Robot Chicken



Robot Chicken is an American stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root for Adult Swim. The writers, especially Green, also provide many of the voices. Senreich, Goldstein, and Root were formerly writers for the popular action figure hobbyist magazine ToyFare. Robot Chicken has won an Annie Award and five Emmy Awards.

Production history
Robot Chicken is based on "Twisted ToyFare Theater", a humorous photo comic-strip appearing in ToyFare: The Toy Magazine. The show's name was inspired by a dish on the menu at a West Hollywood Chinese restaurant, Kung Pao Bistro, where Green and Senreich had dined; the series originally was intended to be called Junk in the Trunk.

The show was created, written, and produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, and produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (ShadowMachine Films Seasons 1-5) in association with Stoop!d Monkey, Williams Street, and Sony Pictures Television (Sony Pictures Digital Seasons 1-5). The series first appeared as Sweet J Presents on the Sony website Screenblast.com in 2001. In the first episode ("Conan's Big Fun"), Conan O'Brien was a featured character, voiced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane (2005–present). Sweet J Presents ended after 12 episodes and moved to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2005 as Robot Chicken, premiering on Sunday, February 20, 2005.

Some television networks and sketch shows rejected Robot Chicken, including Comedy Central, MADtv, Saturday Night Live, and even Cartoon Network. However, someone at Cartoon Network passed the pitch along to Adult Swim, around the same time that Seth MacFarlane told Seth Green and Matthew Senreich to pitch the show to Adult Swim.

The show mocks popular culture, referencing toys, movies, television, games, popular fads, and more obscure references like anime cartoons and older television programs, much in the same vein as comedy sketch shows like Saturday Night Live. It employs stop motion animation of toys, action figures, claymation, and various other objects, such as tongue depressors, The Game of Life pegs, and popsicle sticks.

One particular motif involves the idea of fantastical characters being placed in a more realistic world or situation (such as Stretch Armstrong requiring a corn syrup transplant after losing his abilities because of aging, Optimus Prime performing a prostate cancer PSA for the humans, and Godzilla having problems in the bedroom). The program aired a 30-minute episode dedicated to Star Wars which premiered June 17, 2007, in the US, featuring the voices of Star Wars notables George Lucas, Mark Hamill (from a previous episode), Billy Dee Williams, and Ahmed Best. The Star Wars episode was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award as Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour).

The show airs in the United Kingdom and Ireland as part of Fox and TruTV's Adult Swim block, in Canada on Teletoon's TELETOON at Night block, in Australia on The Comedy Channel's Adult Swim block, in Russia on 2x2's Adult Swim block, in Germany on TNT Series' Adult Swim block, and in Latin America on the I.Sat Adult Swim block (after the Adult Swim block was cancelled from Cartoon Network Latin America in 2008). The show is rated TV-14 and TV-MA, and many of the sketches from Sweet J Presents were redone for Robot Chicken.

The series was renewed for a 20-episode third season, which ran from August 1, 2007, to September 28, 2008. After an eight-month hiatus during the third season, the show returned on August 31, 2008, to air the remaining 5 episodes. The series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on December 7, 2008, and ended September 20, 2009. In early 2010, the show was renewed for a fifth and sixth season (40 more episodes total). Season 5 premiered on December 12, 2010. The second group of episodes began broadcasting on October 23, 2011. The 100th episode aired on January 15, 2012. In May 2012, Adult Swim announced they were picking up a sixth season of Robot Chicken, which began airing in September 2012. The seventh season premiered on April 13, 2014. Season 8 premiered on October 25, 2015.

Opening sequence
On a stormy night, a mad scientist finds a road-killed chicken, which he takes back to his laboratory to re-fashion into a cyborg. Midway through the opening sequence, the titular chicken turns his laser eye towards the camera, and the title appears amidst the "laser effects" as Les Claypool of Primus can be heard screaming "It's alive!" à la Frankenstein. Claypool also composed and performed the show's theme song. The mad scientist then straps the re-animated Robot Chicken into a chair, uses calipers to hold his eyes open, and forces him to watch a bank of television monitors (with allusions to A Clockwork Orange and Watchmen); this scene segues into the body of the show, which resembles someone frequently changing TV channels.

