''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also branded with different alternative titles for seasons 8–11), is an American

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

's late night programming block

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

. It is about the surreal adventures and antics of three

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

items: Master Shake, Meatwad, and Frylock, who live together as roommates and frequently interact with their human next-door neighbor, Carl. The pilot episode aired as a preview on December 30, 2000. On September 9, 2001, it debuted as an official Adult Swim series. Every episode was directed and written by Willis and Maiellaro, who also provided several voices. Seasons 8–11 were each given a different title, accompanied by different theme music, as a running joke. The series initially concluded on August 30, 2015, after 139 episodes throughout 11 seasons. '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'', a

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the series, was released in theaters on April 13, 2007, the first adaptation of an Adult Swim series into a feature-length film. A

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

stand-alone sequel, '' Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm'', was released on November 8, 2022. A

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

series of shorts, ''Aquadonk Side Pieces'', was announced the same week, and ran on the network's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel from April 18 to April 28, 2022. The series airs in

broadcast syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

outside the United States and has been released on various DVD sets and other forms of home media, including

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

streaming. It was the longest-running Adult Swim series until it was surpassed by ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'' in 2020; a twelfth season consisting of five episodes was announced in January 2023 and premiered on November 26, 2023, making it the longest-running Adult Swim series yet again.

Premise

The series centers on the surreal adventures and antics of three

items: Master Shake, a selfish, pathologically lying

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

; Frylock, a calm and intelligent box of

French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

; and Meatwad, a

shapeshifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...

, childlike ball of

ground meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, incl ...

. They live together like relatives and rarely get along with their human neighbor Carl, a middle-aged, boorish, lecherous sports fanatic. The protagonists also encounter new antagonists in most episodes. Some episodes feature cameos from celebrities appearing as fictionalized versions of themselves. The Mooninites are two aliens from the Moon who frequently appear, serving as primary antagonists and wreaking havoc through a series of illegal or destructive actions. The Mooninites appear more than most characters outside the main cast. Other recurring characters have made several appearances, including Oglethorpe and Emory, MC Pee Pants, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, and Markula. Episodes often end with the

non-canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

deaths or injuries of major characters, or destruction to their property, only to be restored without explanation in the following episode. In the show's first seven seasons, the protagonists live in a

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

neighborhood in South New Jersey. During the eighth season, the location was changed to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. The Seattle setting appears entirely identical to the Jersey setting. As of the ninth season, the same neighborhood is identified as "Seattle, New Jersey".

Cold openings

During the first two seasons, episodes cold-opened with a glimpse into the laboratory of Dr. Weird. He and his assistant Steve use the first several seconds of the show to create

monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...

s, and various things. In earlier episodes of the first season, the monsters or creations usually form the basis of the plot, but as the crime-fighting element of the program disappeared, the Dr. Weird segment became a non sequitur opening gag. In the third season, the Dr. Weird openings were replaced with segments from the pilot episode of ''Spacecataz'', an unaired

created by Willis and Maiellaro. Six episodes were planned for production, but Adult Swim felt there was little that could be made into five more episodes since all the characters were destroyed at the end of the pilot, despite the parent series being predominantly not

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

. These segments featured the Mooninites and Plutonians trading insults, gestures, and practical jokes. The full ''Spacecataz'' pilot is available as a special feature on the Volume Four DVD box set.Product Details for "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 4"
on

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

The Mooninites appear to outsmart the Plutonians for much of the series including tagging the Plutonians' ship and reversing a prank that involved 50 million large pizzas. Cold openings were eliminated starting with the fourth-season premiere, "Dirtfoot". A one-off cold opening featuring Dr. Weird and Steve was used once again in the season eight premiere " Allen Part One".

Production

Development

The three main characters—Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad—were originally created for an episode of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' called "Baffler Meal", where they were the corporate mascots for the fictional fast-food chain "Burger Trench". The original versions of the trio were prototypes that resembled the future characters, but both Master Shake and Frylock differed in appearance, personality, and voice from their ultimate design. The original name "Teen Hunger Force" refers to the squad's mission to conquer hunger in teens. "Baffler Meal" went through a number of drafts but was not animated or produced until after the series became popular. Instead, the ''Space Ghost'' episode was initially rewritten as "Kentucky Nightmare", while the trio, along with Carl, debuted in " Rabbot", the pilot episode of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. A full season consisting of 16 episodes, including "Rabbot", was put into production shortly thereafter. The series was one of Adult Swim's most popular shows. In early episodes, the trio was identified by Master Shake as the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which solved crimes for money. After a few episodes, this premise and the characters' use of the name were dropped. The premise was a trick that had been added to appease

executives, who "didn't want to air a show about food just going around and doing random things". In the show, Frylock says they stopped fighting crime because "that wasn't making us a whole lot of money".Spoken dialogue in Kidney Car

