Robot Chicken

Robot Chicken
Title Card
Genre	Comedy
Format	Stop motion animation Sketch comedy
Created by	Seth Green Matthew Senreich
Voices of	(Complete list)
Opening theme	"Robot Chicken" by Les Claypool
Composer(s)	Michael Suby
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	100 (and 4 specials) (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Seth Green Matthew Senreich Alex Bulkley Corey Campodonico
Running time	11-12 minutes
Production company(s)	ShadowMachine Films (2005-2012) Stoopid Monkey (2005-2012) Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (2012- ) Sony Pictures Digital Williams Street
Broadcast
Original channel	Adult Swim
Picture format	4:3 SDTV (2005-2009) 16:9 HDTV (2010-present)
Original run	February 20, 2005 (2005-02-20) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Titan Maximum
External links
Website

Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show. Senreich, Goldstein, and Root were former writers for the popular action figure hobbyist magazine ToyFare. The show's reception is good, with some calling it a cult classic. It has won an Annie Award and also been nominated for an Emmy Award.

Series genre and creation

Robot Chicken is a sketch comedy that parodies a number of pop culture conventions using stop motion animation of toys, action figures, and claymation (usually for special effects) and various other objects, such as tongue depressors, The Game of Life pegs and popsicle sticks during a joke about loss of budget. The show's name was inspired by a dish on the menu at a West Hollywood Chinese restaurant, Kung Pao Bistro, where Green and Senreich had dined, although the series originally was intended to be called "Junk in the Trunk".

The show premiered on Sunday, February 20, 2005. It is produced by Stoop!d Monkey, ShadowMachine Films, Williams Street, and Sony Pictures Digital, and currently airs in the US as a part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, in the United Kingdom and Ireland as part of FX's Adult Swim block, in Canada on Teletoon's TELETOON at Night block, in Australia on The Comedy Channel's Adult Swim block, in Russia on 2x2's Adult Swim block, in Germany on TNT Serie's Adult Swim block and in Latin America on the I.Sat Adult Swim block (after being cancelled from Latin Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in 2008 for unknown reasons).

The series was renewed for a 20-episode third season, which ran from August 12, 2007 to September 28, 2008. After an eight month hiatus, during the 3rd season, the show returned on August 31, 2008 to air the remaining 5 episodes. The series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on December 7, 2008 and ended September 20, 2009. In early 2010, the show was renewed for a 5th and 6th season (40 more episodes total). Season 5 premiered on December 12, 2010. The second group of episodes began broadcasting on October 23, 2011. They aired their 100th episode on January 15th, 2012.

In 2007, Robot Chicken was the highest rated original show on Adult Swim and the second highest on the network, after Family Guy.

Overview

The show focuses on mocking pop culture, referencing toys, movies, television, and popular fads, as well as more obscure references like anime cartoons and older television programs. One particular motif often involves the idea of fantastical characters being placed in a more realistic world or situation (such as Stretch Armstrong requiring a corn syrup transplant after losing his abilities because of aging, Optimus Prime performing a prostate cancer PSA, and Godzilla having problems in the bedroom). The program even had a 30 minute episode dedicated to Star Wars which premiered June 17, 2007 in the US featuring the voices of Star Wars notables George Lucas, Mark Hamill (from a previous episode), Billy Dee Williams, and Ahmed Best. (The Star Wars episode was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award: Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)). Another recurring segment is "Hilarious Bloopers", a parody of the Bob Saget era of America's Funniest Home Videos featuring the host constantly moving around in various exaggerated, disjointed motions. Unlike that show, this skit ends with the host using various household methods of suicide. Another recurring character is the "nerd"; (Whose name was mentioned as Gary in an early episode but was later revealed to be Arthur Kensington Jr.) a dorky middle school kid with broken glasses and a plaid shirt who talks with a lisp, spitting when he says the letter S. Every season finale to date has ended with Mike Lazzo, the head of Adult Swim, saying that "Robot Chicken is canceled", although thus far it has still returned for an additional season following each joke proclamation.

Opening sequence

A mute Mad Scientist finds a road-killed chicken, which he takes back to his laboratory to re-fashion into a cyborg. Midway through the opening sequence, the titular chicken turns its laser eye towards the camera, and the title appears amidst the 'laser effects' as Les Claypool of Primus can be heard screaming "It's alive!" in typical Frankenstein fashion. Claypool also composed and performed the show's theme song. The Mad Scientist then straps the re-animated Robot Chicken into a chair, uses calipers to hold its eyes open, and forces it to watch a bank of television monitors (an allusion to A Clockwork Orange); this scene segues into the body of the show. (In the episode "1987", Michael Ian Black claims that this sequence tells the viewer that they are the Robot Chicken, being forced to watch the skits); as a result, the show does not actually focus on the robot chicken. The first episode of the fifth season debuted a new opening, a parody of the film Saving Private Ryan, but returned to normal in following episodes.

