After seven years off the air, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force returns for one final adventure in the form of Aqua Teen Fantasm, the second film in the franchise. The film is highly anticipated by the fandom, which has slowly been growing since the show’s noble but untimely end in 2015. There has been plenty of reminiscing of the show’s absurd adventures and distinct sense of humor, and now is the perfect time to pile on in the barrel with a definitive list of all show’s season:
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11 Season 9
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distributions
The second of its experimental seasons, each with a different theme and title format (this one titled Aqua Something You Know Whatever), the ideas were far removed from the bombastic absurdity of the earlier seasons. Nevertheless, the witty banter between the characters, and how most of the show’s sense of comedic timing came from these interactions, was a quality that never left the show. A stark negative this season is a lack of Carl appearances and fewer circumstances where he dies, which was fine if replaced with more creative characters or situations. But it wasn’t.
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MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
10 Season 10
An improvement from the previous season, featuring more Carl and better creative storylines, like Shake’s steroid addiction and visits to a hypnotist, the gang visiting a banana planet, and smurf-like creatures living in Carl’s storage unit. Titled Aqua TV Show Show, it was still a drop-off from the show’s first five seasons, with much less gross-out humor and a clear lack of creative direction.
9 Season 11
The show’s final season, aptly titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever, finally brought a creative spin to some of its stories, to a claymation episode to begin the season, a Dora the Explorer parody, and one of the most endearing series finale about people from South Jersey ever created. Both final episodes (one as a ruse featuring closure and the other in the spirit of the show’s irreverent style) do a great job at concluding the show’s run, with the final film hopefully serving as a proper epilogue.
8 Season 8
The show’s first and best season with the new format, titled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad; it was the first season to show a little drop-off in direction. Situations became more tame from time to time, and it missed the incoherent nonsense of the previous efforts. The highs were high, and the lows were low, such as Carl’s bout with drunk driving, which doesn’t really end with Carl getting what he deserved. Despite the problems, it has fantastic episodes like Shake taunting Carl with a lasagna while he’s under house arrest, the two-part season premiere that sets the tone for the type of season it’s going to be: more incoherent and in Seattle, and the season finale with an action-spy parody.
7 Season 6
After five seasons of consistent quality, season six saw the episodes get a little stale. There was no shortage of new villains, but they didn’t make quite the impression their original villains did. It still had some memorable episodes, such as the gang becoming invisible thanks to an alcoholic genie, a Star Wars parody about a shaved Wookie who wants to blow up the moon, the live-action season finale featuring H. Jon Benjamin of Archer and Bob’s Burgers fame, and Frylock going full psychotic after years of torment at the hands of Meatwad and Master Shake.
6 Season 7
After a not-so-stellar sixth season, season seven returned to the show’s roots, launching a long string of great episodes featuring the bold and depraved humor of the first four seasons. Easily the most solid season before steadily getting more inconsistent, the season took new risks and upped the antic further with over-the-top gross-out humor and even much better conclusions to what’s oddly a plotless show. Among the best episodes include a sentient duck made from used condoms tormenting Meatwad, their Christmas special full of eels, the monster in Meatwad’s closest, Carl ruining the life of his opposite, Shake’s quest for a specific pinball powerball, and the show’s 100th episode special.
5 Season 5
The show’s only season to have a story arc with Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad’s imprisonment at the hands of their landlord, the fifth season produced some of the show’s most controversial moments, including the unaired episode poking fun of the real-life Boston bombing scare in relation to the show (long story short: LED displays of the Mooninites were feared to be bombing devices) and Shake’s most despicable act. Pretty much every episode is hilarious, in particular the ones where Shake steals Frylock’s contact lenses and holds the rest of the group hostage, David Cross’ guest appears as the raging alcoholic Bert Banana, and a Chucky-like puppet torments the gang.
4 Season 3
Already established as one of the most popular shows on Adult Swim, the third season continued the excellent streak of the second season by starting off with Shake’s suicide. Their plots were at the most absurd, with “T-Shirt of the Living Dead” serving as the perfect example; Shake steals an ancient Egyptian shirt in the hopes of getting its powers, only for Meatwad to wear it and wish for the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, and a monstrous Easter egg; the monster egg burns Santa Claus, and the group now has to do his Christmas deliveries. Episodes that follow the same spirit are Carl’s parasitic diet, the return of the Mooninites, Meatwad’s pregnancy, Shake’s and Carl’s obsession with a stripper oddly working in maintenance repair, and Meatwad’s plights with a robotic babysitter Frylock created after he and Shake get a job.
3 Season 4
Aqua Teen was at the height of its popularity by the premiere of the fourth season, so much so that a feature-length movie was already green-lit and their merchandise was being sold in bunches. It was also the first season that began to see Carl being more utilized, as he clearly was a fan favorite arguably the funniest character. His episodes include a visit from Bart Oates’ ghost (even though he is very much alive) as a parody of A Christmas Carol; his horrible encounters with Meatwad’s dog Hand Banana, and evading a threat of getting his genitals cut off by a restaurant chain. It was this type of quality storytelling that made the show capture an audience of millions who could see the value in this kind of content. In short, it takes the spirit of Monty Python and transforms it into a Frankenstein monster.
2 Season 1
If the first season didn’t work, there was a good chance the show wouldn’t have been given a chance. The format and style was unique and highly unorthodox, and there was a good chance it could turn a lot of people off. Luckily, the show did such a perfect job at engraving its world to the viewer through its funny characters and pointless lines that it managed to find success right off the bat. There was something charming and endearing about its design and format, made even more curious by its irreverent part in the creation of Adult Swim, growing along with the channel block’s reputation every step of the way. Episodes like Shake’s fear of a parked bus across the street, the mummy living in the attic, the pop-up ads running amok in their reality, Carl’s and Shake’s mail order bride, Meatwad’s new toy’s psychotic behavior, and Shake’s search for his stolen PDA, managed to cultivate an audience that would go on to follow their many other adventures for as long as be.
1 Season 2
Everything was clicking on all cylinders. The comedy was on point; the ideas were absurd enough to surprise viewers, and each character was better fleshed out in terms of the roles they played. It also helped that it was a 24-episode season, by far the highest of any season. It featured the show’s best moments, from Shake’s tree trial for dumping a vat of oil in the forest, the return of Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past From the Future in the form of Turkatron, Shake’s reluctance to pay the bills leading to Carl losing his foot, the return of the Mooninites, the Broodwich, the introduction of the frat aliens, and a haunted television set wrecking havoc around the group’s house. There wasn’t a single episode that missed its mark, they were all perfect in every way and a true masterpiece of absurdist comedy.
