#me when Dr. Rockso (Metalocalypse)

[monsterhighlovurr]

Deathzazz was half a beautifully written analysis about how adult abuse survivors often find themselves trapped in similar abusive relationships as adults if they are unable to resolve their trauma and tend to still idolize both their abusers and the people similar to their abusers. The other half was hot garbage and easily the worst shit in the show.

[demonclownhotti3]

Have you ever thirsted over a character so much that where you’re half-asleep, seeing certain colored objects reminds you of them?

[ranfordgallus]

Update: already doing 3 arttrades

Who wanna art trade with me...feeling motivated rn aahhaha *gets assassinated*

I only allow....3 people..grins

Rules:

- can be done digitally or traditionally

- there is no deadline so take ur time..smiles

- do not show your art if you're finished to me if im not finished yet (same goes to me), so we can show it when we're both done

- i will never, ever , EEVVVERR draw zach, i hate that ghoulish twink i don't wanna see his face

- if ur a metalocalypse fan, send whatever character unless its dr. Rockso EEEUGHHHH

- gore, horror, ships (as long as its two, non-related, relatively healthy, consenting adults, or both children/teenagers, I'm watching you..) is fine by me...smiles

[thatrickmcginnis]

Over a year after leaving Van Halen, David Lee Roth arrived in Toronto for a concert at Maple Leaf Gardens, but before the show his record company held a press conference where Roth could answer questions about his new band (Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan and Greg Bissonette), his old band, his new album (Eat 'Em and Smile) and whatever else crossed Roth's mind. It had taken me years to come around to Roth and Van Halen; I'd hated them in high school - I was a punk purist - but over the years the "Mr. Showtime" persona Roth had relentlessly developed over the '80s had worn me down, and I suggested to my editors at Nerve magazine that we go off the reservation a little bit and do a story on Roth, to be shot and written by me and my friend Tim Powis.

David Lee Roth arrived to a packed room at downtown Toronto hotel - the Park Plaza or the Four Seasons maybe, I can't remember - in fine form, ready to answer any question, and in particular any about his old band, who he said had bad-mouthed him relentlessly after what he described as an amicable split. I had, of course, asked for a chance at a portrait session with Roth, but no shock it had been turned down, so I had to console myself with a front-row spot at the press conference, where I placed my tape recorder with all the microphones in front of Dave (Tim Powis would write the story based on my press conference tape) while filling a roll of film with Roth as he held forth.

The thing you have to understand about David Lee Roth when I photographed him in 1986 was that from the moment he sat down till the moment he got up to leave he didn't stop talking. I'm not sure if anyone had a chance to ask a question, since he was running hot when he sat down, and I don't think I have a single frame on my contact sheet where his mouth isn't open. This was the Dave that would inspire Dr. Rockso on Metalocalypse, and it was a marvel to behold. To my surprise our editors at Nerve put the Roth story on the cover, with a grid of nine of my "action photos" of Dave running his mouth - a move that freaked out our underground indie music readers, to be sure, but I actually thought it was more than a little punk rock.

[adultswim2021]

Metalocalypse #36: “Snakes n’ Barrels II” | August 25, 2008 - 12:00AM | S02E16

Well! This certainly is a momentous episode! I guess. Well, it’s the first thirty minute episode, which isn’t nothing. The next season would be presented in the half hour format, I’m guessing in part due to the direct success of this episode. This is sorta the “Fonzie's Getting Married” of Metalocalypse. 

This one is basically about the perils of sobriety. Pickles old band Snakes n’ Barrels gets back together without him. The effects of the dangerous drug they were dosed with in the first Snakes n’ Barrels episode turned all but Pickles into a blank slate, prime for reprogramming. Ricky Kixx, an obnoxious sober rock star (voiced by Mike Patton), happens to be the first guy to waltz into the band’s orbit. He does indeed reprogram them as a “bragging about sobriety” band. Pickles intends to settle the score with them, but they have a restraining order against him. Pickles will have to violate a legal boundary!  

Meanwhile: Ricky Kixx turns out to be a rageaholic who murders one of his assistants after revealing to him that he hates being sober, and considers it to be a terrible prison. He preaches sobriety just to make those around him as miserable as he is. Murderface feels angst from not having his side project PLANET PISS properly registered, and goes apeshit when he finds out Toki registered every planet piss web domain there is as a mean prank. Murderface goes to confront Toki at the Snakes n’ Barrels concert but Toki has gone absolutely mental beating an especially obnoxious straight-edge fan half-to-death. This is during the show’s climax when lingering effects of the drug in the bands' systems cause mass chaos. 

