# Robot Chicken

Robot Chicken is an American adult stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute show consists of short unrelated sketches usually satirizing pop culture characters or celebrities. Toys are employed as the players, animated via stop motion and supplemented by claymation. The voice cast changes every episode, and features many celebrity cameos. The writers, most prominently Green, also provide many of the voices. Robot Chicken has won two Annie Awards and six Emmy Awards.

## Production history

Robot Chicken was conceptually preceded by Twisted ToyFare Theatre, a humorous photo comic strip appearing in ToyFare. Matthew Senreich, an editor for ToyFare, got in touch with actor Seth Green when Senreich learned that Green had made action figures of castmates from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and asked to photograph them. Months later, Green asked Senreich to collaborate on an animated short for Late Night with Conan O'Brien, featuring toy versions of himself and O'Brien. This led to the 12-episode stop-motion series Sweet J Presents on the Sony website Screenblast.com in 2001. Conan O'Brien is voiced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane in the first episode ("Conan's Big Fun").
Continuing the concept of the web series, the show creators pitched Robot Chicken as a television series, the name being inspired by a dish on the menu at a West Hollywood Chinese restaurant, Kung Pao Bistro, where Green and Senreich had dined (other ideas for the series' name included Junk in the Trunk, The Deep End, and Toyz in the Attic; some of these would be reworked into episode titles for the first season). Some television networks and sketch shows rejected the series, including Comedy Central, MADtv, Saturday Night Live, and even Cartoon Network. However, someone at that network passed the pitch along to its nighttime programming block, Adult Swim, around the same time that Seth MacFarlane told Green and Senreich to pitch the show to the channel. On February 20, 2005, the series premiered on Adult Swim.
The show was created, written, and produced by Green and Senreich and produced by ShadowMachine Films (Seasons 1–5) and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios in association with Stoop!d Monkey, Williams Street, Sony Pictures Digital (Seasons 1–5) and Sony Pictures Television (Seasons 6–10).
The program aired a 30-minute episode dedicated to Star Wars that premiered June 17, 2007, in the U.S., featuring the voices of Star Wars notables George Lucas, Mark Hamill (from a previous episode), Billy Dee Williams, and Ahmed Best. The Star Wars episode was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award as Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour).
The series was renewed for a 20-episode third season, which ran from August 12, 2007, to October 5, 2008. After an eight-month hiatus during the third season, the show returned on September 7, 2008, to air the remaining 5 episodes. The series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on December 7, 2008, and ended on December 6, 2009. In early 2010, the show was renewed for a fifth and sixth season (40 more episodes total). The fifth season premiered on December 12, 2010. The second group of episodes began broadcasting on October 23, 2011. The 100th episode aired on January 15, 2012. In May 2012, Adult Swim announced they were picking up a sixth season of Robot Chicken, which began airing in September 2012. The seventh season premiered on April 13, 2014. The eight season premiered on October 25, 2015. The ninth season premiered on December 10, 2017. Season 10 premiered on September 29, 2019, containing the 200th episode. Season 11 premiered on September 6, 2021.
Following the 2020 cancellation of The Venture Bros., Robot Chicken became Adult Swim's longest running series, until it was surpassed by Aqua Teen Hunger Force after its renewal in 2023.
After not having released new episodes since April 2022, Green announced in a live-streamed interview that, while a new full season of Robot Chicken would likely not be ready in time for the following year, a new half-hour Robot Chicken special is slated for release sometime in 2025. In a later interview, Green announced that Robot Chicken will be moving away from 20-episode seasons and towards doing specials. The Robot Chicken Self-Discovery Special will be released in summer 2025 in honor of the series' 20th anniversary.

## Format

Robot Chicken employs stop-motion animation of toys, primarily action figures, as well as claymation and sometimes other objects, such as socks, paper bags, and popsicle sticks. Custom action figures made in the likeness of celebrities are used to portray them.
Each episode is composed of short unrelated sketches varying from a few seconds to a few minutes long. Between each sketch is a moment of static, resembling the act of channel surfing on an analog TV.
The show mocks popular culture, referencing toys, movies, television, games, popular fads, and more obscure references like anime cartoons and older television programs, much in the same vein as comedy sketch shows like Saturday Night Live.
A recurring motif involves fantastical characters being placed in mundane or adult situations (such as Stretch Armstrong requiring a corn syrup transplant after losing his abilities due to age, Optimus Prime performing a prostate cancer PSA, and Godzilla experiencing sexual dysfunction).
Robot Chicken features a rotating ensemble cast of recurring performers and cameos. Its most frequent performers include Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Tom Root, and Dan Milano.

