that serialization is not entirely dead as “Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri” catches up with a whole load of plot threads from season two and three. You might call it the combo-sequel to “The Wedding Squanchers,” “Pickle Rick,” and “The ABCs of Beth”. It’s packed with continuations to the character stories of Bird (now Phoenix) Person,...
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 10
Up until now, the thesis of Rick and Morty’s fourth season has been “Forget serialization! Everything is one-off sci-fi gag adventures now!” Some fans even read the story train episode as the series’ vocal rejection of serialization, the way it crammed a ton of fan favorites into a glimpse at a hypothetical series finale only to laughingly point at everything and say “get an eyeful now, nerds, because this dumb bullshit is never going to happen!”
Luckily, the season finale indicates that serialization is not entirely dead as “Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri” catches up with a whole load of plot threads from season two and three. You might call it the combo-sequel to “The Wedding Squanchers,” “Pickle Rick,” and “The ABCs of Beth”. It’s packed with continuations to the character stories of Bird (now Phoenix) Person,...
- 6/1/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 9
It was starting to get noticeable and a little weird that the rest of the Smith family have been largely absent for much of season four. Except for the occasional glimpse into what’s going on back at Morty’s house, usually to fire off a joke or two at Jerry’s expense, it feels like the grounded, sitcom half of Rick and Morty has been all but abandoned in favor of going hard on the sci-fi rigmarole. Summer gets included on adventures more than Beth or Jerry, but we haven’t seen that much of her regardless. She had a pivotal role two episodes ago in “Promortyus,” but she was only actually in it for the back half, a good lot of which was spent flashbacking to what had happened to Rick and Morty.
It’s therefore...
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 9
It was starting to get noticeable and a little weird that the rest of the Smith family have been largely absent for much of season four. Except for the occasional glimpse into what’s going on back at Morty’s house, usually to fire off a joke or two at Jerry’s expense, it feels like the grounded, sitcom half of Rick and Morty has been all but abandoned in favor of going hard on the sci-fi rigmarole. Summer gets included on adventures more than Beth or Jerry, but we haven’t seen that much of her regardless. She had a pivotal role two episodes ago in “Promortyus,” but she was only actually in it for the back half, a good lot of which was spent flashbacking to what had happened to Rick and Morty.
It’s therefore...
- 5/25/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Rick And Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 8
The problem I’m a broken record about (and probably won’t stop being any time soon) is that after confidently blowing through a ton of character and multiverse development in the first season, Rick and Morty has struggled to come up with conflicts with meaningful stakes. When one of your protagonists can do anything and, in the rare case he can’t can instead dip out to another dimension to avoid the consequences of his actions, it’s tough to get worried that he’s ever in a real pickle, even when he physically embodies one (hope you all enjoyed what I just did there).
This isn’t just a plot problem, but a character problem because Rick—and, often, by extension, Morty—feel like they don’t give a fuck anymore as they nonchalantly mow down...
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 8
The problem I’m a broken record about (and probably won’t stop being any time soon) is that after confidently blowing through a ton of character and multiverse development in the first season, Rick and Morty has struggled to come up with conflicts with meaningful stakes. When one of your protagonists can do anything and, in the rare case he can’t can instead dip out to another dimension to avoid the consequences of his actions, it’s tough to get worried that he’s ever in a real pickle, even when he physically embodies one (hope you all enjoyed what I just did there).
This isn’t just a plot problem, but a character problem because Rick—and, often, by extension, Morty—feel like they don’t give a fuck anymore as they nonchalantly mow down...
- 5/18/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 8
All the really serious shit on Solar Opposites happens inside the wall, which got its own dramatic season finale last episode. But the real main characters are a family of stupid aliens being stupid. Terry, Korvo, Jesse, and Yumyulack aren’t characters going through huge developmental arcs. They’re pretty much the same characters they were at the start of the season: petty fools who sort of love each other and are far too eager to resort to busting out their overpowered alien technology at the drop of a hat, leaving death and destruction in their wake. So, what does “Retrace-Your-Step-Alizer” do to differentiate itself as a finale when compared to the sci-fi misadventures we’ve seen thus far?
Unsurprisingly, not a whole lot. In a series where the principal focus is dumb alien jokes, it’s fitting that the season finale is just another goof.
Solar Opposites Episode 8
All the really serious shit on Solar Opposites happens inside the wall, which got its own dramatic season finale last episode. But the real main characters are a family of stupid aliens being stupid. Terry, Korvo, Jesse, and Yumyulack aren’t characters going through huge developmental arcs. They’re pretty much the same characters they were at the start of the season: petty fools who sort of love each other and are far too eager to resort to busting out their overpowered alien technology at the drop of a hat, leaving death and destruction in their wake. So, what does “Retrace-Your-Step-Alizer” do to differentiate itself as a finale when compared to the sci-fi misadventures we’ve seen thus far?
Unsurprisingly, not a whole lot. In a series where the principal focus is dumb alien jokes, it’s fitting that the season finale is just another goof.
