Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: O'Grady season 1 ::
by William the Bloody
"Hi, I'm Abby and this is Kevin."
"Hello, America."
"And we're here to tell you about O'Grady."
"Our town is kind of famous."
"Right, because of the weirdness."
"Yeah."
"Weird stuff happens here that doesn't happen in other towns."
"And to think it was all because of that secret, government program!"
"Yeah, you're the only one working on that theory."
Welcome to O'Grady, home of the weirdness! Oh it comes and it goes, and who knows what form it will take? Perhaps a clone when you get angry? Or how about magnetic body parts? Any thing could happen at any time, but the citizens of O'Grady have learned to roll with it. Take for instance out four main characters high school students Kevin, Abby, Harold and Beth. Kevin tries to find a way to turn every weirdness to his advantage, Harold sometimes can't keep up with the weirdness to usually embarrassing results, Beth tries to see the positive aspect in all things, and Abby mostly tries to get through it all without losing her general cool. But life in O'Grady isn't all about the weirdness. No, it is also everyday life like starting a band in your garage and getting that hot guy to notice you (or at least remember your name).
The Good: I know I'm a cartoon freak, but man this one is gold. It's interesting and funny, but in that subtle sort of way (you know, as opposed to that in your face over the top Family Guy way). The characters are great and you feel like you know them right off the bat, even if you start watching from some random episode in the middle of the season. Despite all the weirdness, it's very refreshing just how real they seem for cartoon characters, the dialogue really feels natural, and the voice talent all delivers exceptional performances with nary a generic voice artist in sight. The animation is also very good. Yes, it has an odd style, but it is delivered well with expressive faces and realistic body language and hand gestures. Yes, it's not trying to stun us with its super-awesomeness like Batman: the Animated Series or anything, but nothing about this animation it choppy or out of sync and the quality is ALWAYS consistent. Don't you hate it when an animated show has WOW animation for the first four episodes then takes a sudden dip in quality because it can't keep up with the standards it set up for itself? Well, not here. There were only thirteen episodes in the first season, and the majority of them stand out as pretty damn keen.
The Bad: Like any good show, it can't always be across the board in awesomeness, and unfortunately, when it gets bad, it gets pretty bad. RE: episodes "The Sweats", "Cop 'stache" and "Sugar Hill" REALLY stand out with their rampant unfunniness, and unfortunately "The Sweats" is episode one. Not one I would have selected to sway potential viewers. Also, H. Jon Benjamin seems to like putting himself through the paces, lending his voice to many of the show's supporting characters in addition to Kevin, which is too bad because he doesn't do too well in disguising his voice.
Overall, I'm freaking in love with this show. O'Grady kicks ass. Sometimes the weirdness is front and center in the plot as in "Remotes" where our main characters discover a batch of VCR remotes that work on people, but not always like "Robo-Babies" had yawning teleport someone unpredictably but this was a side note to the school project of rearing a robot infant. It's always about the characters and what they have going on (Kevin's continuing dream of fame with as little work as possible and Abby's struggle to get senior Pete Klesko on a date) but sometimes that pesky weirdness forces them to do or say things they would normally shy away from (for instance feeling no pain can offer the unique opportunity for a make over using a staple gun). This show is interesting and funny in a way I can't describe, and thought I would never get to see. You see, unfortunately this program is on Noggin (or trendily abbreviated The N) and my home cable package does not include this. Also, it has yet to be released for purchase. Then how have I managed to watch all thirteen episodes of season one? Why through the miracle that is the internet. Right now (and hopefully for a while yet) The N.com is showing EVERY EPISODE streaming online FOR FREE. So go. Go watch it. I'd suggest starting off with "Bubbleheads", "Remotes" or "Party Gong." Oh, look they have some season two online as well. What are you waiting for??
A (not A+ simply because season 2 looks even BETTER so far!)