Voice cast

Main cast

Besides Seth Green voicing himself and many of the characters for the show, major recurring actors / writers are:

Jordan Allen-Dutton Candace Bailey Abraham Benrubi Alex Borstein Leah Cevoli Rachael Leigh Cook Hugh Davidson

Eden Espinosa Donald Faison Tamara Garfield Sarah Michelle Gellar Ginnifer Goodwin Clare Grant Jamie Kaler

Mila Kunis Jordan Ladd Seth MacFarlane Breckin Meyer Dan Milano Chad Morgan Tom Root

Matthew Senreich Amy Smart Kevin Shinick Adam Talbott Erik Weiner Zeb Wells Victor Yerrid

Celebrity guest stars

Among those celebrities that contributed to this show are:

Scott Adsit Magda Apanowicz Sean Astin Sebastian Bach Kevin Bacon Robin Bain Diora Baird Sasha Barrese Lance Bass Kristen Bell Ahmed Best Michael Ian Black Wayne Brady Amy Brenneman Alison Brie Eugene Byrd Dean Cain Bruce Campbell Tisha Campbell-Martin Linda Cardellini Robert Carradine Emma Caulfield Kyle Chandler Kristin Chenoweth Emmanuelle Chriqui Michael Chiklis Erika Christensen Diablo Cody Gary Coleman Kevin Connolly Josh Cooke Abbie Cornish Dave Coulier Bryan Cranston Chace Crawford Affion Crockett Macaulay Culkin Robert Culp Alan Cumming

Jean-Claude Van Damme Anthony Daniels Rosario Dawson Dom DeLuise Dustin Diamond Phyllis Diller Snoop Dogg Dr. Drew Clark Duke Zac Efron Chris Evans Joey Fatone David Faustino Jon Favreau Corey Feldman Miguel Ferrer Nathan Fillion Carrie Fisher Dan Fogler Megan Fox Alfonso Freeman Soleil Moon Frye Peter Gallagher Donald Glover Zachary Gordon Mark-Paul Gosselaar Topher Grace Spencer Grammer Brian Austin Green Cee-Lo Green Melanie Griffith Josh Groban Greg Grunberg Corey Haim Jon Hamm Alyson Hannigan Colin Hanks Neil Patrick Harris Melissa Joan Hart

Dennis Haskins David Hasselhoff Ethan Hawke Jon Heder Hugh Hefner Mike Henry Hulk Hogan Michael Hogan Kelly Hu Vanessa Hudgens Gregory Itzin Scarlett Johansson Rashida Jones Monica Keena Jimmy Kimmel Don Knotts Ashton Kutcher Mike Lazzo Stan Lee Matthew Lillard Christopher Lloyd Mario Lopez George Lucas Ludacris Holly Madison Jena Malone Lee Majors Bridget Marquardt James Marsden Danny Masterson Ming-Na William Mapother Christopher McCulloch Malcolm McDowell John C. McGinley Joel McHale Julian McMahon Rove McManus Shane McRae

Jim Meskimen Sir Mix-a-Lot Katy Mixon Ronald D. Moore Pat Morita Olivia Munn Conan O'Brien Pat O'Brien Raymond Ochoa Sandra Oh Masi Oka Master P Adrianne Palicki Hayden Panettiere Chris Parnell Simon Pegg Ron Perlman Katelin Peterson Roddy Piper Scott Porter Freddie Prinze, Jr. Danny Pudi Zachary Quinto Josh Radnor Efren Ramirez Marion Ramsey Jeremy Renner Burt Reynolds Alfonso Ribeiro Andy Richter Paul Rudd Debra Jo Rupp Jeri Ryan Katee Sackhoff Meredith Salenger Rick Schroder Ryan Seacrest Dave Sheridan Dax Shepard

Sarah Silverman Gene Simmons J. K. Simmons Nick Simmons Christian Slater Jean Smart Robert Smigel Kurtwood Smith Hal Sparks Emma Stone Patrick Stump Marc Summers T-Pain Tila Tequila Charlize Theron Lea Thompson Rory Thost Stuart Townsend Michelle Trachtenberg Triple H Alan Tudyk Robin Tunney Skeet Ulrich Wilmer Valderrama James Van Der Beek Milo Ventimiglia Lark Voorhies Patrick Warburton Pete Wentz Joss Whedon Mae Whitman Kendra Wilkinson Billy Dee Williams Harland Williams Michael Winslow Elijah Wood Matthew Wood "Weird Al" Yankovic Tay Zonday

Other voice actors

Besides the celebrities above, many famous voice actors work on this series including:

Michael Benyaer Bob Bergen Julianne Buescher Keith Crofford Jim Cummings Jeannie Elias Bill Farmer