## Original characters

While Robot Chicken primarily features satirical versions of celebrities and existing popular characters in its sketches, it has also debuted some original characters created for the show.
* Robot Chicken (vocal effects provided by Seth Green) is the show's titular character. He is a cyborg chicken with a red laser eye. First seen as a roadkill chicken on Highway 9W while he originally lived on Old Man McLauchlin's farm, the Mad Scientist revives him as a cyborg and experiments on him by forcing him to watch sketches on numerous TV monitors. In the 100th episode, he gets freed by a maid and later kills his creator after he kidnaps his wife. He later revives the Mad Scientist as a cyborg and reverses the roles, forcing him to watch sketches.
* The Mad Scientist (voiced by David Lynch) is a scientist who revived the Robot Chicken. He has wild white hair and a diabolical grin. His real name is revealed to be Fritz Huhnmörder (German for 'chicken murderer') in the season 3 episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn". He was killed by the Robot Chicken after the events of the 100th episode only for him to be revived as a cyborg in the sixth season's opening sequence. The Robot Chicken then gets his revenge by forcing the Mad Scientist to watch the same sketches that he had been previously forced to watch. In the season 10 episode "Fila Ogden in: Maggie's Got a Full Load" with the Saturday Night Live-styled opening, the Mad Scientist's nickname is Rick Sanchez, named after another Adult Swim mad scientist character due to his resemblance to the same character. He actually has five kids, in which they include his crazed son, a teenage daughter who is goth, an 8-year-old daughter, and infant twins: a boy named Damien, and a girl named Rhiannon. Additionally, he also has a wife named Kathrine. It also reveals that the Mad Scientist's birthday is on January 21.
* The Nerd (voiced by Seth Green) is a 26-year-old nerdy man with square-framed glasses who lisps. He appears in many episodes and often ends up in wild situations in famous media. Although his name was mentioned as "Gary" in the season 1 episode "Joint Point", recent Adult Swim commercials for some later episodes give his name as "Arthur Kensington, Jr.". He dies in the season 9 finale only for him to get revived as a cyborg in the tenth season's opening sequence. Despite his transformation into a cyborg, sometime in between the season 10 finale and the season 11 premiere, he was finally restored to normal.
* Cluckerella (vocal effects provided by Seth Green) is the Robot Chicken's wife. She wears a dress and has blonde hair and red lipstick. She gets kidnapped by the Mad Scientist during the 100th episode, causing the Robot Chicken to go to the lab and kill him to rescue her. In the season 7 finale, it is revealed that Cluckerella has left him.
* Mad Scientist's Son (voiced by Zachary Levi) is the Mad Scientist's 32-year-old twisted son, who steals his cyborg-making tools as part of a plot to kidnap all living U.S. presidents for ransom. However, he ends up being defeated by the Robot Chicken and the Mad Scientist, who then forces him to watch the sketches as punishment. According to the script of the season 7 finale, his real name is revealed to be Tony Huhnmörder-Anderson.
* Bitch Pudding (voiced by Katee Sackhoff) is a fictitious addition to the Strawberry Shortcake universe. Bitch Pudding is a foul-mouthed, crass and violent 18-year-old woman and a former resident of Pastryville who has a penchant for insulting, tormenting, and sometimes even killing others. In her debut appearance in the season 4 episode "P.S. Yes, in That Way", she seems to be 8 years old for early episodes, but in later episodes to show her as a young adult when she gets a growth spurt. In season 7, she became the first of the series' recurring characters to have their own first single storyline special, titled the "Bitch Pudding Special".
* Unicorn (voiced by George Lowe) is a white homosexual unicorn who is a complete pervert. In his debut appearance in the season 2 episode "Suck It", he appears before the Nerd, who had just daydreamed about unicorns being real. When his magic horn is polished, it gives "magical unicorn mayonnaise".
* Humping Robot is a mute robot looking for love, who is first seen humping a washing machine in the season 1 episode "Atta Toy". He has also been seen humping church bells, jukeboxes, and slot machines, among other metallic objects. In the season 3 episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn", he is revealed to be a father of his unknown robotic family, according to the gravestone of him.
* Bloopers Host (voiced by Jamie Kaler) is the host of the "Bloopers!" sketches, which parodies the early years of America's Funniest Home Videos, sometimes substituting home videos for humorous television and film outtakes. At the end of almost every sketch he appears in, he commits suicide in various ways, including hanging himself, swallowing whiskey and pills, putting a toaster in a bathtub, and suffocating himself with a plastic bag.
* Mo-Larr: Eternian Dentist (voiced by Michael Ian Black) is a fictional addition to the cast for the show's Masters of the Universe parodies. Mo-Larr is the resident dentist of Eternia. He is willing to resort to drastic measures in order to perform his dental work on unwilling patients such as Skeletor, even going so far as to ensnare Beast Man in dental floss and stick a dental drill into Grizzlor's eye. His real name is revealed to be Moe Larrstein in the season 5 episode "Terms of Endaredevil".
* Composite Santa Claus (voiced by Christian Slater) is a genocidal monster who is half Santa Claus, half snowman, and is based on Composite Superman. In the season 4 episode "In a DVD Factory", his backstory is revealed: he was created by a diabolical scientist from the combined DNA of Santa and Frosty the Snowman. After he awakens, he shoots the scientist and his two assistants with an automatic rifle, killing the latter two, and goes on a rampage, waging war on all non-Gentile religions. Whenever he is defeated, he refers to the method or substance used as his "only weakness".
* Little Drummer Boy (voiced by Seth Green) is an anime-style drummer whose drums can summon demons when beaten.
* Daniel (voiced by Seth Green) is a negative-minded teenage nerd who hosts a web series where he complains about inaccuracies in media – and not even Robot Chicken is immune from his criticism. Daniel's nickname is "Gyro-Robo". He masturbates frequently and is often targeted by the local bully, Munson.
* Munson (voiced by Breckin Meyer) is a jerkish teenager who bullies nerds, especially Daniel.
* Gary the Stormtrooper (voiced by Donald Faison) is a fictional addition to the cast for the show's Star Wars parodies. Gary is a clumsy, bit incompetent and well-meaning 29-year-old stormtrooper who usually messes things up due to his clumsiness. Despite that, he is able to make his work right. In the special Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II, he is revealed to be a married family man who lives with his wife Beverly and his young daughter Jessica, who according to his wife, hardly ever sees him due to his work; but is making efforts to be involved more in her life. In the special Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, it is also revealed that his family lives on Alderaan.
* Aliens (voiced by Seth Green, Breckin Meyer, Adam Talbott, Mark Hamill, Patrick Pinney, and Patrick Stewart) are a race of wacky grey aliens who have a tendency to bungle their plans and efforts, usually resulting in them letting out a frustrated scream of "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"
* Gummy Bear (voiced by Michelle Trachtenberg) is an anthropomorphic gummy bear who is doomed to scream in pain from stepping on a bear trap. In her debut appearance in the season 3 episode "Tapping a Hero", she doesn't mind the taste of her own leg after she bites it off to free herself only to step on another bear trap again.