- 5/9/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 7
Well, I think we all knew everything was leading up to this. Finally, it all pays off. Finally, we get to watch Terry and Korvo steal a bear.
That’s what’s happening in the background of “Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear,” anyway. Community pulled the same trick years ago; the character of Abed had a wordless subplot about helping a couple deliver a baby, all of it taking place in the background as main plot stuff happened in the foreground. Solar Opposites does the same joke here, but it’s not like it’s a played-out idea, so it’s funny to see the concept used again.
As for what’s going on in the foreground, it’s really fucking great. The series has been periodically giving us peeks into Yumyulack’s shrunken human terrarium society and now we...
Solar Opposites Episode 7
Well, I think we all knew everything was leading up to this. Finally, it all pays off. Finally, we get to watch Terry and Korvo steal a bear.
That’s what’s happening in the background of “Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear,” anyway. Community pulled the same trick years ago; the character of Abed had a wordless subplot about helping a couple deliver a baby, all of it taking place in the background as main plot stuff happened in the foreground. Solar Opposites does the same joke here, but it’s not like it’s a played-out idea, so it’s funny to see the concept used again.
As for what’s going on in the foreground, it’s really fucking great. The series has been periodically giving us peeks into Yumyulack’s shrunken human terrarium society and now we...
- 5/9/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 6
The bulk of Solar Opposites’ plots draw from the simple, but richly adaptable framework of introducing a classic comedy trope into the aliens lives, but, because they’re aliens, the trope plays out in a bizarre sci-fi fashion that deviates drastically from the plot’s basis, typically culminating in the deaths of a whole lot of people.
In a way, it makes me think of Beavis and Butt-Head, a series which deserves more credit for completely subverting conventional TV comedy storytelling.Maybe this is kind of a funky comparison because Solar Opposites is still a heavily structured sitcom, while Beavis and Butt-Head is borderline structureless, but both of them defy sitcom expectations by virtue of their protagonists being unconventional factors in what might be otherwise conventional stories. Basically, Beavis and Butt-head are too stupid to embark on full character arcs and...
Solar Opposites Episode 6
The bulk of Solar Opposites’ plots draw from the simple, but richly adaptable framework of introducing a classic comedy trope into the aliens lives, but, because they’re aliens, the trope plays out in a bizarre sci-fi fashion that deviates drastically from the plot’s basis, typically culminating in the deaths of a whole lot of people.
In a way, it makes me think of Beavis and Butt-Head, a series which deserves more credit for completely subverting conventional TV comedy storytelling.Maybe this is kind of a funky comparison because Solar Opposites is still a heavily structured sitcom, while Beavis and Butt-Head is borderline structureless, but both of them defy sitcom expectations by virtue of their protagonists being unconventional factors in what might be otherwise conventional stories. Basically, Beavis and Butt-head are too stupid to embark on full character arcs and...
- 5/9/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 5
Something that’s always nice is when separate sitcom plots are still tied together thematically. “The Lavatic Reactor” is one such episode, centered around education, as Terry and Korvo enroll in a junior college and Jesse and Yumyulack attend what they believe to be summer school. There’s a third, smaller plot about Tim and the other shrunken humans trapped in Yumyulack’s wall and their attempt to steal food from the Duke, the self-appointed leader of said wall, but this plot is not about education, which makes it lame.
No, that’s not really why the wall subplot is weak, though I suppose it’s part of the problem in that it’s a bit slight and seems to have been inserted into the episode mostly to remind us the Mad Max wall stuff is still ongoing. Unlike the first...
Solar Opposites Episode 5
Something that’s always nice is when separate sitcom plots are still tied together thematically. “The Lavatic Reactor” is one such episode, centered around education, as Terry and Korvo enroll in a junior college and Jesse and Yumyulack attend what they believe to be summer school. There’s a third, smaller plot about Tim and the other shrunken humans trapped in Yumyulack’s wall and their attempt to steal food from the Duke, the self-appointed leader of said wall, but this plot is not about education, which makes it lame.
No, that’s not really why the wall subplot is weak, though I suppose it’s part of the problem in that it’s a bit slight and seems to have been inserted into the episode mostly to remind us the Mad Max wall stuff is still ongoing. Unlike the first...
- 5/9/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 4
One thing that makes Solar Opposites such a fun show is how relentless it is and this might be the most balls-to-the-wall episode yet. Korvo coughs up a red goobler, a sentient manifestation of his stress that then stalks him with intent to kill, while Jesse and Yumyulack try to fit in with the cool kids at school using sci-fi flowers that have grown out of their heads and emit pollen that makes everyone love them. Hey, we’ve all been there, right?
Sci-fi bonkers as “The Booster Manifold” is, there’s a core of human relatability there that makes it so it isn’t just hollow, insane antics. Obviously, wanting the cool kids at school to like you is something many of us can relate to and your own stress literally can kill you; it just doesn’t typically take...
Solar Opposites Episode 4
One thing that makes Solar Opposites such a fun show is how relentless it is and this might be the most balls-to-the-wall episode yet. Korvo coughs up a red goobler, a sentient manifestation of his stress that then stalks him with intent to kill, while Jesse and Yumyulack try to fit in with the cool kids at school using sci-fi flowers that have grown out of their heads and emit pollen that makes everyone love them. Hey, we’ve all been there, right?
