Titan Maximum. From the guys who did Robot Chicken, and I assume some other guys too. It's a parody of the Sentai Team/Giant Robot series from some of our childhoods like Voltron. Actually, it's pretty much Voltron with dick jokes.
I have to admit, the opening was pretty promising. We have the enemy fleet approaching a defenseless planet, ready to strike. For a minute, I thought the show might actually be a homage rather than straight up parody.
Sadly, that notion was dashed the second the characters opened their mouths. The main protagonists "banter" back and fourth as they decimate the enemy fighters in a way as to make me cringe. Right away its obvious that they were going for common stereotype characters, only exaggerated heavily. We've got "Moronic Leader Guy" "Sarcastic Smart Guy" "Goody-Two-Shoes Good at everything Girl" "Paris Hilton" and "Fat Comedy Guy". That's pretty much it, no subversion or anything. They're all pretty "in yo face" about their respective persona's pretty much to the point where I decided I didn't really care for the show.
And I guess, at the end of the day, that's what I liked least about the whole thing. The characters were predictable. You could set your watch by them. Nothing that they said caught me off guard and half of what they did I found plain obnoxious (especially Paris Hilton). I get that its a comedy series, I shouldn't be expecting Shakespearean motivations for each and every character. But they kept alluding to this semi-serious back story that didn't fit with how the characters were portrayed.
Second place in the "things I didn't care for" category was the drawn out gags. I don't know if they plan on keeping the show at a half hour per episode, but I'm wondering if that's a good idea... Alot of what I saw felt like padding to me. This could have easily come in at the 11-15 minute mark and would have achieved just as much as far as progression of story.
To be fair, it's not all bad. I did watch the whole premier, because there were some things that had me genuinely laughing. Mostly just little things, short gags etc. But the overall setting/plot also drew me in. They did a fairly good job of presenting a sci-fi giant robot universe. The set pieces were cool, and the effects were good for what they are (claymation and some 3d stuff).
Overall, if almost ALMOST felt like they were going for a more serious series when they originally sketched this idea out, then someone decided it should be a parody part-way through production. Otherwise, they can't decide if they want to appeal to lovers of fart jokes, or people who are nostalgic for giant robots. Honestly, I might give it another chance or two to grab me. There was alot that rubbed me the wrong way, but there was also just enough that I liked that it might be worth another shot.
Arbitrary Number Score:
8 Shrugs- Not entirely sure that I'll watch the series. But I don't REGRET watching this episode. If you like Robot Chicken most of the time, and have fond memories of Voltron and stuff you could give it a shot. It's only about 25 minutes or so... also free.
