"Superjail!": Superfail!

First off, that's a terribly clever entry title you have there. Surely, it's witticisms like this that earn one the title of "Mayor of Television."

In "Superjail!"'s defense... well hell, there isn't much to defend about this or many other AS shows, really. It's idiotic, random, mostly thoughtless and borderline immoral. To put it another way, it's like almost every other show on Adult Swim. How you managed to elevate the painfully dull ATHF above this, though, is beyond me.

What sets "Superjail!" apart from the usual sea of vacuous idiocy on Adult Swim is that it is one of the precious few shows on the lineup that is actually ANIMATED. Remember when cartoons were animated? I think everyone in AS's target audience forgot that a long time ago.
I'd always found the lifeless talking heads of Frisky Dingo, Assy McGee, ATHF and many others to be painfully grating (like every other aspect of those shows). Its refreshingly lively animation elevates "Superjail!" from being the usual thoughtless drivel that AS is comprised of, to being thoughtless drivel that's actually fun to watch. Rendering the psychotically flamboyant warden in any less manic a fashion would be tragic.

And really, to expect anything beyond thoughtless drivel from original AS programming is sorely misguided.

Except for "The Venture Bros." and "Harvey Birdman."

This guy is seriously out of touch. Any animation admirer should check out Superjail. Yes its violent, silly, and random but the transitions and the flow of it is really something any artist or doodler should see.

Actually, I just googled "superfail" because it seemed like SOMEBODY had to use it, even if they thought the show was good.

Tee hee.

U suck super jail is a great show and if an artist can do that all i can say is wow and the randomness of it is sweet because u have to figure out the meaning yourself i did

wow "f@ck u" Your comment is as confused and meaningless as "super Jail!".
The show is not a psychedelic political commentary; its simply crazy crap. Makes the work of Crumb genius by comparison. There's no meaning to figure out for yourself; just a very loose plot and pseudo-psychedelic imagery. I waste my time watching it. I don't know why. its indefensible crap really; and yes AS is currently covered with it (ATHF being the main offender but drinky crow promises to be equally or greater crap.)
As for being animated, vs "south park" style animation, it may be a more animated style, but it repeats frames and is horribly drawn and poorly voiced. With no plot or story at all.. why watch it at all... stare at your windows media player visualizations, it's a better trip.

Anyone that fails to see the incredible amazingness of SuperJail! fails miserably at having any worthwhile imagination and sense of any kind of fun and wonder for the ridiculous wonders of the psychotic that makes up SuperJail!. you dont have to enjoy it as much as the rest but just because you dont understand its qualities of rediculous violent absurdities doesnt mean you can claim a superfail. so basically.... essentially ... All you haters can go suffocate yourself on the the steaming excrement of your ineptitude and have a super great day!

herp derp BUT WAIT, THERE'S DEEPER MEANINGS BEHIND THE VIOLENCE! I SWEAR!

Jesus christ, I hate this show.

...it's a television show. meaning a product someone got paid to create for the enjoyment of others. not for the enjoyment of everyone, mind you. that is impossible. so unless you own a television channel yourself, or the artistic talent to produce a competitive program for AS to purchase, it would be more productive to your cause (and probably a lot less stressful for you) to just not watch if you don't enjoy than to watch and find some random article or forum on the internet so you can trash it. at least, it would seem that way. if i'm wrong, feel free to correct me.

Well, I think this statement "Superfail!" is quite a bit as immature, and ignorant as you claim the show to be. Really, The Mayor of Television? I think you're really "The Nerd of Television". Thumbs down- Get a life, all of you. If you don't like the shows we throw on air - DON'T WATCH THEM. I don't see you producing and/or creating any animation shows for that matter. The only thing you all are doing is blogging about how bad some of them may be over the internet.
Hopefully You ignorant hard-headed Children will learn something from this Comment.
Sincerely, Frank Munkeoz

[Adult Swim]

yeah frank! you tellem!
man i can't stop watching superjail! it is definitely my top show.
each frame of it is like a beautiful masterpiece of colorful, eye-popping, splendiferous fun. And wow, the animation is great... it must've taken a bit longer to mimick traditional animation using flash.
if you can't enjoy watching something as cheerfully violent and spontaneous as superjail!, well shucks, you've lost the last bit of child-like essence in your soul.
i think the animators at augenblick studio were looking to portray the many awesome, creative ways a person/creature can be disembodied and decapitated, rather then just show mindless murders. the monsters, situations, unique cartoon violence, and crazy endings all add up to equal a surprisingly eclectic combination. and sure the same plots exist throughout every episode, but aren't all cartoons the same? take for example, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd... its just funny! that's how cartoons are
I think Superjail! is a pretty rare breed in itself, a great example of quality art, irony and creativity.
Mayor of Television, please just be a little more open minded and understand that life isn't all flowers and happy childrens stories. life is horrible and nasty, and shows like superjail! just reflect the mundane horrid, yet amazing gift of life. television should NOT filter out 'bad' or 'different' topics... heck, that's why we have news broadcastings lying to us left and right...

Man, your just out of touch with what this shows target demographic thinks is funny.

Randomness is something we hold high on our list of funny things.

And why do you need a plot? Often times cartoons don't follow any sort of timeline, if they did Bart and Lisa Simpson would be adults and have their own spin offs, family guy might actually make sense instead of always jumping around between the past and present, and cartoons like bugs bunny and tom and jerry would have been totally different.

since when did great cartoons have to have plot? tom and jerry ended the same damn way nearly every episode and some people consiter it one of the greatest cartoons ever.

superjail! is an amazing work of animation which reminds me of a mix between steam/clockpunk influances, the high technology of william gibson novels, some of the film work of Buster Keaton, and the wonderful world of those damn 70's looking learning cartoons.

but while none of us give a rats ass about the bill on the steps of congress, i believe many of us are infatuated with superjail!