Sci-fi bonkers as “The Booster Manifold” is, there’s a core of human relatability there that makes it so it isn’t just hollow, insane antics. Obviously, wanting the cool kids at school to like you is something many of us can relate to and your own stress literally can kill you; it just doesn’t typically take...
- 5/8/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 3
I have a lot of respect for how Solar Opposites is shooting for the stars with its stupid plotlines this early in its existence. It’s so charmingly goofy and weird that this is a series about aliens crash-landing on earth and, instead of obvious sci-fi stuff (though there’s still plenty of sci-fi stuff in there), only three episodes in we’ve watched the aliens pal around with a sitcom character, run to be presidents of their local homeowners’ association, and now one of them is becoming a famous magician.
It’s cool “The Quantum Ring” shakes up the character dynamics a little bit with Korvo mostly on his own, leaving behind the rest of the family. It basically is a Korvo episode; we get some Terry/Jesse/Yumyulack scenes, but Korvo is definitely the focus. This is fine, because,...
Solar Opposites Episode 3
I have a lot of respect for how Solar Opposites is shooting for the stars with its stupid plotlines this early in its existence. It’s so charmingly goofy and weird that this is a series about aliens crash-landing on earth and, instead of obvious sci-fi stuff (though there’s still plenty of sci-fi stuff in there), only three episodes in we’ve watched the aliens pal around with a sitcom character, run to be presidents of their local homeowners’ association, and now one of them is becoming a famous magician.
It’s cool “The Quantum Ring” shakes up the character dynamics a little bit with Korvo mostly on his own, leaving behind the rest of the family. It basically is a Korvo episode; we get some Terry/Jesse/Yumyulack scenes, but Korvo is definitely the focus. This is fine, because,...
- 5/8/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 2
In the pilot episode, I felt that Yumyulack and Jesse didn’t get quite enough screen time to fully characterize them. This episode rectifies that as they get a storyline that defines both characters perfectly. Terry and Korvo get a hilarious plot that balloons to out-of-control sci-fi proportions and the Pupa even gets a full story arc too. “The Unstable Grey Hole” is just packed and, on top of all that, it’s got an ending you’ll never see coming.
Terry and Korvo’s dynamic is reinforced in this episode and I love it. Korvo always tries to take the high-minded, “focus on the mission” road… for about five seconds. Then he and Terry fully commit to the same petty distraction. This time, Korvo uses the flimsy excuse that it’s a work necessity for him that people like him...
Solar Opposites Episode 2
In the pilot episode, I felt that Yumyulack and Jesse didn’t get quite enough screen time to fully characterize them. This episode rectifies that as they get a storyline that defines both characters perfectly. Terry and Korvo get a hilarious plot that balloons to out-of-control sci-fi proportions and the Pupa even gets a full story arc too. “The Unstable Grey Hole” is just packed and, on top of all that, it’s got an ending you’ll never see coming.
Terry and Korvo’s dynamic is reinforced in this episode and I love it. Korvo always tries to take the high-minded, “focus on the mission” road… for about five seconds. Then he and Terry fully commit to the same petty distraction. This time, Korvo uses the flimsy excuse that it’s a work necessity for him that people like him...
- 5/8/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This Solar Opposites review contains spoilers.
Solar Opposites Episode 1
As a general rule, the strongest TV pilot episodes drop us into a story that’s already on its way. This is especially true of sitcoms, where the main thing we want to learn at the start is how the main characters interact with their world and each other. Basically, we care less about how the characters got to this point, we just want to know “what’s funny about this premise?” so that we can decide if we’re going to tune in for the rest of the series.
Solar Opposites very much understands this. Not even ten minutes into its premiere episode, “The Matter Transfer Array,” replicants Jesse (Mary Mack) and Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) have shrunk a bully down and put in her in a jar and Terry (Thomas Middleditch) and Korvo (Justin Roiland) have created a real-life version...
Solar Opposites Episode 1
As a general rule, the strongest TV pilot episodes drop us into a story that’s already on its way. This is especially true of sitcoms, where the main thing we want to learn at the start is how the main characters interact with their world and each other. Basically, we care less about how the characters got to this point, we just want to know “what’s funny about this premise?” so that we can decide if we’re going to tune in for the rest of the series.
Solar Opposites very much understands this. Not even ten minutes into its premiere episode, “The Matter Transfer Array,” replicants Jesse (Mary Mack) and Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) have shrunk a bully down and put in her in a jar and Terry (Thomas Middleditch) and Korvo (Justin Roiland) have created a real-life version...
- 5/8/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 6.
To be fair, you have to have a very high Iq to understand the most recent episode of Rick and Morty and apparently I’m dumb as hell because it looks like critics (even on this very website!) have by and large enjoyed “Never Ricking Morty,” while I found it tiresome and confusing.
