Grimsburg

Grimsburg is the strange tale of a detective, returning to the force in a town where every murder is a surreal experience. His ex-wife was raised by bears, and his son has an imaginary friend, Mr. Flesh (one of two roles filled with gusty by Alan Tudyk).

Make no mistake, this is no Archer. Marvin Flute is a thoroughly disagreeable human being (okay, that part is like archer) whose sole thoughts revolve around himself (and... again, much like Archer) and he is oddly good at his job (wait, is this Archer), but the cast surrounding him is equally as strange and tend to be less qualified than he is (huh... kind of like Archer).

Alright, so comparisons can certainly be made, but the feel of the show is different, despite those similarities.

The show feels more like a warped version of Twin Peaks... it is all about the people in the town, not the murders. None of the episodes are particularly grounded in reality, and much of the stories have a fever-dream like quality to them that sets the show apart from anything else on the air.

This is a show that will provide solid chuckles, but likely not belly laughs. Still, there are enough clever gags, nods, and Easter eggs to keep you entertained for a binge of the first season and into the second.

It isn't superb, but it certainly rises above mediocrity to be a decently good time.

Ofcourse I've only seen one episode so far and it's not unheard of for things to turn around really quickly, but I'm writing this now so that maybe the feedback would be considered by the creators.

I think there are basically two approaches to mainstream-ish cartoon comedy:

1) Flat premise in which surface level comedy happens (Simpsons, Family guy, etc.)

2) Deep-ish, specific setting, in which the deep-ish specific comedy can occur (R&M, Bojack, etc.)

This however, is a deep-ish specific setting with extremely flat, surface level humor.

I'm not sure whether it's just a very odd combination to me, a specific person, or if it truly doesn't work, but I do wish they would build up momentum/depth before the punchlines.

So I have been watching Grimsburg, every episode to date and that is now episode 9.

I genuinely laugh every episode, out loud..

It has some great actors in it. Alan Tudyk to name my favourite (Firefly, Con Man, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn and Resident Alien (God I love Resident Alien)).

There are underlying threads throughout the episodes and series, won't spoil anything. Some quirky characters, which are great. I can never guess the episode content and where it will go from the start of that episode, other shows feel so predictable.

Give it a shot and don't take it seriously. It is not a doco and thankfully not reality TV drivel.

Overall just kind of...meh. It has an interesting concept at first, however it never really connected. Jokes are thrown at you every second but the vast majority of them fall very, very flat and the characters are pretty much one-note. It feels very safe and corporate. Unfortunately that has become the status quo for adult animation, but just because I expect something doesn't mean I don't want it to change.

I've seen some call this the "adult version of Gravity Falls" but if that would entail annoying characters, outdated humor, and the ugly animation we've come to expect from Fox, I think I'll stick with the non-adult version. It's disappointing that in a medium with so much potential as animation, we are constantly getting samey shows like this. They may take a different approach, sure, but they end up at the same destination.

I don't doubt that the show gets better but I'm not in the mood to sit through more of it.

The ONLY thing I actually liked was that hot dude with the parrot. I cannot remember his name but I liked his cheekbones and voice quite a bit.

A frenetic energy courses through out the show that keeps it moving well. It mocks just about every trope of cop/detective show procedurals - from the family trouble, the main character being grizzled veteran of the force called in to solve an "unsolvable" case, misdirects on who the perpetrator is etc. Jon Hamm as Marvin Flute is clearly having a blast and delivers lines with speed and somehow subtly delivers asides allowing jokes to be slotted into exposition in a quick funny way. Anything with Alan Tudyk will be worth your time. And Rachel Dratch gives a good turn as a Flute's Son. Overall a twisted and funny pilot, with a lot of potential. I'm looking forward to more!