Sealab 2021 (2000)

Directed by

Adam Reed

Genre

sitcom

Country

United States

Length

5 seasons, 52 episodes

Rated

TV-14

Rating

7.4 of 10 from 100 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This adult animated series reuses footage from a 1970s environmental cartoon to tell new stories about the crew of an underwater research station. The characters get into bizarre and often self-destructive situations that parody old children's shows.

absurdsurrealsatiricalfast-pacedirreverentloudnonsensicaloffbeat

What happens

Sealab 2021 is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before the official inception of the Adult Swim block on September 2, 2001, with the final episode airing on April 24, 2005. It is one of the only four original Williams Street series that premiered in 2000 before Adult Swim officially launched, with the others being Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Brak Show, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Much like Adult Swim's Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the animation used stock footage from Hanna-Barbera's short-lived, environmentally themed animated series Sealab 2020, along with original animation; Hanna-Barbera was not involved in the production. The show was a satirical parody of both the original Sealab series and the general conventions of the 1970s animated children's series. While there was initial resistance from several of the original series' creators to the reuse of their characters, production moved forward on the series. Sealab 2021 received positive reviews from critics for its surreal humor and is considered to be superior to its predecessor. It serves as a stylistic predecessor to Frisky Dingo and Floyd County Productions series; characters from Sealab 2021 appeared in FX's Archer series. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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