Freak Show 

Chronicles a freak show, called the Freak Squad, which reluctantly moonlights as a group of second-rate superheroes employed by the US government.

Creators:

H. Jon Benjamin, David Cross

Stars:

H. Jon Benjamin, David Cross, Will Arnett

Cast

Series cast summary:
H. Jon Benjamin	...	Tuck / ... 7 episodes, 2006
David Cross	...	Benny / ... 7 episodes, 2006
Will Arnett	...	Duncan Schiesst / ... 7 episodes, 2006
Todd Barry	...	Frank Meinkowitz 7 episodes, 2006
Janeane Garofalo	...	The Bearded Clam 7 episodes, 2006
Jon Glaser	...	Log Cabin Republican / ... 7 episodes, 2006
Kristen Schaal	...	Various / ... 7 episodes, 2006
Brian Stack	...	The World's Tallest Nebraskan 7 episodes, 2006
Fred Armisen	...	Dane Cheff / ... 3 episodes, 2006
Julie Klausner	...	Various 3 episodes, 2006

Storyline

Chronicles a freak show, called the Freak Squad, which reluctantly moonlights as a group of second-rate superheroes employed by the US government.

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Plot Keywords:

alternative comedy | adult animation | 

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Taglines:

The fate of the world rests in their deformed hands!

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Comedy Central: Freak Show

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 2006 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Comedy Central

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Tosh.0: Shrooms Guy (Intervention) (2011)

User Reviews

An Abysmal Attempt at an Animated Comedy...

After watching the first three episodes of the show, I have drawn the following conclusions:

The timing and delivery of the show's jokes are horrible and several comedic devices (the wait gag, call back, etc.) are used poorly, which puzzles me because the staff is obviously capable of pulling off such devices. I guess not in this case, though.

The worst aspect of the show is the set-up/break pattern that is employed. In the show, a joke would be set up, which could be picked up by the audience, and then the dialogue would shift to something that halted the joke's momentum. By the time the "punchline" was delivered, the joke's energy was gone. This happens over and over again.

To tell you the truth, most of the dialogue and plot seems sub-standard and would have certainly been trashed by other comedy shows. The writers seemed to rely on random "jokes" juxtaposed against a jagged plot instead of actually establishing a main storyline, which isn't effective at all. The reason it works for shows like, say, Aqua Teen Hunger Force (which seems to pride itself on seemingly "random" jokes) is because they set the jokes up properly WHILE following an established plot line. In most cases, a joke just isn't funny without a proper set-up, timing, and follow through.

The visual gags aren't employed very well either. They just weren't funny. The gags are either too lax or too forced -- both extremes killed any jokes that may have arisen from such set-ups.

Most of the show's jokes also seem to rely on tired stereotypes that are either overused or stopped being funny years ago. Because the writing doesn't seem too fresh, it makes me question whether or not the writing staff is trying very hard at all with this show.

I gave the first three episodes a fair chance and drew my opinion objectively, but I came to the same conclusion each time: it's a sad excuse for an animated comedy show. I hope that it's pulled quickly and doesn't just drag on and that Cross and Co. move on to bigger and better things.