Writing and direction

Every episode of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' was written and

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

by series creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro and produced by

Williams Street Williams Street Productions, LLC, formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a unit of Warner Bros. ...

. Much of the dialogue was supplemented with ad-libs and improvisation by the voice talent. The show was fully scripted but ad-libs are included in the final recordings and the shows are animated to include this improvisation. Many of the crew and cast members formerly worked on ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American live-action/ adult animated hybrid television series created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and first broadcast in 1994. It takes the form of a surreal parody of talk shows, hosted by a reimagi ...

''.

Voice actors

The main cast of the series consists of Dana Snyder as Master Shake, Carey Means as Frylock, and series co-creator Dave Willis as both Meatwad and Carl, as well as Ignignokt.Ignignokt official character guide
from

. (archive) In addition to the main cast series co-creator Matt Maiellaro voices Err, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future,

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

and Markula.Err official character guide
from

. (archive)Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future official character guide
from

. (archive) Members of the main cast and Maiellaro also voice several minor and one-time characters in addition to their primary roles. All three main characters appear in almost every episode. They are all absent from the season five episode "Sirens" and the season ten episode "Spacecadeuce". In the season five episode "Robots Everywhere", Frylock and Master Shake only make brief unseen speaking cameos, while Meatwad is completely absent. Voiceover artist George Lowe has made several appearances throughout the series. Lowe previously starred as Space Ghost in ''

'' and the original incarnation of '' Cartoon Planet'', from which several cast and crew members moved on to work for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. Lowe made his first appearance in ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' in the season one episode "Mail Order Bride" and went on to make several other cameos. He had a prominent appearance as himself in the season four episode "Antenna", and reprised his role as Space Ghost for a quick appearance in '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters''. Lowe was later considered a member of the main cast in 2011 during '' Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1''; he announced the title of each episode and continued to make cameos. Lowe later made another prominent appearance in the '' Aqua Something You Know Whatever'' episode "Rocket Horse and Jet Chicken". Series animator C. Martin Croker, known for his interpretation of Zorak in various shows and specials, provided the voices of both Dr. Weird and Steve during the

cold openings A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In North A ...

for the first two seasons and " Allen Part One". Croker also voiced several birds in the season seven episode "Eggball". Andy Merrill has portrayed Oglethorpe alongside

Mike Schatz Mike Schatz is an American creative director, copywriter, actor, and comedian. He is best known as the voice of Emory the Plutonian on the Adult Swim series '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' and the film; '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for ...

as Emory in several episodes. Merrill is also well known for his interpretation of Brak in several shows and specials and provided the voice of Merle in "Escape from Leprechaupolis" and "The Last One". MC Chris, who has a history of voicing characters on Adult Swim programs, has provided the voice of MC Pee Pants in several episodes. Chris also provided the voice of eight-year-old Carl in "Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future" and returned for a musical role in the season seven episode " One Hundred" after a long absence. Tommy Blacha joined the recurring cast with the introduction of his character Wongburger in the season four episode "Dickesode". With the exception of Tommy Blacha, the entire recurring cast reprised their roles in ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters''. Various comedians, athletes, and other celebrities have made guest appearances, usually credited under pseudonyms due to the series originally using non-union voice talent. The twelfth season featured

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian voice actor based in the United States. He is mostly known for voicing several ''Looney Tunes'' characters, for which he won three Emmy Awards for his performances in '' Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (20 ...