It is time for me to list stuff now. Here are some other things in the episode: Dr. Rockso is in this, no longer a clown and two months sober (give or take). He is eventually tempted by his old clownsona in a series of hallucinations. There is a funny scene where Nathan explosion slaps the vendors at the sober rock show, he just slaps them silly. Uh, that’s only two things, which isn’t really a list. Okay, a third thing: they cut the theme song short for fun. That’s fun! 

I like this episode fine, but I don’t think I loved it. It ends fairly strong, it feels slightly experimental in that we get some longer scenes, like when Dethklok bash their manager’s lamp collection, and a fun aside where Pickles gives his tour of LA. Both of these things would have probably been cut from an 11 minute version of the episode. They’re fun, but I wouldn’t consider these among my favorite scenes in Metalocalypse history. I will forever be curious what an edited-down version of this episode would be like. It will haunt me for the rest of my days.

MAIL BAG

Hello, I am here and I'm nice. Time to answer some messages that the people (my many very real fans) are sending me:

these "tasty tuesdays" have really been running me for a loop

Oh, I don't know... tuesday is tasty to me, but maybe for you? (??)

i log it and there's nothing, every tuesday, for whatever reason. out partying with your friends? hmm? can you at least have a microblog every tuesday about the tastiest thing you had in the past week. people would actually like it. that's the thing.

Okay: for real: My initial post on this blog I basically said "I'm gonna update mostly every day but please don't mind it when I skip a day" and I'm basically exercising that clause right there. But yeah, I have a thing I do on Tuesday nights and I seemingly, no matter what, wind up working later than usual on Tuesday so I almost never have time. I also tend to burn out on the blog when I consciously build up a backlog. Maybe you noticed or maybe you didn't, but MONDAY evenings have sorta become a crapshoot for me lately, too.

Very fun fact: I was going to attempt a Tuesday post last night, and figured I could knock out this episode/write-up very easily, and then put it on and saw it was a double episode instead of the previously-assumed 11 minutes. So I bailed! What could have been!

Also, the elite group of very real hackers who humiliate me by titling my Tuesday posts as some variation of "Tasty Tuesday" have gotten in touch with me and told me that they need more time to come up with new titles. I hate that they are disgracing my blog with their vandalism, but I respect the creative process enough that I feel I must oblige.

Also the tastiest thing I eat each week is always PUSSY

[murderfacefancam]

𓆩♡𓆪 – announcement .ᐟ

Hey! Cutting the act real quick to let you all know something, my asks are open for general metalocalypse questions, opinions, headcanons, and imagines (all of which accept any ships in the fanbase, like skwistok or dickface, because yknow, thats so metal and brutal)

Another small announcement! typing like how I used to and forcing being obnoxious felt rude and made me annoyed at myself, so i'm probably gonna stop doing that, hope you all don't mind

☆◞ 🧠 ❨ ships + characters ill write for ❩

charles 🧹

no ships because i suck at them, and you all deserve high quality, good headcanons and imagines

y/n

nathan 🌪

nickles / nathan x pickles, please request this. i love this ship.

y/n

pickles 🌾

nickles / pickles x nathan, but only request this if you want, no force ofc!

y/n

murderface 🕯

knubface / murderdick / why does this ship have so many names and why do i not know the main one? / willam x knubbler, anyways please request this one too! i love it a lot, absolutely fave tbh

y/n

skwissgaar 🦢

skwistok / skwissgaar x toki, the boys. i like this ship but not as extreme as the other two

y/n

toki 🚸

tokiskwis / toki x skwissgaar, okay i'll admit its the same level of extreme for nickles, pls help

hammertooth / toki x magnus, im very unsure on this one but not to the point where i won't do it

y/n

magnus hammersmith 🥃

hammertooth / magnus x toki, please just dont be weird about it i guess

y/n

dick knubbler 🧶

knubface / murderdick / dick x willam, theyre perfect, i want them to kiss. NOW

y/n

dr rockso 🍅

if you saw the ship before the next one, i am so sorry. i forgot to delete it before posting

y/n, i understand the appeal, i was upset when i saw that one episode tho. still love him tho

(( I did not write Abigail because I love her to much and I.. I dont think i'd a good job writing her, I can't make her name look bad, she doesn't deserve that!! Abigail im so sorry I love you so much ))

☆─ ⊹ ⊱ rules ⊰ ⊹ ─☆

001 – No NSFW, horrid at writing at it and just dont want too

002 – Remember when I said "don't be weird"? Yeah, follow that. Like, no magnus x young child toki (bery specific i know, but i hate the knowledge that the very person who caused me to list this uses tumblr and will see my post)

003 – Please.. please, don't ask if I do dr rockso x toki AND OR toki x murderface, i just like 'em as buddies, best buddies for rockso even tho he is a disgusting man whose asshair and chest hair deserve to become brittle and hard, like scabs </3

004 – YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REQUEST ME TO WRITE THE SHIPS I SAID I LIKED.

