Frisky Dingo
Adam Reed, Matt Thompson
2 seasons, 25 episodes
11 minutes apiece
TV-MA
Television is not a land of equality and justice. Arrested Development got canceled. Sports Night got canceled. Joss Whedon got canceled. (Don’t mess with those Browncoat people. They will kill for Firefly.) And, worst of all, Frisky Dingo got canceled.
Frisky Dingo was created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The show lasted two seasons, my sophomore and junior years at Auburn (obligatory Auburn reference), before getting canceled. Reed and Thompson originally teamed to create Sealab 2021, the up-and-down sketch show (more misses than hits, I thought) which used footage from the ’70s Sealab 2020. Frisky Dingo is their second (and best) show. The two, Reed mainly, I think he’s done much of the heavy lifting, could be wrong, are now working on FX’s Archer.
Frisky Dingo is a weird show. The best I can do as far as category is say it’s a superhero parody. It is basically Batman if Bruce Wayne was selfish and sophomoric and his only villain was a seven-foot tall albino alien who’s trying to destroy the entire human race. Unlike Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo has a definite narrative arc. But characters, not plot, are what make the show.
Xander Crews/Awesome X
voiced by: Adam Reed
There’s something unspeakably hilarious about selfish, extremely confident, blunt characters who lack anything approaching self-awareness. Look at the best Will Ferrell roles or Kenny Powers or Gob Bluth. All these characters are pure id. Act first, think never. Maybe they’re funny because so many people are afraid to be that free with their words and actions. Maybe it’s because they’re complete a-holes. (It’s probably because they’re complete a-holes.) Xander Crews is an orphan, a billionaire tycoon, and a superhero. He is a hilarious moron.
Killface
voiced by: Adam Reed
Killface is some sort of alien who’s been sent to destroy Earth using the Annihilatrix, which looks to be a crashed spaceship. He lives with his son Simon and for whatever reason he has a British accent. He spends a good portion of Season 1 trying to raise money to fix the Annihilatrix. In Season 2, he runs for president against Xander. He is a pantsless stay-at-home father.
Wendell Stamps
voiced by: Adam Reed
Wendell may or may not have been a member of CIA at one point. They will neither confirm nor deny his involvement. He is addicted to chicken and albino prostitutes. He got out of the Department of Labor after murdering a member of a news team and framing his partner Cody. He works for the committee to elect Killface for president. But later joins forces with Xander Crews. Even later in Season 2 he goes rogue and rides around The Town on a giant, hideous ant baby. A lot goes down in Season 2.
The Xtacles
voiced by: Various
The group of “robot men” that support Awesome X. They spend most of their time on the Xcalibur acting like 15-year-old boys and worrying about domestic issues. After the uprising of Hooper, “that robot with the awesome t**s,” they change their name to the Decepticles — “Decepticles, more than you bargained for.” Matt Thompson created a spin-off of Frisky Dingo called The Xtacles starring the Xtacles in 2008. It only lasted two episodes.
Mr. Ford
voiced by: Mr. Ford
I’m pretty sure Reed and Thompson knew some guy and/or met some crazed man on the street named Mr. Ford. I like to think they just let him say whatever he feels in the moment. From memory, Mr. Ford appears as a pet store owner, a judge, a campaign statistician, vice president of America, and a dedicated golfer.
+++
All I wanted to write: This is funny. Watch it. Frisky Dingo is one of the few shows I can watch over and over without boredom or fear of over-familiarity. Adam Reed is a hilarious man, and if there’s any justice in the world Frisky Dingo will one day return. There’s not and it won’t. So Archer will have to do. Check back next week.
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my favorite comedy show that got canceled was Dog Bites Man. freakin hilarious. well that and the Chappelle Show
God, I miss this show. So much better than Archer.
Comparing Firefly to Frisky Dingo is pathetic. Like Scorsese to P. Jackson.