I did understand it, broadly. Though it isn’t explained until almost the end of the episode that there’s a dude called the Story Lord behind it all, Rick and Morty are on a story train that forces cutaways to vignettes. It’s technically this season’s Interdimensional Cable episode, but with a very different, and much harder to follow, framework.
More than that, it’s a story about Dan Harmon’s story circle. For those unaware, since all the way back when he was making...
To be fair, you have to have a very high Iq to understand the most recent episode of Rick and Morty and apparently I’m dumb as hell because it looks like critics (even on this very website!) have by and large enjoyed “Never Ricking Morty,” while I found it tiresome and confusing.
I did understand it, broadly. Though it isn’t explained until almost the end of the episode that there’s a dude called the Story Lord behind it all, Rick and Morty are on a story train that forces cutaways to vignettes. It’s technically this season’s Interdimensional Cable episode, but with a very different, and much harder to follow, framework.
More than that, it’s a story about Dan Harmon’s story circle. For those unaware, since all the way back when he was making...
- 5/4/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
Fans of the cult classic Nickelodeon cartoon Invader Zim tend to zero in on creator Jhonen Vasquez like the whole series fell out of his head fully formed, which is somewhat understandable, as the show’s art and writing feel much like the singular vision of one lone weirdo. But, get this! Invader Zim was actually a whole production with a budget and a crew and everything! And, Eric Trueheart, one of the writers responsible for some of the most iconic Zim episodes, is here to prove it with The Medium-Sized Book of Zim Scripts: Vol. 1: Pigs ‘n’ Waffles.
I imagine many fans would have been happy with a book packed solely with scripts cover-to-cover. However, there’s a nice structure to what Trueheart has done in this book instead, introducing each script by relating the history of how the idea for the episode was formed and developed, then including the script,...
I imagine many fans would have been happy with a book packed solely with scripts cover-to-cover. However, there’s a nice structure to what Trueheart has done in this book instead, introducing each script by relating the history of how the idea for the episode was formed and developed, then including the script,...
- 4/29/2020
- by Joe Matar
- Den of Geek
Chris Longo Delia Harrington Alec Bojalad Nick Harley Daniella Bondar Joe Matar Daniel Kurland David Crow Dec 31, 2019
From Fleabag to Pen15 and everything in between, we count down the best TV comedies of 2019.
Comedy television did a lot of growing up in the 2010s. As we kiss goodbye the decade, 2019 was another prime example that the genre continues to take bold creative risks, visually innovate, and push back on the inane idea that “edgy” material has been outlawed in contemporary comedy.
This year we saw the fine line between comedy and drama shrink to mind-blowingly awesome results (you can classify 3 of our top 4 picks as “dramedy”). Animated comedies that take longer to produce than feature films redefined any preconceived notions about that subgenre. It was exciting to see refreshing new voices tell stories that connected with audiences on a deeply personal level. And a sketch comedy show finally made it...
From Fleabag to Pen15 and everything in between, we count down the best TV comedies of 2019.
Comedy television did a lot of growing up in the 2010s. As we kiss goodbye the decade, 2019 was another prime example that the genre continues to take bold creative risks, visually innovate, and push back on the inane idea that “edgy” material has been outlawed in contemporary comedy.
This year we saw the fine line between comedy and drama shrink to mind-blowingly awesome results (you can classify 3 of our top 4 picks as “dramedy”). Animated comedies that take longer to produce than feature films redefined any preconceived notions about that subgenre. It was exciting to see refreshing new voices tell stories that connected with audiences on a deeply personal level. And a sketch comedy show finally made it...
- 12/30/2019
- Den of Geek
Magic, dragons, and soul-sex run wild in a charmingly stupid Rick and Morty episode.
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This Rick and Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 4
There’s an argument to be made that Rick and Morty shouldn’t have any magic in it. It’s a sci-fi show so all impossible happenings should be the product of a cartoonish, bastardized idea of science, and the introduction of magic conflicts with that and breaks the show’s rules.
On the other hand, Rick and Morty plays fast and loose with the rules of its world already. Rick regularly mentions that they’re on a TV show. The first season pitted Summer and Rick against the Devil himself, opening up the possibility that there’s an afterlife. Also, they’ve already dabbled in magic; the previous episode featured some kind of alien pharaoh’s curse.
Though I would...
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This Rick and Morty review contains spoilers.
Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 4
There’s an argument to be made that Rick and Morty shouldn’t have any magic in it. It’s a sci-fi show so all impossible happenings should be the product of a cartoonish, bastardized idea of science, and the introduction of magic conflicts with that and breaks the show’s rules.
On the other hand, Rick and Morty plays fast and loose with the rules of its world already. Rick regularly mentions that they’re on a TV show. The first season pitted Summer and Rick against the Devil himself, opening up the possibility that there’s an afterlife. Also, they’ve already dabbled in magic; the previous episode featured some kind of alien pharaoh’s curse.
Though I would...
- 12/9/2019
- Den of Geek
South Park gets back to its roots, its roots being lots of poop and vomit.
