Agent Elvis

Just because it's adult animation doesn't mean it's target audience is people in their 20's, the target is Elvis fans. I'm 35 and have been a fan of Elvis' for 22 years. I'm under 40 and I don't need to reference Wikipedia to know who Dean Martin is, unlike one user review suggested. I was born in '88 and had listened to every available recording of the Martin & Lewis radio show before I was even 20. When I watch Agent Elvis and delight in the references made about the other greats of the time, I feel like the show was made specifically for me. If a show can make a viewer feel seen, then it's a good show in my opinion.

This show pokes fun at everything Col Parker wanted Elvis to be, making light of the failed attempt at a Christmas special, the terrible movies, etc. I feel like Elvis himself would get a kick out of this show, especially with it not being G or PG rated. We all know Parker would have brokered some kind of deal with someone to make it a family friendly production and sucked the joy out of it in the process. Thankfully we have Priscilla at the helm, and considering her involvement in the Naked Gun movies, I don't doubt her judgement or sense of humour.

I don't think this show was made to revolutionise adult animation, I really think it's just a treat for Elvis fans. Everything the Presley family has done since Elvis' death has been to keep his memory alive, and having something new like this, instead of re-watching everything else he's done for the millionth time, is a refreshing way to remember and enjoy Elvis Presley.

Elvis 1968 to 1971 was about the coolest man on the planet. As cool or cooler than Elvis 1954 to 1958? Who cares!? This cartoon is late 60s, early 70s Elvis, reinvented in cartoon form as a Matt Helm/ Our Man Flint / Archer/ Johnny Bravo character. And ... it's cool! It's fun! It's stupid ... fun, cool stupid. The sort of Elvis fan who genuflects at his name will consider this toon romp as unforgiveable blasphemy, and will be most likely want to dump on the cartoon. I'm a fan of Elvis and have been for decades ... got a tattoo, everything he's recorded (bad and superb), etc. You don't have to be an Elvis fan to enjoy this series, but the silliness, stupid violence and general irreverence should give this wider appeal.

Some nice, subtle satire too.

Yes, they missed the mark in some places, but some are right on. I was raised in the '50s and '60s, and while I heard the music (my grandma wore the grooves off of her "Hound Dog" 45), I mostly know all of the '60s movies he was in - hot lead chick and a combo that somehow sounded like a full orchestra, while the songs had forced, cheesy lyrics. Loved 'em all though.

Anyway, I like the way Elvis comes across here. They work to get in his real likes and dislikes. I like that it's set in a period of his real life. I like that sometimes the poses look like Elvis - a karate stance, for instance. While most of the characters are animated in a simpler style, his face looks like Elvis. (The same style was used on Paul. Would have liked it on Priscilla, but OK.)

Some people want an impressionist to do an Elvis voice - I disagree. I think using Matthew McConaughey is a great choice. I think he is Elvis-ish here in his personality. It's hard to like movies that try to hit an iconic accent and fail.

Don't like Don Cheadle's character. He is too weird and creepy and doesn't need to be. Maybe shouldn't have been a main character. It's like the writers thought they had to throw in something off the wall. We already had some other weirdness... like the monkey. What's with all of that character's problems? That wore me out. Take it way down.

And the main idea is "Agent" Elvis - like maybe his (real) time with Nixon and (real) fixation with law enforcement came to fruition. Should have gotten to the "agent" part much sooner.

Still, I liked the overall attempt and was waiting to see how the next season went. Of course, as I write this I find out Netflix is canceling it...

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Huge fan of early Archer so I really really wanted this to work but after watching whole series I just came away with meh. Mathew Machonahay as Elvis worked better then I would have thought. There was no reason to cuss as much as they all do. The violence seems a bit to much in parts. But it also seems like characters are trying to be unlikable. The commander and Cece seem like there their just to be unlikable. The storylines on interesting since this whole thing is set in 1968 the year I was born so it seems only Boomers and Gen X would get the majority of the references. Which Im fine with as Archer had that 60's spy motif to their series. But I wonder how big an audience it has. I just didn't find the humor I was looking for you don't need big out loud guffaws just the snide little in jokes of archer but this seems to almost try to hard. I think I need to forget about it for several weeks then watch it again see what I think then.

As an Elvis fan, I knew about Agent Elvis for some time, watched the whole first season the day it came out and really enjoyed it overall. It is definitely not for everyone, though. It's a pretty insane show reminiscent of Tarantino movies with lots of violence and raunchy humor. I'm not really sure what the target audience for this type of adult animated series surrounding a fictionalized Elvis Presley really is, and the fact that it was even made is surely surprising. Kudos to Netflix and the makers for being bold!

I appreciate that there is original Elvis music in virtually all episodes! The series covers a timeframe from shortly before the '68 Comeback special to the day of the Aloha from Hawaii concert. It's cool to see and hear all the references-major and minor-to the Elvis world. I think many of the references will only be noticed or understood by Elvis fans but they are in most cases not relevant to the plot. There are other pop-cultural references as well, for instance to Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Stanley Kubrick and 2001, The Doors and Jim Morrison, George Clinton, and Little Richard, to name a few. The plot surrounding Elvis "Agent King" Presley and an obscure organization named TCB mostly parodies Mission Impossible/James Bond type spy movies, with a bit of Manchurian Candidate vibes mixed in, and adds over-the-top violence. "Austin Powers meets Quentin Tarantino" describes Agent Elvis quite well I would say.

The animation of Agent Elvis looks great and modern, and in the lead role we have the appealing voice of Matthew McConaughey, who talks in his signature Southern drawl but does not imitate Elvis' voice. Then there is Johnny Knoxville as Elvis' sidekick Bobby Ray and Don Cheadle as the agent boss man. Even show co-creator Priscilla Presley has a couple of cameo scenes throughout the series. The voice actor standout for me, though, is Kaitlin Olson as Elvis' agent colleague CeCe Ryder. She has some of the funniest lines and delivers them sharply.

What I especially like about the show is how cleverly and fluently it incorporates contemporary historical events and figures into the plot. Events such as the Altamont festival, the Moon landing or the meeting between Elvis and Nixon are depicted as well as figures such as a completely insane version of Howard Hughes (who is a major supporting character in the whole series), Robert Goulet as Elvis' nemesis or good-time Charlie Manson. By the way, besides his singing voice, there are some photographs of the real-life Elvis in this show as well. After watching all 10 episodes, I can say that I would like to see a second season of Agent Elvis. We will see if it turns out to be successful enough.