## Episodes

Series overview :
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 20 | 20 | February 20, 2005 (2005-2-20) | July 17, 2005 (2005-7-17) |
| 2 | 20 | 20 | April 2, 2006 (2006-4-2) | November 19, 2006 (2006-11-19) |
| 3 | 20 | 20 | August 12, 2007 (2007-8-12) | October 5, 2008 (2008-10-5) |
| 4 | 20 | 20 | December 7, 2008 (2008-12-7) | December 6, 2009 (2009-12-6) |
| 5 | 20 | 20 | December 12, 2010 (2010-12-12) | January 15, 2012 (2012-1-15) |
| 6 | 20 | 20 | September 17, 2012 (2012-9-17) | February 18, 2013 (2013-2-18) |
| 7 | 20 | 20 | April 13, 2014 (2014-4-13) | December 7, 2014 (2014-12-7) |
| 8 | 20 | 20 | October 26, 2015 (2015-10-26) | May 15, 2016 (2016-5-15) |
| 9 | 20 | 20 | December 10, 2017 (2017-12-10) | July 22, 2018 (2018-7-22) |
| 10 | 20 | 20 | September 30, 2019 (2019-9-30) | July 27, 2020 (2020-7-27) |
| 11 | 20 | 20 | September 7, 2021 (2021-9-7) | April 11, 2022 (2022-4-11) |

## Syndication

All Robot Chicken episodes from seasons 1-11 are available on Max. The show is streamed censored on the service until Season 5.
The show aired on TBS for a short time in October 2014.

