Megas XLR

At first when I saw some commercials for Megas XLR, I thought it was a Transformers rip-off. But then I changed my mind about the show and watched a few of the episodes and it was pretty cool and it's funny too. The show is about two teenage slackers named Coop and Jamie who discover a giant robot in a New Jersey junkyard He attached his car to the top of the robot. But...then evil aliens called Glorft land on Earth. Now 3 total opposites named Coop, Jamie, and the robot's creator Kiva must team up to stop the Glorft(and many other evil forces) from obtaining "Megas XLR"! I think the Glorft character is a little weird but yet one of my favorite sci-fi villains! My favorite characters are Coop and Jamie. This show first aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami back in May 2004. This is one of my favorite shows on Toonami!

User Rating: 9/10

BOTTOM LINE: I DIG GIANT ROBOTS!

The premise of this sounds just like any 'giant robot' (or cartoon sf) show - battle robot needed to save the (future) world, agent sent back to retrieve it from the past to which its been banished. OK, fine. But the makers take this and turn it into a weird, fun, crazy parody of such things.

The robot has been obtained by two new-jersey lamers, who turn out to be a super-robot- pilot and well, a lamer (sorry, Jaime.) The future-agent is stuck here (acting alternatively as the fish-out-of-local time-water, and voice of reason, and super-fighting-chick). OK, fine. But the makers take this and use this basic parody to parody pretty much every cliché in the genre (and some other genres) with a gusto that is just plain fun to watch! If you know stuff about Japanese animation stuff, you'll appreciate the parodies of plots, characters, and even scene stylings. If you don't, its still funny enough on just a joke-level (Coop dreaming of smashing the DMV to tiny bits, for instance) to make it fun. Keep your eye on button labels and general sign age, there's good cleverness there.

All in all, a great, high-morale program -- people having fun making a good show. Nice!

Ah, Megas XLR. Despite the TV-Y7 rating, in many ways it felt a show aimed at older audiences, not only because all the characters were adults, the sarcastic humor and the somewhat obscure references probably totally would get over the heads of the kids watching it back then.

I guess that was the reason of why the show was unfairly cancelled, despite the high ratings: It wasn't as "marketeable" as Ben 10, and (As the cancellation of Young Justice can confirm) the executives care more about toy sales than audiences liking a show, which is why so many terrible series are still on air.

But even if Megas XLR was never destined to become a super-marketeable franchise, it will always remain as a beloved cult-classic from the 2000s which is always fun to rewatch, like Drawn Together.

Cartoon Network could give it some love, instead of acting as if this series never existed.

So me and my friends wake up one Sunday morning after a party and flip on the TV, and end up watching cartoon shows. We got a blast from the past in Captain Planet, we were nostalgic over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (have you seen the new version? it's terrible!), and then we wandered across Megas about halfway through the episode "Ice Ice Megas." Good god, I've never laughed so hard. All three of us were splitting our sides over the writing of this show. What got me hooked was how all the characters, main or otherwise, bounced off of each other. Little moments just made the show for me, where the ice man yells "We are saved!" after Coop smashes a bad guy, only to change his mind with "We are doomed..." when Coop knocks over a building not ten seconds later.

Not to mention the total lack of continuity in Megas' abilities. The contents of his chest cavity change ALL THE TIME.

For its sharp writing and and phenomenal ability to parody genre after genre, I can say without doubt, that I DIG GIANT ROBOTS!

Megas got its start as a sort of You Pick short, and while it didn't make the final cut as I remember, it must have made a good impression. The suits in Atlanta wisely decided to run with Megas, one of their most brilliant decisions since the creation of Toonami and Adult Swim.

Absurdity is the key to humor these days, at least for me. And what could be more absurd then a couple of burned-out 20somethings in control of their own Mecha? And in Jersey, no less! Throw in a token Anime-style chick, insane villains, monsters, interplanetary hijinx, and (most importantly) a killer mock-metal soundtrack - These are a few of my favorite things... Whoops. Sorry.

And how about the details on the Megas! What geek WOULDN'T pimp out their own Mecha with flames, nekked chick reflectors, an 8-Ball gear shift knob, and Playstation Controllers? It's every nerd's dream come true.

You have GOT to love this toon. If you don't... Well, then, heck with ya. Mindless fun for everyone, Mecha destruction for the Anime geek in a lot of us, and oh, the METAL!

Wow. I used to LIVE for Saturday Mornings. Now I LIVE for Saturday Evenings. How corny is that...?