Drawn Together

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Drawn Together

Drawn Together Cast. Counter-clockwise from upper left: Wooldoor, Toot, Ling-Ling, Foxxy, Xandir, Clara, Spanky, Captain Hero.
Genre Animated series
Running time 22-23 minutes (per episode)
Creator(s) Dave Jeser
Matt Silverstein
Starring Adam Carolla
Jess Harnell
Abbey McBride
Jack Plotnick
Tara Strong
Cree Summer
James Arnold Taylor
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel United States Comedy Central
Original run October 27, 2004–present
No. of episodes 29
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Drawn Together is an American animated television series on Comedy Central created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein, and first aired on October 27, 2004. Comedy Central advertises it as the first animated reality show, though in truth, it is an animated sitcom set on a fictitious TV reality show. The show's eight cartoon characters (mostly recognizable parodies of cartoon archetypes, but which also double as parodies of the general personality types that inhabit TV reality shows) are forced to live in a house together in a setup similar to that of The Real World.

In some episodes, characters participate in challenges that are based on reality TV challenges. The show is made by Rough Draft Studios in Glendale, California, with much of the animation done at the studio's facilities in Korea. Its visual style is that of traditional ink and paint animation, which is actually a departure for Comedy Central, who usually favor more specialized approaches to animation. The style was chosen both for the retro feel it gives the show, and for the versatility it allows the animators, providing an environment in which it is possible to combine many different styles of animation. Another unique aspect of the show is that where most cartoons present their characters, though animated, as real within the show's world, the Drawn Together characters retain their identities as cartoon characters even within their animated world. The show also features many cameo appearances by famous characters (or in some cases, copyright-avoiding clones) from all across the animated spectrum.

Two seasons have been completed to date. Season 3 began airing on Thursday, October 5, 2006, and is taking a mid-season break which started on November 15, 2006. It is not currently known if the show will be picked up for a fourth season. In web site commentary for the episode "Mexican't Buy Me Love", the creators mention that Comedy Central has yet to contact them about a renewal and express doubts as to the show's future; however, at the same time they indicate that ratings have been good, and that given the erratic nature of programming seasons on cable television, a long delay in such a decision being made is still quite possible. Further comments are made in the commentary for the next episode, indicating DVD sales could be a possible positive factor for the show's chances of renewal.

Contents

[edit] Content

The show is adult-oriented, with plot lines revolving around such topics as the fact that Princess Clara's vagina is a multi-tentacled monster (a theme found in a number of hentai films). The humor is largely satirical in nature, its primary focus being the mockery of stereotypes. Some episodes have heavy emphasis on homosexuality and/or bisexuality, with some episodes (such as "Gay Bash" or "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special") solely devoted to these topics. Kinky sex is a common topic of conversation; several of the characters have extremely perverse sexual tastes, and the show makes frequent reference to masturbation, paraphilia, and BDSM. Death and violence are also constant themes. Nearly all episodes feature at least one death, and several episodes feature characters going on graphic killing sprees or perpetrating gruesome massacres. Even the main cast die with great frequency, though these deaths are never permanent. (see: Running gags on Drawn Together)

The Drawn Together house.
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The Drawn Together house.

The show's content is controversial, partially for its explicit dialogue and graphic violence, but primarily for the casual attitude the show takes toward taboo subject matter. A great deal of the show's humor revolves around making light of difficult topics such as abortion, rape, incest, pedophilia, spousal abuse, racism, anti-Semitism, and terrorism (even the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been joked about). The extensive use of stereotypes is another controversial aspect of the show; the intent is actually to make fun of bigotry, but this is not a satire easily accomplished and the show does not always hit the mark. As Jess Harnell states in the DVD commentary for "Hot Tub", "Most of the racism on the show is coming from people who are so obviously stupid about it, it really isn't that threatening." (Notably, one of the most common minorities mocked are Jewish people, which includes both creators.)

Though the two shows are stylistically dissimilar, the coarseness of the humor in Drawn Together has led to frequent comparison with South Park, the show that immediately precedes it on the network. South Park was thought to be extremely profane upon its premiere seven years earlier; obviously, times had changed. The preceding cartoon dropped its TV-MA warning bumper, and almost immediately following, a TV-MA warning was shown before episodes of Drawn Together.

