Moral Orel

This is an amazing show. The Williams Street (southern corporate bods zieg heil ted turner) bods canceled it after 3 seasons, but it was amazing. Not only did it walk a fine line between criticizing a putative deity and criticizing the morons who choose to speak in the deity's name, but it also showed us how actual adults (inevitably marginalized in Moralton) do adult things like move on and call a halt to unproductive relationships. (Stephanie and Danielle respectively). The ending is unexpected and unbelievably sweet - it makes me cry every time. I can't wait to see what DS does next!

If you get the chance to see this on DVD, be sure to check the extras. I'm an auditory learner but DS's commentary made me go back and look at the visuals and they were amazing!

Many people say that adult swim is losing its touch with brand new shows like Perfect Hair Forever and Squidbillies but I see it as a new direction. Moral Orel is adult swim's newest show. Animated using claymation, this show is about a young boy named Orel and his troubles growing up Christain. This show uses offensive humor sort of like South Park which is the main cause of the negative feedback but the show feels innocent and with that brand of offensive humor brings hilarious results. If you like twisted situations and claymation you should watch Moral Orel. If your a big baby that gets offended by this sorta humor Moral Orel is defiantly not for you. 8/10

A juvenile religious fanatic. His alcoholic, closeted homosexual father. A sexually and emotionally repressed mother. The father's gay, satanist lover. Scenes of gay bashing, molestation, and underage drinking. All the things that make a comedy great.

Moral Orel is an Adult Swim comedy with an extremely dark heart, even crossing over into dramatic territory in its last season. It focuses on the family of Orel, a young evangelical Christian living in the Midwestern town of Moralton. Due to his often literalistic interpretations of his parents' and other adults' advice, Orel's actions frequently culminate in distinctly immoral results.

This is a show that gets better as it goes along. The first season and a half were characterized by an extremely formulaic approach as each episode followed Orel's screw ups. (The episode "Loyalty," for instance, is a masterpiece of dark humor.) Although many of the individual episodes were funny, watching more than one or two at a time could grow very tiresome, very quickly.

However, the third season is arguably a masterpiece of adult animation. It marked a dramatic shift in tone for the series, with much more emphasis on the development of individual characters aside from Orel. For example, the episode "NUMB" focuses on Orel's repressed mother Bloberta, and often crosses between the darkly comic and the genuinely disturbing.

Moral Orel will clearly not appeal to all people, and is best enjoyed by those whose sense of humor leans toward the warped. Nevertheless, with those who are up to it, it is a great, under-appreciated series.

Most Christians will probably be severely offended by this show, but that's part of its charm. Its offensiveness is riding on the shoulders of an innocent little boy who simply doesn't know any better. He misinterprets others' advice and chaos ensues. The same could be said about religion itself. What I find so continually compelling about this show however, is that it dares to be different. The line-up on Adult Swim has swiftly shifted to gore porn as of recent (Metalocalypse and Robot Chicken being perfect examples), but Orel focuses its sights on the way religion controls people, changes them. Lying beneath the bitter sentiments however, is something even better: character development. Throughout the series, we see the various demented characters of Oralton for who they really are. This really kicks off in season three (which is currently nearing its end) and it's truly gripping. What you thought were one-off humor characters in the first season are revealed to be deeply troubled human clay-things in the second. Speaking of, the series gets quite dark at times, and with only the personalities of the characters... Yes, things can be dark without buckets of blood. But in the little town of Oralton, Statesota, we see much more than a bewildered mass. We see a portrait of the American psyche. (other psycho-analytical jargon here)

After watching so many adult animated cartoons from the past few years-many that tackle serious issues and real life problems-I was surprised to hear that Moral Orel, which preceded all of them, managed to do what those shows did but even better and even grander than I thought.

I think one of the best things about this show is that despite it's extreme ways to push the boundaries of darj subject matter, it still manages to portray an optimistic and careful view on our world and the concept of religion as a whole. Even though it is very clearly satire on religion and has constant gags and jokes about religious teachings, it doesn't insult Christianity nor does it downright dismiss it completely-it is only making light of those who misuse passed down morals to hurt others in contrast to those who use it to be better people, and that is very much shown all the way to the final episode. And to me that is a very powerful message and recurring theme of the show, and one I wish many other shows tried to do but better

The stop motion animation is also incredible for a TV production. Some of the scenes and shots in this show are incredibly impressive and unique. The work done in ShadowMachine to make this show come to life is admirable and one that shouldn't be taken for granted.

Please give this show a chance, you will not be disappointed. (And you may cry, like how I have with several episodes because of how deeply they resonated with me)