25 Years Ago, the Most Underrated Adult Animated Show of the 2000s Premiere (It Needs a Reboot)

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Adult animation is hugely popular today, with shows like Harley Quinn, Invincible, and Hazbin Hotel. This boom really started in the 2000s. Globally, there was a massive increase in animated content. While anime series like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach were becoming mainstream, American audiences were also growing accustomed to adult animated sitcoms like Family Guy, American Dad!, South Park, and the groundbreaking HBO series Spawn. Even Cartoon Network started offering more mature content, thanks to creators like Genndy Tartakovsky and shows like Samurai Jack.

I’ve been thinking about animated shows lately, and while a few really stick with you and become classics, so many others just seem to fade away. It’s wild to realize it’s been 25 years since one seriously underrated show first aired, and honestly, I think it’s totally deserving of a reboot to give it another chance to shine.

The Oblongs First Premiered 25 Years Ago (And Never Got A Fair Shot)

The animated series The Oblongs first aired on April 1, 2001, on The WB (later known as The CW). The show centers around the Oblong family, who live in a poor and polluted neighborhood called The Valley. As a result of the environmental conditions, each family member has a strange physical mutation. The eternally optimistic father, Bob (voiced by Will Ferrell), is missing his arms and legs. The mother, Marie – nicknamed “Pickles” (Jean Smart) – came from a wealthy background but gave it all up, including her hair, when she moved to The Valley. Teenage twins Biff and Chip Oblong (Randy and Jason Sklar) are conjoined, sharing a leg but having very different personalities. The middle son, Milo Oblong (Pamela Adlon), struggles with mental and social challenges. Beth Oblong (Jeannie Elias) is the youngest child, a daughter with a large, warty growth on her head, and Grammy Oblong is an elderly, immobile woman who communicates only through a simple red and green light system.

The Oblongs was a classic sitcom that followed a family navigating the ups and downs of daily life. The show explored relatable issues like financial hardship and the social divide between the rich and poor communities they lived near. It also put a quirky spin on common family problems – careers, school, relationships, growing up, and all the usual challenges.

Despite some initial buzz, The Oblongs was short-lived. Only eight of the thirteen episodes made it to air on The WB before the show was canceled just two months after it began. The remaining five episodes found a home on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, where the entire series aired in the summer and fall of 2002. While it gained a small, dedicated fanbase with its 2005 DVD release, The Oblongs: The Complete Twisted Series, the show has largely been forgotten since then.

The Oblongs Deserves A Reboot

It’s ironic that The Oblongs was actually a trailblazer for the kind of adult animated comedies we see everywhere today. While shows like Hazbin Hotel, Rick and Morty, and South Park are now praised for their dark and satirical takes on society, The Oblongs was heavily criticized for doing the same thing. But in retrospect, the series was surprisingly forward-thinking.

Beyond being a groundbreaking adult animated sitcom, The Oblongs helped launch the careers of several now-famous performers. Will Ferrell went on to become a leading comedic actor in the 2000s with hits like Anchorman, Step Brothers, and Talladega Nights. Jean Smart has become a highly celebrated TV star, recently winning numerous Emmys for her HBO Max series, Hack. And Pamela Adlon later created a memorable animated character in the popular sitcom, King of the Hill.

What’s really striking about The Oblongs is how relevant it still is today. Back in the 2000s, a show focusing on the huge divide between the wealthy and everyone else, or the consequences of environmental pollution, felt pretty shocking. But now, with events like the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, those themes don’t seem so far-fetched. Similarly, the idea of a satirical animated comedy aimed at adults wasn’t widely accepted then, but today, that type of show would easily find a large and engaged audience.

With so many shows from the 90s and 2000s being brought back, it’s surprising The Oblongs hasn’t gotten a reboot yet. Luckily, you can watch every episode right now on Tubi! Share your favorite cartoons with us on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-04-01 20:42