Much like The Simpsons and Family Guy, Drawn Together is heavy with pop culture references. Animation is a major source of material; as mentioned above, many characters from comics and animated cartoons make cameo appearances, and often are the subjects of parody. However, numerous live action films, TV shows, and video games are referenced as well. Reality shows are another prime inspiration, not surprising given that Drawn Together is presented as a reality show that takes place in a cartoon world. However, although many of the first season plots made extensive use of the reality show scenario, this aspect of the show has largely been de-emphasized in later episodes. (See Cultural references below.) The spoofing of film and television clichés is another common theme on the show; many Drawn Together stories are parodies of overused plots from TV and movies.

The show is also noted for having an extremely loose continuity. Although, figuratively speaking, the characters come from different kinds of cartoon worlds with radically different laws of nature and behavior (Princess Clara's fairy tale kingdom, Xandir's video game reality, Captain Hero's universe of super-heroics with set rules for hero/villain behavior, etc.), no explanation for how these worlds co-exist is given or, indeed, expected. All seem aware that they are in fact animated cartoons and that live action creatures exist, but none of them really seem to care; if they are resentful of the perils their animators put them through, they rarely indicate it.

Many events in the show contradict each other, and the line between what is canon and what is not is very frequently blurred; there are numerous gags which are designed merely to be gags rather than canon, and it can often be difficult to tell which is which. One such example is in "The Other Cousin", in which Toot is pictured with a penis, but whether or not she actually has one is debatable. Another is Foxxy's various and contradictory stories about her son Timmy (one involves selling him on the black market, another involves her accidentally shooting him after believing him to be rabid, when he was really just brushing his teeth). According to Executive Producer Bill Freiberger, "Very little on Drawn Together can be considered canon. If you try to find continuity on this show you'll drive yourself nuts. The only thing that's consistent is we try to make the show as funny as possible. And we'd never let a little thing like continuity get in the way of that."[1]

[edit] Characters

[edit] Episodes

[edit] DVD releases

Season Releases

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Information
Season One Uncensored October 4, 2005 7 This two disc box set includes all 7 episodes from the first season. Bonus features include uncensored scenes, commentary on select episodes by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein (along with cast and crew), deleted scenes, karaoke/sing along versions of the show's songs, Censored/Uncensored game.
Season Two Uncensored Winter/Spring 2007[2] 15 This box set will include all 15 episodes from the second season.
A UK advertisement for Drawn Together.
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A UK advertisement for Drawn Together.

The first season of Drawn Together was released on DVD on October 4, 2005. Its release was timed to coincide with the premiere of Season Two on television. The set includes all seven aired first season episodes. (By the time the release was finalized, it had been determined that the unaired "Terms of Endearment" would air during Season Two, so it was left off the set and will be released as part of the Season Two set). The profanity and nudity are intact and uncensored. Some shows also contain additional lines and scenes. Special features include audio commentary on select episodes by creators Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein along with assorted cast and crew members, in addition to deleted scenes and karaoke/singalong versions of the show's songs.

The set also contains a game called the Censored/Uncensored Game: A line is given, and the viewer must decide if the line aired on television as given (uncensored), or if it had to be altered significantly or deleted (censored). Some of the censored lines appear intact in the extended DVD version of the episode. Getting at least 11 of the 19 questions correct unlocks a hidden feature, a prank phone call by Jeser and Silverstein to their agent regarding the royalties they are to receive for the DVD audio commentaries.

The song "Time of My Life" from "Dirty Pranking No. 2" had to be left off the set due to copyright issues. The show mocked the situation in the lyrics to the replacement music. Some sources imply that all the music was replaced for the DVD set, but in reality, this was the only song that was replaced.

No date has yet been given for the Season Two release; it is speculated that the set will be released sometime in spring 2007 during the show's midseason hiatus.[3]

[edit] Previously on Drawn Together

An aborted first season feature of the show was the "last week" segments showing possible outcomes of other episodes. This was a parody of serial dramas, which typically begin with a sensationalized recap of previous events. (In the case of Drawn Together, the events depicted did not actually occur on the show.) Four were produced but not used, but were included on the Season One DVD set.

I: In a parody of Full Metal Jacket, shown in night vision, the housemates gather around a sleeping Toot, gag her, and then beat her with bars of soap in socks because she keeps leaving empty milk cartons in the fridge.

