Robot Chicken

Robot Chicken
File:Robot Chicken.jpg Opening Credits
Created by	Seth Green Matthew Senreich
Voices of	Seth Green
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	11 minutes approx.
Original release
Network	Adult Swim
Release	February 20, 2005 – present

Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series distributed by Sony Pictures Digital and produced by ShadowMachine Films, currently airing in the US as a part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line-up, in Britain as part of the Bravo's Adult Swim line-up, and in Canada on Teletoon's Detour nightly adult programming. It premiered on Sunday, February 20 2005. Seth Green and Matthew Senreich are the creators and executive producers of the show. They are also on the writing team, and have directed some episodes. Seth Green provides many voices for the show.

Robot Chicken is a sketch show that parodies a number of pop culture conventions using stop motion animation of toys, action figures, dolls, and claymation (usually for special effects) and various other objects, such as tongue depressors. The show's name was inspired by a dish on the menu at a Chinese restaurant, Kung Pao Bistro, where Green and Senreich had dined.

Robot Chicken performed a 30 minute parody dedicated to Star Wars on June 17, 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim featuring the voices of George Lucas, Mark Hamill and Ahmed Best.

According to Adult Swim's website, Robot Chicken has been renewed for a 20-episode third season, which will start on August 12th.

Rating

When Robot Chicken first started, it was rated TV-14, often for two sub-letters--suggestive dialogue [D] and graphic violence [V] (the V subletter would only appear on episodes that had sketches depicting violence against women and children). When Cartoon Network began airing more shows that carried the TV-MA rating like Venture Brothers, Moral Orel, The Boondocks, and Metalocalypse, Robot Chicken (both past and present episodes) got rated TV-MA for strong violence, dark (sometimes sexual) humor, and profane language. The Star Wars speacial was rated TV-14 for language and violence.

Key elements

File:Robotchicken.jpg

A scene from Robot Chicken featuring a toy Arnold Schwarzenegger and a doctor informing him that "It's not a tumor"

The show was inspired by the comedy antics of Twisted Mego Theatre (now called Twisted ToyFare Theater), which appears monthly in Toyfare Magazine, published by Gareb Shamus' Wizard Entertainment. The segment "The Aussie Hunter" on FOX's MAD TV is an early work of the group. Matthew Senreich worked in various capacities with Wizard Entertainment prior to working on the show. Some of the first shorts were originally on the now-defunct Sony ScreenBlast website under the name "Sweet J Presents"; this website also hosted the animated Lenore shorts. The show is similar in appearance to the many shared internet videos created using toys and household items. Many figures and sets are custom built, or adapted from commercially available toys such as G.I. Joe or Barbie, or vehicles such as the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard are also sometimes used.

Robot Chicken often uses extremely outrageous and twisted humor. One recurring theme is the "Hilarious Bloopers" guy, a parody of the Bob Saget era of America's Funniest Home Videos, but is more reminiscent of Ray Combs of Family Feud. Whenever he is featured, he commits suicide at the end of his skit using various household methods. The show tends to avoid political issues, instead mocking pop culture, referencing toys, films, television, and popular fads. When political figures are depicted on the program, the focus of their appearance is usually only tangentially-related to recent news or their positions in world affairs (such as Fidel Castro's Dance Dance Revolution video game competition from Season Two). One particular motif often involves the idea of fantastical characters being placed in a more realistic world or situation (such as Stretch Armstrong requiring a corn syrup transplant or Optimus Prime contracting prostate cancer).

