[VICE] Adult Swim claymation 'Moral Orel' considered most depressing AS series of all time - Polidicks

[url=http://www.vice.com/read/moral-orel-is-the-most-depressing-adult-swim-show-of-all-time-456?utm_source=vicefbus]VICE ARTICLE[/url] [quote]Moral Orel was originally supposed to be a 1950s-style live action sitcom featuring Iggy Pop, but the rock star didn't read the script. Instead, it became a satirical stop-motion show that started weird and ended bleak. When the now-cult classic originally aired on Adult Swim in December 2005, the network intentionally ran the premier season's final episode first, confusing and alienating viewers. But to those who stuck around for three seasons, the program revealed itself to be a rare gem that inverted what to expect from Adult Swim, especially since it evolved into something that was anything but funny. A decade after its cancellation, the show's final moments involving a literal light at the end of a tunnel are still ingrained in the psyches of many of its diehard fans. For Moral Orel's tenth anniversary, I got ahold of Dino Stamatopoulos on Skype after a marathon binge of all its 43 episodes and its one prequel special. After telling him this, he said, "I hope you aren't too depressed." [/QUOTE] [quote]Why do you think they cancelled the show? Lazzo wrote me after reading the episode "Numb" and said, "There's only one joke in this script." I wrote him back, tongue-in-cheek, and said "Well, tell me where the joke is and I'll take it out." He said, "Well, I hope they get funnier." And they do. But then I delivered a rough cut of "Alone" [in which the character Bloberta mutilates herself] and then delivered him a follow-up script called "Raped." He read it and said, "That's it; I gotta pull the plug." It was really a one-two-three punch, but "Alone" is what did it.[/quote] I remember watching this as a kid, I didnt really catch the depressing tones until I revisited it later, but I never knew about those scripts. I mean holy shit, yo.

Noooooo contest. I mean Holy shit it's beyond even being the most depression Adult Swim shows, it's more like one of the most depressing of all time

Yeah I think anyone who saw the show could've told you this several years ago

I remember only one episode vaguely at this point but basically he was just getting every woman pregnant in town. Never caught on to the rest of the series.

Feels like every show is trying to go for the same vibe these days (Bojack Horseman, F is for Family, Rick and Morty to a much much smaller extent), but none of them really nail it like Orel did in its final season. You don't even get a moment of reflection for most of the shit going on in the show, which makes it that much more unsettling.

No matter how bleak the series was the ending always Gets me, No matter how hard Orel had it, and how terrible his upbringing was, he grows up as a normal adult and has a loving family the quote is really good that plays at the end too "Today's Christmas sermon is about family. What is family? Well, a lot of times, family is just a bunch of people who are forced to be together just because they came out of each other, but every so often...a miracle happens. A loving family, just like that—out of nowhere. Now, what causes this? A belief in God, a strong moral structure, blind luck? Who knows? Who cares? Ah, you're not gonna get any answers out of me. I'm just a puppet for the Big Guy. I don't write this stuff. The end. I mean, Amen. Nah, who am I kidding? The end."

Moral Orel is one of those shows that wore it's genius on it's sleeve. It really blew me away as a 16 or so year old kid, I remember watching it with my girlfriend at the time and both of us just having really weird conversations because of what the show was really about.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;49394513]Moral Orel is one of those shows that wore it's genius on it's sleeve. It really blew me away as a 16 or so year old kid, I remember watching it with my girlfriend at the time and both of us just having really weird conversations because of what the show was really about.[/QUOTE] Same deal with Xavier for me, sans girlfriend. Two of the best series they've ever made imo. I'm glad they aired the Christmas special one more time. If they rebooted either one, oh man...

Aw Jeeze man. That last season was messed up. Gotta love how crazy different it is from the first season.

I really fuckin dislike Mike Lazzo, he seems to cancel all the best shit and bring in a lot of shit to Adult Swim. He just wants stoner comedies and gay as faggot family guy. [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] what im saying is there needs to be some real competition for adult swim netflix is the only thing I can think of Think of a fulltime channel thats like Adult Swim but isn't just shitty American Dad and reruns of ATHF that we have seen a million times, and good shit actually gets greenlit instead of all these trippy trendy hipster stoner shows.

I had no idea people liked this show, I only half-watched a few minutes of an episode once but it didn't seem interesting or particularly memorable.

moral orel is the shit. 12. oz. mouse is up there with it too, imo. bring them both back AS

moral orel is also the best show adult swim ever aired

Something about Morel Orel and 12. Oz Mouse made me physically ill. And Squidbillies.

When I was in like late middle school and started falling into depression and abnormal sleep schedules and all that and I first started watching adult swim because it felt like it was all that was on, I couldn't stand it. Didn't like Metalocalypse, didn't like ATHF, didn't like Squidbillies, the only shows I really enjoyed were Venture Bros and some of the anime that came on on the weekends like Ghost in the Shell. The super dark comedy really grows on you as you get older, I think.

