Robot Chicken

From The TV IV

Robot Chicken
Premiere	February 20, 2005
Finale
Airs	On hiatus
Creator	Matt Senreich & Seth Green
Network	Adult Swim
Style	15-minute animated comedy
Company	Stoopid Monkey, Shadowmachine Films, Sony Pictures Digital, Williams Street
Episodes	120 + 4 specials (through season 6)
Seasons	7
Status	Renewed through season 7
Origin	USA

Robot Chicken is a stop-motion animated comedy series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. Robot Chicken grew out of an internet-based series created by Green and Senreich called Sweet J Presents for Sony Screenblast.

The series is essentially a higher budget version of Sweet J with some influence from Toyfare's Twisted MEGO/Toyfare Theatre. Although there is no plot to be spoken of in the series, the opening credits establish a framing device for the sketches—a chicken is resurrected by a mad scientist named Fritz Huhnmorder and forced to watch inane television for scientific reasons that go unexplained. The device is clearly inspired by the rehabilitation scene in A Clockwork Orange. Both characters rarely appear outside of the opening credits.

The body of the show is comprised of many rapid fire skits that are often less than 30 seconds long. These sketches often rely on quick gags (for instance, a tortoise riding a slug and exclaiming "Whee!") or pop culture references to cartoons like Thundercats and 1980s nostalgia. The series is often praised for its ability to cast celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and Ashton Kutcher as themselves and as characters in the show. But, because the sketches are so short, these voices typically go unnoticed until the credits sequence.

The theme song for the show was written and performed by Les Claypool, who had also done notable theme songs for series like South Park. The ending theme of the show is a piece of muzak called "The Gonk" clucked by chickens. This piece of music was made most famous by Day of the Dead.

Cast

Unlike Saturday Night Live, MADtv or any sketch show with a featured cast, the Robot Chicken cast varies from episode to episode, with the exception of Seth Green. Casts are listed for each episode.

Seasons

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

DVD

Blu-ray

External Sites

• Official Adult Swim website for Robot Chicken
• Robot Chicken Episodes, TV Listings, News, Photos and More at TVGuide.com