Now do I really need to give you reasons to watch one of the greatest shows ever to come out on Adult Swim?

Well, probably I do. After all, Aqua Teen Hunger Force (or ATHF, for convenience's sake) has a particular kind of humor that might not be for everybody. I have to admit- its sarcastic, absurdist, twisted sense of humor might not be for everybody. But ATHF is very well something that never fails to make me laugh every time I watch it.

The show is now on its sixth season (woohoo!)- which means some 10 new episodes coming out, according to Wikipedia.

So here we are, the Top 10 Reasons to Watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force!

1. Dr. Weird. "Gentlemen- behold!" I've always loved the cold opens from the first few seasons. They feature our favorite mad scientist presenting his latest creation to his lone lab assistant, Steve ("Hey, um, Dr. Weird- I thought that grant was to cure diseases or something like that...") which initially provided the focus for the stories, and eventually just became hilarious non-sequiturs by the middle of Season 1.

My personal favorite: "My ass has decided to eat me! It hungers...for more!" You have to see it to believe it.

By the third season, we instead see Emory and Oglethorpe (see below) as the characters for the show's cold opens. While they're both funny as hell as well, I sure miss Dr. Weird...

Dr. Weird is voiced by C. Martin Croker- the same dude who voices Zorak in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Brak Show series. Incidentally, Croker also voices Steve.

2. The Theme Song! "Coz we are tha Aqua Teen! Make tha homies say 'Ho!' and the girlies wanna scream!" Rumor has it that Schooly D composed this opening rap in the limo as he was on his way to the recording studio. It's a fun TV theme- the kind that gets you all pumped up before an episode, you know? And there are two versions out, in case you didn't know- the standard opening theme cut, and another slightly longer cut which you can check out here, with other earlier [Adult Swim] songs.

3. Carl! He's uncouth, he's totally unsexy, he's Carl Brutananadilewski. Or just plain ol' Carl. He's the Aqua Teen Hunger Force's next-door neighbor (who doesn't like them very much, btw), with a penchant for classic rock, pornography, prostitutes and hot wings.

From an entry in Wikipedia, we have this:

He is visited by misfortune in almost every episode, and is occasionally seen completely dead. He is usually seen suffering horribly; i.e. having bug eggs hatching in his stomach, having his skin ripped off, having his fingers chopped off, shooting himself in the foot and bleeding for hours in his living room next to an apathetic Master Shake, being raped by the artificial dog Handbanana or being shot in the shoulder with a flaming arrow by Ted Nugent.

It is shown that he and his father used to work in what is said to be insulation making when he was only 8, shown to be having a rather dilapidated house on Christmas, where he gets a piece of carpet that is to be boiled and eaten, thus explaining his eating of carpets on occasion. He dropped out of high school in his senior year, 1982, because, according to their XM radio show, the school refused to play "I Want to Rock and Roll All Night" at his senior prom, but he was failing anyway.

Just the kind of guy you'd want to hang out with, right? That's Carl for you! Voiced wonderfully by ATHF co-creator Dave Willis.

4. Master Shake. Wikipedia describes him as a...

...lazy, stingy, simple-minded, mean-spirited, illiterate, sadistic, and self-centered milkshake in the form of a white cup with a pink straw and two yellow kitchen gloves.

It's mostly true. He's also the self-proclaimed leader of the ATHF; Frylock's probably just cool about this and Meatwad is just too oblivious for his own good.

Master Shake seems to get a perverse sort of pleasure out of tormenting Meatwad, but most of the time he can be found swimming in Carl's pool or just watching TV.

According to Wikipedia about his abilities:

His special power is that he is able to shoot pistachio milkshake onto the ground, suck liquids (up to 85 gallons) using his straw, and is very proficient with firearms and bows. Also, almost everything he throws to the ground after picking up (with the principal exception of tennis rackets) tends to explode, although none of the team seem to notice most of the time.

Master Shake is voiced by Dana Snyder.

5. Frylock. Definitely the brains of the group, quite possibly the team's voice of reason, and probably the only one with "real" superpowers. Described in Wikipedia as...

...A floating red box of French fries sporting a "van dyke" beard, dental braces, and a blue mystic jewel embedded in his back.

He uses his fries to grip things and occasionally as a fry radar or 'Frydar.' He is also able to shoot all of his fries at a target simultaneously (referred to once as "The Defense of Idahocules" in commentary).