In the episode "1987", Michael Ian Black claims that this sequence tells the viewers that they are the chicken, being forced to watch the skits. As a result, the show does not actually focus on the robot chicken until the 100th episode, when he finally makes his escape and later kills the mad scientist when he kidnaps his hen girlfriend, Cluckerella.

Beginning in the sixth season, a new opening sequence has been featured with a role reversal. The chicken comes upon the body of the scientist, which has been decapitated. He decides to do to the scientist what the scientist did to him: add robotic parts to him, turn him into a cyborg, and give him a laser eye (although he gives the scientist a blue eye instead of a red one, which necessitates a change in the title's background color), then strap him to the same chair he was strapped to and force him to watch the same TV monitors while the chicken and his girlfriend share a kiss.

Beginning in the eighth season, a new opening sequence has been featured with the Robot Chicken being uncovered in snow frozen in a block of ice by cyborgs. Taken back to the futuristic laboratory, the Robot Chicken is taken out of suspended animation by a masked scientist, revealed to be a descendant of the mad scientist who first reanimated the Robot Chicken. The descendant mad scientist then proceeds to force the Robot Chicken to watch a wall of projected images with different shows, as his ancestor did before him. This new opening was necessary following the plot of the episode "Chipotle Miserables", in which the mad scientist's son rips out his father's remaining eye to open a door controlled by an optical biometric reader, and then creates a posse of reanimated half-cyborg animals, as well as a cyborg homeless person. The posse then proceeds to kidnap all 5 living Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. The Robot Chicken and Mad Scientist then team up to rescue the presidents, after which, the Robot Chicken flies away, free.

Recurring sketches
The show features several recurring sketches. Some of the more predominant ones include:


 * Bloopers - A parody of the Bob Saget-era of America's Funniest Home Videos, featuring a host with exaggerated spastic mannerisms who commits suicide at the end of each show.
 * DC Comics Parodies - Different parodies of characters from DC Comics.
 * G.I. Joe Parodies - Different parodies of G.I. Joe featuring the G.I. Joe Team and Cobra Command.
 * Masters of the Universe Parodies - Different parodies of characters from Masters of the Universe.
 * The Nerd - The Nerd is an awkward high school or college student with broken glasses who lisps. Although his name was mentioned as "Gary" in an early episode, later episodes give his name as "Arthur Kensington, Jr." The Nerd imagines what it would be like to live in various well-known fantasy worlds. He also has a major fondness for nudity.
 * Robot Chicken Has Been Cancelled - Four of the eight season finales of Robot Chicken perpetuated a running gag in which the Presidents of Adult Swim, announces that Robot Chicken has been cancelled.
 * Robot Chicken Has Been Renewed - At the start of season premieres, there was a running gag of events of the previous Robot Chicken is cancelled season finale would be shown and shows Robot Chicken somehow getting renewed.
 * Strawberry Shortcake Parodies - Different parodies of Strawberry Shortcake which even featured characters exclusive to this show.
 * Star Trek Parodies - Different parodies of each of the Star Trek franchises.
 * Star Wars Parodies - Different parodies of characters of the Star Wars franchise.
 * Unsolved Case Files - A parody of true crime shows like Unsolved Mysteries which feature investigation of crimes involving fictional characters such as the murders/deaths of Santa Claus or George Jetson. The sketch ends with a promo for the next episode.
 * Where Are They Now? - A sketch in which Michael Moore investigates past media celebrities (often stars of old television programs that produced toylines) who have fallen into obscurity.

Main cast
Main and major recurring actors/writers are:


 * Jordan Allen-Dutton
 * Candace Bailey
 * Abraham Benrubi
 * Rachel Bloom
 * Alex Borstein
 * Leah Cevoli
 * Rachael Leigh Cook
 * Hugh Davidson
 * Mikey Day
 * Eden Espinosa
 * Donald Faison
 * Tamara Garfield
 * Sarah Michelle Gellar
 * Douglas Goldstein
 * Ginnifer Goodwin
 * Clare Grant
 * Seth Green
 * Jamie Kaler
 * Mila Kunis
 * Jordan Ladd
 * Seth MacFarlane
 * Breckin Meyer
 * Dan Milano
 * Chad Morgan
 * Tom Root
 * Matthew Senreich
 * Kevin Shinick
 * Amy Smart
 * Adam Talbott
 * Erik Weiner
 * Zeb Wells
 * Victor Yerrid