David,

Just because you don't like the show, does not mean it is bad.

I am 39 years old, have a college degree, married, a father of 3 year old twins, and I love "Superjail!" The animation is very fluid and interesting to watch, the look and feel of it is like nothing else on AS. There are some excellent verbal and visual gags hidden in the show which are not always apparent upon first viewing, the art style is unique, and the transitions from scene to scene are very creative and also very unique to the show. The team at Augenblick does a great job with (I'm sure) a very minimal budget and packs a lot of amazing stuff into each 10 minute episode.

Sitcoms, tv shows, and movies need to have plots. Cartoons don't. The beauty of animation is it DOES NOT have to adhere to any rules - especially standard tv/film scriptwriting rules. Following such rules can make for a very boring cartoon. Go back and watch some old Pink Panther cartoons, you'll find they are very unusual and don't necessarily illustrate a story from point A to point Z. Cartoons often just link together a bunch of jokes over a thin story. Why don't you read a well-written book if you need plots that badly? Don't accuse a 10 minute cartoon of failing in that department. It's a ridiculous accusation and shows you really know nothing about animation and cartoons at all. It's fine if you don't like "Superjail!", but you obviously have no business critiquing it. Kindly let the true fans enjoy it and do everybody a favor (yourself included) and refrain from watching and writing about anything on AS in the future.

I'm not a teenage boy, in fact I'm a college-going teenage girl. o_0 Yes the show is random and violent but what exactly is wrong with that? Some of us enjoy random violence on occasion. It's not violent to be violent, it's violent because it's funny. Also, I'd like to mention that I'm a cartoon geek and I love smooth animation. For a show animated by twenty-some people total this has some of the cleanest, most fluid animation I've ever seen.

I completely understand why most people wouldn't like this show. Most of your criticisms are valid, but everything you point out as being a negative are the exact reasons that some people love the show. The only thing that you're totally wrong about is that you say it looks like it's created by someone who "can't draw very well." That's just ignorant. You obviously don't understand the difference between intentionally grotesque character designs and lack of ability. The characters and intricately detailed backgrounds of this show are obviously the product of hours and hours of painstaking labor by talented animators. The fact that it is produced entirely in the USA on an Adult Swim budget is unbelievable.
Oh yeah, I'm 24 by the way, some people enjoy absurdism, surrealism and extreme violence, no matter what age.

Obviously you have not watched the show because the characters have a lot more personality than many of the other AS shows. Superjail! is a great addition and should replace shitty Drinky Crow and others on the every week night train...

Please watch more than the pilot before unleashing your stupid criticism upon us.

David Kronke... maybe King of the Hill is more your speed. lol.

I love Superjail. Id say its the only program worth watching on Adult Swim right now. Every time you see an episode you discover something new. Hope they make a new season!

Mr. D. Kronke, Mongoloid, Esq.

If you don't like the violence and random plots of Superjail then simply don't watch it. I kind of doubt if you watched it in the first place though. This is because it is very apparent to anyone who watches an episode that Superjail's animation is some of the best that has been on television in years. I think you just read a synopsis on wikipedia, looked at a few screenshots, and decided that the show was stupid and immoral. Well mayor of TV, I have a clue for you; the vast majority of television programming is either stupid, immoral, or both. I prefer my stupid immorality to be pretty, and Superjail delivers. Go read a book, take a walk through the woods, watching all that television is adversely affecting your brain. I only need 10 minutes a week. Long live Superjail.

As a female with a genius level IQ, I find your suggestions pretty offensive. The animation and art in Superjail is original and highly involved; you have to pause it just to see everything that is happening in a given scene.
Considering the show thus far only has 10 (11 with pilot) episodes, each about 10 minutes long, I think it's pretty amazing that the characters are as amusing as they are. Certainly it's a show with better characters and plots than most cartoons, and the animation, as I mentioned is utterly amazing.

Superjail! is a creative masterpiece, I find the characters quite dysfunctional and highly entertaining. The animation is colorful and psychedelic with amazing details that will blow your mind. As for the epic amount of violence... just listen to the theme song for once and you will realize there is more to Superjail! than David Kronke would like to admit.

Generation kill loves senseless violence. It's not our fault. It's yours. All of you.

SuJail is one of the best cartoons ever created. It is funny, imaginative, and REALLY well animated. Give it a try. And start enjoying good animation and let your imagination go with the show.

BTW space ghost and Birdman weren't created by the adult swim guys. neither was superjail. Adult swim is a block of shows, each show is created by their creators. I feel sorry if you were never graced with watching space ghost and birdman as a child.

i love this show mainly for all the backrounds and violence. and jack knife getting taken away is pretty tits.

i freackin love this show its everything it trys to be. frick i need my superjail fix

Hmm...more of an opinion than a critique, Mr. Mayor. Judging by your love of the poopy Desperate Housewives and extravagantly overrated Tina Fey, I'd say you're really just a guy and not so much of a TV/pop culture expert. Just my opinion (not a critique).

Oh, and, dude, I have to agree. Superfail is painfully lame.

Superjail is my favorite show of all time and you're just a basher, a party crasher. I don't know what you mean when you say that they can't draw well. It's artistic and reminds me of the old cartoons. Go home and watch you boring "King of the Hill" and go to hell.