Monday, December 1, 2008

Code Monkeys

Ah, Space Ghost Coast to Coast. At a time when other than The Simpsons, the closest this country got to an "adult cartoon" was lame pop-culture references in Animaniacs, the brain trust at Cartoon Network figured out that reusing cheap animation along with a bizarrely fresh (and often edgy) script could result in an American animation revolution. Space Ghost C2C was, in the beginning, nothing short of genius. Not only was the show itself wonderful, but it gave us Adult Swim, an onslaught of programming that spanned the gamut of brilliance (Robot Chicken, Harvey Birdman) to the "quality depends on how much pot was smoked while writing the script" (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Frisky Dingo) to the simply unwatchable (anybody ever seen an episode of Tom Goes to the Mayor?).

But it all began with Space Ghost, and the invention of a new genre: Cheap animated programming targeting men who were boys in the 1980's and grew up with GI Joe, Transformers, and Nintendo. And in that vein, the G4 network has given us Code Monkeys.

The concept is simple enough, and hardly new. Dave and Jerry are programmers at video game publisher GameAvision, headlining a cast of bizarre characters where wackiness ensues. But the premise and plots aren't important. What makes Code Monkeys fascinating is that the animation is stylized to look like a crappy 8-bit NES game. There are video game in-jokes aplenty, enough for any nerd of my generation to have a few belly laughs. But the best thing about the show is it's the first since The Simpsons to be a true "freeze frame" show. Given the video game nature of the style, every episode has multiple "menu bars" where tangential jokes are taking place, constantly supplementing the plot. It's a brilliant concept that guarantees Code Monkeys needs multiple viewings to get everything contained in each episode.

I wouldn't recommend the show for anyone who doesn't have a VCR or DVR, as it's on an obscure network at ungodly hours (and I can't do appointment viewing when the appointment is at 1:30am), but if you can record it, Code Monkeys is worth a look. Some of the jokes flop, and it has a certain South Park "we're doing this to be outrageous, not because we really have anything to say" quality to it, but the style is so incredibly innovative, you just might get sucked in. That, and it's funny to see the commercials as well. Ever wonder what advertisers think will appeal to 30-something men who watch G4...?

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