Celebrity guest stars
Among those celebrities who have contributed to this show are:


 * 50 Cent
 * Scott Adsit
 * Malin Åkerman
 * Lauren Ambrose
 * Gillian Anderson
 * Eric André
 * Steve Aoki
 * Magda Apanowicz
 * Fred Armisen
 * Sean Astin
 * Sebastian Bach
 * Kevin Bacon
 * Robin Bain
 * Diora Baird
 * Johnny Bananas
 * Elizabeth Banks
 * Jonathan Banks
 * Samantha Barks
 * Sasha Barrese
 * Lance Bass
 * Sean Bean
 * Kristen Bell
 * Lake Bell
 * Jon Bernthal
 * Ahmed Best
 * Michael Ian Black
 * Megan Boone
 * Wayne Brady
 * Amy Brenneman
 * Jordana Brewster
 * Alison Brie
 * Christie Brinkley
 * Clancy Brown
 * Eugene Byrd
 * Dean Cain
 * Bruce Campbell
 * Tisha Campbell-Martin
 * Bobby Cannavale
 * Linda Cardellini
 * Jennifer Carpenter
 * Robert Carradine
 * Emma Caulfield
 * Tom Cavanagh
 * Sarah Chalke
 * Kyle Chandler
 * Max Charles
 * Kristin Chenoweth
 * Michael Chiklis
 * Anna Chlumsky
 * Emmanuelle Chriqui
 * Erika Christensen
 * Emilia Clarke
 * Diablo Cody
 * Gary Coleman
 * Kevin Connolly
 * Josh Cooke
 * Rob Corddry
 * Abbie Cornish
 * Erin Cottrell
 * Dave Coulier
 * Bryan Cranston
 * Chace Crawford
 * Affion Crockett
 * Macaulay Culkin
 * Robert Culp
 * Alan Cumming
 * Alexandra Daddario
 * Brett Dalton
 * Hugh Dancy
 * Anthony Daniels
 * Keith David
 * Vicki Davis
 * Rosario Dawson
 * Dom DeLuise
 * Alexis Denisof
 * Kat Dennings
 * Chris Diamantopoulos
 * Dustin Diamond
 * Phyllis Diller
 * Nina Dobrev
 * Snoop Dogg
 * Clark Duke
 * Ashley Eckstein
 * Zac Efron
 * Sam Elliott
 * Chris Evans
 * Luke Evans
 * Joey Fatone
 * David Faustino
 * Jon Favreau
 * Nat Faxon
 * Corey Feldman
 * Shelby Fero
 * Miguel Ferrer
 * Nathan Fillion
 * Reggie Fils-Aimé
 * Carrie Fisher
 * Calista Flockhart
 * Dan Fogler
 * Dave Foley
 * Ben Foster
 * Megan Fox
 * Alfonso Freeman
 * Eric Freeman
 * Martin Freeman
 * Soleil Moon Frye
 * Brittany Furlan
 * Peter Gallagher
 * Ralph Garman
 * Jennie Garth
 * Karen Gillan
 * Donald Glover
 * Whoopi Goldberg
 * Zachary Gordon
 * Mark-Paul Gosselaar
 * Lucas Grabeel
 * Topher Grace
 * Spencer Grammer
 * Brian Austin Green
 * CeeLo Green
 * Max Greenfield
 * Judy Greer
 * Melanie Griffith
 * Josh Groban
 * Greg Grunberg
 * Anna Gunn
 * Kathryn Hahn
 * Corey Haim
 * Alison Haislip
 * Larry Hama
 * Mark Hamill
 * Jon Hamm
 * Colin Hanks
 * Jim Hanks
 * Alyson Hannigan
 * Danielle Harris
 * Jared Harris
 * Neil Patrick Harris
 * Melissa Joan Hart
 * Dennis Haskins
 * David Hasselhoff
 * Ethan Hawke
 * Erinn Hayes
 * Emily Head
 * Jon Heder
 * Hugh Hefner
 * Tricia Helfer
 * Tom Hiddleston
 * Megan Hilty
 * Hulk Hogan
 * Michael Hogan
 * Ashley Holliday
 * Nicholas Hoult
 * Kelly Hu
 * Vanessa Hudgens
 * Ernie Hudson
 * Sarah Hyland
 * The Iron Sheik
 * Gregory Itzin
 * Gillian Jacobs
 * Allison Janney
 * Famke Janssen
 * Shooter Jennings
 * Ken Jeong
 * Scarlett Johansson
 * Rashida Jones
 * Sung Kang
 * Robert Kazinsky
 * Arielle Kebbel
 * Monica Keena
 * Ellie Kemper
 * Page Kennedy
 * Kesha
 * Keegan-Michael Key
 * Val Kilmer
 * Jimmy Kimmel
 * Jaime King
 * Joey King
 * Dr. Will Kirby
 * Robert Kirkman
 * Don Knotts
 * Jane Krakowski
 * John Krasinski
 * Kristin Kreuk
 * Ashton Kutcher
 * T.J. Lavin
 * Mike Lazzo
 * Stan Lee
 * Thomas Lennon
