Squidbillies

Squidbillies
File:Squidbilles.gif Early Cuyler
Created by	Jim Fortier Dave Willis
Voices of	Unknown Hinson (Stuart Daniel Baker) Daniel McDevitt Dana Snyder Bobby Ellerbee
Narrated by	Dave Willis
Theme music composer	Billy Joe Shaver (Seasons 1-2)
Composer	David Lee Powell
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	11 minutes
Original release
Network	Adult Swim
Release	October 16 2005 – present

Squidbillies is an animated television series produced by Williams Street Studios for the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network. The animation is done by Radical Axis, with background design by Ben Prisk. It was created and is written by Dave Willis of Aqua Teen Hunger Force fame, and Jim Fortier of The Brak Show fame. They both previously worked on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The show revolves around a family of anthropomorphic hillbilly squids—The Cuyler family—that live in the north Georgia mountains in poverty.

The series has thus far aired three seasons with a total of forty episodes.

Cast

Main characters

• Early Cuyler (Unknown Hinson (aka Stuart Daniel Baker)) - Son of Granny and father of Rusty, Early is a barely-literate, foul-mouthed, alcoholic, ex-convict. He's also quick to anger, and expresses it in violent ways via a shotgun or knives he carries on his person. Early is currently the CEO—and resident scapegoat—at Dan Halen Industries and also runs a number of illegal home operations, including the production of "pine cone" liquor and raising and selling marijuana.
• Russel "Rusty" Cuyler (Daniel McDevitt) - The son of Early and Krystal, Rusty is a dimwitted, abused, backwoods boy. He seeks his father's approval in nearly everything he does, going out of his way to emulate him and try to impress him. He has a better sense of morals than the rest of his family and will occasionally show compassion.
• Ruby Jean "Granny" Cuyler (Dana Snyder) - Early and Lil's purple mother, she hangs from a walker and has only five tentacles for unexplained reasons. Granny is a devout Christian and regularly sees visions of Jesus. Aside from being an apparent nymphomaniac, she is also frequently rattled and unclear about her current whereabouts.
• Lil (Patricia French) - Early's sister and Granny's daughter, Lil has a raspy voice and smoker's cough from years of the habit. She has an on and off crystal meth operation, and has been shown to use her own product. In later episodes, she is normally seen passed out in her own filth.
• Sheriff (Charles Napier, episodes 1-9 (uncredited); Bobby Ellerbee, episodes 9-current) - The friendly, rather naive, local sheriff has a close relationship with the Cuyler family despite having had to arrest Early repeatedly. The sheriff character is actually one of many clones grown on a farm as part of a "secret shadow government", all of whom smoke, have "marginal strength and hypersensitivity to pain", and somehow recognize the Cuylers on sight.
• Krystal (Mary Kraft) - Rusty's mother. An extremely obese white woman that lives outdoors on a filthy mattress in a junkyard. She's extraordinarily promiscuous, having slept with not just Early but a vast majority of the male characters.
• Dan Halen (Todd Hanson) - A small, kidney-shaped business tycoon who has lived and spread evil for thousands of years. He is the actual person in charge of Dan Halen Industries, a multinational corporation responsible for sheet rock, dangerous baby furniture, body stencils, selling arms to third world countries, and other concerns. His name and company symbol are direct references to the band Van Halen.

Recurring characters

• Reverend (Scott Hilley) - The blue, teardrop-shaped preacher at the church the Cuyler family and the Sheriff attend. He also owns a mattress store where he previously employed Early. He is fearful of the Cuylers.
• Boyd (Pete Smith) - The clerk of the town convenience store. Early has robbed and shot him on numerous occasions.
• Dr. Bug (Todd Barry) - A doctor at the local hospital, Dr. Bug appears to be a squid in a human costume and is a relative of the Cuylers, even though he attempts to distance himself from the family. In the episode "Asses to Ashes, Sluts to Dust", Granny tells Bug that she never meant to flush him down the toilet and that he was always her favorite, thus revealing that Bug is Granny's son. A similar character named Bug (Big Uncle Grandpa) appeared in original pilot scripts.
• Jesus (Fred Armisen) - Jesus appears in visions to Granny and, less frequently, Early. He appears as a floating squid with tentacles bearing signs of the stigmata and a human head that matches traditional portrayals of Jesus.
• The Devil - A giant squid with a head of fire and talking snakes for tentacles. He has appeared in Granny's visions and taught Rusty and Early to play the guitar in exchange for their souls.
• Snakeman (voiceless) - A giant snake like creature with a mullet. He is often depicted devouring townsfolk.
• Narrator (Dave Willis) - The narrator, who does not appear in every episode, often makes jokes at the family's expense.
• Glen An employee at Dan Halen Industries. He is often assaulted by Early at work and even at his home. He is very quiet and never has a proper speaking role on the show.

This is perhaps the greatest show that portrays the depiction of redneck trash in the boondocks of Georgia.