, Brian Cox,

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

Dan Fogler Daniel Kevin Fogler (born October 20, 1976) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He had his breakout in theatre, winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as William Barfée in the Broadway production of '' ...

and Gary Anthony Williams. Unlike the first eleven seasons, the twelfth season is unionized under

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

Alternative titles

In 2011, for the eighth season, the series' title was changed to ''Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1''; Maiellaro later explained that he and Willis were getting bored with the former title and wanted to "come up with a new fresh open and a whole new show, just to try it out". Despite the title change there were virtually no changes to the show's characters or tone. In 2012 Maiellaro announced that each subsequent season would have a different series title, making it a

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

. Willis later said the alternate titles were just an unsuccessful stunt to generate buzz. Each season that is branded under an alternate title features a different opening sequence and theme music written by different artists. On most television listings and digital download sites, the alternatively titled episodes are formally listed under their alternative titles, not as episodes of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. On most legal digital downloading sites that feature the series, the first 7 seasons are presented as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' while the alternatively titled seasons are listed separately and treated as if they were each a completely different, one-season series.

Theme music

Rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Schoolly D Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Biography Schoolly D was born Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. in West Philadelphia and raised in Philadelph ...

performed the ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

used in the first seven seasons. An extended remix version of the theme was used in the 2007 film adaptation and in the soundtrack for the 2011 video game '' Saints Row: The Third''. After a multi-year absence, Schoolly D returned for the season seven episode "Rabbot Redux", performing a different theme song used exclusively in that episode. The special intro to "Rabbot Redux" featured the exact animation used in the regular intro. Each subsequent season featured a different theme song by a different artist with a different animated intro. The eighth season was written and performed by Joshua Homme and Alain Johannes. Schoolly D returned for the season nine intro for ''Aqua Something You Know Whatever'', writing and performing it with Mariachi El Bronx. The season 10 theme song was produced by

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), better known as Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker, and rapper. He has released seven critically acclaimed albums: ''1983'' (2006), ''Los Angeles'' (2008), '' Co ...

, an artist with a long history of being featured in Adult Swim's bumps. Every episode features an opening sequence, with the rare exceptions of the season two episode "The Last One", the season nine episode "The Granite Family", and the season ten episode "Spacecadeuce".

2015 cancellation

In 2015, it was announced that Adult Swim had cancelled ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. The cancellation went against the wishes of Willis and Maiellaro, who first learned about it from the animation studio, Awesome Inc., halfway through the production of the 11th season.Dave Willis speaking at a C2CE convention panel on April 25, 2015
posted on Twitch Willis said that Adult Swim president Mike Lazzo made the decision to end the series because "he was ready to move on from it". The double-length episode "The Last One Forever and Ever (For Real This Time) (We Fucking Mean It)" was falsely promoted as the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...

and aired on August 23, 2015. The actual series finale, "

The Greatest Story Ever Told ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a 1965 American epic film, epic List of religious films, religious film that retells the Biblical account of Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity of Jesus, Nativity through to the Ascension of J ...

", was quietly released early online on August 26 before airing four days later, with virtually no advertisement. At the time of its conclusion, ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' was Adult Swim's longest-running original series.

Revival

During an interview about the series' cancellation, Maiellaro said there are no plans to revive ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', but that it could return someday. In 2017, Adult Swim was asked why they don't make more episodes, to which they responded "we might" via a

bump Bump or bumps may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Bump (dance), a dance from the 1970s disco era * ''BUMP'' (comics), 2007-08 limited edition comic book series Fictional characters * Bobby Bumps, titular character of a series of American si ...

. In April 2022, Adult Swim began uploading ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' shorts under the name ''Aquadonk Side Pieces'' to their YouTube channel. These shorts are often less than four minutes and center around the villains in the show, with all original voice actors reprising their roles. In December 2022, Maiellaro announced in an interview that he and Dave Willis were working on five new Aqua Teen scripts. A month later, Adult Swim officially announced the five episodes as the show's twelfth season. The first 11 seasons were created using

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc., Adobe for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital ...

images, animated using

Adobe After Effects Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc.; it is used for animation and in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Amo ...

, and edited using Apple's Final Cut Pro. Beginning with season 12, the series is animated by Floyd County Productions. In a May 2024 tweet, Matt Maiellaro indicated that future seasons were unlikely for the time being, describing the show as "cancelled."

Episodes

Films

''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' (2007)

A feature film based on the show, '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters'', was released on April 13, 2007. The movie follows the origins of the Aqua Teens, which includes an

exercise machine An exercise machine is any machine used for physical exercise. These range from simple spring-like devices to computerized electromechanical devices to recirculating-stream swimming pools. Most exercise machines incorporate an ergometer. An ergome ...

Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart ( ; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian and American musician, known as the drummer, percussionist, and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush (band), Rush. He was known to fans by the nickname "the Profe ...

of the band Rush, a watermelon slice named Walter Melon, and an appearance by a heavy metal band

Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

in the opening sequence. The film also introduces a fourth Aqua Teen, a chicken nugget named Chicken Bittle (voiced by Bruce Campbell). The Plutonians and the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, recurring characters, both make appearances in the movie, as well as the Mooninites, Dr. Weird and MC Pee Pants (this being his last appearance in the series).

''Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm'' (2022)

In a 2010 interview, staff members of

Radical Axis In Euclidean geometry, the radical axis of two non-concentric circles is the set of points whose Power of a point, power with respect to the circles are equal. For this reason the radical axis is also called the power line or power bisector of ...

stated that a sequel entitled ''Death Fighter'' was in production, and mentioned the possibility that the film might be made in 3-D. When asked if the film was designed for a theatrical release, a Radical Axis staff member responded yes, but stated: "We're not sure if we have a distributor yet", though this was then followed by the statement that "Adult Swim will never make another movie ever again". By 2014, the script for ''Death Fighter'' had been completed and approved; however, Willis indirectly stated that the project was scrapped, soon after announcing the show's cancellation. He later mentioned on

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

that it would cost $3.4 million to produce, and expressed interest in doing a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

to fund it. A new film was confirmed to be in production in May 2021, no other details have been confirmed other than it will be a

film. On May 12, 2021, Adult Swim confirmed the production of three new original films, including a new ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' film to make exclusive debuts on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

following a physical/VOD release. On November 14, 2021, it was announced the film would be released in 2022. On May 18, 2022, it was revealed the film would be titled ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Plantasm''. It was changed to '' Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm''. The film was released on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD and digital on November 8, 2022.

Broadcast

The pilot episode "Rabbot" originally aired on Cartoon Network on December 30, 2000, as part of a special preview of upcoming Adult Swim shows. Other shows in the preview block included ''

Sealab 2021 ''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 befor ...

'', ''

The Brak Show ''The Brak Show'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Jim Fortier, Andy Merrill, and Pete Smith for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. ''The Brak Show'' serves as a spin-off of the animated television seri ...

'', and '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law''. ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' later made its official debut on September 9, 2001, on Adult Swim, where the series has since aired exclusively, in the United States. The final episode "The Greatest Story Ever Told" made its television debut on August 30, 2015, after having been quietly released online four days earlier.

International broadcast

In Canada, ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' previously aired on

Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...

Teletoon at Night Teletoon at Night was a late night programming block that aired on Teletoon. It primarily carried adult animation and other programming targeting teen and adult audiences. Teletoon had carried programming targeting teen and adult audiences du ...

block and later G4's Adult Digital Distraction block. The series currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim. In Australia, it began airing on SBS2 starting April 2013, but ceased airing, and returned in July 2016 as part of a version of

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anima ...

, with the series airing from the beginning.

Merchandise

Several pieces of

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

have been made for the series, including

T-shirts A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s, wristbands, patches, and

buttons A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...

featuring characters in the series. Master Shake and Carl

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

costumes for adults were also available. There was also a series of collectible

action figures An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These fig ...

and plush toys available along with car decals. Several pieces of custom merchandise were available on the Adult Swim Shop before the site quietly shut down in March 2012. ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack'', the soundtrack to the film, was released in stores on April 10, 2007. On November 3, 2009, a Christmas album sung by characters from the show was released entitled ''Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas'' was released in stores. In September 2010, Adult Swim Shop introduced a full scale, functioning

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

in the likeness of Meatwad at a cost of $70,000. The purchase includes a piloted, one-hour ride anywhere in the continental United States, and the buyer got to keep it although a pilot's license would be required to actually fly it. The balloon was the most expensive item on Adult Swim Shop, surpassing the ''

Metalocalypse ''Metalocalypse'' is an American Musical film, musical adult animated television series created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for Adult Swim. It premiered on August 6, 2006. The television program centers on the larger-than-life melodic deat ...

'' "Dethklok Fountain" fountain, which was released early in 2010 for $40,000. The hot air balloon is no longer available.