 * Adrian Lester
 * Zachary Levi
 * Matthew Lillard
 * Delroy Lindo
 * Christopher Lloyd
 * Joe Lo Truglio
 * Mario Lopez
 * Caity Lotz
 * George Lucas
 * Ludacris
 * Ralph Macchio
 * Holly Madison
 * Lee Majors
 * Jena Malone
 * William Mapother
 * Kate Mara
 * Bridget Marquardt
 * James Marsden
 * George R.R. Martin
 * Tatiana Maslany
 * Master P
 * Danny Masterson
 * Eric McCormack
 * Jennette McCurdy
 * Malcolm McDowell
 * John C. McGinley
 * Joel McHale
 * Julian McMahon
 * Rove McManus
 * Shane McRae
 * Stephen Merchant
 * Kel Mitchell
 * RJ Mitte
 * Katy Mixon
 * Alfred Molina
 * Maribeth Monroe
 * Phil Moore
 * Ronald D. Moore
 * Toby Leonard Moore
 * Pat Morita
 * David Morse
 * John Moschitta, Jr.
 * Olivia Munn
 * Conan O'Brien
 * Pat O'Brien
 * Chris O'Donnell
 * Raymond Ochoa
 * Sandra Oh
 * Masi Oka
 * Britne Oldford
 * Larisa Oleynik
 * John Oliver
 * Timothy Omundson
 * David Oyelowo
 * Lee Pace
 * Adrianne Palicki
 * Hayden Panettiere
 * Jessica Paré
 * Randall Park
 * Chris Parnell
 * Shawn Patterson
 * Aaron Paul
 * Jordan Peele
 * Simon Pegg
 * Tahmoh Penikett
 * Rhea Perlman
 * Ron Perlman
 * Katelin Peterson
 * Chris Pine
 * Dr. Drew Pinsky
 * Roddy Piper
 * Scott Porter
 * Freddie Prinze, Jr.
 * Danny Pudi
 * Lucy Punch
 * Zachary Quinto
 * Daniel Radcliffe
 * Efren Ramirez
 * Sarah Ramos
 * Marion Ramsey
 * Jeremy Renner
 * Paul Reubens
 * Burt Reynolds
 * Alfonso Ribeiro
 * Giovanni Ribisi
 * Sarah Rice
 * Andy Richter
 * Jason Ritter
 * Krysten Ritter
 * AnnaSophia Robb
 * Saoirse Ronan
 * Tim Roth
 * Paul Rudd
 * Debra Jo Rupp
 * Jeri Ryan
 * RZA
 * Katee Sackhoff
 * Bob Saget
 * Meredith Salenger
 * Will Sasso
 * Paul Scheer
 * Liev Schreiber
 * Ricky Schroder
 * Nev Schulman
 * Ben Schwartz
 * Adam Scott
 * Ryan Seacrest
 * David Shaughnessy
 * Alia Shawkat
 * Dax Shepard
 * Tiffany Shepis
 * Dave Sheridan
 * Sarah Silverman
 * Gene Simmons
 * J.K. Simmons
 * Nick Simmons
 * Sir Mix-a-Lot
 * Christian Slater
 * Jean Smart
 * Robert Smigel
 * Kurtwood Smith
 * J.B. Smoove
 * Brenda Song
 * Hal Sparks
 * Brent Spiner
 * Mary Steenburgen
 * Mindy Sterling
 * Jon Stewart
 * Patrick Stewart
 * Emma Stone
 * Patrick Stump
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Marc Summers
 * T-Pain
 * Catherine Taber
 * George Takei
 * Bex Taylor-Klaus
 * Tila Tequila
 * Charlize Theron
 * Josh Robert Thompson
 * Lea Thompson
 * Courtney Thorne-Smith
 * Billy Bob Thornton
 * Ashley Tisdale
 * Carrot Top
 * Stuart Townsend
 * Michelle Trachtenberg
 * Triple H
 * Stanley Tucci
 * Alan Tudyk
 * Robin Tunney
 * Steven Tyler
 * Skeet Ulrich
 * Wilmer Valderrama
 * Jean-Claude Van Damme
 * James Van Der Beek
 * Carice van Houten
 * Milo Ventimiglia
 * Lark Voorhies
 * Dreama Walker
 * Patrick Warburton
 * Burt Ward
 * Michaela Watkins
 * Ming-Na Wen
 * Pete Wentz
 * Adam West
 * Wil Wheaton
 * Joss Whedon
 * Mae Whitman
 * Olivia Wilde
 * Kendra Wilkinson
 * Billy Dee Williams
 * Harland Williams
 * Maisie Williams
 * Rumer Willis
 * Henry Winkler
 * Michael Winslow
 * Alex Winter
 * James Wolk
 * Elijah Wood
 * Evan Rachel Wood
 * Matthew Wood
 * Jeffrey Wright
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic
 * William Zabka
 * Billy Zane
 * Tay Zonday