[bellamer]

There was a moment in my life where I talked like Pete White for a year whenever I got fustrated with someone, it wasn't even just me doing the voice, I incorporated his vocabulary into my daily vocabulary. I never called anyone 'Pally' in my life till I watched Venture Bros. I used to mimic him, Saint Cloud and Colonel Gentleman a lot, especially when I was mad, you'd just hear me say shit like

"Ah geeze, thanks a fuckin' lot pally."

"That's what you get, fuckbuouy."

"Jesus fockin chrischt it's hot as bawls."

It's just a thing that happens whenever I watch a show, I end up speaking like a certain character or characters until I watch a new show. I don't know why I do it or why it happens. Sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it unless someone points it out that I'm talking weird or when I feel like I said something in a weird way but don't know how.

I also do it with Metalocalypse characters too, mostly Pickles, Murderface, Toki, Skwisgaar, Nathan, Charles and Dr Rockso.

[raunchyandpaunchy]

heyo!! :> with regards to the fandom ask game: dying to hear your picks for the metalocalypse cast, 90% because hearing your opinions on it are always excellent and 10% so that I have a rough idea of who's who when I eventually start watching it

Ooh! This is an excellent ask, thank you so much. :3 blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Pickles, 100%. I love him so much. I can and will scream about him at length. (Nathan and Ofdensen come in a close second, though.)

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): Gotta be Toki, basically because he's consciously designed as the Band Cutie.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): difficult, because I don't think that many Metalocalypse characters are underrated/underappreciated in the fandom! Like, my gut instinct is to say Ofdensen, because I love him, but given how popular he is within the fandom I doubt he qualifies. This one has me stumped, honestly, because there's someone within the fandom who loves pretty much every major character in the series with their whole being. I guess Murderface is the most underrated out of all of the band members, though, so maybe him.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): He's not totally obscure - probably a tertiary character at least - but Dick Knubbler is always A+. If we're going rarer than that, then Agent 216 showing up in the background wearing that diamond encrusted codpiece always has me losing it. Less of an actual character and more of a recurring trope, but I also love the various names that all the experts the Tribunal bring in have.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): If I'm going for the villain/antagonist version of this, then probably Magnus; if I'm going gross and pathetic, then Murderface all the way. He's disgusting and awful but I kinda love him, honestly.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): I was gonna say Dr. Rockso, but honestly? Seth. Fucker deserves it.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): So many deserve it, but I think I'm also gonna answer Seth and Rockso for this one. I would maybe say the Metal Masked Assassin and Mr. Salacia too, but honestly they're kinda central to the plot and I wanna see where that goes. Thanks again for the ask, and letting me have a good ol' ramble about one of my fave fandoms! Original post is here.

[lampmeeting]

since i can now do this ldsfk 1-Metalocalypse (obvi) and 2 Chickles back at you :3

oh HELL yeah *rubs hands together* okay this’ll be long so i’ll do a cut

Favorite character: PICKLESSSSS

Least Favorite character: everyone says rockso and like I GET IT he’s revolting, but my ultimate least-fave is toki’s dad. fuck that old man.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): CHICKLES, HAMMERTOOTH, uhhhh (what else is there?? i’m kidding) nathan/abigail, charles/magnus, nathan/toki

Character I find most attractive: oh fuck don’t do this to me. i have too many types!! i can’t pick! fuck. i’m just gonna say charles. even though it’s magnus. wait. no. it’s pickles. charles. toki. fuck. magnus. i can’t do it dfkgjhf

Character I would marry: realistically?? like, i would say charles but unless i’m a member of dethklok i’m gonna be getting like .02% of that man’s time. honestly i would pick toki or nathan. toki would be so sweet and attentive, all the huggings and kissings, awww. nathan i feel would be the same, but only in private. you gotta kinda work on him a lil bit haha.

Character I would be best friends with: my heart says pickles but my soul says murderface. i would FOR SURE laugh at one of his off-hand under-his-breath comments because that’s just what i do, i fucking laugh at everything, and he’d be like OH? someone thinks i’m funny?? and then my life would never know peace (in a good way)

A random thought: i wanna hear all the dethklok albums from before the show started. like that album where their abs were airbrushed, wtf did that sound like?

An unpopular opinion: season 4 was good. :O i feel like i hear the sentiment from quite a few people that season 4 on the whole was bad. i love all the seasons equally actually.

My Canon OTP: CHICKLES. may i present to the court, exhibit A *points to my icon* (shhh no, let me dream)

My Non-canon OTP: toki/magnus :’) i think this is just about as non-canon as you can get, really. but the heart wants what it wants.

