''King Star King'' is an American adult animated web series created by J.J. Villard for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

; Eric Kaplan also worked on the series' pilot episode. The series aired on the network's online video streaming service

Adult Swim Video 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 pro ...

on June 15, 2014 before it was aired on TV. A TV special ''King Star King!/!/!/'' will air on February 13, 2023.

Synopsis

The series revolves around the titular character, King Star King ( Tommy Blacha): a tall, blond muscular man. After seducing his love, Princess Snow White, he falls from his higher plane of existence to serve as a fry cook in a run-down waffle house. In order to reclaim his place in the heavens, he must battle his

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

to defeat the evil Spring Bunny ( Eric Kaplan) and rescue Snow White.

Production

The pilot was announced preceding the network's 2012

upfront ''UpFront'' is a current affairs discussion, debate and analysis programme on Al Jazeera English. The show premiered on 4 September 2015 shortly after Al Jazeera moved into their new Washington D.C. hub. The show has a politics focus although othe ...

as part of their development slate. It was also disclosed during the upfront, and was reported again before the network's upfront the following year. It was announced as a web series for

to premiere June 15, 2014; the series was advertised as "too shexxxy " for television. The network conducted an online poll whether episodes should be released daily or all at once; on June 11, the network announced it would release all six episodes of the first season simultaneously. A sweepstake for the series was announced on June 9, promoting six chances to win original artwork by Villard. The series is animated using Adobe Flash by

Titmouse, Inc. Titmouse, Inc. is an American animation studio that develops and produces animated television programming, feature films, music videos, title sequences, commercials, and short films. The studio opened in 2000, and has offices in Los Angeles, New ...

with ink and paint services made by Cyber Chicken Studios in South Korea and produced by J.J. Villard's vanity card, Kurtis;

Mirari Films Mirari Films was an animation and special effects company based in Los Angeles, with facilities in Brasov, Romania and New York City. In 2022, the studio closed down then the employees moved to any other animation faculties (including Bento Box ...

's Romanian facilities provided animation for the pilot episode. In an interview at the 2013 Comic-Con, Villard dubbed the titular character as "

He-Man He-Man is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by h ...

on drugs". Series developer Tommy Blacha went on to describe comments with the network's

Standards and Practices In the United States, Standards and Practices (also referred to as Broadcast Standards and Practices or BS&P for short) is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and leg ...

to "better tell he show" When asked about the inspiration for the series, Blacha joked that Villard pitched the series to network executive Mike Lazzo with a drawing of the protagonist, to which he approved production of the pilot. The two explained that as Villard started working on it with another producer and driving Lazzo "crazy," he abandoned the pilot; this led to Blacha joining as producer and toning it down by "two percent."

Voices

* Tommy Blacha - King Star King, Hank Waffles, Gurbles, Fat Frank, Mike Balls, KWA KWA * Robin Atkin Downes - Narrator, Alfonso Molestro, Doctor, Chunkles, Hank's Mother, Tim Tumor, Carmine Excrementi, Pinchy Laroux, God Star God * J.J. Villard - Pooza, Customer, Surfer * Rachel Butera - Princess Snow White (2014), Slutty Waitress, Baroness Sludgeclot, Smear, Mrs. Balls, Burger Bitch * Mallory McGill - Princess Snow White (2013) * Eric Kaplan - Spring Bunny, Scrod * Will Sasso - Eddie 5 Antlers

Episodes

Pilot (2013)

Series (2014)

Release and reception

The pilot was screened at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, along with a panel hosted by Villard and Blacha. In July 2013, it was released online as part of a presentation of in-development shows for the network, partnered with

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

; viewers could vote for their favorite pilot, with the winner being broadcast on August 26, 2013. The series lost to ''Übermansion'', a Stoopid Buddy Stoodios production, although the presentation won an Internet Advertising Campaign Award in 2014 for "Best TV Integrated Ad Campaign". Nevertheless, the pilot aired on the network's Toonami block on November 3, 2013 during the daylight saving time transition;

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

were not captured during this period. Meredith Woerner of io9 said that the series gained their approval at its description of a " punk rock

". Conversely, upon surveying the show's description, Patrick Kevin Day of the '' Los Angeles Times'' official blog dubbed the network a "home for stupid characters".

References

External links

* *
''King Star King'' pilot
on

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