Freak Show
Y
Oct 4, 2006
10:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 4
Comedy Central
Now here is a spectacularly twisted animated comedy that appears to have gotten lost on its way to Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim block. "Freak Show" turns up on Comedy Central and breaks from the starting gate looking a little bit like a revelation: outrageous, bizarre, effortlessly hip and unsubtle in magically edgy ways.
A seven-episode series based on an idea by David Cross of "Arrested Development" and "Mr. Show" fame along with H. Jon Benjamin and featuring the voices of "Arrested's" Will Arnett and Janeane Garofalo, it chronicles the misadventures of a band of carnival freaks secretly employed as second-rate superheroes who undertake very low-priority missions for the Pentagon.
The squad is composed of Tuck and Benny, grappling conjoined twins (special power: separating), the Bearded Clam (special power: blinding bitch juice), the World's Tallest Nebraskan (special power: can shrink up to six inches), Primi, the Premature Baby (special power: pinpoint projectile vomiting) and Log Cabin Republican (special power: transformation into Burly Bear).
You should be laughing already. But just in case you aren't, there's more. In the opener, the Freaks are obliged to storm an island controlled by the evil General M'Dinka Magoobi and snatch a fresh supply of the president's favorite nuts that's exclusive to the island. The problem, of course, is that the nuts are embargoed. At the same time, our heroes must steer clear of the greedy clutches of the evil corporate behemoth Freak-Mart (sorry, Walton family). A future episode finds the squad ordered to roll back the odometer on the president's Trans-Am to bring a higher price. "Freak Show" is so politically incorrect and disrespectful -- and yet at the same time so brilliantly absurd -- that you can't help but shake your head in a combination of disbelief and awe. May these Freaks live long and freakishly.
Comedy Central
Now here is a spectacularly twisted animated comedy that appears to have gotten lost on its way to Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim block. "Freak Show" turns up on Comedy Central and breaks from the starting gate looking a little bit like a revelation: outrageous, bizarre, effortlessly hip and unsubtle in magically edgy ways.
A seven-episode series based on an idea by David Cross of "Arrested Development" and "Mr. Show" fame along with H. Jon Benjamin and featuring the voices of "Arrested's" Will Arnett and Janeane Garofalo, it chronicles the misadventures of a band of carnival freaks secretly employed as second-rate superheroes who undertake very low-priority missions for the Pentagon.
The squad is composed of Tuck and Benny, grappling conjoined twins (special power: separating), the Bearded Clam (special power: blinding bitch juice), the World's Tallest Nebraskan (special power: can shrink up to six inches), Primi, the Premature Baby (special power: pinpoint projectile vomiting) and Log Cabin Republican (special power: transformation into Burly Bear).
You should be laughing already. But just in case you aren't, there's more. In the opener, the Freaks are obliged to storm an island controlled by the evil General M'Dinka Magoobi and snatch a fresh supply of the president's favorite nuts that's exclusive to the island. The problem, of course, is that the nuts are embargoed. At the same time, our heroes must steer clear of the greedy clutches of the evil corporate behemoth Freak-Mart (sorry, Walton family). A future episode finds the squad ordered to roll back the odometer on the president's Trans-Am to bring a higher price. "Freak Show" is so politically incorrect and disrespectful -- and yet at the same time so brilliantly absurd -- that you can't help but shake your head in a combination of disbelief and awe. May these Freaks live long and freakishly.
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