The Aquabats! Super Show!

***The Aquabats! Super Show!*** is an American action-comedy musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz. It is based on the superhero mythology of the Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band formed in 1994, and aired for two seasons on Hub Network from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014. The series was cancelled in June 2014 when news of The Hub's financial losses led to the network being rebranded as Discovery Family in October that same year. The show itself has since been continued as a weekly series, entitled *The Aquabats! RadVentures!*, which began airing exclusively on YouTube starting in 2019.

## Premise

The series is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The show is styled in a similar manner to 1960s and 1970s children's television series and Japanese *tokusatsu*, and utilizes various methods of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.

## Cast and characters

* **The MC Bat Commandeer** (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) - The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commandeer is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
* **Crash McLarson** (played and voiced by Chad Larson) - The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable agility to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
* **Jimmy the Robot** (played and voiced by James R. Briggs Jr.) - The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of build-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
* **Ricky Fitness** (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) - The band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness of "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
* **EagleBones Falconhawk** (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) - The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aid The Aquabats in battle.

## Episodes

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## Reception

Critical response to *The Aquabats! Super Show!* was predominately positive, with critics praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onion's A.V. Club gave the series an A- rating, describing it as a "love homage to basically everything ever done by the Krofft: the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored."