Overview
Aqua Teen Hunger Force was created through brainstorming episode ideas for . None of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force characters appeared on Space Ghost: Coast to Coast prior to the airing of the pilot episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force in late 2000. However, an episode of SG:C2C featuring a prototypical version of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, "Baffler Meal", was produced after this series became popular. A full first season was put into production shortly thereafter, and began to be shown on September 16, 2001. To date, three seasons have been produced, and the fourth is currently airing.
During the first three seasons, episodes opened with a glimpse into the laboratory of Dr. Weird (located on the south Jersey shore). Clinically insane, he and his assistant Steve use the first several seconds of the show to create monsters, disasters, and random silliness. Following this introduction, the opening titles of the show run. Starting with the episode "Video Ouija," a segment called Spacecataz begins the show. The segments feature the Plutonians and the Mooninites clashing with each other, trading insults and gestures. Noted rap artist of the 1980s, Schoolly D performs the theme song.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force is written and directed by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro. It is produced by Williams Street Studios along with other animated shows such as The Brak Show and Sealab 2021. Each episode is twelve minutes in duration.
Characters
The Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Frylock (voiced by Carey Means): A red box of french fries, sporting a goatee, french fries for hair, and a blue jewel embedded in his back. If the finds a situation warrants it, he will shoot lasers from his eyes. He uses his fries as appendages and manipulates objects with them (doorknobs, food, Master Shake). Frylock is scientifically minded, and usually the most rational member of the team.
- Master Shake (voiced by Dana Snyder): Rude, mean-spirited, and self-centered, Master Shake (usually simply called 'Shake') is a white cup with a pink straw and two yellow gloves for hands. He takes satisfaction from tormenting the simple-minded Meatwad, and is usually at home, lazily watching television.
- Meatwad (voiced by Dave Willis): A spherical mass of compressed meat (that was not approved for human consumption) with a face and two fin-like appendages. Meatwad technically has a brain, but it can be, and often is, removed for various reasons. He is not very smart and thus is easily influenced, and usually has a childlike, simplistic view of the world. He has the power to change his shape (usually into a hot dog or an igloo, and occasionally into a statue of Abraham Lincoln holding a Samurai sword or an arched stairway called the "meat bridge"). He enjoys playing with makeshift dolls: Vanessa (an apple), Dewey (a discarded paper towel roll), and Boxy Brown (an afro-wearing cardboard box with attitude).
Other characters
- Dr. Weird (voiced by C. Martin Croker), a senile mad scientist who lives in an asylum on the rainy shores of southern New Jersey. Dressed in a colorful outfit reminiscent of 1960s cartoon villains, complete with glass space helmet, he started shows by presenting his latest invention or idea to a nonexistent audience of "gentlemen". His nonsensical inventions have included: a giant rabbit robot, "Rabbot"; a rainbow-making machine; "Taco Island", an enormous collection of arranged tacos; a groin antler; and nudity.
- Steve (voiced by C. Martin Croker), Dr. Weird's assistant. Red-haired, wearing a lab coat, and frequently holding a test tube, Steve is aware of Dr. Weird's insanity problem, but remains on as his assistant nonetheless. Steve has been the victim of corn mating and a brain transplant, among other misadventures.
- Carl Brotanananaluski (voiced by Dave Willis): The neighbor of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Balding, overweight, and known to wear a gold chain, white tank top, sweatpants, and green sandals, Carl is a perfect reflection of the stereotype of the undateable man. This is reflected in his intense interest in pornography, lack of visitors, and poor grooming. Despite having no obvious job (in "Rabbot", he said that he works "outta the home") or spending money, he has a large backyard pool (which the Aqua Teens use more than he does, usually without his permission), and a red sports car named "2 Wycked". He (or, sometimes, his car) often ends up being the unwitting victim of the Aqua Teens' enemies; he's lived through being turned into a cocoon, electrocution, having his skin peeled off, and other such horrors.
- The Mooninites, Err (voiced by Matt Maiellaro) and Ignignokt (voiced by Dave Willis): Appearing in several episodes, the two dimensional Mooninites are reminiscent of Space Invaders sprites. Assured of their own bountiful coolness, they enjoy harassing the Aqua Teens and Carl, stealing home electronics, exalting in their own amazingness, and attempting to corrupt the innocent Meatwad with criminal tendencies. Ignignokt is especially fond of "shooting the bird". The Mooninites can also join together and fire the incredibly slow Quad Laser, a giant red pixel that kills all whom it touches, but can easily be dodged.
- MC Pee Pants (voiced by Chris Ward, a.k.a. MC Chris), a demonspawn from Hell, who has come back to the Earth as a rap artist, initially in the form of an eight-foot-tall spider wearing a diaper, and later as a cow and earthworm. He usually tries to take over the Earth with his music, with little success.
- The Plutonians, Oglethorpe and Emory: Two spiny creatures, orange and green, respectively, sporting nothing but headbands, who have taken it upon themselves to conquer Earth, but have very little idea of how to do it. They've been known to consider disco lighting as high security. Oglethorpe speaks in a schlocky German accent and concieves most of the asinine plans, while Emory acts more passive. Both are named after universities in Atlanta, making their personalities even more ironic.
Minor characters
(appeared in no more than one show)
- Willie Nelson: A four legged spider that shaves every two days and stores bodies in the attic of the ATHF's home. He met them on Halloween.
- The Wwwyzzerdd.com: An entity that ran a shady Internet company, offering the "Home Invasion Cam" and contests to win Porsches. He uses Pop-up advertising and Spyware to lure people in.
- BillyWitchDoctor.com: A witch doctor from Africa whom Frylock hires to ressurect Master Shake (after he kills himself in order to infiltrate Meatwad's video game). Unfortunately he only knows how to resurrect chickens.
Episode list and original air dates
Pre-season
- "Baffler Meal" (December 31, 2000): An episode of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. First appearance of ATHF characters.
- "Rabbot" (December 30, 2000): Pilot episode. Dr. Weird builds a titanic robotic rabbit, which happens to smash the Powerpuff Mall and (more importantly) Carl's car.
Season one
- "Escape from Leprauchpolis" (September 9, 2001): Leprechauns steal a rainbow-creating device for use in a conspiracy to steal shoes.
- "Bus of the Undead" (September 30, 2001): A Mothman (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) escapes from Dr. Weird's lair and threatens the Aqua Teens. Master Shake suspects him to be Count Dracula and, later, believes a bus to be haunted by Dracula's ghost, a reverse vampire (they crave the sun, and come from 'Tansylvania').
- "Mayhem of the Mooninites" (October 14, 2001): First episode featuring the Mooninites, Atari-esque creatures with the pathological intent to corrupt Meatwad.
- "Balloonenstein" (December 23, 2001): Meatwad gets the supernatural ability to control static electricity from the dryer and accidentally creates a giant electric balloon. Apparently, Meatwad can live without a brain, but constantly forgets what he was doing.
- "Space Conflict from Beyond Pluto" (April 7, 2002): Premiere episode of the Plutonians, inept aliens who unsuccessfully try to destroy the world.
- "Ol' Drippy" (April 21, 2002): A benevolent entity made of mold inhabits the household and befriends Meatwad. Shake becomes jealous when everybody else likes Drippy over him.
- "Revenge of the Mooninites" (May 5, 2002): The Mooninites acquire a magical belt that makes the literal meanings of the lyrics of Foreigner songs come true.
- "MC Pee Pants" (May 19, 2002): A rap star whom Meatwad idolizes named "MC Pee Pants" (satirizing youth rap artists such as Bow Wow and Lil' Romeo) turns out to be an anthropomorphic spider and has put subliminal messages in his songs to make people eat candy, so he can use their blood sugar to power a drill to unleash demons from Hell to run a massive diet pill scam.
Season two
- "Dumber Dolls" (November 3, 2002): A sentient doll named "Happy Time Harry" (voiced by David Cross) makes Meatwad melancholy.
- "Bad Replicant" (November 10, 2002): The Plutonians unsuccessfully try to clone Master Shake, creating an abomination with a boombox protruding from its abdomen, as part of their plan to "de-terraform" Earth.
- "Circus" (November 17, 2002): Master Shake sells Meatwad to a circus, which is under the ownership of the Prince of Jupiter.
- "Love Mummy" (November 24, 2002): A mummy gets Frylock to pander to its every command with the threat of a curse.
- "Dumber Days" (December 1, 2002): Meatwad discovers his brain is a cat toy, and decides to purchase a new one that makes him super-intelligent.
- "Interfection" (December 8, 2002): Master Shake and Meatwad use Frylock's computer to access a search engine, causing the house to be haunted by giant material pop-up ads, controlled by an Internet deity named "The Wwwyzzerdd".
- "PDA" (December 15, 2002): Master Shake accuses a tar monster of stealing his PDA, only to have us discover that the tar monster is a pretentious yuppie.
- "Mail Order Bride" (December 22, 2002): A Christmas special involving Master Shake and Carl's purchase of a mail-order bride from Chechnya.
- "Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future" (December 29, 2002): A parody of A Christmas Carol involving the Ghost of Christmas past visiting Carl (in February), only to be a Terminator-esque cyborg who tells rambling incoherent stories about a Neolithic Santa Claus ape and alien Elves from Mars. This episode features Glenn Danzig.
Season three
- "Super Birthday Snake" (May 25, 2003): Meatwad gets a rabbit, but Shake gets him a snake instead who ends up eating them both.
- "Super Hero" (June 1, 2003): Shake wishes to become a superhero, so he obtains several vats of radioactive liquid which he proceeds to splash all over himself. Instead of becoming "The Drizzle," he quickly begins melting and deforming as the radioactive materials start effecting him.
- "'Super Bowl" (June 8, 2003): Meatwad wins two tickets to the Super Bowl. A fight ensues between Carl and Shake on who will be the one to accompany Meatwad. In the end, Meatwad goes to the Super Bowl alone, only to realize he went to a petting zoo and not the Super Bowl.
- "Super Computer" (June 15, 2003): Frylock develops a ball-shaped super computer/game console, which goes back in time and ends up in the hands of a very well-educated caveman.
- "Supermodel" (June 22, 2003): Master Shake travels to Guatemala for plastic surgery because he can't afford to have it done in the U.S.A. Meatwad plays mind-games on Shake and convinces him to get more surgery done, some of which is administered by Carl's friend who works on "cars, sometimes faces". Eventually Shake discards his dream of becoming an underwear/jeans model and Frylock performs home surgery on Shake, restoring him as best he can to his original state.
- "Super Spore" (June 29, 2003): An alien creature named Travis of the Cosmos takes over Shake's body and tries to get a job.
- "Super Sirloin" (August 31, 2003): MC Pee Pants returns, reincarnated as a cow.
- "Super Squatter" (September 7, 2003): Shake visits Carl uninvited, and decides to stay indefinitely after Carl accidentally shoots himself in the foot and is unable to move. Eventually Meatwad and Frylock take him to the hospital where his HMO doctor sews his foot to his forehead because his wasn't sure how to approach the situation.
- "The Meat Zone" (September 14, 2003): Meatwad begins having visions of spoiled chocolate milk and the garbage being stinky, and Shake and Meatwad begin believing that Meatwad can predict the future. Shake makes Meatwad give him the winning lottery numbers only to pick different numbers because Frylock thinks it's a sham. Meatwad's numbers turn out to be correct. Shake brings Meatwad to Carl so that he can predict Carl's future, but when Meatwad is unable to see anything, Shakes makes up a prediction that Carl's property rests over a large oil deposit. Carl drills for oil but hits his septic tank.
- "Super Trivia" (September 21, 2003): Frylock, along with Shake, Meatwad, and a very reluctant Carl, try to defeat Wayne "The Main Brain" McClaine at a game of bar trivia.
- "Universal Re-Monster" (September 28, 2003): The Plutonians create a remote control construct.
- "Total Re-Carl" (October 5, 2003): Carl's body is destroyed by an environmentally-safe toilet, leaving only his head. The Aqua Teens attempt to acquire a new body to resurrect their fallen neighbor.
- "Revenge of the Trees" (October 12, 2003): Shake attempts to flash-fry an entire cow, and dumps the oil into a forest. It turns out that the trees are alive, and they capture Carl and use his skin as paper. Shake is put to trial with Frylock as a lawyer, but they end up burning the forest down.
- "Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary" (October 19, 2003): It's Meatwad's birthday! Shake can't stand "Happy Birthday", so he has a new heavy-metal song commissioned... then he has to figure out how to pay for it. Zakk Wylde guest-stars.
- "The Shaving" (October 26, 2003): It's Halloween and the Aqua Teen Hunger Force discover a "monster" in their attic: a giant spider who shaves every two days. Shake makes fun of him then tries to toughen him up and scare people, but the best the spider can muster is holding his electric razor and repeating "the shaving!" over and over. Shake connects a huge generator to Carl's doorknob to "scare" him by killing him, but accidentally electrocutes himself. In the end they all go to see the spider in the attic and find several dozen dead corpses. Then he helps himself to Carl's "juice" (blood).
- "The Broodwich" (November 2, 2003): Shake discovers an underground cavern where the "broodwich," a cursed sandwich, rests. Every bite sends him to a hell-like place for a few seconds. By taking out the sun-dried tomatoes he avoids being sent to hell forever since he hasn't eaten the entire sandwich. However, the devil who has been speaking to them gives Shake "free brain surgery," after which he makes Shake eat the tomatoes, condemning him to hell forever.
- "Kidney Car" (November 16, 2003): Master Shake destroys Carl's car in a demolition derby. Meatwad gets the car as a donation, and fights with Shake over who will get to use it.
- "The Cubing" (November 23, 2003): The "wisdom cube", a cube from outer space, comes to the Aqua Teens' yard. It claims to have all of the wisdom in the universe, but does little to back this up. Instead, it spends its time telling boring stories, making lame phone gags and ruining good ones (golf clubs do not have ten-pound balls).
- "Frat Aliens" (November 30, 2003): Two aliens from a stereotypical fraternity land in the Aqua Teens' backyard, (one of them repeatedly mentioning that his father "owns a dealership"), and they prove to be nuisances.
- "The Clowning" (December 7, 2003): Carl gets a wig, containing alien DNA which turns him into a clown.
- "The Dressing" (December 14, 2003): The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future returns as a robotic turkey, to speak of Thanksgiving in the future.
- "The The" (December 21, 2003): Frylock moves out, due to Shake and Meatwad's careless housekeeping.
- "The Cloning" (December 31, 2003): Due to excess cloning, the Aqua Teen's new TV is evil, depicting images of Frylock killing Shake, Meatwad, and Carl. Shake then proceeds to attempt to clone money.
- "The Last (Expletive Deleted) One of 2003", or simply "The Last One" (December 31, 2003): The Mooninites assemble a league of villains from previous episodes to exact revenge on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Season four
- "Video Ouija" (April 25, 2004): Shake attempts to commit suicide to haunt Meatwad through a video game entitled Video Ouija. A witch doctor is hired to bring Shake back to life, but he turns out to be a fraud.
- "Unremarkable Voyage" (May 9, 2004): Frylock acquires a gun which allows him to shrink or enlarge any object he fires at. He uses it to build a huge computer chip then shrink it. However, Meatwad eats it, and Frylock must recover it from inside.
Home releases
As of July 20, 2004, two DVDs of the series have been released.
Volume One (Released November 18, 2003), contained the first 16 episodes (Rabbot through PDA). It also featured Deleted Scenes, and the "Director's Cut" of Rabbot. The Director's Cut of Rabbot, Mayhem of the Mooninites, and Space Conflict From Beyond Pluto contain director commentary.
Volume Two (Released July 20, 2004), contains thirteen episodes (Mail Order Bride through Universal Remonster, as well as the "Baffler Meal" episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast). It is slated to have deleted scenes for Super Model, Cybernetic Ghost, Super Birthday Snake, and Baffler Meal, and commentary for Super Trivia, Meat Zone, Cybernetic Ghost, and Baffler Meal. Other bonus features a music video, a gallery of ATHF drawing, and a documentary on the making of the show.
Volume Three (due for release sometime in 2005)
See also
External links