II: After a nuclear apocalypse, the housemates repopulate the Earth with their kids, amalgams of themselves that include a Captain Hero/Clara going out with a Foxxy/Captain Hero/Wooldoor.

III: Xandir tries to have a pillow fight with Spanky and Captain Hero, who are less than pleased. So instead of fighting with their pillows, they smother him.

IV: The housemates run for their lives as they are chased by a giant Wooldoor who proceeds to eat them.

[edit] Cultural references

Drawn Together contains references to nearly every genre of entertainment, but given the show's premise of a reality show with cartoon characters, unsurprisingly those two genres receive an especially significant number of references. The series also contains an extremely high number of film references; the Xandir character is also used to parody video games. The following is a list of animated works and reality TV series, as well as films and video games, that have either been parodied or alluded to on Drawn Together.

[edit] Animation references

[edit] Reality show references

[edit] Movie references

[edit] Video game references

[edit] Trivia

  • Originally, Xandir was to have been played by Nat Faxon, but the network forced the creators to fire him following the first table read, feeling his portrayal of the character was "too gay". They would end up replacing him with Jack Plotnick.
  • In addition to their regular roles, the show's cast also provide many of the guest voices on the series, Summer, Strong, Harnell, and Taylor in particular. In the DVD commentary for "Hot Tub", Tara Strong jokes that this is because the show doesn't have a lot of money to pay guest stars. Chris Edgerly also appears in the majority of Season One and Two episodes despite not having a regular role on the series.
    The hot tub kiss as depicted in promotional posters.
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    The hot tub kiss as depicted in promotional posters.
  • Comedy Central's tagline for the show is "Find out what happens when cartoon characters stop being polite- and start making out in hot tubs", referring to Clara and Foxxy's kiss in the pilot episode. The line is a parody of The Real World's tagline, "Find out what happens when people stop being polite- and start getting real." The aforementioned hot tub kiss is considered one of the show's defining images; Comedy Central based nearly all of its first season promotional material for Drawn Together on it.
  • The film clip accompanying the Double Hemm Productions logo is a windstorm on the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge (also known as Galloping Gertie), capturing the bridge about to collapse.
  • One first-season episode, "Terms of Endearment", in which Captain Hero loses his powers and becomes paralyzed from the neck down, was withheld from broadcast because Superman actor Christopher Reeve (on whose tragedy the episode was based) died two months before the episode was to be aired (about 12/8/04). After keeping it on ice for over a year, Comedy Central finally aired the episode on Wednesday, January 25, 2006, as part of the show's second season. In order to air the show, the producers were forced to replace the scene of Hero falling from a horse (which was how Reeve became paralyzed) with one where Hero enters a fort during a snowstorm and comes out in a wheelchair. Incidentally, the episode was almost banned once again when his widow Dana Reeve announced her terminal illness early in 2006; had she died six weeks earlier than she did, the broadcast would have been postponed again. Strangely, Comedy Central had no problem rerunning the episode one week after her death.[4]
  • Although critical reaction to Drawn Together's premiere was generally positive (USA Today and TV Guide both praised the series), the most famous review of the show was an extremely negative one from Entertainment Weekly, who called the show, "so bad, it's bad for you," and gave it a letter grade of "F". The creators read this review on the DVD commentary for the episode "The One Wherein There Is a Big Twist" and laughed about it. The review would eventually become the basis of the second season episode "Xandir and Tim, Sitting in a Tree", in which the cast read the very same review and react harshly to it. (Entertainment Weekly would later respond by giving this episode an "F" as well.)
  • Cartoon Network's Adult Swim bashed the series in one of their between-show bumps. One reader sent AS a letter asking, "Does American animation always have to be funny?", referring to how adult-oriented animation produced in America is almost exclusively comedic in nature, as opposed to the serious tone found in much foreign-produced animation (such as anime). Adult Swim, using its own brand of cynical and sarcastic humor, replied, "Of course it doesn't. Just look at Drawn Together". Though Drawn Together is frequently accused of relying on shock humor rather than intelligent writing (a fact of which Adult Swim is aware), given Cartoon Network's status as a rival network, the comment could be taken more as negative advertising than constructive criticism.
  • In keeping with the various animation styles that form the premises for the various characters, Wooldoor and Toot have four fingers on each hand (including thumbs), whereas Clara, Foxxy, Hero, and Xandir have five. In promotional artwork for the show, Toot and Wooldoor are drawn with the standard five fingers, but in the show itself they have four.

