Birdgirl

Adult Swim cancelled The Venture Bros. And Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell, two of the funniest, cleverest shows ever to grace the small screen. So what do they give us to replace them? Birdgirl.

In the Woke tradition Birdgirl is not funny, clever, witty etc... but it has girls. Most of the characters are female (with male characters portrayed as effeminate, weak and pathetic). Birdgirl tries hard and fails hard. It succeeds in being nonsensical without being absurd. It tosses 'jokes' at the viewer in rapid succession but none of them are funny.

This is the cartoon version of the female Ghostbusters movie. Weak sauce all around. Adult Swim going Woke is Adult Swim sinking to the bottom of the lake with concrete shoes on. Their pretty faces are already in Hell.

The show is funny and fast. The characters are good enough for an adult animation show. I would watch the whole season.

The delivery of these jokes is *often* too fast for most people which is why I wouldn't call this show 'laugh out loud' funny. There is very little time to actually laugh because it's always on to the next line of clever dialogue. And this show is clever. The characters are zany and extreme and the writers do a great job of depicting these qualities while moving a often pointless plot along. Think pointless like Sealab 2021 but more clever and more topical. Ridiculous that it is rated so low. For what it is it's an 8/10.

If you can seperate it from its original show, it's a half decent laugh. Most of the pilot's enjoyment comes from Birdgirl's delivery, and when the slapstick hits right- which unfortunately isn't too often. The B-plot feels like a bit of a waste, and it is a shame they're backing away from the use of Hannah Barbara characters, but it could be worse. It could be MORE girl bossy. It's following the new adult swim trend of having an emotional moment maybe once an episode, and it could use a stronger supporting cast for Paget Brewster, who's pulling a lot of the leg work voice wise.

That dog with a bucket hat was the only other laugh I got, but it's just the pilot. We could see more cartoon icons to come, assuming their absence isn't an issue with legal licensing this time around.

On it's own, it really is just OK.

What's clear fairly early on in the pilot is that Birdgirl and Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (one of my all time favorite shows, period) are pretty different. The animation style, the dialogue between characters, and the general tone of the show are unique, and that takes some getting used to if you're expecting the nonstop witticism that Harvey Birdman brought.

What I really like about the show is the thing it has that Harvey Birdman didn't: heart. Our lead character, as well as her best friend/possible love interest Meredith the Mindtaker, have some pretty serious conversations, and the internal battle of Judy vs Birdgirl in the mind of the titular character is treated with respect, while still being sure to have plenty of gags.

I look forward to seeing the show separate itself further from Harvey Birdman, while also still having the silliness that gave me so many laughs.