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Superjail!

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Superjail!
File:Superjail!.jpg
Title card for Superjail!
GenreBlack comedy
Surrealism
Splatter
Created byChristy Karacas[1]
Stephen Warbrick[1]
Ben Gruber[1]
Developed byAugenblick Studios
Voices ofDavid Wain
Christy Karacas
Teddy Cohn
Christopher McCulloch
Richard Mathar
Opening theme"Comin' Home" by Cheeseburger featuring Doc[2] "Rubber Bullets" by 10cc (pilot only)
Country of originVereinigte Staaten
Original languageEnglisch
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes21 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersChristy Karacas
Stephen Warbrick
Ben Gruber
ProducersShannon Prynoski
Chris McCulloch (consulting)
Running time11 minutes
Production companiesWilliams Street
Augenblick Studios (2007-2008)
Titmouse, Inc. (2011-)
Original release
NetworkAdult Swim
ReleaseMay 13, 2007 (Pilot)
September 28, 2008 –
present

Superjail! is an American animated television series produced by Augenblick Studios the first season and Titmouse, Inc. the second season. The series follows the events that take place in an unusual prison.[3] The pilot episode aired on television on May 13, 2007, and its first season began on September 28, 2008. Superjail! is characterized by its psychedelic shifts in setting and plot and extreme graphic violence, which give the series a TV-MA V rating.[4] These elements are depicted through highly elaborate animated sequences, which have been described as "baroque and complicated and hard to take in at a single viewing".[3]

Season two began airing on April 3, 2011 and ended on June 12, 2011. It has been confirmed by Christy Karacas that Season 3 will be started on as soon as possible.

Setting and premise

The majority of Superjail! is set inside the eponymous prison. Externally, Superjail is built inside a volcano which is itself located in a larger volcano. Internally, it seems to constitute its own reality, where the fabric of time and space is extremely fluid and changes at the whim of the Warden. Superjail's inmate population is stated by Jared to be in excess of 70,000, although the show's creators mention that the jail processes "billions of inmates".

In the first season, each episode begins with a linear story revolving around an irresponsible scheme concocted by the Warden to satisfy some whim. The episode builds up in both violence and surrealism into a climactic, psychedelic blood bath during which dozens of inmates are brutally murdered, either by one another or some external force. Some episode plots have no resolutions at all, with the story simply stopping when events have reached their most chaotic. Regardless, the status quo is always restored by the next episode.

Beginning with the second season, the creators modified the format of the series to focus more on character development and story, as imagined by a revised writing staff.[5] The second season premiere "Best Friends Forever" demonstrated an immediate break from the first season's template, focusing the episode on Jailbot and Jared as opposed to the Warden, setting half of the episode outside of the prison, and lacking an extended murder sequence in the climax.

Influences

In an interview, creator Christy Karacas said influences for the show include Tex Avery, Child art, Bob Clampett, Vince Collins ("Malice in Wonderland"), Sally Cruikshank, Dave and Max Fleischer, The Itchy & Scratchy Show, Looney Tunes, Mad, The Muppets, Outsider art, Gary Panter, Pee-wee's Playhouse, Schoolhouse Rock!, Dr. Seuss, and Underground comix.[6]