I didnt much care for the episodes that were about misunderstanding the bible or whatever but when I saw the hunting trip and all the episodes afterwards I really grew to like it.

So what's up with this? I just started the first season, and it's oozing with satire and is a bit dark/weird here and there, but nothing soul crushingly depressing. I'm guessing that comes later?

[QUOTE=Cabbage;49395758]So what's up with this? I just started the first season, and it's oozing with satire and is a bit dark/weird here and there, but nothing soul crushingly depressing. I'm guessing that comes later?[/QUOTE] The first Season is more of a parody of typical sitcoms (but gone horribly wrong). The genuinely dark and depressing storylines start at the end of the second Season, and the entire third Season. Earlier parts of the second season are a little dark as well, but it ramps up much later on.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;49395758]So what's up with this? I just started the first season, and it's oozing with satire and is a bit dark/weird here and there, but nothing soul crushingly depressing. I'm guessing that comes later?[/QUOTE] The difference between Season 1 and Season 3 is night and day. I think the big change comes with the "Nature" episode at the end of season 2. What's interesting is that most of the third season is set around the events that happen in that episode. It details what happened before, after or even in parallel to the events of the hunting trip, to various different people of the town. And in every episode, you get a point of reference as to when the events occur, when it mirrors a scene from a different episode in a different perspective. In that sense it's quite well made I'd say. Especially depressing are the episodes "Passing", "Alone", "Numb" and of course "Nature" in my opinion. Left me sitting there staring blankly, when I laughed at the first episode of Season 1 mere minutes ago.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tV29aD7dFI[/media] Moral Orel is so underrated, I recommend it to anybody who's looking for a new show. The writers perfectly got the balance between humour and drama, it's just a shame [as] pulled the plug because it got too depressing but i thought that was the absolute charm behind it

This is the same series where not only did the first episode of Season Three alone terrify the network executives to the point of near-immediately cutting the entire season in half from its intended length, but [sp]a young boy nearly commits suicide just to see the other side, and we get to see what he sees (which isn't pretty in the slightest and is probably one of the creepiest things ever on Adult Swim) and then promptly gets his religious revelation beaten out of him by his father. And then the following episodes after he survives has him lose just about all faith in said father after getting shot in the leg by him on a hunting trip while said father was in a drunken, all-loathing-including-self rage, and then being left unattended over his wound for two days straight while his father basically gives little to no fucks.[/sp] And this [i]just[/i] the three episodes at the end of season 2. Yes, yes this is probably the most depressing thing on Adult Swim, if not most networks in general. Although it helps that the protagonist is a kid who has or is indirectly the cause of all this horrible stuff happening around him, and just about every adult is a douche or is really fucked in the head besides [i]one.[/i]

[video]https://youtu.be/luUTnNZ87d4[/video]

Didn't MO get a sequel series? Or a prequel special? I seem to remember there was something where Orel was a smaller child but I'm kinda fuzzy on it.

[QUOTE=Man in the Moon;49396595]Didn't MO get a sequel series? Or a prequel special? I seem to remember there was something where Orel was a smaller child but I'm kinda fuzzy on it.[/QUOTE] Beforel Orel, I believe.

[QUOTE=Man in the Moon;49396595]Didn't MO get a sequel series? Or a prequel special? I seem to remember there was something where Orel was a smaller child but I'm kinda fuzzy on it.[/QUOTE] Beforel Orel is season 2 tier depressing, if you read the full article, Dino can't do a new moral Orel special or episode without making it depressing because that's how the show evolved. Beforel has some good jokes and shit but it still shows the depressing nature just not in its full extent Mind you, it clears up some plot points, I'd recommend watching the prequel after season 3 simply because it links with season 1-3

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;49397046]Beforel Orel is season 2 tier depressing, if you read the full article, Dino can't do a new moral Orel special or episode without making it depressing because that's how the show evolved. Beforel has some good jokes and shit but it still shows the depressing nature just not in its full extent Mind you, it clears up some plot points, I'd recommend watching the prequel after season 3 simply because it links with season 1-3[/QUOTE] I've seen the whole series, just couldn't remember about beforel, What happened to frankenhole, did it get shitcanned too? it was pretty good.

This really tells you what the entire show is about [video=youtube;DWUOcTIgI18]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWUOcTIgI18[/video]

[QUOTE=bisousbisous;49397319]This really tells you what the entire show is about [video=youtube;DWUOcTIgI18]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWUOcTIgI18[/video][/QUOTE] It's almost like they wrote the entire show around the Mountain Goats songs honeslty, no children blends in too well with this show

The end of part one of Nature still manages to be one of the most uncomfortable moments in television, especially since it was the start of the stark contrast in mood between seasons two and three.

I never realized the show got THIS bad in the later episodes. Always thought the christmas special was critical mass because of the ending, but after digging the show up again after reading the article, I was so, so, so wrong.