Mike Fasolo Keith Ferguson Quinton Flynn Danny Goldman Mark Hamill Tom Kane Phil LaMarr

George Lowe Roger L. Jackson Rachael MacFarlane Drew Massey Patrick Pinney Bill Ratner Adam Reed

Susan Silo Danny Smith Dana Snyder Stephen Stanton Cree Summer Fred Tatasciore Frank Welker

Episodes

Main article: List of Robot Chicken episodes

DVD releases

DVD Name	Release Date			Ep #	Discs
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Season One	March 28, 2006	September 29, 2008	April 4, 2007	1–20	3
This two disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 1 in production order. While it contains many sketches that were edited from the TV airings, several of the original Sony Screenblast webtoons, and the words "Jesus" and "Christ" as an oath unbleeped (though "fuck" and "shit" are still censored out), the episodes are not all uncut. One particular segment that featured the Teen Titans meeting Beavis and Butt-head was omitted from the DVD because of legal problems. The Voltron/"You Got Served" sketch shown on the DVD has a replacement song because of legal issues over the song that was used on the TV version. At a performance of Family Guy Live in Chicago, during the Q&A session that ends each performance, Seth Green was asked how they came up with the name Robot Chicken. He explained that the title of each episode was a name Adult Swim rejected for the name of the show. A Region 2 version of the set was released in the UK on September 29, 2008.
Season Two: Uncensored	September 4, 2007	September 28, 2009	November 11, 2007	21–40	3
This two disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 2 in production order and uncensored, with the words "fuck" and "shit" uncensored (except for one instance in the episode "Easter Basket" in the Lego sketch). It is currently available for download on iTunes (though the episode "Veggies for Sloth" is absent because of copyright issues involving the "Archie's Final Destination" segment.) Seth Green stated at Comic-Con 2006 that the second DVD set will contain the "Beavis and Butt-head meet the Teen Titans" sketch, which had been removed from the first DVD set because of copyright issues. However, the sketch is absent from the DVD (Although it is available on iTunes). Bonus features include the Christmas Special. A secret Nerf gun fight can be found on the disc 1 extras menu and pushing "up" over the extras and set-up items on the menu reveals more special features.
Season Three: Uncensored	October 7, 2008	January 25, 2010	December 3, 2008	41–60	3
This two disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 3 in production order. This DVD is Uncensored except for the "Cat in the Hat" sketch from episode 7 on Disc 1. It also intentionally censored in episode 5 in the "Law and Order" KFC sketch. This DVD has special features such as deleted scenes and animatics. It also includes commentary for all of the episodes and has "Chicken Nuggets" commentary for episodes 1 and 3-5. The bonus features also include a gag reel and audio takes.
Star Wars Special	July 22, 2008	TBA	August 6, 2008	1	1
This single DVD features the Star Wars special in its TV-edited version (i.e. with bleeps in place of profane words) and several extras about the crew and their work on the special, including a photo gallery, alternate audio, and an easter egg demonstrating the crew's difficulty in composing a proper musical score for the sketch "Empire on Ice". Also features various audio commentaries, featuring members of the cast and crew.
Star Wars Episode II	July 21, 2009	TBA	August 5, 2009	1	1
This single DVD features the main Star Wars special extras, including normal Robot Chicken episodes and common DVD extras; The Making Of, deleted scenes etc.
Season Four: Uncensored	December 15, 2009	August 30, 2010	December 2, 2009	61–80	3
This two disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 4 in production order. The special features include Chicken Nuggets, San Diego Comic-Con '08 Panel, Day in the life, New York Comic-Con '09 Panel, Video Blogs, Australia Visit, Alternate Audio, Deleted Scenes and Deleted Animations. Plus Commentary on all 20 episodes.
Season Five: Uncensored	October 25, 2011		November 30, 2011	81-100	3
This two disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 5, in production order. Nine of the episodes were previously unaired before DVD release. The set includes commentary on all episodes, Chicken Nuggets on a few episodes, a featurette on Episode 100. Deleted Scenes and Deleted Animations are also included. In Deleted Scenes are the sketches Beavis and Butthead Meet the Teen Titans (deleted from Season One due to copyright issues) and the Riverdale: Final Destination Sketch (deleted from Season 2 sets).

Revolver Entertainment have released the first four seasons and all three Star Wars specials in the United Kingdom. A box set including the first 3 seasons has also been released.

Madman Entertainment has released up to date all Robot Chicken releases in Australia and New Zealand.

See also

• Sweet J Presents
• Titan Maximum

External links

• Robot Chicken at Adultswim.com
• Robot Chicken at the Internet Movie Database
• Robot Chicken at TV.com
• Robot Chicken at Adultswim.com (UK)
• Robot Chicken – Star Wars Review at Variety.com