Other voice actors
Besides the celebrities above, many famous voice actors work on this series including:


 * Dee Bradley Baker
 * Michael Benyaer
 * Bob Bergen
 * Julianne Buescher
 * Jodi Carlisle
 * Lacey Chabert
 * Greg Cipes
 * Keith Crofford
 * Jim Cummings
 * Grey DeLisle
 * Benjamin Diskin
 * Jeannie Elias
 * Bill Farmer
 * Mike Fasolo
 * Keith Ferguson
 * Quinton Flynn
 * Danny Goldman
 * Mike Henry
 * Roger L. Jackson
 * Tom Kane
 * Neil Kaplan
 * Tom Kenny
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Phil LaMarr
 * George Lowe
 * Rachael MacFarlane
 * Drew Massey
 * Joel McCrary
 * Christopher McCulloch
 * Jim Meskimen
 * Minae Noji
 * Rob Paulsen
 * Patrick Pinney
 * Bill Ratner
 * Adam Reed
 * Susan Silo
 * Danny Smith
 * Dana Snyder
 * Stephen Stanton
 * Tara Strong
 * Cree Summer
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Frank Welker
 * Billy West

Home releases
Revolver Entertainment have released the first four seasons and all three Star Wars specials in the United Kingdom. A box set including the first 3 seasons and a box set including all three Star Wars specials have also been released.

Madman Entertainment has released all Robot Chicken seasons and specials to date in Australia and New Zealand.

International

 * Robot Chicken premiered in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Bravo as part of the Adult Swim programming block. The series, along with other Adult Swim shows, moved to FX and ran from 5 June 2010 to 27 November 2010. The block did not air in 2011, but returned in 2012 on TCM 2. The channel ceased broadcasting in 2013. Syfy currently airs the DC Comics and Star Wars specials. Adult Swim, along with Robot Chicken, returned to UK television starting with a new block on the FOX channel in the fall of 2015. In late 2016 TruTV UK began airing Robot Chicken episodes.
 * Robot Chicken premiered in Australia on The Comedy Channel on March 11, 2008, after the Group Programming Director Darren Chau secured The Comedy Channel as the Australian home of Adult Swim. The Comedy Channel brought both Seth Green and Matt Senreich to Australia to conduct a promotional tour to support the launch.
 * Robot Chicken premiered in Portugal on the channel MOV in February 2013.
 * Robot Chicken premiered in Brazil on Adult Swim
 * Robot Chicken premiered in Germany on the pay TV channel Sat.1 Comedy on December 5, 2007 and on the free TV channel VIVA Germany in January 2014.
 * Robot Chicken premiered in the Netherlands on the channel Comedy Central Netherlands in February 2014.
 * In Canada, the series airs on Adult Swim Canada and Teletoon at Night, the nighttime programming block on Teletoon.