When I was a young’un, animation was clearly seen as a medium for children. They were relegated to after school timeslots and Saturday mornings. With the ascendance of the Simpsons as well as Family Guy and South Park, animation was given a new avenue to entertain a new audience that wanted an animated show that wasn’t just for kids and many times not even suitable for the little ones.
Final Space
Part satire on space opera, part action show and part comedy this is the tale of Gary, a prisoner on a space ship, who gets drawn into large galaxy spanning events and encounters a variety of characters and ends up on a quest to save Quinn, a woman Gary longs for, who doesn’t feel the same. It’s silly and whacky fun and whilst I am unsure who the target audience is, it certainly works for me.
Archer
A bit of an old standby, this is a series out the life of an international spy, his colleagues, his ex and his mother all working for a spy agency in a modern day setting, but using very cold War themes and characters. Archer himself is a boorish, womanising, heavy drinking narcissist who is also somehow a great spy. But really it’s a workplace based sitcom with witty writing and bizarre characters. I won’t lie, halfway through its run the wheels start coming off, but it’s pretty fun to watch.
Lower Decks
I am a big fan of Trek, in almost all its forms. If it has one flaw, is that it takes itself too seriously. Lower Decks does not suffer from this flaw. This version is once again a workplace sitcom which pokes loving fun at the franchise, showing us the view from the junior officers of a mid-level ship in the fleet. A
Bojack Horseman
Morphing from a comedy-satire of Hollywood, to a character study of a man struggling with his many many flaws to an examination of what having such a toxic person in your life can do to you, this was a fascinating, if uncomfortable journey. Will Arnett kills it as a former star struggling to stay relevant and loved several years past the heights of his career, surrounded by equally flawed people it was an interesting story that had a beginning, middle and end and satisfying end. It would be nice to see what happened next, but it ended so well that, I’m okay if we don’t.
The Legend of Vox Machina
I am not going to say too much about this, because honestly it has made such an impression, it’s going to be it’s own post. This is one of those shows that can do pathos, action, horror and humour with equal ease, without the whiplash of tonal shifts that you would expect. The show is an adaptation of Dungeons and Dragons Roleplay campaign and is absolutely full of amazing characters and incredible voice actors.
Well that’s another 5 done. See you soon internet people.
A Munky on Merseyside 