''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' is an American science-fiction comedy television series created by

John Gemberling John Gemberling (born February 1, 1981) is an American actor and comedian best known for roles as Bevers on the Comedy Central series ''Broad City'', as Gil on the NBC sitcom '' Marry Me'', and as John Hancock on the Fox sitcom '' Making History'' ...

and

Curtis Gwinn ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' is an American science-fiction comedy television series created by John Gemberling and Curtis Gwinn for Cartoon Network's late-night adult-oriented programming block Adult Swim; and ended with a total of ten episod ...

for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

's late-night adult-oriented programming block

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

; and ended with a total of ten episodes. An adaptation/remake of Gemberling and Gwinn's 2005 Channel 102

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

''Gemberling'', ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' follows computer programmer Ken Gemberling – the titular "Fat Guy" – who is accidentally sucked into his computer and learns he is destined to save cyberspace from a variety of evils. After a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...

aired in May 2007, Adult Swim commissioned a full season of ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' which lasted ten episodes, airing from June 2008 to August 2008. Following the run of its first season, the channel chose not to renew the show for a second, effectively cancelling the series.

Setting and premise

Hotshot

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/create ...

Ken Gemberling is the top programmer at Ynapmoclive Interactive, but is also remarkably rude, selfish, and arrogant. After dumping beer on his computer keyboard, Gemberling is inexplicably sucked into his computer, landing in the farthest reaches of the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

where he soon discovers that he is in fact "The Chosen One", prophesied to save

cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...

from a devastating virus known as the nanoplague. Joined by a pair of humanoid "programs" named Bit and Byte, Gemberling embarks on an epic adventure to save the internet, return home and unleash the hero within, all the while hunted through cyberspace by ruthless

white trash White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a ...

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

Chains.

Production

''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' first appeared as a 2005

created by

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKay, ...

alumni John Gemberling and Curtis Gwinn, known as the

comedy duo A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...

of The Cowboy & John. Originally titled ''Gemberling'', the series followed the same storyline and major plot points of its television adaptation, featuring much of the same cast (with the notable exception of

Katie Dippold Katie Dippold (born January 10, 1980) is an American screenwriter. She was a writer on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' and wrote '' The Heat'' starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy and the 2016 ''Ghostbusters'' reboot. Life and c ...

in the role of Byte) though with a considerably lower budget and more

profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, ru ...

. Aired in five-minute episodes as part of Channel 102, ''Gemberling'' became Channel 102's longest-running original series, lasting a total of eight episodes including a 17-minute finale. The shorts also aired as part of

Fuse TV Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting multic ...

s ''Munchies''. In January 2007,

announced that they had commissioned Gemberling and Gwinn to create a series based on ''Gemberling'' as part of the

programming block. Adult Swim made the decision to rename the series as ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'', a title which both creators disliked. The entirety of the series was filmed and produced inside of a warehouse in

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland P ...

. On May 30, 2008, Gemberling and Gwinn premiered ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' before a live audience at the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' uses a mix of

greenscreen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...

effects, hard sets, miniatures,

matte painting A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that is not present at the filming location. Historically, matte painters and film technicians ...

s and

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

to create the show's cyberspace environment, though carries over many of the intentionally low-budget props and special effects from the web series (e.g. broom handles being used as laser-shooting weapons, etc.). The basic premise of ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its su ...

of the film ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer an ...

'', from which the series also borrows several visual elements. Gemberling and Gwinn have noted further parody and stylistic influence taken from ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

'', '' Star Wars'', ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

'' and

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, in particular his '' Dark Tower'' series.

Characters

* Gemberling (

) - A skilled but slovenly programmer in real life otherwise recognized by his given internet handle of "Fat Guy Stuck in Internet", Gemberling is actually the prophesied savior of the internet, destined to save cyberspace from evil. At first a selfish jerk, Gemberling's quest brings out his inner goodness and strength as he learns the value of heroism and friendship. * Chains (Curtis Gwinn) - A dim-witted

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, '' ...

bounty hunter hired by the C.E.O. to track Gemberling through cyberspace, Chains is more interested in smoking pot and eating cyberchicken than doing his job. Chains eventually becomes Gemberling's troublesome

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sh ...

. * Byte (

Liz Cackowski Elizabeth Cackowski is an American comedy writer and actress. Career Cackowski began her comedy career at The Second City in Chicago where she was discovered and hired by ''Saturday Night Live'', where she worked as a writer from 2003 to 2006. ...

) - The sister of Bit, Byte is a humanoid computer program who aides Gemberling early in his quest, placing great confidence and belief in his abilities. She is later kidnapped by Chains and converted to

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

by the C.E.O. * Bit (

Neil Casey Neil Casey (born July 28, 1981) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He served as a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2013 and ''Inside Amy Schumer'' in 2014, receiving Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writin ...

) - Brother of Byte, Bit is another humanoid program who assists Gemberling in his adventure. Along with Byte, he is kidnapped by Chains and ultimately suffers his fate at the hands of his newly evil sister. * The C.E.O. (John Gemberling) - The villainous (albeit inept) C.E.O. of Ynapmoclive Interactive, he controls the nanoplague which will destroy the internet.

Episodes

International broadcast

In Canada, ''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' previously aired on G4's Adult Digital Distraction block, and on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.

Reception

''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' received mixed reviews from viewers and critics. ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...

'', having reviewed every episode as part of their "Adult Swim Sunday" column, was one of the series' harsher critics, primarily criticizing the show's "cheap" writing, poor movie parodies and John Gemberling's "smirking, mediocre" performance. As the series progressed, however, the reception became a bit warmer, with later episodes being called "not completely terrible" and "not entirely unpleasant" to the final episode being described as "going out with a bang", the reviewer admitting "for a couple minutes, I actually found myself engaged". ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' looked positively on the series, noting the show "delivers", being "striking-looking and even good-hearted in its own bizarre way".

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Williams Street 2000s American comic science fiction television series 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings Mass media about Internet culture Adult Swim original programming Channel 101 English-language television shows Television series by Williams Street