The Awesomes

The Awesomes is an animated comedy web series starring Seth Meyers, streamed on Hulu. The show follows a group of superheroes who step in and replace the members of a legendary but disbanding superhero team. Under new leadership, The Awesomes attempt to put themselves back together in the face of intense media and government skepticism. Meyers serves as executive producer alongside co-creator Mike Shoemaker and Lorne Michaels.

The Awesomes has a strong association with the NBC weekly TV series Saturday Night Live, starring several SNL favourite cast members including Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Kenan Thompson, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan and Rachel Dratch, as well as SNL writers Steve Higgins, Emily Spivey and Paula Pell. Lorne Michaels serves as executive producer, as he does with many other SNL-associated shows.

The show marks Hulu's second foray into original scripted programming. The first season premiered online on August 1, 2013. On September 19th, 2013 it was reported that Hulu had announced The Awesomes had been renewed for a second season.^[1][2]

Characters

The Awesomes

• Professor Dr. Jeremy "Prock" Awesome (voiced by Seth Meyers) - The young new leader of the Awesomes. Prock has a JD and an MD, but has always wanted to be a superhero like his father, Mr. Awesome. Prock disappointingly doesn't have any of his father's impressive physical powers: indeed, he is unimposing and injury-prone. However, he's the smartest on the team and a natural leader: in a crisis he comes up with excellent plans and assigns jobs to everyone on the team. For some reason, Prock has so far chosen to keep his other powers hidden from his teammates: he can stop time for ten second increments, and (like his father) he is immune to Dr. Malocchio's powers of hypnosis. His blind spot is that he has a huge crush on Hotwire, which is why she's on the team. Prock wears a blue jumpsuit with a black utility belt and has a golden "A" on his crest similar to his father. Prock lied to his father that he no longer uses his time power, as doctors told him continuing to use it would kill him.
• Harry "Muscleman" Strong (voiced by Ike Barinholtz) - Prock's best friend from childhood: their fathers were teammates in the original Awesomes. He inherited his superhero name - along with superhuman strength and invulnerability - from his father and grandfather before him. Muscleman likes to stay on the positive side of everything, which can get a little annoying. He wears sleeveless red tights with black cufflinks and socks and also has an extremely large amount of chest hair.
• Concierge (voiced by Emily Spivey) - The secretary of the new Awesomes, who helped Prock and Muscleman recruit the others (mostly from an old reject pile). While not seen by the others as a superhero, she has the power to rapidly perceive people's needs, organize information, and optimize resources. She goes on every mission. Concierge ended up with the job only because she was the last of the old staff to say "Not it," though now she likes it.
• Zip "Frantic" Danger (Voice by Taran Killam) - His power is superhuman speed. It's said that he's the third fastest in the world and he can run 500 miles an hour. It's unknown how he got his powers, but his parents think he's a good-for-nothing. He's hyperactive and in a hurry to do the right thing. He looks up to Prock. He wears yellow and white tights that resemble lightning.
• Gadget Gal (voiced by Paula Pell) - The only original member of The Awesomes. She got old and decided to retire, but Prock convinced her to return when a rejuvenation ray made her 25 again. Her superpower is super-resourcefulness. She can turn things in her purse into weapons.
• Austin "Impresario" Sullivan (voiced by Kenan Thompson) - A mama's boy whose power is conjuring. Unfortunately, everything he conjures has his mother's face and voice. He wears a purple and pink tuxedo and a jeweled turban.
• Sumo (voiced by Bobby Lee) - Initially known only by his first name, Tim, he's only 11 years old but extremely powerful. In a manner similar to The Incredible Hulk, he can transform into a sumo wrestler when injured or angered, and in this form he appears to be even stronger than Muscleman. Tim doesn't wear a costume.
• Katherine "Hotwire" Malocchio (voiced by Rashida Jones) - Her power is manipulating electricity. Her background is unknown, but she is Dr. Malocchio's daughter. Concierge doesn't trust her, since she is the only team member who applied to join rather than being recruited. Prock is blind to these concerns. Hotwire previously dated Perfect Man and was also aware of Prock's crush on her while dating Perfect Man.

