The world needs protection and the task falls to the self appointed "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", comprising three members. Master Shake is a milkshake who is selfish and bad tempered; Frylock is a packet of French fries who is intelligent and level headed (of course not literally) and Meatwad is a simple but lovable wad of meat. Nobody asked them to but this trio battle criminals and super-villains from their shared house in New Jersey. Well, or at least they mostly do when they are not bothering their neighbour Carl or fighting among themselves.
Eventually adult swim made it to the UK and one of my main reasons for celebration was the fact that I now had regular access to ATHF. Although I feel that many of the adult swim cartoons often tend towards the deliberately wacky to their detriment, ATHF is the one that hits the mark pretty consistently. The writing throws up weird plots on a weekly basis but the strength of the show is mostly in the characters – regular and irregular. The main trio are wonderful creations and it is they that make this worth seeing because they work well off one another or as individuals. Of course Shake is everyone's favourite and his selfish and childish nature is really well delivered with strong dialogue and behaviour. Meatwad is nearly as good as support while Frylock mostly holds them together as a semi-straight man. Carl is a solid character as well.
Personally my favourite are the Mooninites, the space invader style aliens who again are "wacky" (sorry – I do hate that word) but also work really well as characters and never feel like they are "wacky" for the sake of it without being funny. Visually the show also has more imagination and love than many of the adult swim shows and this again is a strength as it just comes over as more professional. It took a few episodes to settle in though and the first episode is jarring as the characters are not set – Shake is too much in charge (whether he wants to be or not) and Frylock seems like an obedient stoned robot in his delivery and character; both of these are changed though and the show is better for it. The "urban" asides here and there from an unseen narrator don't work particularly well either – and it is noticeable that they become less frequent as the season goes on.
Overall then, this is by far my favourite adult swim show as it is easily the best across all aspects. It is well put together but the strengths for me are the characters and the dialogue; in a way the imaginative and weird plots are no more than a backdrop to enjoy these characters – which is just as well really when you consider some of the stories they have!
Eventually adult swim made it to the UK and one of my main reasons for celebration was the fact that I now had regular access to ATHF. Although I feel that many of the adult swim cartoons often tend towards the deliberately wacky to their detriment, ATHF is the one that hits the mark pretty consistently. The writing throws up weird plots on a weekly basis but the strength of the show is mostly in the characters – regular and irregular. The main trio are wonderful creations and it is they that make this worth seeing because they work well off one another or as individuals. Of course Shake is everyone's favourite and his selfish and childish nature is really well delivered with strong dialogue and behaviour. Meatwad is nearly as good as support while Frylock mostly holds them together as a semi-straight man. Carl is a solid character as well.
Personally my favourite are the Mooninites, the space invader style aliens who again are "wacky" (sorry – I do hate that word) but also work really well as characters and never feel like they are "wacky" for the sake of it without being funny. Visually the show also has more imagination and love than many of the adult swim shows and this again is a strength as it just comes over as more professional. It took a few episodes to settle in though and the first episode is jarring as the characters are not set – Shake is too much in charge (whether he wants to be or not) and Frylock seems like an obedient stoned robot in his delivery and character; both of these are changed though and the show is better for it. The "urban" asides here and there from an unseen narrator don't work particularly well either – and it is noticeable that they become less frequent as the season goes on.
Overall then, this is by far my favourite adult swim show as it is easily the best across all aspects. It is well put together but the strengths for me are the characters and the dialogue; in a way the imaginative and weird plots are no more than a backdrop to enjoy these characters – which is just as well really when you consider some of the stories they have!
