Robot Chicken
Series, 2005, The mid-2000s, Set in Stop-motion sketches
Robot Chicken is #11 of 16 in release order and #11 of 16 in chronological order in the Adult Swim Classics.
The story
A series of pop-culture parodies using stop-motion animation of toys, action figures and dolls. The title character was an ordinary chicken until he was run down by a car and subsequently brought back to life in cyborg form by mad scientist Fritz Huhnmorder, who tortures Robot Chicken by forcing him to watch a random selection of TV shows, the sketches that make up the body of each episode.
Robot Chicken recap
Robot Chicken opens with a mad scientist reviving a roadkill chicken as a cyborg and strapping it to a chair to watch television. What the chicken watches are rapid-fire stop-motion sketches using action figures and toys, parodying cartoons, films, toys, celebrities and pop culture, with the static of a channel being changed between each one. Sketches run from a few seconds to a few minutes, with recurring characters and celebrity voice cameos. Seth Green and Matthew Senreich created it from a web series and it premieres in 2005, running 11-minute episodes. Over eleven seasons, to 2022, it adds themed specials, including three Robot Chicken: Star Wars specials, with George Lucas voicing himself in the first, along with DC Comics specials. The cast of voices changes every episode, with Green and the writers playing many of the parts and celebrities dropping in, and the closing theme is an a cappella cover of "The Gonk".
Robot Chicken ending explained
Robot Chicken has not formally ended, but it has stopped making full seasons; the eleventh season wraps up in April 2022. Seth Green has said the show is moving to occasional specials instead. The Robot Chicken Self-Discovery Special marked its 20th anniversary in 2025, and The Robot Chicken Adult Swim Special, about Adult Swim characters on a disaster-struck cruise for the block's 25th anniversary, aired in August 2026.
Where to watch Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is streaming on Adult Swim, Spectrum On Demand, and HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.7/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after Squidbillies, before The Boondocks.
- Chronological order: after Squidbillies, before The Boondocks.
Cast
- Seth Green as Various (voice)
- Matthew Senreich as Various (voice)
- Breckin Meyer as Various (voice)
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Prostitute / Vanessa Alston (voice)
- Skeet Ulrich as Duke / George Jetson (voice)
- Macaulay Culkin as Dean Devlin / Sponge
- Seth MacFarlane as Seth MacFarlane / Mark L. Walberg / Trojan Man (voice)
- Frank Welker as Megatron / Rebellion Leader / Scientist (voice)
- Tom Root as Tim Allen (voice)
- Adrianne Palicki as (voice)
- Dan Milano as Oliver Oken / Lil' Thomas Magnum (voice)
- Mae Whitman as Liv Rooney, Maddie Rooney, Slenderman Summoner (voice)
Created by Seth Green, Matthew Senreich.