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This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 23 Episode 8
Though South Park’s bread and butter is, and has been for a long time now, satirically skewering current issues and recent trends, when they take a break for pure, unadulterated stupidity, without worrying about imparting any sort of moral at the end, the results are often better. “Turd Burglars” showcases some of the basic, most old-school South Park gross-out stupidity in recent memory and it’s… well, it’s certainly better than their recent stabs at saying something about immigration, China, or trans issues.
However, it is important to note that this episode, in which Shelia Broflovski contracts a C. diff infection and has to receive a fecal transplant in order to balance her microbiomes, technically, sort of, is addressing a current event after all.
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This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 23 Episode 8
Though South Park’s bread and butter is, and has been for a long time now, satirically skewering current issues and recent trends, when they take a break for pure, unadulterated stupidity, without worrying about imparting any sort of moral at the end, the results are often better. “Turd Burglars” showcases some of the basic, most old-school South Park gross-out stupidity in recent memory and it’s… well, it’s certainly better than their recent stabs at saying something about immigration, China, or trans issues.
However, it is important to note that this episode, in which Shelia Broflovski contracts a C. diff infection and has to receive a fecal transplant in order to balance her microbiomes, technically, sort of, is addressing a current event after all.
- 11/28/2019
- Den of Geek
Joe Matar Aug 12, 2019
Jhonen Vasquez answered our questions about how Invader Zim has evolved but is mostly still about screaming jerks.
The existence of Invader Zim is unlikely in the first place. For some reason, Nickelodeon approached Jhonen Vasquez—a comic book author whose most famous work up until that point was a series called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac—and asked him if he wanted to make a kids’ cartoon. They regretted it almost immediately, but, even more unlikely, Zim went on to build a rabid cult following that endures over a decade later and which made possible the revival movie, Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus!.
We spoke to Jhonen and the Zim cast about the film last year in mostly vague terms but, now we’ve gotten a chance to see the movie, Jhonen was kind enough to email us answers to some deeper Florpus!-based questions. We...
Jhonen Vasquez answered our questions about how Invader Zim has evolved but is mostly still about screaming jerks.
The existence of Invader Zim is unlikely in the first place. For some reason, Nickelodeon approached Jhonen Vasquez—a comic book author whose most famous work up until that point was a series called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac—and asked him if he wanted to make a kids’ cartoon. They regretted it almost immediately, but, even more unlikely, Zim went on to build a rabid cult following that endures over a decade later and which made possible the revival movie, Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus!.
We spoke to Jhonen and the Zim cast about the film last year in mostly vague terms but, now we’ve gotten a chance to see the movie, Jhonen was kind enough to email us answers to some deeper Florpus!-based questions. We...
- 8/12/2019
- Den of Geek
Joe Matar Aug 7, 2019
Creator Joe Murray answered some of our questions about the imminent Rocko revival movie.
Over twenty years since its last episode, the Nicktoons’ classic Rocko’s Modern Life will return to Netflix with the revival movie, Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling. We’ve seen the movie and it’s awesome. It looks and sounds just like it did in the old days but, as creator Joe Murray told us via email, he didn’t want to bring Rocko back just to retread old ground:
“The story that I came up with showed that we could do something interesting. At first, I didn’t know if we could add to the Rocko legacy. I didn’t want to do a reboot or one-off that was a watered-down version of Rocko. I wanted it to push it further with the characters and the story.”
The story absolutely does...
Creator Joe Murray answered some of our questions about the imminent Rocko revival movie.
Over twenty years since its last episode, the Nicktoons’ classic Rocko’s Modern Life will return to Netflix with the revival movie, Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling. We’ve seen the movie and it’s awesome. It looks and sounds just like it did in the old days but, as creator Joe Murray told us via email, he didn’t want to bring Rocko back just to retread old ground:
“The story that I came up with showed that we could do something interesting. At first, I didn’t know if we could add to the Rocko legacy. I didn’t want to do a reboot or one-off that was a watered-down version of Rocko. I wanted it to push it further with the characters and the story.”
The story absolutely does...
- 8/7/2019
- Den of Geek
The final season of Catastrophe goes out on top—still hilarious, honest, and deeply moving. Check out our spoiler-free review.
The following review contains no spoilers.
With every season, Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney’s brilliant Catastrophe (which they write and also star in) has gotten more dramatic. Picking up from the previous season’s finale, which ended with Rob backsliding into alcoholism and getting into a car accident, the show’s fourth and final season is its most dramatic yet.
Never a series to pull punches, there are blunt depictions of our two protagonists and the friends and family members orbiting around them as they deal with grief, paranoia, sexism, loneliness, and mortality. Surprisingly, Catastrophe manages all of this without also sacrificing being consistently laugh-out-loud funny.
The thing about a TV comedy is that, when it ends, though you want some sense of closure, you also just want to...
The following review contains no spoilers.
With every season, Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney’s brilliant Catastrophe (which they write and also star in) has gotten more dramatic. Picking up from the previous season’s finale, which ended with Rob backsliding into alcoholism and getting into a car accident, the show’s fourth and final season is its most dramatic yet.
