The Ripping Friends

This animated program is odd. Abnormal. Unusual. Strange. I could keep going, but I can't think of anymore words. Actually I can, but, anywho.

I know you're thinking, "What the *bleep* is a Ripping Friend?". Well, my friend, a ripping, umm, friend is a superhero that wants to rip (or destroy) all that stands in the way of freedom and justice. In order to prepare themselves for this on-going battle, they go through rigorous training. Ummmmm . . . yeah.

It's aimed at kids, but I can't see how (or even why). Let me take that back, I can see it (the characters look funny and say funny things), but I think the average child probably wouldn't get the majority of the jokes. Half of those jokes are dealing with the characters names: Crag (the oldest of the RF's), Slab (the group's little lamb--that's a joke in itself), Chunk (the RF's teenage rebel yell), Rip (I call him 'Rip the Roid'--if you've seen the show, you know what I mean), Jimmy (the everloving man b**ch), and, I saved the best for last, He-Mom (the RF's foster mom).

Here's a sampling of the dialogue in the recent episode I saw: [sic] "Don't die on me. If you do, I will kiiiiiiill you!"

Later in the episode, one of the RF's gets shocked as part of his training. He screams, eyes bulging, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!" When the current is finally shut off, he says, "Aww, I was just starting to have fun!"

I've never seen anything like this on network television for kids, and I love and watch cartoons frequently. Then I remember, it IS Fox. What did I expect?

You know what? I still have to give it an 8. Hey, I grew up watching the Fox Network. What did you expect??

Ren and Stimpy just wasn't the same when John K. left. Now is another chance to show off his special brand of 'toon. His type of twisted humor was a welcome relief to the tapioca sameness of typical animated offerings. I hope the politically correct Fox network keeps the Ripping Friends around awhile.

What can I say? God bless the folks at Cartoon Network for giving this another chance after it was canned by the PC, anime hungry (sick isn't it?) folks at Fox. The cartoon is about a group of superheroes (Crag, Slab, Chunk, and Rip) who want to rip (or in other words destroy) all that stands in the way of freedom. Other characters include Jimmy, and the Ripping Friends foster mom He-Mom LOL!!!

Overall, John K., and Spumco have yet another winner on their hands. Sure it'll never capture the greatness of "Ren & Stimpy" but it's still an excellent, yet strange show.

This gets a 10/10.

This is a genuinely funny, out of this world take on the world of superheroes. Likeable yet decidedly odd characters and absolutely over the top! Created by John Kricfalusi the cartoon genius that brought us Ren and Stimpy, Ripping Friends continues the dream and it does it well. Give it a shot. Each episode gets funnier the more times you watch it.

I get the impression that the creators of this show are trying to create something on par with Ren and Stimpy, but are deliberatly holding back. Possibly because it's on Fox Kids. (Although I did see a pretty raunchy episode on YTV.) It's just that whenever I watch an ep, I see that they have an excellent premise and potential, but it's only half fulfilled. It's kind of like shouting when you could clearly scream.