Aqua Teen Hunger Force

ATHF has become the favorite late night entertainment snack for my family. The DVD set does introduce each segment with the now infectious rap song that describes each of the Superheroes. The humor is all over the map and comes in the form of dialog and visual pratfalls. The art is done in a quirky style on the cheap but the humor is still rich. All heroes HAVE to have a great bad guy. My favorites are the Mooninites along with Oglethorpe and Emory. MC P Pants and Sir Loin are also very good.

Each of the opening bits with Steve and Dr. Weird stand alone as comic tidbits that get each segment going. Master Shake as the leader of the group garners most of the laughs in his desire to boss everyone around and ALWAYS remain the center of attention. Problem is that Master Shake has a very lame "power".

This show has been out for almost 12 years. While I love it, I do have to admit that it's later episodes aren't even close to being as good as the originals.

Seasons 1-2: Hysterical. Did not stop laughing.

Season 3: Still amazing. I miss Dr. Weird but Spacecataz is still funny.

Season 4: Where most people think it started going downhill. I like it, although I do admit it isn't as good as the first three. They now have more freedom in the maturity factor, and boy do they abuse it throughout the rest of the series.

Season 5: Bleh. Don't even bother watching the first three episodes of it. This season does get better as it goes on, and I have to admit that "Bible Fruit" is one of my favorite episodes. This is where they really start relying on sex jokes and shock humor, but it's still funnier than other shows that attempt to do this.

Season 6: Better than season 5, but still suffers from the same laziness as last time where many of the jokes are just mindless sex jokes rather than actual creative writing. Just not as bad as before.

Season 7: Better than season 6. Has a couple of my favorite episodes and is a step in the right direction, as "A PE Christmas" and "Rabbot Redux" are two of my favorite episodes.

Season 8 (also known as "Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1"): A MASSIVE improvement. I thought at this point there was no hope for improvement, but I was completely wrong. Has a nice balance between mature humor and good writing.

Season 9 (also known as "Aqua Something You Know Whatever): Recoil. Their efforts are going entirely the wrong way. With all the other seasons I complained about, I at least still enjoyed all of them. Not the case here. VERY hit and miss. Literally half the episodes in this series have no redeeming qualities about them, but that does mean that the other half is pretty damn good. Just make sure to skip "Shirt Herpes", "Rocket Horse Jet Chicken", "The Granite Family", "Fightan Titan", and "Totem Pole". I was bored out of my mind through those.

Overall, a very good show. They just need to refocus their efforts a bit. I hope Season 10 will be better than the last one, though.

Whether it is the opening segments with Dr. Weird or the strange ending credit sequence with Abe Lincoln, Aqua Teen Hunger Force will make your mind boggle as you try to wrap your mind around about twenty minutes of some of the most brilliant animation EVER! I first found this while visiting a friend in Oregon. Let's say that we were not thinking clearly when we put it in, but as the opening rap sequence began, all I could do was laugh. The next morning, I thought perhaps it was just a fluke. Nothing could be as funny as characters like Master Shake, Meatwad, Frylock, and my personal favorite Carl! Boy, was I mistaken.

This series is hysterical. Every episode is full of random events that will make you laugh so hard that you will pee your pants. This show goes beyond the normal cartoon and takes humor to a whole new level. I loved the fact that after the first two episodes the structure changed completely. I don't think they ever solved any crimes, they just argued and dealt with random 'enemies' that just happened to appear. I even thought that just maybe they would loose their momentum after the first season, but yet again … I was wrong. The DVD was spectacular and gave a bit more information about the birth of these anti-heroes.

I come from a household without cable, even regular channels are snowed out, so when series like these are released on DVD it is the only opportunity I have to see them. I will say that discovering this series was a high-point in my television on DVD career. I love random chaos, and this is exactly what this show provided.

I would suggest this series to anyone that is a huge fan of social commentary coupled with fast food. While it may not make you hungry, it surely will quench your desire for humor. I still wonder where the writers found the idea for the 'cult' characters the Mooninites. Only on ATHF could this random thought become a reality.

I love this series and cannot wait for the third season!

Grade: ***** out of *****

Rarely is it that we are graced with such an odd series that seems like such a painfully stupid idea that works so well. Aqua Teen Hunger Force details the lives of three roommates that fight evil forces. The odd thing about these roommates however, is that they are a milkshake (Master Shake), a box of fries (Frylock), and a wad of uncooked meat (Meatwad). Yes, it sounds completely stupid. And you need to see more than one episode to appreciate it. But it is surprisingly one of the funniest shows on television. My only complaint: that each episode is only about 11 minutes long. Aqua Teen Hunger Force really is "number one in the hood"! A+

If you just want to laugh and laugh at some of the most joke-packed dialogue on TV today--and you don't care whether any of it makes sense--then you'll love ATHF.

The writers don't waste time explaining why the characters are food or what "Aqua Teen" even means. They don't try to tie up plot threads, illuminate the backstory, or even have the characters leave their neighborhood to fight crimes as depicted in the opening and closing credits. None of that is necessary. Instead, they just bring us a stripped-down, personality-driven yukfest that shows encumbered with the usual baggage simply can't match.

ATHF meets---nay, far exceeds!---my personal gold standard for comedy: that the jokes should not only be funny, but be ones I couldn't possibly have thought up for myself, and that there not be a moment's lag time between them.

Watching it is like eating potato chips (um, guess I mean fries) of pure, mindless laughter. ENJOY!