The Greatest Reality Show Ever!

It was an easy purchase to make - I already had the DVDs of Christopher Eccleston's tenure as Doctor Who and the latest New York Dolls disc ready for purchase. (Short take so far - read Pop Culture Gadabout's take. More details from this end to follow). It looked lonely, and I wanted to check out, hearing some great recommendations....so with little reservations, I purchased Season One of Drawn Together.

My life was changed, because this is the sickest - and funniest - animated series I have seen since the premiere of South Park.

No, it's not perfect - it's much better than current-era Family Guy, and the episodes tend more towards shock than actual humor, but the premise is brilliant. Basically, it is a reality show featuring animated characters - a 20's sexpot with self-image problems; a racist Disney-esque character; a hip-hop influenced Josie & the Pussycats-style singer; a Pikachu substitute; a Timm/Dini-esque hero, and a pig featured on a porn site.

To be fair, much of the humor is rather sexist and male-oriented - what else would you expect when the two creators were former staffers on The Man Show - but much of the time, the humor is at the expense of the characters. (For example, three male characters are playing "spin the bottle", while making homophobic comments. I'm not saying homophobia is good, but making homophobia look stupid - laughs a-plenty).

This show isn't for everyone, and I wouldn't mind seeing if they take their satire further (like South Park), or begin relying solely on pop-culture nods and in-jokes (like Family Guy). However, it is worth viewing just to take the mickey out of both reality television and animation.

(BONUS ESSAY - which comics bloggers do you think should be part of the same reality tv household? Just make them in the comments. It will be more fun than a root canal. Seriously)