Most Badass Character: DEFINITELY charles.

Most Epic Villain: sorry, mags... salacia.

Pairing I am not a fan of: i think i’m willing to at least entertain most any ship. i’ve read some interesting things for sure. i draw the line at seth/pickles though (i’m glad that doesn’t really seem to exist anymore? it was around more back in the day).

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): aside from magnus and abigail, who both needed WAY more screen time?? i would say dr rockso in a sense. he was sort of that kooky rascal you wave your finger at when he gets in trouble, and then they had to go and do the whole dory mclean thing. and i get the point of the episode, but after that i wasn’t rooting for rockso anymore and he kinda became more of this sinister kinda figure? i dunno. i think that whole angle could’ve been done away with and it would’ve been a lot better. also him trying to fucking drown toki in the christmas episode. 8( ouch, man.

Favourite Friendship: probably nathan and pickles, since they’re the lynchpin of the whole outfit.

Character I most identify with: pickles with some toki on the side. :’) ahhh.

Character I wish I could be: i wanna be that girl that nathan was dating for a while, the one the boys end up befriending and playing scrabble with. i want to be their friiiiiiiiiend

OKAY CHICKLES TIIIIIIIME

When I started shipping them: WELL....okay so i actually just went back and looked at my old deviantart account and the first drawing i did of them (yes i’m linking to 14-year-old art pls don’t judge me) was on Oct. 18, 2006, so like...the dethfam episode hadn’t even aired yet. god damn. there was someone in the sausage festival livejournal community who had drawn the two of them, and then i fucking went ravenous for it real quick and it became like the only thing i drew for months hahaha. i had been nickles up until then. :O

My thoughts: MY THOUGHTS??? this is so vague. i have many thoughts. uh, for one? they’re perfect together? the straight-laced workaholic and the lazy degenerate? yes please, gimme. they’re like yin and yang, opposites attracting. and yet i feel like, once they get past that, they realize they’re both so similar at their cores. and pickles helps charles loosen up, and charles gives pickles some structure. they both give each other someone to lean on when shit gets bad. pickles can be a surprisingly good caretaker when he wants to be. :’)

What makes me happy about them: everything?? i really don’t know how to adequately describe just how much i love them and just how much that means hahah... you ever ship something for 14 years?? i know some of y’all have. it gets in your blood. that’s like over a third of my life right there. not to be dramatic or anything hahaha but they’re important to me. that ship helped get me through some rough months back when i lived alone in a crappy apartment, and it’s hilarious to me that i’m getting back into it hardcore like i was back then considering everything that’s going on right now, just current events-wise and personal stuff-wise.

What makes me sad about them: god damn, anything about those 9 months charles spent “dead”. anything post-doomstar. anything snakes ‘n barrels where they’re together for a short time and then never see each other until charles becomes dethklok’s manager. pickles pining after him for like a decade after the band forms. or charles pining, having to watch pickles party and do drunks and sleep around. or BOTH of them pining and not realizing it, or REALIZING IT and not acting on it because what if it hurt the band somehow? maybe charles wouldn’t want to jeopardize it but pickles would be okay with it, and charles would have to be the one to say no. ahhhhhhhHHHHHH

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: oof, i agree with you here, Ash. i’ve read a couple fics where, like, the bdsm aspect wasn’t even fun. i probably know the exact fic that left a bad taste in your mouth because there’s one specific one i’m thinking of that left a bad taste in mine (actually two...). like i had to actually get up from the computer and go do dishes hahah... uck. but yeah. don’t like charles being abusive to pickles. i think pickles does like some punishment from time to time, and he definitely has some daddy issues. but i don’t want it to get fucking sinister haha y’know? pickles, at his heart, is a good-times guy. he likes good feelings. he wants to feel nice. and charles, at HIS heart, is all about service.

Things I look for in fanfic: are they in love or just hooking up?? i mean i’ll take either at the end of the day, but i’m a romantic and i need the love, i crave it.

My wishlist: give to me all the fics about snakes n’ barrels chickles. how i haven’t written one baffles me (though i did have that huge plot write-up from months back haha...i should turn that into a real fic sometime). would also love a huge fic about their marriage, complete with canon-typical buffoonery. fics about them retiring together. ;0; fics about them just having nice peaceful moments. literally just.....any fic haha...

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: my soul literally begins to shatter apart if i consider them ultimately ending up with anyone else hahaha... other relationships can come and go, but at the end of the line i need those boys to be together. <3

My happily ever after for them: after galaktikon II, dethklok has kinda run its course. the band uses their near-infinite resources to help rebuild the earth. shortly after, it’s pickles who proposes in a surprising turn of events. shaken after the battle, he doesn’t wanna waste any more time. they get married barefoot on the beach probably in like fiji or something (pickles’ idea) with friends and family present (the okay ones haha, also magnus is there with toki because this is my dream, damnit). pickles has white flowers in his dreads in lieu of a bouquet. T~T everything goes well, no one crashes the wedding. they have a lovely honeymoon there when everyone else leaves. pickles says he’s decided to retire from music, but it’s not long before he’s working feverishly on new music in the home studio at their new place. some real expansive stuff. he’s kinda doing it as a weird therapy, coming to terms with some stuff. he never gets clean but he’s not using drugs and alcohol as a band-aid for his problems quite so much anymore. charles retires from managing bands (he doesn’t have the heart for it if it’s not dethklok) and ends up doing the adjunct professor thing whenever he gets bored. but he practices guitar a lot, pickles teaching him some advanced stuff, they jam together sometimes. he takes up sailing because it’s something he’s always wanted to do but never had time for. after pickles releases his first solo album, charles takes him on a long, romantic sailing trip. everything is perfect, everything’s gonna be good forever. 8′) forever. the end.

[evilassumptions]

Not gonna lie when I see taffee razzle and Charlie they remind me of dr rockso from metalocalypse Like these would be his kids lmao!!

PFFF OH YEAH I CAN SEE THAT ACTUALLY

[adultswim2021]

Metalocalypse #42: "Dethmas" | December 7, 2009 - 12:40AM | S03E04

Hey, it’s the Metalocalypse Christmas episode. I don’t have any memory of this episode, and I actually think I may have stopped watching the show at this point? Not deliberately; sometimes I just let a show pile up to a point and realize “huh, I guess I don’t watch that show anymore”; sort of a “one day your mother puts you down and never picks you up ever again” kinda thing, because you kept relying on the same jokes over and over again. 

I try to strike a good balance between being positive and being critical but I also feel weird about withholding my true feelings. On one hand, this episode is “just okay”, and if I were to just be doing a simple passive Metalocalypse watch-through I’d probably shrug that this one was indeed “just okay”, and watch the next one with cautious optimism. The episode never really offended me with it’s lukewarm substandardness or rubbed me the wrong way in some uncharacteristic way. As I struggle to find something positive to say about this episode, I find myself realizing that I’m not just giving this student’s paper a C minus and moving on to the next. I’m now conducting an autopsy. 

This episode feels sitcommy. That’s okay, as long as it’s very funny. It has a few subplots that all sorta intersect at the end, but it doesn’t result in a huge explosive spectacle. The stories are: 1) Dr. Rockso is out of prison and looking to reconnect with Toki, who understandably wants to keep his distance from him. 2) Toki wants to celebrate Christmas, but the rest of the band isn’t playing along 3) Murderface has a Christmas special in the works. 4) Dethklok’s mothers all come to Mordhaus (and Murderface wants to fuck Skwisgaar’s mom). The episode culminates with the Murderface special being very bad; the main conflict being that it’s sponsored by the church, and the band finds this out as the show is underway, live on television. 

A fracas erupts when it’s revealed Dr. Rockso stole Toki’s presents for cocaine money. The presents were going to be used on camera as part of a live gift-swap segment. The rest of the band curses out Murderface for making them look like dorks. Dr. Rockso gets a handjob from Skwisgaar’s mom. Murderface’s grandmother is pinned under a big wooden cross. 

It doesn't help that nearly every plot in this feels like a rehash of a different, more effective episode. And, as far as spectacles go, the one that ends the episode is pretty tepid. Usually we expect massive amounts of death and gore and whatnot from this show. The parallel of Murderface trying to play it safe to secure big money from the church and this episode, PERHAPS UNIRONICALLY playing it safe by not going too far or too blasphemous makes me wonder if it was either an attempt at satire or a watering down of what was intended? Did the crew unironically decide to take the sanctity of Christmas into account and make an episode that isn’t too rough? Could it be Turner’s standards and practices at work, which hamstrung other Adult Swim shows in the past? If this is an attempt at satire about that very thing, then that’d be a little better. But that doesn’t magically make this episode funny. I can’t take back my lack of laughter. This one's a dud. 

EPHEMERA CORNER: 

Robot Chicken: The Complete Fourth Season DVD (December 15, 2009)

This was touched on earlier, but it's the only thing notable about this release in my opinion: season four of Robot Chicken included a somewhat subtle gag where each episode’s title was part of a larger whole message. Actually, it’s two messages, mimicking a letter and a response letter. The episodes were aired slightly out of order, but when presented in production order on DVD, they would present the message unscrambled, as if the episodes were named as a way to get a secret message out there. 

Help Me. I'm Trapped In a DVD Factory They Took My Thumbs Two Weeks Without Food Tell My Mom I Love Her But Not In That Way Love, Maurice P.S. Yes, In That Way

Dear Consumer We Are a Humble Factory Maurice Was Caught Unionizing Our Labor President Hu Forbids It Due to Constraints of Time and Budget The Ramblings of Maurice Cannot Be Erased, So Sorry Please Do Not Notify Our Contractors Especially the Animal Keith Crofford!

Apparently, Warner DVDs from this era are under scrutiny for being susceptible to disc rot, so please know that the “DVD Factory” in question was in Pennsylvania cutting corners that deprived me of being able to sell my very rare Space Ghost DVD for 150 dollars on eBay.

How much should I charge for that DVD with only one working disc? Some one might want it, right?

[adultswim2021]

Metalocalypse #17: “Dethclown” | November 26, 2006 – 11:45PM | S01E17

Dr. Rockso, the rock and roll clown from a previous episode has befriended Toki and is an unwelcome guest at Mordhaus. This eventually changes at Toki’s behest. Toki simply adores Dr. Rockso. Unbeknownst to him, Rockso is tapped by the tribunal to help them spy on Dethklok. Dr. Rockso comes to Mordhaus as an official visitor and distracts Dethklok with a music video called “I’m Just a Rock and Roll Clown”. Rockso is eventually discovered by Dethklok’s manager after Rockso boldly attempts (and seemingly succeeds) to steal stuff out of the manager’s safe. He runs away and allowed to survive. The Mordhaus henchmen are instructed to watch where he goes. THE END. 

If I had to come up with a short list of episodes to occupy an Adult Swim hall-of-fame, this would probably make that list. This is one of my all-time favorites. It’s pretty simple, evidenced by the single paragraph it took to run down the plot. I didn’t even touch on the B-story where Murderface discovers the joys of free-balling, which doesn’t really add that much to the episode. Dr. Rockso is a truly hilarious, if not abrasive character. The hatred he gets from the rest of the band is absolutely warranted. His brand of comedy is pathetic and annoying, and only sold by his exuberant delivery. 

The only joke I can highlight in this one that is specific to this viewing is early on the rest of Dethklok are scolding Toki for hanging out with Dr. Rockso, and Nathan Explosion has the topper, yelling at him that “there’s no such thing as clowns!” I somehow did not remember this joke, despite being quite the devotee to this episode. 

The beauty of this episode is that it all builds towards the final act where Dr. Rockso puts on his music video. It’s an garish and obnoxious thing featuring Rockso belting out a love-letter to himself doing cocaine. This is the high point of the episode, and then the episode swiftly ends. You can’t ask for anything better from 11 minutes of television. The video features clown chicks, mountains of cocaine (which Rockso literally skis on), razor blade imagery, and not least of all Rockso’s singing voice which is completely different from his speaking voice and is hysterical. Fuck, this one is so funny. Cutting to the band glowering at this hideous video (except Toki, who naturally loves it) is so hilarious. Cutting back and forth between the video and Rockso sneaking around Mordhaus with his spy camera is great storytelling. 

The only problem I have with the episode (besides Murderface’s subplot which comes off as filler to me) is that I’ve seen it MANY times; I remember specifically showing it to people who have never seen Metalocalypse. I remember being at a party where it was decided to put on a few episodes and I specifically requested this one. This episode kills. It is their “I, Robot” or “Mayhem of the Mooninites”. And, at a time when Adult Swim was feeling like it was past it’s “classic era” prime and getting a little spotty, it was really affirming to see.

MAIL BAG

welcome back to the wild and wacky world my friend

I feel very welcomed. Thank you!

Remember when they'd re-run the older Space Ghosts with the commercial breaks in them and they'd just throw in that one Cartoon Network Space Ghost bumper? The one that was 60s action Space Ghost-themed that was just Space Ghost flying through space and blowing up a bad guy's ship or whatever and it turned into the Cartoon Network logo? That was badass. Hopefully they put that in the middle of Assy McGee. Talk about your Adult Swim Action!

Do I ever! Also, before Adult Swim was a thing I’d tune in for the Space Ghost rerun on regular Cartoon Network and they’d always run that bumper before the episode started. It is burned into my brain. And it was indeed badass.

[adultswim2021]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #85: “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” | December 7, 2003 - 11:30 PM | S08E04

Happy 20th anniversary, Adult Swim. And, boy, what a momentous episode of Ghost do we have here to celebrate. There are a number of episodes where the guest is an event unto itself and this is truly one of them. Frequent punchline William Shatner is an absolute cunt... and a proper legend. His cuntiness and legendary status are two things that seem to be at odds with one another, and the Space Ghost crew have managed to come up with an artfully idiosyncratic episode to match Shatner’s weird-guy-ness. It’s a classic for sure, and important. But (making a “smug dipshit” face) is it funny?