Home releases

The first eight seasons have been released and distributed on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in volumes by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

. Each set was also released in Region 2 and by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...

in Region 4. The movie was released on a DVD set titled ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters for DVD'', with the season four episode "Deleted Scenes" included as a special feature on August 17, 2007. The season five episode "Robots Everywhere" was also released as a special feature on the '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am'' video game on November 5, 2007, months prior to its official television debut on January 20, 2008. The first eleven seasons with the exception of the episodes "Boston" and "Shake Like Me" and the film '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' were released in a 20-disc DVD collection on September 20, 2022, as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Baffler Meal Complete Collection''. It was the first time that seasons 9-11 have been released on DVD. The episode "Shake Like Me" is not included on the DVD due to its use of

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

, similar to its removal from rerun rotations and

. A second movie, '' Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm'', was released on Blu-ray and 4K on November 20, 2022. With the exception of the season four episode "Deleted Scenes", episodes of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' are also available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

, the

Xbox Live Marketplace Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) was a digital distribution platform previously used by Microsoft's Xbox 360 and formerly by the Xbox One. The service allowed users to download or purchase video games (including both Xbox Live Ar ...

, and

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

, with seasons five and up available in HD on iTunes and the Xbox Live Marketplace, and with seasons six up on Amazon Video. The movie is also available in HD and SD on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The season five episode "Boston" has never been released in any form of home media. The series has been made available for on-demand streaming on Hulu Plus, as part of a deal made with Hulu and Turner Broadcasting. Every episode from all seasons is available for streaming at

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

. As of May 27, 2020, the series is also available on

, with the exception of the episodes "Boston" and "Shake Like Me".

Video games

There have also been

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

created based on the series. ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Destruct-O-Thon'', a

mobile game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any Mobile device, portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet computer, table ...

based on the series, was published and released by Macrospace games in 2004. In 2005 Oberon Games released ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Studio Shakedown'' for PC. ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am'', a

golfing Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit a ball into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

/kart racing/fighting game, was developed by Creat Studios and published by

Midway Games Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (franchise), Ra ...

, and released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

on November 5, 2007. An online Flash game based on the series entitled ''The Worst Game Ever'' was released, but was eventually taken down. A game entitled ''Carl's Freaking Strip Poker'' was also available on Adult Swim Games, but was eventually taken down.

Reception, influence, and legacy

In January 2009,

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

listed the series as the 39th best in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows. The series was nominated for

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

in 2007 and 2008. In 2011 Willis and Maiellaro received

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

nominations for writing in the season eight episode, "The Creditor". In 2019, IGN placed ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' 25th on their list of Top 25 Animated series for adults. James Rolfe, best known for creating the ''

Angry Video Game Nerd ''Angry Video Game Nerd'' (''AVGN''; originally known as ''The Angry Nintendo Nerd'') is an American retrogaming review comedy web series starring and created by James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply ...

'', has cited the show as an influence on ''Nerd'' as well as shaping his sense of humor.

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

Jason Gastrow, better known as Videogamedunkey, has also cited the show as a comedic influence.Archived a
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and th
Wayback Machine

2007 Boston bomb scare

The series received national attention in 2007 because of a publicity stunt that became known as the Boston bomb scare. On January 31, 2007, as part of a national

guerrilla marketing Guerrilla marketing is an Advertising, advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a Product (business), product or Service (business), service. It is a type of publicity. The ...

campaign for the series, Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens installed Lite-Brite-like

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

displays depicting the Mooninites in eleven different cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. In Boston, the authorities considered the LEDs suspicious, prompting the closure of major roads and waterways for investigation.

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its asse ...

later admitted to placing the LEDs and apologized for the misunderstanding. Berdovsky and Stevens faced charges for "placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct"; in spite of the uproar, the two mocked the media and critics in interviews. All criminal charges were dropped in exchange for Berdovsky and Stevens apologizing during their court date and accepting a plea bargain that consisted of community service at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center. Turner Broadcasting paid the

Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1854, the BPD is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. It is also the 20th largest law enforce ...

$1 million to cover the investigation's cost and an additional $1 million for good will. This was designed to settle criminal and civil claims, while the general manager of Cartoon Network stepped down because of the incident. Of the eleven cities in which the displays were placed, only Boston saw them as a matter of concern. The installations had been up for weeks before the panic. An ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' episode from season five, "Boston", was produced as the series creators' response to the bomb scare, but Adult Swim pulled it to avoid further controversy. The episode has never aired or been formally released to the public legally in any format, though an unfinished version of it was illegally leaked online in January 2015.

References

External links