Sealab 2021 (2000-2005)
I got a story to tell before I can start the review properly. It was common some shows would reuse footage from other shows with additional footage. A lot of Power Rangers show done this. The big joke from the very beginning is two guys took Sealab 2020, a boring 70s cartoon. They made changes to the show now under the title Sealab 2021.
They actually edit in their voice overs with a new theme song. It took two separate attempt pitches to get the show to happen. Originally, Cartoon Network wasn't interested. Right around when Adult Swim was getting started, things changed. Personally, I rather watch Sealab 2021 over Sealab 2020 any day. Now I got that over with it, time for the review.
They don't just update things, they actually made it crazy at times. It's amazing how filled of stupid moments this show was. One episode was mostly done in one firm animation until late into the same episode. Which was a power outage episode. This show can get quite disgusting as well as offensive at times.
This was the beginning of more similar shows becoming that way thanks to shows like South Park & Family Guy. There's a lot of rememberable characters, my favorite always has been Captain Murphy. He does get replaced later in the show, his replacement is fine. It just isn't the same with the captain to me. This guy is incredibly stupid yet rememberable at the same time.
The show itself mostly takes place in Sealab, thousands of miles beneath the sea. They do reference some older cartoons at times. They also reference Aqua Teen Hunger Force a few times as well. As for continuity, well there technically isn't a canon one. Very few major things remained after all the crazy things happened.
They didn't hold back making the show as ridiculous as possible. There's plenty of wtf moments in the show. Sealab 2021 had the right mix of balance especially when they used old footage. Which is rather tricky to do while making a new show out of a old one. Like most original Adult Swim shows, they do parodied some stuff from Sealab 2020 episodes directly.
There's an episode with two guys that ultimately couldn't be saved because they didn't bring enough wetsuits. Some of these characters are amazingly stupid including Stormy. They even had evil doppelgangers with their name largely a reference to DC comics Bizarro & similar characters. We even get Sharko whose half man, half shark I'm not kidding.
You wouldn't believe how many times Sealab itself got destroyed. Multiple times in a time loop episode. They played on a lot of jokes especially The Matrix. Let's say it's truly amazing Sealab lasts longer than a day sometimes lol. There's two female characters named Debbie too. This show is vastly different from the very show it's directly parodying.
A major difference from other original Adult Swim cartoon shows that pulled footage as well as references from older shows. Sealab 2021 itself didn't directly involve Hanna-Barbera into the show. William Street, 70/30 Productions and Radical Axis made Sealab 2021. This was because how they went about making the show in the first place, not to risk a lawsuit.
They confessed in anger stealing some footage of Sealab 2020 to alter it without permission. The first crazy thing to happened with the show before it even got on the air. Sealab 2021 is a show you may have to turn your brain off for a good time. Some episodes gets so crazy over stupid things, you just wanna enjoy the madness unfolding.
They also work with some sea animals not often though. They even made a parody of Predator in an episode. Sealab 2021 isn't afraid to piss certain people off either especially late into the show. Obviously, this is an adult sitcom show. The original cartoon show it's based on was more about them researching people.
A notable tread in that era Hanna-Barbera shows at the time including Super Friends. Sealab 2020 is like the overly nice person that quickly you find boring after a few minutes. Now Sealab 2021 is almost life of the party at times. This show gets so nuts at times, it's very hard to take it seriously. Thankfully, the big joke was never meant to take it seriously in the first place helps.
Sealab 2021 is a show I always wanted to fully watch. Yes I do remembered it back on TV years ago. Why would I be reviewing it out of nostalgia if I haven't? Of course I wouldn't that would defeat the entire purpose doing the actual review here. Sealab 2021 is a show loves over presentation a fast food restaurant ads like no tomorrow.
There are times stuff happens away from Sealab. They even confessed someone played a particular character of race who wasn't that race on the show. Back then, this wasn't much of a topic. As of a few years ago however, some of the big name animated sitcom shows. Well they had to replace voice actors that's the character's race in real life.
Obviously, if the show would've kept going it could've gotten canceled over this. Thank god, it didn't last longer than a few seasons. Essentially the golden years of Adult Swim. This was before they started airing anime shows as well as anime movies. Sealab 2021 also has one of the weirdest endings I ever seen in a show.
They do an episode where they talk about a sequel to a movie no footage is shown. They also talked about their show as well as remembering their original captain. Which was something I deeply enjoyed. They go into commercial break near the end. Sadly this is where things gets a bit weird. Adult Swim is known for airing bumpers with messages during commercials.
In this race occasion, they included one saying the show was over with thank you for watching. To me, it's still a fun final episode. At the same time ending it like that kinda makes you a bit upset or confused. I realized I absolutely love this show, it's not for everyone. No it is more meant for people who wanna see some crazy stuff happens even if it's borderline stupidity.
Sealab 2021 is a classic among early Adult Swim show. No I don't plan on reviewing all of them. I simply don't have that much time on my hands for such a huge project. If things works out I may do another classic Adult Swim show that's still being talked about today. Sealab 2021, I'm glad it actually exists.
They turn a boring show into one of the most refreshing cartoon shows of it's era. Yes the stories are all over the place since a lot of characters dies a lot on the show. The entire point is they wanted to do all these mess up jokes. No matter how they had to go about reaching the punchline. Some of them are quite below the belt too.
Sealab 2021 is a show that knows exactly what it is. There are some moments they do reference some select stuff about their own stuff. More recently shows like Big Mouth on Netflix is doing the same thing. Not only that, I will give credit working with footage from 70s can be tricky. Of course, there's a good amount of new footage too.
Sealab 2020 itself lasted one season with fifteen episodes with two more unaired episodes. Sealab 2021 out done that with four seasons with a total of fifty two episodes. Keep in mind, Sealab 2020 episodes are around twenty minutes compared to Sealab 2021 episodes being around 10 to 11 minutes. If Adult Swim proven anything, they absolutely nailed the shorter length episodes.
You may even be surprised some of the episodes they do on this show. I'll give an example, Captain Murphy gets trapped under an venting machine. He gets accompanied by a scorpion & a cleaning robot. His crew was away for a year doing stuff. So Captain Murphy went through Hell on his own. They do reference Hulk's transformation.
Another episode that sticks out is when most of the crew became machines. Yes we haven't even reach the craziest this show gets at times. Not even close in fact, Sealab 2021 is a show filled with moments you likely won't see anywhere else. Honestly, I'm glad I was able to rewatch the show. But more than that I got to fully watch it all, I'm glad I did.
Sealab 2021 is a show that I can only recommend for people who wants stupid things to happen. Yes we are talking some incredibly stupid moments that occurred on the show. I should point out, the voice actor for Captain Murphy died during season 3. His character left Sealab to take part in a war on the moon, I did say he's strangely interesting right?
I still have a few more things I wanna say about the show. Sealab 2021 is a show you kinda want more of. Mostly because a very large amount of the crazy moments happens underneath the sea. Which you may not find elsewhere. They do openly reference a few Hanna-Barbera shows as well. Honestly, Sealab 2021 is something you gotta see no matter what the reason may be.
There's always a chance you may dislike the show or at least like it more than the original show it's a parody of. There's also the chance you may love the show like I do. They don't hold back on the violence either. I do think the final season is still fun to watch. I can't even say there's a bad episode, which is rare for me to say.
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