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Robot Chicken is an American Stop Motion Animated Television Series produced by Stoopid Monkey , ShadowMachine Films , Williams Street , and Sony Pictures Digital , currently airing in the US as a part of Cartoon Network 's Adult Swim line-up, in Britain as part of Bravo 's Adult Swim line-up, and in Canada on Teletoon 's Detour nightly adult programming. It premiered on Sunday, February 20 2005 . Seth Green and Matthew Senreich are the creators and Executive Producer s of the show. They are also on the writing team, and have directed some episodes. Seth Green provides many voices for the show. The program is a Sketch Show that Parodies a number of Pop Culture conventions using Stop Motion animation of Toy s, Action Figure s, Doll s, and Claymation (usually for special effects) and various other objects, such as tongue depressors. The show's name was inspired by a dish on the menu at a Chinese Restaurant , Kung Pao Bistro, where Green and Senreich had dined, although the series originally was intended to be titled "''Junk in the Trunk''"http://www.g4tv.com/screensavers/episodes/3902/Robot_Chicken_Constantine_Dark_Tip.html. The series was renewed for a 20-episode third season, which started on August 12 , 2007 . The "Robot Chicken" Season Two DVD was released September 4 , 2007 . INSPIRATIONS "]] The show was inspired by the comedy antics of '' Twisted Mego Theatre '' (now called '' Twisted ToyFare Theater ''), which appears monthly in '' Toyfare '' Magazine, published by Gareb Shamus ' Wizard Entertainment . The segment "The Aussie Hunter" on FOX's MAD TV is an early work of the group. Matthew Senreich worked in various capacities with Wizard Entertainment prior to working on the show. Some of the first shorts were originally on the now-defunct Sony ScreenBlast website under the name "Sweet J Presents"; this website also hosted the animated Lenore shorts. The show is similar in appearance to the many shared internet videos created using toys and household items. Many figures and sets are custom built, or adapted from commercially available toys such as G.I. Joe or Barbie, or vehicles such as the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard are also sometimes used. ''Robot Chicken'' often uses extremely outrageous and twisted humor. One recurring segment is "Hilarious Bloopers", a parody of the Bob Saget era of '' America's Funniest Home Videos '', but is more reminiscent of Ray Combs of Family Feud . Whenever he is featured, he commits suicide at the end of his skit using various household methods. The show tends to avoid political issues, instead mocking pop culture, referencing toys, films, television, and popular fads. When political figures are depicted on the program, the focus of their appearance is usually only tangentially-related to recent news or their positions in world affairs (such as Fidel Castro 's '' Dance Dance Counter-Revolucíon '' video game competition from Season Two and President George W. Bush fantasizing he is a Jedi ). One particular motif often involves the idea of fantastical characters being placed in a more realistic world or situation (such as Stretch Armstrong requiring a corn syrup transplant, Optimus Prime performing a prostate cancer PSA , and Godzilla having problems in the bedroom). The program even had 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 and Ahmed Best . The show's theme song was composed and performed by Les Claypool of Primus , and he sings the song's only lyrics, "It's alive!", in typical Frankenstein fashion. The ending theme of the show is a portion of the famous Muzak named "The Gonk" (famously used in George A. Romero's 1978 horror film Dawn Of The Dead ) clucked by a chorus of chickens. Robot Chicken is currently the highest rated original show in Adult Swim and the second highest in the network (right after Family Guy ). CELEBRITY GUEST VOICES Besides the recurring voice acting by Seth Green , Breckin Meyer , Chad Morgan , Dan Milano , and Tom Root in this series, a number of celebrities have done voice acting for the series (often portraying themselves), including:
As well as:
Many of these are people that Seth Green has worked with in the past on other projects or that he knows personally. Williams Street executives Mike Lazzo and Keith Crofford have also lent their voices to the show on one occasion. WRITING STAFF Co-head writers Writers
EPISODES See List Of Robot Chicken Episodes DVD RELEASES AWARDS The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 2006 and is currently nominated for the 2007 Primetime Emmy Award For Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour) for the episode Lust For Puppets . LOCATIONS Several of the sketches seem to take place in or around New Jersey . Various locations are references to actual places such as the highway scenes which feature I-78 " Clinton " which is an actual sign on Interstate 78 in New Jersey when travelling westbound, or the Care Bears parody in which Care-a-lot is turned into New Jersey. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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