Frylock is scientifically-minded and conducts experiments in his room, which contains his library, supercomputer (which Shake purchased, but avoided actually paying for), cloner, and various other lab equipment. He is the most intellectual of the ATHF characters, and also attempts to provide the others with some sense of morality.

His jewel gives him various powers, such as the ability to fly (or mostly hover around), and shoot lasers, fireballs, lightning, and even fire-extinguisher foam from his eyes.

Voiced by Carey Means- the same guy who voiced all the parts of Thundercleese on The Brak Show.

6. Meatwad. Our lovable morphing ball of grease and meat- though we're not completely sure what kind of meat it is exactly, what we DO know is that it isn't fit for human consumption.

Even more simple-minded than Master Shake, child-like (with a plastic chew-toy for a brain), and as such, is often the subject of Shake's cruel practical jokes and exploitative behavior.

His main power is shapeshifting; which in the past he has used to morph into a hotdog, a meat igloo (well, those two mostly), also a meat-bridge, a Wayne Gretzky meat sculpture (that looks more like a samurai Lincoln), and other various meat objects.

As he doesn't have much in the way of friends, Meatwad actually managed to put together a number of inanimate companions (crude dolls, made of the simplest household objects) to play with from time to time:

...such as Dewey the paper towel roll, Vanessa the apple, Jeffy the garden hose, and Boxy Brown, a cardboard box decorated with the face of a generic blaxploitation protagonist.

Meatwad is also voiced by co-creator Dave Willis (who also does all the Carl parts, see above).

7. The Mooninites. Ignignokt and Er are our recurring two-dimensional characters; Ignignokt is laid-back but arrogant and smug, while Er is more belligerent, and known for his trash-talking.

The Mooninites generally look the same, resembling blocky, old school Atari-style graphics: Ignignokt is larger and green, while Er is smaller and pink.

The Mooninites are voiced by ATHF creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro- Dave voicing the Ignignokt parts and Matt doing the Er parts.

8. Emory and Oglethorpe. Two crudely drawn spiked aliens from the planet Pluto, whom we see by the start of Season 3, replacing the Dr. Wierd series of cold opens.

Oglethorpe the fat, orange one, while Emory is the tall, green Plutonian. Oglethorpe seems to be Austrian/German based on his accent, claims to be a genius, but is probably just as simple-minded as Master Shake or Meatwad.

Emory, on the other hand, might actually have more sense than his Plutonian companion, but is more soft-spoken, and therefore tends to just go with the flow.

Oglethorpe and Emory are usually seen bickering with Ignignokt and Er- which makes for some very funny interaction. Oglethorpe is voiced by Andy Merrill- the same guy behind the Brak character, while Emory is voiced by Mike Schatz- who voices Torpedo Vegas on Frisky Dingo.

9. MC Pee Pants. MC Pee Pants is our mentally insane, eight-foot spider who wears a shower cap and a diaper. He usually has some twisted scheme for world domination, and uses rap to sugar-coat his criminal master-plans. From Wikipedia:

He is frequently killed, after which he is reincarnated by Satan in a new form with another convoluted scheme. Thus far he's been a cow (Sir Loin), an old man and briefly a vampire (Little Brittle), an earthworm, and, finally, a fly in the ATHF movie.

Voiced by MC Chris- who also had some parts on Sealab 2021.

10. The Box Set DVD is out! Because you just have to watch 'em all over again just before plopping yourself down to enjoy the newest Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVD Box Set out in the market!

Sure, you got volumes one to four- but do you already have ATHF volume 5? It's got 2 disks from the latest ATHF season- including favorites such as "Dickesode", "Hand Banana", "Ezekiel", "Car Wash" and the Star Studded Xmas Spectacular!

With loads of extra features and hours and hours of Aqua Teen Hunger Force goodness (assuming you watch it over and over again- which you probably will).

You can watch the promo vid on YouTube right here. Of course, if you can't wait, I've included the vid right here for your Aqua Teen-lovin' convenience.



Aqua Teen Hunger Force volume 5 DVD Box Set. Out in stores January 29th

Nice touch on the clip- just like a confused Sesame Street bit, with Carl as a voiceover for the end tag. The man says it all: "Go wait in line!"

Cheers everyone!