619: Who Will Speak For Fish Police?

From Duckman to Dicktown, this week we’re covering cartoons… for grown-ups. These animated series have an adult sensibility, and they don’t all feature obscenity, graphic violence, or sexual acts… though some do! Shows like The Legend of Vox Machina, Harley Quinn, Hit Monkey, and Invincible have an adult audience clearly or primarily in mind, while others, like Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law or The Tick require a deep well of cultural references that might leave children (and many adults) baffled. We discuss the overall trend, highlight shows past and present we love, and puzzle out how some shows (good and inexplicable) even came to be.

Cartoons for grown-ups

Glenn Fleishman with David J. Loehr, John McCoy, Lisa Schmeiser, Moisés Chiullán and Tony Sindelar

Notes: Undone season two is already out; we may have called the animated series Disenchantment by the name Disenchanted (an upcoming movie sequel to the Enchanted film); and it’s not clear yet if Hit Monkey has shot its only season.

In this episode, we talked about a hundred or more series, but the following are ones a panelist called out in particular in a very rough order. Links to watch the show may largely work only in the United States.

• Duckman (watch)
• Beavis and Butt-Head (watch) (remastered episodes coming)
• Daria (watch)
• King of the Hill (watch)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (watch)
• Sealab 2020 (watch)
• Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (watch)
• Tuca and Bertie (watch season 1 on Netflix, season 2 on Adult Swim)
• Invincible (watch)
• Hit Monkey) (watch)
• The Legend of Vox Machina (watch)
• Masters of the Universe: Revelation (watch)
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (watch)
• Tear Along the Dotted Line (watch)
• BoJack Horseman (watch)
• Disenchantment (watch)
• Saturday Morning All Star Hits (watch)
• Futurama (watch)
• Centaurworld (watch)
• Castlevania (watch)
• Batman: The Animated Series (watch)
• Love, Death, and Robots (watch)
• Fish Police (watch)
• Bob’s Burgers (watch)
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (watch)
• Home Movies (watch)
• Adventure Time (watch)
• Steven Universe (watch)
• Regular Show (watch)
• Chowder (watch)
• Primal (watch)
• Arcane (watch)
• Poorly Drawn Lines (watch)
• Robot Chicken (watch)
• Gravity Falls (watch)
• The Venture Brothers (watch)
• The Tick: 1994 (watch), 2001 (watch), 2016 (watch)
• Harley Quinn on HBO (watch)
• Undone (watch)
• Apollo 10 1/2 (watch)
• The Critic (watch)
• Infinity Train (watch)
• The Flintstones
• Dicktown (watch)

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