Minoriteam

some people, apparently, just don't get it. this show is hilarious... if you get the references.

due to the obscurity of some of the references, most people won't get them all. the entire show is a cross between an homage to comic book icon Jack Kirby and the comedy of Dave Chappelle (think: the racial draft), daring to go places most shows wouldn't dare to tread. even if you don't grasp the specificity of some of the jokes, if you have an open-minded sense of humor you'll probably find yourself laughing more often than not.

I think this is actually up with the cream of the crop from Adult Swim, in which I would also include Aqua Teen, Venture Bros, Sealab, Moral Orel, Lucy Daughter of the Devil, Home Movies and, previously, Futurama.

After hearing that this was created by Adam de la Pena. I decided to give it a chance, and it let me down dearly. I don't get offended by racist humor and I am usually optimistic when I start a TV show. And I think shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies have sub-par animation and are still funny. This one got the sub-par animation thing down, but it forgot to add one thing that made the shows I mentioned above successful and entertaining, good jokes. The series lacks in that particular department as most of the jokes are flat, uninspired and just plain unfitting.

Overall, Minoriteam is a brainless, toothless, atrocity and is better off left untouched. I'm glad de la Pena came back with the funny, but short lived Code Monkeys.

Let me just say this...this show definitely had potential, but was executed horribly. When I first heard about this show, the concept seemed hilarious. A group of super-minorities battling the most feared enemy of all...The Man. After the first episode I watched was over, I just said to myself "WHAT...WAS...THAT?!" And not like a Robot Chicken or Aqua Teen Hunger Force WTF, but a "God, that was terrible" WTF. I couldn't even keep up with what was going on half the time. At some times, the animation is so strange (with it's comic book-esquire format) that you can't even tell what's going on. The character's jokes are so stereotypical, that most of the time, they're not even funny. I've watched this show twice, (just to give it a second chance) and it still wasn't funny. Bad jokes, bad acting, bad plot, bad format, bad show. Don't expect this one to last much longer.

The writing is trying to be so irreverent, it actually becomes pointless. The show doesn't need a message, but it needs more then flat endings a one-joke takes on Goodfellas. If they took a page from either Smigel or Parker/Stone and focused on something, literally, anything, it would be a huge improvement. It doesn't have to be political, or even social commentary, (which I think is what everyone expected this to be). Its art style makes it perfect for an attack on the superhero on many levels. And the villains are light-years better than the heroes.

One thing about the style - it's not trying to ape Alex Toth's Super-Friends or the '67 DC Filmation cartoons Smigel based his Ambiguously Gay Duo/X-Presidents on. Minoriteam is vintage Silver Age Marvel - Kirby panels but with a Steranko feel. If it's a homage to anything, it's to the '67 Marvel cartoons which were cut-n-paste comic panels, animatic overlay. The opening "In Color" credits is straight from Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

In the end, it's a genius idea, but the story execution is weak. The writers need to find a subtext or it's never going to last. Korgoth is a great example of a cartoon working on different levels.

What seems to be happening on Adult Swim is that the programming chosen are homages to many animations my generation saw as little kids. Minoriteam is no exception. The Animation is reminiscent of the old justice league cartoons, which makes it even funnier to me..but the joke may escape those who aren't familiar with it. (Or as I refer to it as when that Gosh Awful woman put an end to Saturday Morning Cartoons and we got dumb shows like "Save By the Bell", et al.) The idea of making FUN of stereotypes isn't new. And this is making fun of stereotypes. The only thing I can see is that the joke will run out soon and the offense will begin to kick in. It's a hard line to walk and I wish this guy luck.