YES! It’s FUNNY! I will admit though, the first time I saw this episode I didn’t quite know what to make of it. This is partially because I’m very much a Star Trek agnostic. I’ve never been into Star Trek. In the last few years I’ve watched most of the pre-Next Gen motion pictures for inane list-making reasons, and I enjoyed them to varying degrees, but Star Trek is truly not for me. I’m more of a... well, I’m not a Star Wars guy either. What’s the other one? Uh... Spaceballs. That’s it. I’m more of a Spaceballs guy.

But I feel like I’ve absorbed a lot of Star Trek lore through cultural osmosis. I vaguely understand that William Shatner has had some deliberately-paced choreographed fight scene on those rocks from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. When I hear music similar to the the music that Jim Carrey hums in The Cable Guy, I’m pretty sure whatever it is I’m watching is doing a Star Trek thing. And yes, I’ve watched every single Red Letter Media “Mike and Rich talk about Star Trek for 4 hours” video. But even today, after having picked up more Star Trek knowledge on my journey to the grave, I still have this nagging feeling of “I only sort of get this”.

Still, this episode has a handful of screamingly funny lines, and the episode ends wonderfully, with Space Ghost in his death throes, suffering the ultimate indignity of dying in front of William Shatner. There’s also the part where Zorak asks why everyone in Star Trek is black, and a part where Moltar nervously reads from his fan fiction (from a book labeled TARD WARS, hahaha). Shatner, who has a reputation for being arrogant and difficult, is as good a sport as one could hope. The show makes good use of his hammier moments, and only shits on him slightly in the process. The most notable moment is when Shatner says to Zorak “didn't you and I fight to the death?” to which Zorak replies “That sounds pretty dumb, man”. I’ve actually quoted this line many times. It’s one of the best.

Also, for those of you who like to track these things: the show features callbacks to other episodes and shows; the handimen at Zorak’s apartment are clearly extras from Sealab 2020/2021, one of the Leprechauns from Aqua Teen Hunger Force shows up, and there’s a poignant callback to classic Space Ghost episode “Banjo”. 

The title motif of this season is naming the episodes after Allman Brothers songs, and I always wondered about this one. Maybe I’m reaching, and it’s probably too disrespectful to be true, but I always thought that it was somehow a veiled reference to Shatner’s wife, whom he supposedly killed or let die. It’s simply too dark to be true, but it’s the first thought that immediately jumped to my mind when I first heard the title of this episode. Am I stupid for thinking this? Am I stupid because it OBVIOUSLY is a reference to that?? I simply do not know. I would like to know.

MAIL BAG

The big anniversary is upon us. What are your 20 favorite things about adult swim for 20 years going. Don't sleep on this question!

I gotta do SOMETHING special, so I might as well do this. More thought could have gone into this, but I spent about an hour trying to come up with episodes or moments from 20 different shows and putting them in rough chronological order. I limited myself to one episode/scene/moment/joke/whatever per show so it’s not all Space Ghost jokes. So, here we go:

Sealab 2021: “I, Robot”. Adult Swim proved it could be brilliant right out of the gate with the stealth premiere of “I, Robot”, but for Sealab it’s all downhill from here. (2000)

Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Space Ghost stops in his tracks to reminisce about the time Bobcat Goldthwait said "crack a window". The entire episode “Kentucky Nightmare” is brilliant, but this moment in particular so uniquely captures my sense of humor that it’s inexplicable. The dumb look on Space Ghost’s face when he stops in his tracks. Goddamn. (2001)

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: “Mayhem of the Mooninites” I tried very hard to make this all be individual jokes or scenes or whatever, but this is another episode where the entire thing is just line after line and I can’t really pick. This, “I Robot”, and “Kentucky Nightmare” is like a perfect trio illustrating how good Adult Swim really was right out of the gate. (2001)

Home Movies: Jason casually reveals that his parents have no idea who Brendon and Melissa are and that he spends most of his free-time making movies with them. This is the episode “Storm Warning” which is overall one of the best episodes of Home Movies, but this scene is probably my favorite. Illustrates how simple and hilarious the comedy is on this show. (2002)

Tom Goes to the Mayor: the end scene in “Undercover”, where they’ve shoddily reversed Tom’s various unnecessary surgeries and called him “Taumpy Tears” to boot. Positively sublime. (2006)

Metalocalypse: Dr. Rockso’s music video. From the episode “Dethclown”. I was never in love with this show as much as the true fans were, but there were a handful of incredible episodes. This episode basically tells one joke over and over and it’s very funny. It really ends with a bang showcasing Dr. Rockso’s shitty music video that celebrates cocaine use. His singing voice is hilarious. (2006)