## Advertising

Robot Chicken has partnered with various brands to produce television advertisements, including KFC in 2015, Burger King in 2017, and most recently, Kellogg's Pop-Tarts in 2023.

## Home media

| DVD title | Release date | Release date | Release date | Ep # | Discs |
| DVD title | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Ep # | Discs |
| The Complete First Season | March 28, 2006 | September 29, 2008 | April 4, 2007 | 1–20 | 2 |
| This two-disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 1 in production order. While it contains many sketches that were edited from the TV airings, several of the original Sony Screenblast webtoons, and the words "Jesus" and "Christ" as an oath unbleeped (though "fuck" and "shit" are still censored out), the episodes are not all uncut. One particular segment that featured the Teen Titans meeting Beavis and Butt-Head was omitted from the DVD because of legal problems. The Voltron/You Got Served sketch shown on the DVD has a replacement song because of legal issues over the song that was used on the TV version. At a performance of Family Guy Live in Chicago, during the Q&A session that ends each performance, Seth Green was asked how they came up with the name Robot Chicken. He explained that the title of each episode was a name Adult Swim rejected for the name of the show. A Region 2 version of the set was released in the UK on September 29, 2008. Three edited shorts from Sweet J Presents were included on the Robot Chicken Season 1 DVD boxset. ||||||
| The Complete Second Season | September 4, 2007 | September 28, 2009 | November 11, 2007 | 21–40 | 2 |
| This two-disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 2 in production order and uncensored, with the words "fuck" and "shit" uncensored (except for one instance in the episode "Easter Basket" in the Lego sketch). It is currently available for download on iTunes (though the episode "Veggies for Sloth" is absent because of copyright issues involving the "Archie's Final Destination" segment). Seth Green stated at Comic-Con 2006 that the second DVD set will contain the "Beavis and Butt-Head Join Teen Titans" sketch, which had been removed from the first DVD set because of copyright issues. However, the sketch is absent from the DVD (although it is available on iTunes). Bonus features include the Christmas special. A secret Nerf gun fight can be found on the disc 1 extras menu and pushing "up" over the extras and set-up items on the menu reveals more special features. ||||||
| Star Wars Special | July 22, 2008 | August 11, 2008 | August 6, 2008 | 1 | 1 |
| This single DVD features the Star Wars special in its TV-edited version (i.e. with bleeps in place of profane words) and several extras about the crew and their work on the special, including a photo gallery, alternate audio, and an easter egg demonstrating the crew's difficulty in composing a proper musical score for the sketch "Empire on Ice". It also features various audio commentaries, featuring members of the cast and crew. ||||||
| The Complete Third Season | October 7, 2008 | January 25, 2010 | December 3, 2008 | 41–60 | 2 |
| This two-disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 3 in production order. This DVD is uncensored, except for the "Cat in the Hat" sketch from episode 7 on Disc 1. It also intentionally censored in episode 5 in the "Law and Order: KFC" sketch. This DVD has special features such as deleted scenes and animatics. It also includes commentary for all of the episodes and has "Chicken Nuggets" commentary for episodes 1 and 3–5. The bonus features also include a gag reel and audio takes. ||||||
| Star Wars Episode II | July 21, 2009 | July 27, 2009 | August 5, 2009 | 1 | 1 |
| This single DVD features the main Star Wars special extras, including normal Robot Chicken episodes and common DVD extras; "The Making Of"; and deleted scenes. ||||||
| The Complete Fourth Season | December 15, 2009 | August 30, 2010 | December 2, 2009 | 61–80 | 2 |
| This two-disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 4 in production order. The special features include "Chicken Nuggets", a San Diego Comic-Con '08 panel, "Day in the Life", a New York Comic-Con '09 panel, video blogs, "Australia Visit", alternate audio, deleted scenes, deleted animations, and commentary on all 20 episodes. ||||||
| Star Wars Episode III | July 12, 2011 | July 4, 2011 | August 3, 2011 | 1 | 1 |