[edit] Songs

From the beginning of the series, songs have been an important element of the show. Each episode except "Lost in Parking Space, Part One" features at least one musical number. Some songs have been licensed from outside for use in the show, while many are original songs or parodies written specifically for the show. Most of the original songs featured in the show are composed by Eban Schletter.

[edit] Season One

The housemates perform "La-la-la-la Labia".
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The housemates perform "La-la-la-la Labia".
  • 3. Gay Bash
    • "Ling-Ling Lament", written for the show, sung by Ling-Ling
    • "Ling-Ling Battle Song", written for the show, sung by an unnamed male singer and children's chorus.

[edit] Season Two

  • 8. Terms of Endearment
    • "Shortnin' Bread", traditional folk song, sung here by Foxxy Love.
    • "Camptown Races", pop standard, sung here by the black stereotypes in the erasement camp.
  • 12. The Lemon-AIDS Walk
    • "Judge Fudge Theme Song", written for the show, sung by an unnamed chorus
    • "Winner Takes It All", licensed song, sung by Sammy Hagar.

[edit] Season Three

  • 6. Mexican't Buy Me Love
    • "Ling-Ling Battle Song (Spanish version)", written for the show, sung by an unnamed male singer and children's chorus.

[edit] Guests in the confessional

An important stylistic element of Drawn Together is the use of a confessional, in which characters appear separate from the action and talk about what is going on, a concept taken from The Real World. Every episode except "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special" features confessional segments. These segments serve two purposes: to allow the characters a chance to express their feelings outside the context of the episode's action, and in some cases, to provide exposition. Though it is mainly the housemates who use the confessional, Drawn Together breaks away from its Real World prototype by occasionally placing guest characters in the confessional as well. These appearances were very common in the first season, but in the second season, confessional appearances by non-housemates became very few and far between.

The following is a list of characters who have appeared in the confessional other than the eight housemates.

  • Hot Tub
    • Blue Ball; confessed that he would have attempted to brainwash Clara into shooting the President if Spanky had not been present.
  • Gay Bash
    • God, who after objecting to Clara's homophobic comments, fondles a penis through a glory hole the same way Wooldoor did earlier.
    • Evil Lord Slashstab flies through the confessional after stealing the genie in the lamp "for no particular reason".
Ling-Ling's father in the confessional.
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Ling-Ling's father in the confessional.
  • The Other Cousin
    • Ling-Ling's father, wondering how he got in the confessional instantly. To date, he is the only character not to understand the purpose of the confessional.
  • Dirty Pranking No. 2
    • Clara's father, the King; he is only shown in the confessional on videotape after Clara proves Spanky's innocence.
    • Alien Insectobot with Hat who explained that all life on Earth was eliminated, and that the aliens incorporated the humans' form of humor into their own. It is unclear if this is the Drawn Together house confessional booth or one in the aliens' home world.
  • Clum Babies
    • Bob the Cucumber; he enters the confessional chasing after Wooldoor, and while there, he shoots and kills a confessing Toot.
Xandir's baby.
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Xandir's baby.
  • Unrestrainable Trainable
    • Xandir appears in the confessional holding a baby, which is apparently his child by his extremely closeted gay lover Craig. Craig has never been seen on the show, but Xandir addressed several biting comments to him in a previous episode: "Xandir and Tim, Sitting in a Tree".
  • N.R.A.y RAY
    • Ray-Ray, Foxxy's grandson, who is not actually able to sit in the confessional chair since he is hiding out in the house's walls, but instead speaks by cutting a hole in the wall.
  • Mexican't Buy Me Love
    • As Ling-Ling sits in the confessional, the King of Mexico (who has transmogrified into a giant worm monster) reaches his hand through the confessional's back wall and seizes Ling-Ling.

[edit] Broadcasting networks

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

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Drawn Together
Characters
Captain Hero | Foxxy Love | Ling-Ling | Princess Clara | Spanky Ham | Toot Braunstein | Wooldoor Sockbat | Xandir
Recurring and guest characters
Episodes
Season One: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Season Two: 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22
Season Three: 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28| 29
Other
Running gags on Drawn Together
Cast and creators
Dave Jeser | Matt Silverstein | Adam Carolla | Jess Harnell | Abbey McBride | Jack Plotnick | Tara Strong | Cree Summer
James Arnold Taylor