Never a series to pull punches, there are blunt depictions of our two protagonists and the friends and family members orbiting around them as they deal with grief, paranoia, sexism, loneliness, and mortality. Surprisingly, Catastrophe manages all of this without also sacrificing being consistently laugh-out-loud funny.
The thing about a TV comedy is that, when it ends, though you want some sense of closure, you also just want to...
- 3/5/2019
- Den of Geek
Joe Matar Jan 31, 2019
The iconic anime series is still worth watching all the way through, but here’s a list of the truly standout episodes.
The entirety of Shinichiro Watanabe’s iconic anime about a bounty hunter crew in space, Cowboy Bebop, is only 26 episodes (and a movie) long. However, with news of Netflix doing a live-action remake, why not whittle down this quite limited series to its ten best episodes (or “sessions” as the show calls them)? Top ten lists make the internet go round.
It’s also not an unreasonable proposition because, unlike a lot of anime which is serialized throughout, the majority of Bebop episodes are standalone adventures. Even episodes that delve into the backstories of protagonists Spike, Jet, Faye, and Ed before their time together on Jet’s ship, the Bebop, mostly function on their own. So, technically speaking, blasphemous though this may sound to fans,...
The iconic anime series is still worth watching all the way through, but here’s a list of the truly standout episodes.
The entirety of Shinichiro Watanabe’s iconic anime about a bounty hunter crew in space, Cowboy Bebop, is only 26 episodes (and a movie) long. However, with news of Netflix doing a live-action remake, why not whittle down this quite limited series to its ten best episodes (or “sessions” as the show calls them)? Top ten lists make the internet go round.
It’s also not an unreasonable proposition because, unlike a lot of anime which is serialized throughout, the majority of Bebop episodes are standalone adventures. Even episodes that delve into the backstories of protagonists Spike, Jet, Faye, and Ed before their time together on Jet’s ship, the Bebop, mostly function on their own. So, technically speaking, blasphemous though this may sound to fans,...
- 1/30/2019
- Den of Geek
Chris Longo Alec Bojalad Nick Harley Daniella Bondar Daniel Kurland Andrew Husband David Crow Joe Matar Dec 18, 2018
Our staffs, readers, and some celebrity friends come together to select the Best TV comedies of the year!
How does TV comedy keep getting better?
Dramas hit a bit of a plateau on television in 2018. The likes of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and even The Leftovers are now distant memories. Better Call Saul lives on, and The Americans concluded in fine fashion but the landscape after that isn’t as nearly as impressive as years’ past.
More than ever, it is comedy that is the driving force behind the most daring, creative, and fun storytelling on television. Perhaps that’s because comedy is more context-dependent than drama and therefore must be more adaptable and change with the times. Or maybe it’s simply because we all just want to laugh? Whatever the reason,...
Our staffs, readers, and some celebrity friends come together to select the Best TV comedies of the year!
How does TV comedy keep getting better?
Dramas hit a bit of a plateau on television in 2018. The likes of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and even The Leftovers are now distant memories. Better Call Saul lives on, and The Americans concluded in fine fashion but the landscape after that isn’t as nearly as impressive as years’ past.
More than ever, it is comedy that is the driving force behind the most daring, creative, and fun storytelling on television. Perhaps that’s because comedy is more context-dependent than drama and therefore must be more adaptable and change with the times. Or maybe it’s simply because we all just want to laugh? Whatever the reason,...
- 12/17/2018
- Den of Geek
Nick Harley Kayti Burt Alec Bojalad Delia Harrington Mike Cecchini Daniel Kurland David Crow John Saavedra Michael Ahr Chris Longo Joe Matar Dec 21, 2018
We highlight our favorite episodes, events, and specials in an outstanding year for television.
“The best show on TV” is a lie. No one can confidently call a series the best show on television anymore because it’s laughably improbable and borderline impossible that someone has consumed all of the original content being produced across broadcast TV, cable, streaming platforms, and in other countries. Our staff at Den of Geek watches more TV than can reasonably be called healthy and even we can’t keep up with the constant onslaught of new shows to watch. Hell, Netflix probably added four new series and a standup special while you were reading this paragraph. “Everybody’s on a barge / Floating down the endless stream of great TV,” an English...
We highlight our favorite episodes, events, and specials in an outstanding year for television.
“The best show on TV” is a lie. No one can confidently call a series the best show on television anymore because it’s laughably improbable and borderline impossible that someone has consumed all of the original content being produced across broadcast TV, cable, streaming platforms, and in other countries. Our staff at Den of Geek watches more TV than can reasonably be called healthy and even we can’t keep up with the constant onslaught of new shows to watch. Hell, Netflix probably added four new series and a standup special while you were reading this paragraph. “Everybody’s on a barge / Floating down the endless stream of great TV,” an English...
- 12/16/2018
- Den of Geek
Randy goes crazy and stuff on a goofy episode about vaping.
This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 22 Episode 4
The most cutting satire in this episode of South Park takes place in the opening seconds. Just as it did in the previous episode, “Tegridy Farms” opens by recalling the season premiere with an establishing shot of the school as the sound of gunshots rings out. I really appreciate this continuing commentary on the normalcy of gun violence in America. It’s blunt in a way few other programs are willing to be and it’s brilliant how, much like the real issue, it was focused on briefly but is now pushed aside so that other topics can be addressed.
