Regular Show, “The Power” [series premiere]

Identifier: Season 1, Episode 1
Air Date: Mon., Sep. 6, 2010 (8:15 PM ET)
Network: Cartoon Network

It was a last minute decision to actually record ‘Regular Show’ for me, as it felt like something I wouldn’t really be all that invested in. The series revolves around a raccoon (Rigby) and a blue jay (Mordecai) who work as groundskeepers for a man with a gumball machine for a head (Benson). The cast, for now, is rounded out by a lunatic with an enormous lollipop for a head (Pops), and a yeti (Skips). The series utilizes the nonsense brand of comedy, and for that its fifteen-minute “Adult Swim” run-time works well for it.

In fact, other than the toned-down nature of the content, everything about both ‘Regular Show’ and ‘Mad,’ which follows it, screams Adult Swim. They each have the shortened run-time and the absurdist more sophisticated humor. Well, sophisticated may not necessarily be the answer, but I still found myself laughing at so much that happened this week.

Virtually everything Pops says elicits laughter, which is a good start, but then I love unpredictable non-sequiturs, and Pops doesn’t seem to live in the same reality as the rest of the cast. Rigby and Mordecai may be dim-witted, and they are, but they at least seem to comprehend the impossible world they live in. That’s a world in which you can get a magical keyboard from a wizard when he’s off urinating (for a second I thought it was a cameo of Leonard from ‘Ugly Americans,’ but then I guess most wizards look alike).

Other great moments included Rigby randomly sending people, monsters and objects to the moon while waiting for Pops to go to the bathroom (“Twice!”), the whole wrestling match with a doll that opened the episode, and I can’t believe I’m now drawing a blank. The bottom line is that the episode was zaniness from beginning to end, and in short bursts, sometimes that’s just the kind of craziness you need to rip out some laughter and lighten your experience. It’s not as out there as ‘Squidbillies’ or ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force,’ but both of those series took a little time to find their groove and become classics, so I have hopes that ‘Regular Show’ is on the ground floor of its own potential greatness.