Assy McGee: I am the only person in the world that defends Assy McGee as being “actually pretty good” and it’s all entirely due to this one line: Assy McGee (a pair of naked buttocks with legs, whose ass functions as his head) is forced to attend a black tie event and is just milling around wearing nothing but a black bow tie. Through clenched anus he delivers the line “I can barely breathe in this penguin suit”. The whole show is worth it for that joke. I don’t even know what episode it is except that it’s from one of the first few. I might not even have the line exactly right. But, I remember laughing so hard. I may not have laughed at Assy McGee again. (2006)

Saul of the Mole Men: The opening theme song. And nothing else. (2007)

Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!: Jim and Derrick. I should pick something more user-friendly maybe, since this episode almost entirely relies on being familiar with Tim & Eric’s previous episodes. But goddamn, this episode is such a funny concept (which is basically Tim & Eric doing an alternate MTV-ified version of Awesome Show) (2008)

Moral Orel: “Numb”. When Moral Orel suddenly stopped being a quirky Adult Swim comedy and suddenly started doing episodes that resembled art films. This episode is a fucking masterpiece. I remember sobbing the first time I saw it. There are a few in season 3 that are like that, but this one is my favorite. (2008)

Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule: Terry Bruge-Hiplo reviews “Dumpster’s Children”. Another bit of comedy that I’d describe as “inexplicable” and “sublime”, and it all hinges on an old man’s mouth. Holy fuck. I don’t think I’ve laughed harder than this at a TV show since. (2010)

Delocated: The ending of “Mole”, an extended Face/Off riff where Jon goes undercover as the scary mobster Sergei. In the final moments of the episode he marries a woman, fathers multiple children with her, and only then is pulled out of the mission. The episode is a tour-de-force of comic acting by Steve Cirbus, who is graciously allowed to shine for most of the episode. But man, that ending is fucking wonderful. (2010)

Venture Bros.: The ending of “Operation P.R.O.M.” a flurry of emotions hit me when “Like a Friend” by Pulp starts playing. The scene is so well done and weirdly touching. Brock realizes that deep down he gives a shit about the Venture family and is genuinely terrified something might happen to them. And then he gets to slaughter a bunch of Zorak monsters, which is also weirdly sweet. It’s even touching on a meta-level knowing that Jackson and Doc tried many times and failed to include licensed music in the show. I love Venture Bros, but I think we’d all be better off if this were the series finale. Sorry. I had to say it. (2010)

The Heart She Holler: The first scene with Patton being taught the way of the world posthumously by his father on a VHS tape. The first season of this show is amazing, but that scene, especially where Patton does a little Japanese bow and says “oh, hot dog!” is just hysterical. Literally every time a hot dog comes up in conversation my wife and I quote it. Please, do not scorn her, it’s not racist when SHE does it. (2011)

Eagleheart: The All That Jazz inspired finale. “Paradise Rising” is mostly a masterpiece, and how it ends is so fucking incredible. Easily the most under-rated show on Adult Swim and I’m not just saying that because... you know (mimes dick-sucking) (2014)

Rick and Morty: I watched the first two episodes of Rick and Morty, thought it was good, but for some reason didn’t become a devotee until my wife made me watch the Mr. Poopybutthole episode. It’s still my favorite episode, I think. (2015)

Brett Gelman’s Dinner in America: The “Dinner with” specials are all really good, but goddamn, this one hits. Should be shown in schools. I am going to go to every grade school in my county with an AR-15 (to get past the guards, of course) and I won’t leave until they call an assembly and they let me fumble around trying to find it on vimeo and play it for the students. (2016)

The Eric Andre Show: Eric interviews Steve Schirripa. The bit where he has an intern dip his balls in Steve’s spaghetti sauce is hilarious, naturally, but I’m here to showcase the running gag where every time Steve complains how hot the studio is, Eric just wordlessly hands him an ice cube until Steve explodes. It’s one of the most childishly hilarious things I’ve ever seen. It’s perfect. (2016)

Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace: The Pick-Up artist sketch. I’m mostly unimpressed with MDE, and all but a few Sam Hyde bits leave me cold. But this sketch is a crowning achievement. I mean, I think these guys suck politically and are more mean than funny, but their sensibilities yielded one really incredible piece of comedy. Okay, I laughed at the blackface sketch too. There. You dragged it out of me. (2016) Joe Pera Talks With You: This show is beautiful and I love every episode. But the episode “Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements” Wherein Joe discovers a new-to-him song and can’t stop listening to it, is one of the most joyous episodes of television I’ve ever seen. A gateway episode. I tell everyone to please watch this one first. (2018)