| Interview with George Lucas, "Chicken Nuggets" (sketch by sketch video commentary), Behind the Scenes, Voice Recording Featurette, Star Wars Celebration V Robot Chicken Panel, Skywalker Ranch Premiere Trip, Writer's Room Featurette, Deleted Animatics w/video intros, Audio Commentaries. ||||||
| The Complete Fifth Season | October 25, 2011 | TBA | November 30, 2011 | 81–100 | 2 |
| This two-disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 5 in production order. Nine of the episodes were previously unaired before the DVD release. The set includes commentary on all episodes, "Chicken Nuggets" on a few episodes and a featurette on episode 100. Deleted scenes and deleted animations are also included. Among the deleted scenes are the sketches "Beavis and Butt-Head Join Teen Titans" (deleted from Season 1 due to copyright issues) and the "Archie's Final Destination" sketch (deleted from Season 2 sets). ||||||
| DC Comics Special | July 9, 2013 | TBA | September 18, 2013 | 1 | 1 |
| The Making of the RCDC Special, RCDC's Aquaman Origin Story, Chicken Nuggets, Writers' Commentary, Actors' Commentary, DC Entertainment Tour, Stoopid Alter Egos, Outtakes, Cut Sketches, 5.2 Questions. ||||||
| DC Comics Special 2: Villains in Paradise | October 14, 2014 | TBA | February 18, 2015 | 1 | 1 |
| The second set of specials parodying DC Superheroes. Special features include the making of RCDC2VIP, "Bad Hair, Musical Numbers and Sequels", "The Ones That Got Away", "20 Questions", "Chicken Nuggets", cut animatics, cut sketches, actors' commentary and writers' commentary. ||||||
| The Complete Sixth Season | October 8, 2013 | TBA | November 20, 2013 | 101–120 | 2 |
| This two-disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 6 in production order. Special features include commentary on every episode, deleted animatics, featurettes, deleted scenes, channel flips and "Chicken Nuggets". ||||||
| Christmas Specials | November 18, 2014 | TBA | TBA | 6 | 1 |
| This DVD contains 6 Christmas-themed episodes: "Robot Chicken's Christmas Special", "Robot Chicken's Half-Assed Christmas Special", "Dear Consumer (Robot Chicken's Full-Assed Christmas Special)", "Robot Chicken's DP Christmas Special", "Robot Chicken's ATM Christmas Special" and "Born Again Virgin Christmas Special". Special features include commentaries, deleted scenes, deleted animatics and "long-forgotten" promos. ||||||
| Star Wars Trilogy | TBA | December 4, 2015 | February 4, 2015 | 3 | 3 |
| The Complete Seventh Season | July 21, 2015 | December 11, 2020 | September 16, 2015 | 121–140 | 2 |
| This two-disc boxset includes all 20 episodes from Season 7 in production order. Special features include commentary on every episode, featurettes and cut sketches. ||||||
| Robot Chicken DC Comics Special (collection) | March 2018 | December 2, 2016 | June 20, 2018 | 3 | 3 |
| The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking | March 27, 2018 | TBA | August 15, 2018 | 1 | 1 |
| Inside the Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking, Cut Sketches, Commentary, Sketches to Die For, Bawkward, Behind the Screams. ||||||
| The Complete Eighth Season | TBA | March 26, 2021 | April 17, 2019 | 141–160 | 2 |
| The Complete Ninth Season | TBA | March 15, 2019 | May 22, 2019 | 161–180 | 2 |
Revolver Entertainment have released the first four seasons and all three Star Wars specials on DVD in the United Kingdom. A box set including the first three seasons and a box set including all three Star Wars specials have also been released. Madman Entertainment has released the first nine seasons of Robot Chicken and specials on DVD in Australia and New Zealand.
Adult Swim released Robot Chicken: The Complete Series for digital purchase on iTunes and Vudu in July 2023.

## International broadcast

The series airs in the United Kingdom and Ireland as part of E4's Adult Swim block, in Canada on Adult Swim (previously Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block from 2006 to 2019) and also in Quebec on Télétoon's Télétoon la nuit block, in Australia on The Comedy Channel's Adult Swim block, in Russia on 2x2's Adult Swim block, in Germany on WarnerTV Comedy's Adult Swim block (previously TNT Serie's Adult Swim block from 2009 to 2017), and in Latin America on the I.Sat Adult Swim block (after the Adult Swim block was canceled from Cartoon Network Latin America in 2008). Many of the show's sketches from Sweet J Presents were redone for Robot Chicken.