In terms of importance, there is a yawning gulf between school shootings and the main topic of “Tegridy Farms,” which is vaping. Specifically, the stance South Park seems to...
This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 22 Episode 4
The most cutting satire in this episode of South Park takes place in the opening seconds. Just as it did in the previous episode, “Tegridy Farms” opens by recalling the season premiere with an establishing shot of the school as the sound of gunshots rings out. I really appreciate this continuing commentary on the normalcy of gun violence in America. It’s blunt in a way few other programs are willing to be and it’s brilliant how, much like the real issue, it was focused on briefly but is now pushed aside so that other topics can be addressed.
In terms of importance, there is a yawning gulf between school shootings and the main topic of “Tegridy Farms,” which is vaping. Specifically, the stance South Park seems to...
- 10/18/2018
- Den of Geek
Randy goes crazy and stuff on a goofy episode about vaping.
This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 22 Episode 4
The most cutting satire in this episode of South Park takes place in the opening seconds. Just as it did in the previous episode, “Tegridy Farms” opens by recalling the season premiere with an establishing shot of the school as the sound of gunshots rings out. I really appreciate this continuing commentary on the normalcy of gun violence in America. It’s blunt in a way few other programs are willing to be and it’s brilliant how, much like the real issue, it was focused on briefly but is now pushed aside so that other topics can be addressed.
In terms of importance, there is a yawning gulf between school shootings and the main topic of “Tegridy Farms,” which is vaping. Specifically, the stance South Park seems to...
This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 22 Episode 4
The most cutting satire in this episode of South Park takes place in the opening seconds. Just as it did in the previous episode, “Tegridy Farms” opens by recalling the season premiere with an establishing shot of the school as the sound of gunshots rings out. I really appreciate this continuing commentary on the normalcy of gun violence in America. It’s blunt in a way few other programs are willing to be and it’s brilliant how, much like the real issue, it was focused on briefly but is now pushed aside so that other topics can be addressed.
In terms of importance, there is a yawning gulf between school shootings and the main topic of “Tegridy Farms,” which is vaping. Specifically, the stance South Park seems to...
- 10/18/2018
- Den of Geek
South Park has something to say about Catholic priests, though it’s not clear what.
This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 22 Episode 2
Watching South Park, it’s frequently on my mind how episodes are slapped together in a week. One obvious, major effect of making an episode of television this way is that, by necessity, the premise is decided upon very quickly and doesn’t have a change to go through many revisions. There simply isn’t time. With an episode like “A Boy and a Priest,” I wonder if a different series, with a longer production schedule, wouldn’t have heavily revised the premise on which the entire episode is based or, possibly, chucked it out altogether.
The societal issue South Park tackles this week is the Catholic Church’s pedophilia problem. This is introduced in a skewed, satirical South Parkian fashion: the adults, led by,...
This South Park review contains spoilers.
South Park Season 22 Episode 2
Watching South Park, it’s frequently on my mind how episodes are slapped together in a week. One obvious, major effect of making an episode of television this way is that, by necessity, the premise is decided upon very quickly and doesn’t have a change to go through many revisions. There simply isn’t time. With an episode like “A Boy and a Priest,” I wonder if a different series, with a longer production schedule, wouldn’t have heavily revised the premise on which the entire episode is based or, possibly, chucked it out altogether.
The societal issue South Park tackles this week is the Catholic Church’s pedophilia problem. This is introduced in a skewed, satirical South Parkian fashion: the adults, led by,...
- 10/4/2018
- Den of Geek
Joe Matar Oct 4, 2018
Cult classic Invader Zim makes an unlikely return to Nickelodeon for a TV movie.
It’s been over a decade, but the groundbreaking animated sci-fi comedy series, Invader Zim, is finally returning to television with an hour-long television movie. The brainchild of comic book artist and writer Jhonen Vasquez, the series premiered on Nickelodeon in 2001, but was canceled during production of the second season. Though an ongoing comic materialized in 2015, fans of the cult hit have long hoped for Zim’s return to the small screen.
The original series follows Zim, an incompetent alien with delusions of grandeur who screams a lot, as he repeatedly fails to conquer planet Earth. He’s been sent there along with Gir, his incompetent robot assistant who also screams a lot, by their alien overlords, The Almighty Tallest, who just want Zim as far away as possible from “Operation Impending Doom II,...
Cult classic Invader Zim makes an unlikely return to Nickelodeon for a TV movie.
It’s been over a decade, but the groundbreaking animated sci-fi comedy series, Invader Zim, is finally returning to television with an hour-long television movie. The brainchild of comic book artist and writer Jhonen Vasquez, the series premiered on Nickelodeon in 2001, but was canceled during production of the second season. Though an ongoing comic materialized in 2015, fans of the cult hit have long hoped for Zim’s return to the small screen.
