Aqua Teen Hunger Force is back yet again, receiving a five-episode order from Adult Swim not long after the release of Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm. The show's twelfth season will come a staggering eight years removed from its original cancelation, returning the cult classic comedy to Adult Swim's current lineup of programming. Fans of the series are understandably excited to see the return of Master Shake, Meatwad, Frylock, and Carl. However, the return of the Aqua Teens in the modern age of Adult Swim brings with it some interesting implications.
The network that originally greenlit Aqua Teen Hunger Force is no longer here, as it now swims in cultural relevancy through shows like Rick and Morty and Smiling Friends. The show's original appeal of being a low-budget, late-night stoner comedy faces some challenges in an age of instant gratification and endless content available 24/7. You could even argue that Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm showcased how the series has adapted to the modern era. Even with a small episode order, some of us are left asking: will Season 12 substantially change the Aqua Teens?
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Is an Adult Swim Staple
Aqua Teen Hunger Force is to Adult Swim what Oz was to HBO. It was part of the network's original programming lineup when it debuted in 2001, joining the likes of Sealab 2021 and Space Ghost Coast to Coast as a cheaply-made show that primarily reused assets from the Hanna-Barbera library of cartoons. As early as its second season, however, Aqua Teen came into its own. Relying on dialog-driven humor, surreal scenarios, and memetic qualities, Aqua Teen Hunger Force quickly cemented itself as the perfect show for late-night, brilliantly bridging the gap between hushed adolescents and uproarious adults.
The show undoubtedly underwent some changes as it aired. The leading trio was originally pitched as crime-solving detectives, and a majority of the show's first season utilized this premise to mixed results. Arguably, the first season's best episodes were the ones that deviated away from this concept, focusing more on just putting the main cast in a variety of wacky scenarios. "Mail-Order Bride" and "Dumber Dolls" are just two examples of this, not only producing some of the show's most hilarious moments but even memes in the form of Carl's complete and utter apathy of the world around him. Whether it was by choice or laziness, the series would shift over from purposeful adventures to "doing stuff" that just happened to be funny.
This change in creative direction ultimately led to the series' resounding success. Season 2 is 24 episodes of the show at its absolute peak, featuring sandwiches made in Hell, Master Shake co-writing a birthday song with Zakk Wylde, and vengeance-seeking trees. By putting a balanced set of characters that play off each other well in these scenarios, the strength of Aqua Teen Hunger Force's writing shined the brightest. Future seasons would get even wackier while upping the amount of adult-oriented content and occasionally focusing on the show's extended cast.
The show was originally canceled in 2015 after it underwent several title changes, admittedly done out of boredom by the creators. By that point, it had been two years after Rick and Morty first premiered, three years into The Eric Andre Show's run, and a full decade of Robot Chicken with another three seasons still to come.
Has Aqua Teen Hunger Force Changed?
Aqua Teen Hunger Force was briefly brought back in 2022 as a series of internet-exclusive shorts, cramming the show's condensed runtime of eleven minutes into three and a half at most. It primarily brought back existing characters in alternate forms, updated to reflect the modern age of side gigs, streaming, and smart devices. In the same way the show originally reused Hanna-Barbera assets, it touched up old character models and backdrops in high-definition, all while giving them more expressive animation that occasionally looked "off" if you were used to the stilted movements of the original show. It was a bittersweet reunion, but something ultimately felt off about seeing familiar characters making jokes about cryptocurrency and their own legacy.
The direct-to-video film, Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm, only emphasized this strange disconnect from the original series. Boasting the highest-quality animation the series has ever seen, having a stand-in for the company Amazon as a villain, and trying to tell a compelling story on top of it all, are weird to see when compared to the first film. It was essentially a 90-minute-long episode that actively made fun of the fact that Aqua Teen Hunger Force got made into a movie, which was amazingly on-brand for the series to do. Seeing the show try to do something genuine in comparison is something that would be unfathomable during its original run.
Even Plantasm's choice of parody felt a little too relevant compared to how Aqua Teen handled its parodies in the past. Aside from the hilariously self-aware episode "Boost Mobile," episodes like "IAMAPOD" and "The Creditor" turned existing properties like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Predator into surreal, off-kilter versions that often veered into hysterical, unpredictable territories. What made it work was that it was an unexpected, bizarre topic to parody, eventually wandering off into Chickenfoot concerts or hilarious therapy sessions. But practically everyone and their grandmother have made fun of Amazon by this point.
As season twelve rolls along, we have to remind ourselves that Adult Swim isn't the same network it used to be, in tandem with how media is consumed in general. Instead of being on a cultic, fringe end of television, it's arguably as popular as it has ever been based on the success of Rick and Morty alone, even if you ignore Primal and Smiling Friends. We might just have to accept that, as a concession of bringing the show back, it too will change as time changes everything else.