| Snake 'n' Bacon | |
|---|---|
Title card |
|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Michael Kupperman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Adult Swim |
| Picture format | 4:3 SDTV |
| Original airing | May 10, 2009 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Snake 'n' Bacon is a comic book and cartoon duo created by American cartoonist and illustrator Michael Kupperman (also known by his pseudonym P. Revess).[1] Originally only in print comics, the characters were brought to television on May 10, 2009, when they were broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim channel in a Snake 'n' Bacon animated show. The Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Vol. 1 collection was published in 2009 by Fantagraphics,[2] but after its pilot the show was originally not picked up by Cartoon Network for Adult Swim.[3]
Contents |
The characters in the comics were a parody of popular comedy teams. One of the characters is a snake, while the other is a strip of bacon. Other characters in the comic were Criminal District Attorney and Underpants-On-His-Head-Man.[4] Utterances by Snake and Bacon are limited to hissing (on Snake's part) and making bacon-related comments (on Bacon's part) such as "I'm real bacon" and advice such as "Wrap your dog's pill in me."[5] Still, their communications are filled with sexual innuendos.[1]
The characters "highlight what is perhaps Kupperman’s greatest comedic skill--the ability to sell surreal ideas in the most serious way possible, highlighting the humor all the more vividly," according to one reviewer.[6] Kupperman did cartoons for Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse TV series before returning to comic book making with a series for Fantagraphics called Tales Designed to Thrizzle, using many of the characters from Snake 'n' Bacon (including the titular pair) and new characters, such as Hercules ("the public domain superhero") and The Mannister, a man who can transform himself into the shape of a banister.[6]
When the cartoon came to television, it combined animated and live-action sequences,[5] with the help of such people as James Urbaniak ("Bacon"), Dan Bakkedahl, Bill Hader, David Rakoff, Kristen Schaal, Peter Serafinowicz, and Brian Stack.[7] It was followed on the Cartoon Network schedule by "a spiritual cousin," the British comedy The Mighty Boosh.[1]
Kupperman has created several memorable cartoon characters, written for DC Comics, and has been influenced by absurdity and surrealism.[1] Kupperman is said to use absurdist humor that includes straightforward jokes, pointing out through humor the absurdities of the past that just weren’t visible to readers at the time, mimicking "silly" directions people put in books about how to use them, and putting famous people in silly situations.[1]
Responses to the TV show have been very positive—comments range from "I really liked it"[5] to "It's trippy and creative, definitely weirdly off the wall and way out there."[8] One naysayer was Ron Hogan on Den of Geek, who called the show "the worst thing that's been on [Adult Swim] since Delocated."[9]