The original series follows Zim, an incompetent alien with delusions of grandeur who screams a lot, as he repeatedly fails to conquer planet Earth. He’s been sent there along with Gir, his incompetent robot assistant who also screams a lot, by their alien overlords, The Almighty Tallest, who just want Zim as far away as possible from “Operation Impending Doom II,...
- 10/1/2018
- Den of Geek
Joe Matar Oct 2, 2017
Rick and Morty season 3 goes out with a bwuhhh!? Our spoiler-filled review of the finale is here!
This review contains spoilers.
See related Red Dwarf: looking back at the past and ahead to the future Red Dwarf: 8 ways it got around the ‘no aliens’ rule Red Dwarf: top 20 episodes
3.10 The Rickchurian Mortydate
Maybe it was the long wait before it returned, or maybe it’s the fact that it feels like we only got nine episodes because one had already aired months previously, or maybe it’s just that I was having such a gosh darn good time and time flies when etc., etc. Whatever the reason, season three came and went too soon.
Season one was chock-full of character development and world-building. Season two was generally more content to goof off. Season three struck a decent balance between both: there was quite a...
Rick and Morty season 3 goes out with a bwuhhh!? Our spoiler-filled review of the finale is here!
This review contains spoilers.
See related Red Dwarf: looking back at the past and ahead to the future Red Dwarf: 8 ways it got around the ‘no aliens’ rule Red Dwarf: top 20 episodes
3.10 The Rickchurian Mortydate
Maybe it was the long wait before it returned, or maybe it’s the fact that it feels like we only got nine episodes because one had already aired months previously, or maybe it’s just that I was having such a gosh darn good time and time flies when etc., etc. Whatever the reason, season three came and went too soon.
Season one was chock-full of character development and world-building. Season two was generally more content to goof off. Season three struck a decent balance between both: there was quite a...
- 10/2/2017
- Den of Geek
Joe Matar Sep 25, 2017
Rick And Morty just delivered the most insane episode of season 3, which is saying something. Spoilers...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Annihilation: Oscar Isaac joins Alex Garland’s new film Alex Garland interview: Ex Machina, GamerGate, Jet Set Willy
3.9 The ABCs Of Beth
“Overstuffed” is not typically a positive adjective to attach to something. However, Rick And Morty is a series with episodes (especially this season) that feel overstuffed, but, against all odds, make sense and are possible to follow.
The ABCs Of Beth continues that overstuffed feeling, but, sadly, loses the plot a little in the process. It’s unfortunate because this series has been so good about gradually fleshing out all its characters beyond Rick and Morty and this was Beth’s time to shine. Up until this season, we were mostly familiar with her in relation to Jerry, which meant most of...
Rick And Morty just delivered the most insane episode of season 3, which is saying something. Spoilers...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Annihilation: Oscar Isaac joins Alex Garland’s new film Alex Garland interview: Ex Machina, GamerGate, Jet Set Willy
3.9 The ABCs Of Beth
“Overstuffed” is not typically a positive adjective to attach to something. However, Rick And Morty is a series with episodes (especially this season) that feel overstuffed, but, against all odds, make sense and are possible to follow.
The ABCs Of Beth continues that overstuffed feeling, but, sadly, loses the plot a little in the process. It’s unfortunate because this series has been so good about gradually fleshing out all its characters beyond Rick and Morty and this was Beth’s time to shine. Up until this season, we were mostly familiar with her in relation to Jerry, which meant most of...
- 9/25/2017
- Den of Geek
Joe Matar Sep 18, 2017
With season 3 being as excellent as it has been, the occasional goof-off episode doesn't hurt. Spoilers...
This review contains spoilers.
See related The Dark Tower review
3.8 Morty's Mind Blowers
A major problem I had with season 2 is how so many episodes felt like goof-off episodes. There seemed to be little interest in developing the characters or multiverse in meaningful ways. Season 3 doesn’t have this problem; I mean, last week they convincingly built and destabilized an entire new society in 22 minutes. So, it’s okay that Morty’s Mind Blowers is a relatively incidental episode, content to pull off a bunch of good jokes and then close out.
It is a bit disappointing this takes the place of another Interdimensional Cable. Though it moves further and further away from it out of necessity, Rick And Morty’s foundation is built in part on Justin Roiland’s frantic,...
With season 3 being as excellent as it has been, the occasional goof-off episode doesn't hurt. Spoilers...
This review contains spoilers.
See related The Dark Tower review
3.8 Morty's Mind Blowers
A major problem I had with season 2 is how so many episodes felt like goof-off episodes. There seemed to be little interest in developing the characters or multiverse in meaningful ways. Season 3 doesn’t have this problem; I mean, last week they convincingly built and destabilized an entire new society in 22 minutes. So, it’s okay that Morty’s Mind Blowers is a relatively incidental episode, content to pull off a bunch of good jokes and then close out.
It is a bit disappointing this takes the place of another Interdimensional Cable. Though it moves further and further away from it out of necessity, Rick And Morty’s foundation is built in part on Justin Roiland’s frantic,...
- 9/18/2017
- Den of Geek
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