Crew

• Animation Supervisor - Craig Hartin
• Lead Compositor - Jamie Galatas
• Animation Coordinator - Will Harriss Callahann (Season 1 & 2)
• Supervising Animators - Brian Ellis, Lars Edwards, and Sean Quinn
• Original Character Design - Todd Redner
• Animation Compositors - Ray Kim, Timothy Farrell, Michael Bernhardt, Nathan Churney, Joshua Mullinax
• Animators (Season One) - Amber Boardman, Eric Cerda, Marji Fortin
• Animators (Season Two) - Brian Ellis, Hanna Bliss, Lars Edwards, Eric Cerda, Marji Fortin, Justin Hamrick
• Animators (Season Three) - Brian Ellis, Lars Edwards, Eric Cerda, Marji Fortin, Brad Schwab, Dagny Philips-Stumberger, Derrick Canyon, Eric Cerda, Jason Shwartz, Melissa Wolfert, Missy Feaster, Ralph Sevelius, TJ Buford

Overview

Main article: List of Squidbillies episodes

Squidbillies has no continuity. Sometimes, some or all of the characters die. In the Pilot Episode, the Sherriff dies twice in a flashback, despite being alive before said flashback starts. In "Armageddon it on," the world ends.

Other issues the family face are their overt racism against white people (Early's dalliances with Krystal aside), whom they refer to as "chalkies", their need to home school Rusty, and even run-ins with celebrities.

Behind-the-Scenes Controversy

The show was announced in late 2003 with the first episode extensively promoted to air on November 7 2004, but when the day came Adult Swim aired the pilot of Perfect Hair Forever in its place. Perfect Hair Forever was followed by an animated "panel discussion" of the episode featuring Space Ghost, Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sharko from Sealab 2021, and Early Cuyler. As a result many fans of Adult Swim started to believe Squidbillies was nothing more than an elaborate hoax until a pilot finally aired on April 1 2005.

The nearly year-long delay was the result of multiple problems that occurred between the show's commission and its scheduled debut. A very early pilot episode was scrapped in early 2004 and more writers were brought on board to help flesh out characters and comedy direction for the series. The writers were eventually whittled back down to two, along with a few of the early characters for the show being cut—including an older brother for Rusty just home after being discharged from the Army. Also Early's name was originally RV and Rusty's name was originally Donny. During this time the series original 20 episode order was also reduced to 6. With all the problems, the chances of the series being outright canceled became very real.

Finally, without much fanfare or promotion, the final pilot aired on October 16 2005, after appearing on an early version of Adult Swim Fix two days earlier.

Music

• The opening song for the first and second seasons was performed by outlaw country artist Billy Joe Shaver. There are three different versions, all four lines long, and all expressing deep personal strife and despair. A completely new song, also with multiple versions, was used for the third season.

Georgia References

• The show takes place in the fictional Dougal County, Georgia, but there is a Douglas County directly west of Atlanta.
• In "Double Truckin' the Tricky Two" Early's hat reads "Sonny Lied!", the motto of opponents of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, concerning the "State Flag controversy".
• The episode "Terminus Trouble" sees Early, Rusty, and the Sheriff take a trip to Atlanta, where they visit a number of landmarks and catch a Braves game. Atlanta was originally named Terminus.
  • In the same episode Early uses the alias "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" (referencing Bill Elliott, a NASCAR driver from Dawsonville) and Rusty calls himself "Billy Ray from Ellijay" (referencing the town of Ellijay).
• In "Office Politics Trouble" the frat kids were from the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta.
• Early's hat, "David Allan CEO live in Macon", is a reference both to Macon and country music artist David Allen Coe.
• In "Survival of the Dumbest" Early recalls taking "homemade Sea-Doos" out to Lake Hartwell, a man-made lake located in Hartwell.
• In "Meth O.D. to My Madness", Early says if he had money he would be like "Travis Tritt strutting his fine ass down to Florida". Travis Tritt was born in Marietta.
• In "Government Brain Voodoo Trouble" Early mentions Ruby Falls, a waterfall in Lookout Mountain.
• In the episode "The Tiniest Princess", the orange monster was named Hellish Jay From Ellijay. (Again referencing the town of Ellijay).
• The episode title "Mephistopheles Traveled Below to a Southern State Whose Motto is 'Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation'" is a reference to the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", as the official state motto of Georgia is "Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation".
• In the episode "The Good One", Early names Lil's child 'Herschel Walker Cuyler Them Dawgs Is Hell Don’t They' and labels him, 'The Original Gator Hater,' both references to University of Georgia football. In addition, God is voiced by Georgia football announcer Larry Munson.
• The show frequently references Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Panama City Beach, Florida, and Gatlinburg, Tennessee, as all are popular Southern vacationing areas.
• In the Episode "Condition: Demolition" Early exclaims "Saint Valdosta" a reference to Valdosta, Georgia, a small city in Georgia near the Florida line.

Other Real-World References

• In the episode "Terminus Trouble" During the Battle Royale at the Braves game, on the JumboTron, after the Tarp wins, he is shown wearing the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt, with a Dan Halen "DH" symbol on the faceplate.

DVD Releases

DVD name	Release date	Ep #	Additional information
Volume 1	October 16 2007	20	Featurette: "How I Make The Damn Show!", The Original Pilots, Deleted Scenes, Behind-The-Scenes Footage, and audio commentaries.

External links

• Official Adult Swim site (USA)
• Official Adult Swim site (UK)
• Squidbillies Central
• Squidbillies at IMDb
• Article at Gelf Magazine