Supervillains

• Dr. Giuseppe Malocchio (voiced by Bill Hader) - Founder of Malocchio Laboratories in the 1940s, he was the first doctor to study superheroes and was the confidante of many of the world's leading heroes in his quest to understand and isolate the supergene. Among his partnerships were the original 1940s lineup of The Awesomes, and Mr. Awesome soon became his best friend. Together they worked in the laboratory and co-discovered the supergene. But Malocchio and Mr. Awesome had different ideas as to how best use their new discovery. Malocchio wanted to use it to make ordinary humans super, and injected himself with the serum. Although originally good, the terrible side effects of the formula turned him monstrously evil. He gained the ability to control human or superhero minds at will. He then used the serum to create an evil army of supervillains, who have battled superheroes for decades, each villain identifiable as one of Malocchio's by the characteristic red eyes; Malocchio means 'evil eye' in Italian. Considered the world's most dangerous supervillain, he was imprisoned. Once the original Awesomes disbanded, he easily escaped from prison by using his mind control on the guards, and even forced them to become his minions. His goal is to convince everyone to surrender their superpowers, ostensibly to protect bystanders from collateral damage. He has a passion for gourmet cooking and is Hotwire's father.

Others with superpowers

• Mr. Awesome (voiced by Steve Higgins) - The founder of the original Awesomes and its leader for the past 60 years, and Prock's father. Although his powers keep him from aging, he announced on his 90th birthday that he was retiring (to outer space, so that he wouldn't be bothered). He wanted Perfect Man to take over - "the son I never had" - but his actual son Prock volunteered when Perfect Man turned down the offer. Mr. Awesome thinks Prock will never be a superhero because he doesn't have any powers (Prock told his dad that he doesn't use his Time ability anymore). Mr. Awesome's powers are similar to Superman's: superhuman strength, speed, flight, super breath, laser vision, and invulerability. He wears a red, white, and blue outfit with a red cape and a 100-ton metal "A" on his crest.
• Perfect Man (voiced by Josh Meyers) - An arrogant and publicity-seeking former member of the original Awesomes, who has gone solo. At the beginning of the series he's dating Hotwire, although he considers it a casual relationship. His personality is similar to Booster Gold's, when Booster first appeared in the DC Universe. Perfect Man can fly and has telescopic vision and x-ray vision. He has awesome hair and an extremely muscular physique. He wears red tights with a gold cape and a cursive "P" on his chest. Dr. Malocchio has hypnotized him not to interfere with the Awesomes or Hotwire's involvement with them.
• Dine and Dash - (voiced by Cecily Strong and Mike O'Gorman) - Sumo's parents, two former mercenaries who formed their own criminal duo after meeting in combat and falling in love. After Tim was conceived, they settled down to a quiet life as a real estate agent and a CPA, posing as Japanese immigrants with heavy accents. (In fact, Tim's father is 3rd-generation Japanese-American and his mother is Korean-American.) When the time comes for them to change their identities again, they try to take Tim with them, but he manages to stay with The Awesomes.
• Teleportation Larry (voiced by Bobby Moynihan) - When Muscleman quits the team, Teleportation Larry joins The Awesomes in his place. He has the power to teleport himself and others as long as he can see them. He is an active alcoholic but saves the day at the end of season one when he teleports the team away from Malocchio's control. He also saves Hotwire before the big explosion in the White House although Prock and the team think she is dead.
• Black Irish (voiced by Taran Killam) - A former member of The Awesomes in the glory days of the team, Black Irish is masked crime fighter ands the world's greatest detective. He helps Prock deduce who the traitor on the team is (Hotwire). He speaks with a gruff voice until it annoys Impresario so much that he gives him a lozenge.

Humans

• Joyce Mandrake (voiced by Rachel Dratch) - She's from the G.O.O.S.A. (Government Office of Superhero Affairs) and she handles the funding for the Awesomes. Since the original team disbanded, the government has been threatening to pull the Awesomes' funding. Prock is constantly trying to get it permanently restored, but Joyce won't make it easy on him.

Episodes

Season 1 (2013)

Production

In July 2007, Syfy gave a script commitment to the series.^[3] Syfy later passed on making the show, but MTV gave it a script commitment in June 2009.^[4] After MTV passed, Hulu gave it a 10 episode, straight to series order in April 2013.^[5]

References

External links

• The Awesomes at Hulu
• Official Site
• The Awesomes at the Internet Movie Database