Characters

File:Superjail characters.jpg
From left to right, going down: The Warden, Jared, Alice, Jailbot, The Doctor, The Twins, Jacknife, Gary and Bird, and Paul and Jean.
  • The Warden (David Wain) - the proprietor of Superjail. Clad in a purple tailcoat, gloves, a purple top hat, red cummerbund, and yellow-tinted glasses, the Warden has been described as a "sadistic Willy Wonka".[7] Rather than handling any administrative tasks, he spends most of his time lusting after chief guard Alice, or indulging his own bizarre fantasies. Despite his seemingly happy and carefree demeanor, he regularly endangers the lives of Superjail prisoners—often intentionally—to satisfy his own desires. Although he refrains from mayhem in the world outside of Superjail, an episode dealing with an alternate future depicts him ruthlessly subjugating the entire human race and turning the whole world into a single prison state. He is portrayed in real life at the end of the episode "Dream Machine" by Tim Harrington, frontman of the Brooklyn-based indie group Les Savy Fav.[8]
  • Jared (Teddy Cohn) - Superjail's large headed, uptight accountant, and the Warden's primary assistant; he handles most of the jail's administrative duties. He was first taken to Superjail as a prisoner for unknowingly working for the mafia, and got his job when he impressed the Warden with his intelligence. He is in recovery for, according to the show's creators, every addiction possible, including alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling, sex addiction, and compulsive eating.
  • Alice (Christy Karacas) - the hulking, muscular head guard of Superjail, who is clearly transgender and possesses both female and male features. She regularly engages in sadomasochistic rituals with the prisoners (not always with their consent), but rebuffs the Warden's constant advances. She was originally a male guard at a normal prison who got a sex change when she fell in love with that prison's warden. However, she was fired as a result of the prison's warden ultimately turning out to be homosexual and deeming her a monster, but was hired by the Warden shortly after.[9]
  • Jailbot - a tombstone-shaped levitating robot that the Warden made to perform tasks in and around Superjail. He was created by the Warden himself, and kills inmates without mercy while capturing criminals like Jacknife. In the episode "Jailbot 2.0", the Warden claims that Jailbot single-handedly built the vast prison, but flashbacks suggest that Jailbot is really the latest in a series of similar robots. He is mute, with a dot matrix screen that displays a simple expressive face.[6] Despite his ruthlessness, Jailbot also possesses a childlike personality, protecting the Warden from any harm and watching out for the welfare of young children who come across his path; Christy Karacas described him as a "red headed stepchild... seeking approval." He has even shown compassion for Jacknife, releasing him and allowing his escape in "Best Friends Forever".[9]
  • The Doctor - the resident physician of Superjail. He regularly experiments on the inmates in grotesque ways, and has a German accent.
  • The Twins (Richard Mathar) - green-blooded, blond, identical twin aliens with European-sounding accents who inhabit a laboratory underneath Superjail and wear outfits resembling those worn by the Sandmen in Logan's Run. They took a year abroad trip to Earth and then decided to stay, to their father's chagrin. Their on-screen appearances are accompanied by techno music. The Twins use unexplained powers—including teleportation and shrinking—to interfere with the Warden's plans for their amusement, yet do not seem to have access to these abilities when they are in need of them. Although their plots often result in mass death and destruction, the Twins do not appear to harbor any malice towards either the Warden or the prisoners.
  • Jacknife (Christy Karacas) - a low-level criminal who gets captured by Jailbot and taken to Superjail at the beginning of almost every episode, and escapes at the end, although there are a few episodes where he is not arrested or his escape is not shown to the viewers. He never talks, but often makes unintelligible grunts and noises. Jacknife's behavior could come possibly from a horrific childhood.
  • Gary and Bird - Gary is a silent, bespectacled man obviously based on Robert Franklin Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz. However, Gary is mostly a servant to Bird, a small female canary, who is the unofficial "boss" of all the prisoners in Superjail.
  • Paul Guaye and Jean Baptiste Le Ghei (both Christopher McCulloch)- Two homosexual inmates that can be seen in nearly every episode. They were the leaders of the rival "Purple Pythons" and "Double Rainbow" gangs in Superjail before falling in love and eventually getting married.
  • Ash - A severely burned prisoner with a strange power over fire, as well as an obsession with it. His burns come from a fire caused by his father, a drunk, dropping a cigarette in a movie theater.
  • Lord Stingray- (Eric Bauza) A stereotypical supervillain character, akin to Cobra Commander. After being defeated by his army-themed enemies, he crash-landed on Superjail Island and tried to take it over, but ended up being imprisoned. He has been a thorn in the Warden's side ever since.

Episodes

Main article: List of Superjail! episodes

DVD releases

DVD name Release date Ep # Eigenschaften
Season One [10] February 23, 2010 11 All episodes in Season One, the music video "Comin' Home", the animatics for episodes 1,9,10, and the pilot. All featured in 2.0 Stereo and closed captioning. Dialogue remains censored in the feature episodes despite the label on the DVD stating otherwise.

References

  1. ^ a b c Gough, Paul J. "Three Series Take Dip in Adult Swim." The Hollywood Reporter. April 27, 2007.. Retrieved 01 January 2009.
  2. ^ Dodero, Camille. "Les Savy Fav's Tim Harrington Was on Super Jail Last Night." Sound of the City Blog. Village Voice. November 24, 2008.. Retrieved 01 January 2009.
  3. ^ a b Lloyd, Robert (September 27, 2008). "Animation for adult eyes only". The Los Angeles Times. pp. E-15. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  4. ^ Reynolds, Mike (April 26, 2007). "Adult Swim to Test Friday Waters". Multichannel News. Retrieved 2009-05-21.009.
  5. ^ Going Back to 'Superjail!'
  6. ^ a b "Superjail Super Interview". 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2008-10-16. Cite error: The named reference "Cold Hard Flash" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Adult Swim Announces 2007 Programming Slate at New York Upfront". 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  8. ^ "Scene from "Dream Machine"". 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  9. ^ a b Colfax, Ty (2009-02-27). "'Superjail' Creators". Attack of the Show. G4 TV. Retrieved 3.2.2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ "Superjail Season One DVD release". November 5, 2009.
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