Dancing Is Forbidden: An Aqua Teen Hunger Force Exploration

Season 5 of ATHF is a contentious one. Either you love it or you hate it. Or maybe you think it's okay. Or you just, like, sorta like it. Look, I don't know your life story -- but what I DO know is Season 5 is a hell of a lot better than I was expecting it to be. While the season got my panties in a bunch back in 2008, it put a big ol' smile on my face while covering it for the podcast. And also I don't wear panties anymore. Comman...

From the very first ATHF intro, to the art direction on the latest season-- Todd Redner was there. Like the wind.... or God. The all knowing, all drawing Todd Redner graces the podcast to bestow upon us several ATHF tales that I had never once heard before. And that's saying something because I've heard lots of things. Todd's telling us about the many decisions that went into Aqua Teen's newest season (and the misguided hate mail i...

Not only did David Cross teach me it was okay to be named Ronnie, but he put Aqua Teen Hunger Force on the map. Big time. Fresh off his successful stint on Broadway (yes-- THAT Broadway), David takes the next logical step in his career and spends some time on a podcast about a cartoon he was on a few times. I don't know why he did, I advised him not to do it. Touching briefly on his time on Aqua Teen, David gives us the down low on...

The highlander was a documentary and the events happened in real time... not unlike this AquaDonk. 18 (well, really 20) years later, Happy Time Harry is BACK -- not for vengeance, but for his own demise. He wants it, don't worry. It feels good to him. We see what (or rather, what little) Harry has been up to since 2004 (well, 2002). Harry ain't the only one going out in a blaze of glory, when Frylock and Meatwad combine forces to g...

Grab your Bible and your crystal meth because we're in for a good time! Bible Fruit (totally not a VeggieTales ripoff) is one of the strongest Aqua Teen episodes, and has a heck of a history around it. We're covering the first mention of this idea back in 2004 & the (short lived) legacy it left behind in Soul Quest OverDrive. Other topics discussed include playing the vocoder for Alan Jackson, the good ol' days of MySpace, and ...

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ATHF co-creator Dave Willis joins in on The Room coverage, wrapping up this trilogy of episodes on the best worst movie ever made! While we're getting in on the many weird aspects of The Room, we're also tying it back to Aqua Teen. Dave tells us about grappling with creating something...

Listen up devildog, drop down and give me ONE listen to today's podcast diving into The Marines! If you were thinking of going AWOL from today's episode, well do I have a game for you... in Canada. Involving bread ties and Rush records. Today on the pod we're oorah'ing into the inspiration behind Warrior Gum's insane 3D ad, getting all Sherlock Holmes in the search for the elusive voice actor Michael E. Smith, listening to some of ...

Some people turn lemons into lemonade, and others turn... immortal dummies into magic shows. Optimism is the point here, and optimism will land your ass right in jail. Today we've got ATHF co-creator Dave Willis chiming in on Dummy Love, a fun exploration by the Aqua Teen guys into horror tropes. We're learning how T-Pain and Josh Homme got involved in this episode, we're finding out the original plan for the Skulldilocks book, and...

If you don't want someone to steal your contact lenses and torture you with their new-found abilities, you'd better get LASIK! If only Frylock had read this warning, then he could have saved himself, Carl, and Meatwad! ...Hmm, but then this episode of Aqua Teen wouldn't exist.... and then what would this podcast episode have been about???? THEN WHAT WOULD YOU BE READING RIGHT NOW??!!!!???!!??!!!?? Maybe a question for M. Night Shya...

In a late-night quest to get chicks, Carl ends up succumbing to the power of the recorder, becoming a musical slave for Hoppy Bunny and his religious covenant of furries. Today we're packing this podcast out with input from FOUR of the critical figures behind this critter-full episode-- Aqua Teen co-creator Dave Willis tells us about turning Frylock's room into a parking garage, Matt Maiellaro gives the low-down on performing as th...

If you're looking to expand the size of your Johnson... and/or make love to zombie animals.... this is the episode for you! Carl's new male enhancement device leads to the Aqua Teens being haunted by the pets of Meatwad's past... and Shake's sexual future. We're diving into the original song Meatwad was supposed to sing to Terrance (and a joke that only makes sense knowing this hot info), why Shake's microwaving of a cat is funny, ...

The Aqua Teens are BACK in the third and final chapter of the Carl Trilogy! Carl has had enough of the revolving door of neighbors, and heroically saves the Aqua Teens from Markula... only for them to quickly abandon him. In this episode ATHF editor John Brestan gives us some intel on the IRL Tree Wizard, art director Bob Pettitt clues us in on the creation of his mall-informed art assets, and we're getting to the bottom of the ATH...

The ancient Greeks often told of the Sirens, who with their beautiful songs of... 69'ing... would cause you to cut your nipples off. And they were right! In our first truly Aqua Teen-less episode, Carl spends some time with his new kinky mythological neighbors. What they're into isn't Carl's cup of tea... but his credit card is maxed out so he has no other option. Dave Willis briefly joins us to talk about getting John Kruk, Kelly ...

Better the food you know than the... robots... you don't..? The Aqua Teens are held captive over in the MoDe (that's slang for Mojave Desert) and it's up to Carl to... sell their house. Well, it's not really up to him, but he's doing it anyways-- until vampire landlord Markula shows up. We're kicking off our Season 5 coverage, getting some insight from ATHF creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis. They're telling us about the creat...

If you wondered why the Season 12 intro swapped up "Make the homies say ho and the girlies wanna scream," well, gosh dangit, this is the episode for you! ATHF Renaissance Man Nick Ingkatanuwat fills us in on his thought process on swapping these iconic lines around. I'm also throwing down some dirt details... if you have what it takes to receive these deets in your ear holes. I'm surprised I even had what it took to say it out of m...

What started in hell will end on this podcast... maybe. Matt Maiellaro (Aqua Teen's co-creator, Hellraiser 3's first assistant director of the second [aka "love"] unit) is back with a vengeance... for blood... or at least I assume that's what he was drinking from his cup while we talked. Matt's filling us in on the future of Aqua Teen, while also filling us in on the past of Aqua Teen answering all sorts of Season 12 questions-- fr...

Season 4 of Aqua Teen is certainly the most interesting season. While the season has its share of classic-formula episodes, it also sees Matt and Dave pushing the envelope of what Aqua Teen even is. From fourth-wall breaking episodes (Boost Mobile), to dramatic episodes (Party All The Time), to clip-show episodes (Deleted Scenes, partially Grim Reaper Gutters), to some of the show's most shocking (Dickesode, Handbanana)-- this ain'...

Matthew I. Jenkins designed our beloved Carl and Master Shake... which is kind of funny considering Carl hates Shake. Today on the podcast we're talking with Matt, the man behind so many of our favorite characters. Matt's telling us all about the early years of the Atlanta animation industry (AKA the birthing grounds of Adult Swim), working side-by-side with the late great C. Martin Croker, and designing characters for Dave Willis ...

Meatwad's a workin' man in this episode... and work sucks. Well, like, it's not the job itself, ya know, but really the bosses. He doesn't mind dancing on the side of the road, it's the whole "remove your friend's brain" thing that makes him wanna quit. We've all been there. It's the final episode of Season 4 and we're getting our car(l)s washed with all sorts of ATHF factoids! Bob Pettitt gives us the full-res vending machines so ...