Celebrity Guest Voices

Besides Seth Green, Breckin Meyer, Chad Morgan, and Dan Milano, a number of celebrities have done voice acting for the series (often portraying themselves), including:
That 70s Show

• Kurtwood Smith
• Ashton Kutcher
• Topher Grace
• Debra Jo Rupp
• Danny Masterson
• Wilmer Valderrama

Family Guy

• Seth MacFarlane
• Alex Borstein
• Mila Kunis
• Mike Henry

the Scooby-Doo films

• Matthew Lillard
• Freddie Prinze, Jr.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar
• Linda Cardellini

The Girls Next Door

• Hugh Hefner
• Holly Madison
• Bridget Marquardt
• Kendra Wilkinson)

As well as

Lance Bass Abraham Benrubi Ahmed Best Michael Ian Black Wayne Brady Eugene Byrd Dean Cain Bruce Campbell Emma Caulfield Erika Christensen Rachael Leigh Cook Josh Cooke Alan Cumming Dave Coulier Macaulay Culkin Dom DeLuise Phyllis Diller Dr. Drew Donald Faison Joey Fatone Corey Feldman

Peter Gallagher Ginnifer Goodwin Melanie Griffith Corey Haim Mark Hamill Melissa Joan Hart David Hasselhoff Jon Heder Hulk Hogan Kelly Hu Roger L. Jackson Jenna Jameson Scarlett Johansson Jamie Kaler Don Knotts Phil LaMarr George Lowe George Lucas

Ming-Na Malcolm McDowell Pat Morita Conan O'Brien Pat O'Brien Roddy Piper Marion Ramsey Burt Reynolds Alfonso Ribeiro Paul Rudd Ryan Seacrest Dax Shepard Sarah Silverman Gene Simmons Christian Slater Amy Smart Dana Snyder Hal Sparks

Charlize Theron Stuart Townsend Michelle Trachtenberg James Van Der Beek Michael Winslow Elijah Wood "Weird Al" Yankovic

Many of these are people that Seth Green has worked with in the past on other projects or that he knows personally. Williams Street executives Mike Lazzo and Keith Crofford have also lent their voices to the show on one occasion.

Writing staff

Co-head writers

• Doug Goldstein
• Tom Root

Writers

• Hugh Davidson
• Jordan Allen-Dutton
• Mike Fasolo
• Seth Green
• Charles Horn
• Breckin Meyer
• Dan Milano
• Pat McCallum
• Matthew Senreich
• Erik Weiner

Episodes

Main article: List of Robot Chicken episodes

DVD releases

Cover	Title	Release date	Episodes
File:Robot chicken 1 dvd.jpg	"Season One"	March 28, 2006	1–20
	This two disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 1 in production order. While it contains many sketches that were edited from the TV airings, the several of the original Sony Screenblast webtoons, and the words "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ" as an oath unbleeped (though "f..." and "s..." are still censored out), the episodes are not all uncut. One particular segment that featured the Teen Titans meeting Beavis and Butt-head was omitted from the DVD due to legal problems. Seth Green stated at Comic-Con 2006 that the legal problems have been resolved and the segment will be included when Season 2 is released to DVD. The Voltron/"You Got Served" sketch shown on the DVD has a replacement song due to legal issues over having the song that was used on the TV.
File:Robot chicken 2 dvd.jpg	"Season Two"	September 4, 2007	21–40
	This two disc boxset will include all 20 episodes from Season 2 in production order. It is currently available for download on iTunes (though the episode "Veggies for Sloth" is absent for an unknown reason.) Seth Green stated at Comic-Con 2006 that the second DVD set will contain the "Beavis and Butt-head meet the Teen Titans" sketch, which had been removed from the first DVD set due to copyright issues.

Locations

Several of the sketches seem to take place in or around New Jersey. Various locations are references to actual places such as the highway scenes which feature I-78 "Clinton" which is an actual sign on Interstate 78 in New Jersey when travelling westbound, or the Care Bear parody in which Care-a-lot is turned into New Jersey.

External links

• Adult Swim
• AdultSwim.co.uk - Broadband VOD website for Adult Swim UK. However, you cannot view Robot Chicken content if you live outside the UK because it has been blocked by Digital Rights Management technologies.
• The Robot Chicken Wiki
• Chicago Newspaper review of Robot Chicken Star Wars including links to the Commentary Extras
• Robot Chicken - Star Wars Review at Variety.com