Superjail!

I would not label myself as an Adult Swim connoisseur, but I've watched enough of it to realize that it's quality has greatly declined in the last few years. Though AS was and is more a showcase for offbeat, randomness-based humor than top-notch animation, recent programs have begun to severely push the limits of tolerable quality in both fields - that is to say, they aren't funny and the animation sucks (there is no excuse for '12 Oz. Mouse'. There is no excuse.).

By no means is 'Superjail' adult swim's saving grace. In terms of premise, it's no surprise it'd be in their programming block (a violent, surrealist comedy set in a violent, surrealist futuristic prison), nor is it quite chock full of gutbusting humor or even a foreseeable future beyond one or two seasons (but I feel I'm being too harsh).

See, what makes 'Superjail' stand out far above it's fellow Adult Swim shows is it's art. In a complete 180 from AS' usual preference of poorly animated Flash cartoons, 'Superjail' is psychedelic, vivid and detailed, recalling the best of early 90s alternative comics and cartoons (think Mike Judge and 'Liquid Television'). Each second of animation is pure mania, crammed with as much action as the eye can take, but never in a way that seems too busy or distracting. It's a sheer blast to the senses and you can't take your eyes off it. Simply, the art breathes with LIFE, which is a lot more than I could say about...well, ANY Adult Swim cartoon.

Not to say that the art is the show's only positive point; the consistently hilarious David Wain (of 'Wet Hot American Summer' and 'Stella') supplies the voice of "The Warden", the series' protagonist who, though slightly two-dimensional, is just as lively and wild as the animation, both in character and voice. And, though not as often as I'd have liked to, I had a hard chuckle here and there at some of the show's clever 'ATHF'-esque use of non-sequiturs ("four hearts was one too many", indeed).

Though it certainly won't become the next 'SeaLab' (or whatever), 'Superjail' is definitely worth the time for those into offbeat animation or anyone who just wants to see something *different* on TV for once. I only hope that the demented aesthetics 'Superjail' will spark a similar line of Adult Swim shows in the future and get the block back on the right track...after all, future generations simply can't endure another "Assy McGee"...

Superjail! reminds me of the brilliant animation that one found 20 years ago in those animation festivals that toured college campuses. Sure, it is twisted and sick, but it is so unpretentious and loyal to its own universe that it is simply genius.

From the massive body counts to the animation that makes 'Yellow Submarine' look drug-free, Superjail! is a gift from above.

I cannot believe how lucky we are that this network, whose bread and butter is cartoons for children, turns around and embraces the cutting edge while little ones sleep. I wish that I could do more than just write this to show the network my support.

This is perhaps the most violent of all the Adult Swim shows, and it's filled with plenty of outrageous jokes, which combined with the bizarre-looking animation, it almost ends feeling like a fever dream.

But it works. It was entertaining to watch despite (or maybe because) of all the weirdness and extreme violence. At least nobody can deny it was a very imaginative series.

Shame it was cancelled in such an abrupt manner.

I am certainly not a television or movie critic but I believe I have good taste for what at least a portion of Adult Swim fans want. Like any AS show, Super Jail takes the viewing an episode or two to appreciate and understand what the show is really about. If a viewer tries to comprehend everything in an episode of Super Jail they will have a stroke. This show has such a fast-paced and unexplained plot that it can really give someone trying to analyze it a headache. Just watch it, sit back, relax, and think about how high the writers and artists for Super Jail must get. Don't judge it before you see more than one episode, maybe you will grow to like it more this way.

I was excited when I saw more Superjail episodes were being produced after the first season, but I was less excited when I saw how the show was starting to become yet another surreal pothead Adult Swim animated comedy.

The acid-trip hellscapes and grimy, underground feel of the first season disappears in subsequent seasons, so that the show is a shell of its former self. A major problem is that the animation gets cleaner and brighter; the rough-around-the-edges, scrawled-on-a-bathroom-stall look was vital to season one's in-your-face insanity. Season 2 in particular really feels like a second-order pastiche or detached parody of season 1, with awful writing and painfully unfunny new characters like the unnecessary supervillain "Lord Stingray".

But nothing tops that first season. When I first laid eyes on it, late at night on Adult Swim, I thought I'd borne witness to another plane of existence, some abominable, squirming, televised thing that could only have been the sum total of a drug-addicted, homeless 30-something's soul vomited onto animation cells and then blasphemously beamed into homes around the nation. The show disgusted me, captivated me, and left images seared into my brain that I'll never be able to scrub away.

From the sound design, to the voice acting, to the fight and torture scenes, to the angry and violent end credits, the first 10 episodes of this show are to be savored by animation fans and those looking for something to watch that pretty much amounts to religious defilement. Can't say the same for the other seasons, though.

Oh, and "Time Police" Parts 1 and 2, the final two episodes of season one, will forever be one of the best two-part finales of any television show, ever - live action or otherwise. Watch those two episodes, if nothing else.